This is pretty fascinating. We've learned that blind people may be able to "see" with other organs wired into the brain.

Quoted: Blind people can now use their tongues to see, albeit crudely, thanks to prototype technology that involves licking arrays of electrodes attached to video cameras.

<sarcasm> Color me surprised! You mean the Bush administration would interfere with scientific inquiry for political means? Nooooo....</sarcasm>

Quoted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused the administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research.

There was a large Al Gore feature in the NYT this weekend. I've read the first page and want to read the rest...

Quoted: Another book, another slide show, another global rock concert — another run?

How much would you pay for an invisibility cloak? Interesting new math/science possibilities.

Quoted: Every child’s dream of invisibility made a giant leap toward becoming a reality last year. A cloaking device has set the mathematical community buzzing about how to make invisibility not just possible, but practical. “Who would have thought that people would be talking about invisibility in scientific terms?” said Gunther Uhlmann, the UW’s Walker Family endowed professor of mathematics. Uhlmann followed the news especially closely because he and his colleagues had discovered an invisibility cloak in 2003.

One thing I learned when I went to an Edward Tufte seminar here in Seattle - you have to make intelligent arguments and lay out evidence in a cogent way for the viewing audience. I think Stern's review of the potential financial impact of climate change is potentially just what is needed. I really wish the US would become a leader in this fight and decrease our reliance on fossil fuels.

Quoted: The key points from Sir Nicholas Stern's report into the economic impact of climate change.

I realy want to go see the new movie "The Prestige" by the director Memento, Christopher Nolan. This is a review of the film (no spoilers as far as I can tell) about the motivations explored within. It sounds like it might be fairly dark and complex, just what I always enjoy!

Quoted: The Prestige conjures up a dark relationship between science and the desire for power.

My favorite quote from this article is the second one below. Why can't Bush and co. let government scientists speak for themselves? Why do they have to stay "on message"? Isn't it our money being sent to probe further into scientific truth?

Quoted: The administration claims it wasn't trying to tell government scientists what to say about climate change, but e-mails obtained by Salon prove otherwise.

Quoted: When NOAA press officer Laborde was contacted to discuss the e-mails, he denied that interviews were subject to approval from White House officials. Confronted with his own e-mails, however, he said, "If you already knew the answer, why did you ask the question?"

Caution! Runaway golf course on the loose!