Really Hard Sums

Moving to WordPress

2007-09-14T04:47:54Z

This blog is moving to WordPress! Find it at ReallyHardSums.wordpress.com

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Creativity in mathematics and science

2007-09-12T03:44:23Z

The video in my last post, and Christopher Richards's blog from which I nicked it, have really got me thinking about creativity, inspiration, and analytical thinking. My own creativity is woeful and worsening. Is this a common feeling amongst adul...

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Creativity

2007-09-03T01:07:14Z

One of the most wonderful and stirring short speeches you are ever likely to hear on the subject of reforming our flawed educational systems in favour of rewarding creativity was given by Sir Ken Robinson at a TED conference. I came across this vi...

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"Rational Atheism" at Scientific American

2007-08-21T23:43:20Z

Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine writes an open letter to Messrs Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens in the Skeptic column of Scientific American. He argues that we should avoid defining ourselves as anti-religion, instead outlining what we s...

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Could alien life be dna dust?

2007-08-19T22:58:29Z

A recent amazing series of computer simulations performed by a team of physicists from Russia, Germany and Australia reveals that dust clouds in space can harbour spiral structures capable of reproducing - and being selected - in the same way as t...

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Guiding the Godless

2007-08-15T02:51:22Z

I really should have mentioned this before, but so slowly am I reading the thought-provoking free ebook "A Guide for the Godless" by the philosopher Andrew Kernohan that I would like to bring your attention to it now, and perhaps we can get some d...

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Hoping we are alone in the universe

2007-08-15T01:47:47Z

The ever-wonderful Nick Bostrom, who to my knowledge was the first to argue scientifically that we are overwhelmingly more likely to be living in a computer simulation than otherwise, has a short essay on his hope that we are alone in the universe...

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Future Histories - a short story

2007-08-13T03:02:33Z

While sorting through my oh-too-many pdfs with the brilliant Yep, I came across the following story I wrote about a year ago, imagining a realistic dystopian future. Comments are welcome! -_-_-_-_- “To your right. No, your other right.” Folks, ...

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Alien awareness

2007-08-12T22:55:57Z

Are we too parochial in our search for alien life? Can we define life, can we set limits on where it can or cannot exist, on what chemicals and in what environments it can and cannot persist? I'm put in mind of the engineers who believed train tra...

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Toddlers' Vocabulary Explosion

2007-08-09T05:01:17Z

Here is an article from Scientific American which struck a chord with me for two reasons. Firstly, it explains the rapid increase in the vocabulary of toddlers, a breathtaking phase my son is currently blossoming through. Secondly, it does so with...

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