Radiolab Podcast: Wild Talk

January 27, 2015

“Reporter Ari Daniel Shapiro tells us about Klaus Zuberbuhler’s work in the Tai Forest of West Africa. When Klaus first came to the forest, he hit a wall of sound. But he slowly started making sense of that sonic chaos by scaring a particular monkey called the Diana Monkey. Turns out, the Diana Monkey is making more than just noise. Then we jump from the jungle to the prairie, where Con Slobodchikoff has discovered what he calls a grammar of color, shapes, and sizes embedded in prairie dog chirps. His discovery leaves Jad and Robert wondering whether we could ever understand the language of a different species. Back in the jungle, Klaus is wondering the same thing, and tells us about one day when the cacophony of monkey calls distilled into a life-saving warning.”

http://www.radiolab.org/story/98611-wild-talk/

Radiolab Podcast: Colors

January 27, 2015

This is probably my favorite all time Radiolab episode.

“Our world is saturated in color, from soft hues to violent stains. How does something so intangible pack such a visceral punch? This hour, in the name of science and poetry, Jad and Robert tear the rainbow to pieces.

To what extent is color a physical thing in the physical world, and to what extent is it created in our minds? We start with Sir Isaac Newton, who was so eager to solve this very mystery, he stuck a knife in his eye to pinpoint the answer. Then, we meet a sea creature that sees a rainbow way beyond anything humans can experience, and we track down a woman who we’re pretty sure can see thousands (maybe even millions) more colors than the rest of us. And we end with an age-old question, that, it turns out, never even occurred to most humans until very recently: why is the sky blue?”

http://www.radiolab.org/story/211119-colors/

Does language affect the way you see colors?

January 27, 2015

Part of an interesting video series, Do You See What I See. The first part of this link shows an African tribe, the Himba, whose language and environment differ so much from ours that they are able to distinguish different shades very differently from us. The link below is for the part that shows the Himba tribe. At the bottom of the video player are links for the rest of that show.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7eh1_horizon-do-you-see-what-i-see-part-4-4_shortfilms

Here is an new york times article about the same issue.

http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/its-not-easy-seeing-green/

Book: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

January 27, 2015

“The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions

Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we “blink” and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason—and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it’s best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we’re picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.” -Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Decide-Jonah-Lehrer/dp/0547247990/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422388709&sr=8-1&keywords=how+we+decide&pebp=1422388711933&peasin=547247990

Online Book: Science, Evolution, and Creationism

January 27, 2015

Here is a copy of an online book published by the National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine discussing the differences between the approach taken by scientists when discussing evolution and the approach taken by those who espouse creationism. It’s a relatively short book but you can also click beneath the link to download my shortened version.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11876&page=R3

Science and Creationism

Oprah Winfrey suggests atheists must believe in God if they experience awe and wonder

January 27, 2015

“Oprah Winfrey has caused a stir among atheists by suggesting that non-believers cannot experience “awe” and “wonder”.

In an interview with American swimmer Diana Nyad on her show Soul to Soul, Winfrey questioned her guest about whether she could claim she was an “atheist in awe”.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/oprah-winfrey-suggests-atheists-must-believe-in-god-if-they-experience-awe-and-wonder-8884013.html

Why anthropology is ‘true’ even if it is not ‘science

January 27, 2015

“A recent article in Inside Higher Ed documented the latest ‘issue’ in anthropology making its way around the Internet: anger amongst ‘scientific’ anthropologists that the executive board of the American Anthropological Association has rewritten the mission statement of the association and removed language which describes anthropology as a science.Now, I have no intention to defend the executive board of the AAA, and I have no objection to labeling myself a social scientist. However, I am concerned that objections to the new statement 1) do a bad job of understanding what ‘science’ is and 2) fail to understand that the knowledge anthropology produces can still be ‘true’ even if it is not ‘scientific’.”

http://savageminds.org/2010/12/01/why-anthropology-is-true-even-if-it-is-not-science/