"Scientific discovery consists in the interpretation for our own convenience of a system of existence which has been made with no eye to our convenience at all.
One of the chief duties of a mathematician in acting as an advisor to scientists is to discourage them from expecting too much of mathematicians."
As quoted in Comic Sections (1993) by D MacHale
"I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."
Albert Einstein (4 March 1879 – 18 April 1955)
‘Geometry & Experience’ speech, Prussian Academy of Sciences
Berlin, Jan 27 1921
For over 70 years, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has enshrined our fundamental rights in international law.
It’s been in the background, always there, helping to prevent human rights abuses. The essential rights we are familiar with – like the right to life, the right not to be tortured, the right to privacy – all come from the ECHR.
Now, the ECHR is under attack.
One thing you can (easily) do today is sign Liberty's pledge on the ECHR
https://action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/133001/petition/1?ea.url.id=6699994&forwarded=true
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Just the fact that we need such day is a sad evidence of the dire state of our society.
At the dawn of another murder of a young woman in Italy, my head has been reflecting a lot about ‘monsters’ and ‘patriarchy’. I’ll be posting it during the weekend. For a little glimpse on what to expect, here my yesterday’s thread
https://mastodon.design/@alx/111464704564936230
Some thoughts to brighten your outlook on next year’s presidential election. Today’s piece expands upon my earlier piece on why I remain cautiously optimistic over Joe Biden’s chances. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/some-bright-thoughts-on-black-friday?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
First evidence of radioactivity with Becquerel's notes.
Becquerel, Henri, 1852-1908
From AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, William G. Myers Collection
Held by: Niels Bohr Library & Archives.
via American Institute of Physics
@sciencebase So many tattoos he has to wear some of them on his mutha's arms.
GDPR trainings for researchers in the post-AI world: 'uploading research data to an AI system is part of processing and they become part of the training dataset, becoming then a permanent record. Therefore do not upload personal data to public AI systems such as ChatGPT"
Clear warning by health professionals in the leading medical journal The Lancet:
Further delays in tackling greenhouse gas emissions at COP28 will be an act of negligence.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02584-9/fulltext#%20
@sciencebase Well hard.
@sciencebase I was going to say " You callin' wor lass a puff?" which is even dafter.
@sciencebase "You callin' me a puff?".
@sciencebase That's some picture!
Dutch theoretical physicist & thermodynamicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals was born #OTD in 1837.
His name is primarily associated with the Van der Waals equation of state that describes the behavior of gases & their condensation to the liquid phase. His name is also associated with Van der Waals forces, with Van der Waals molecules, & with Van der Waals radii. He won the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the equation of state for gases & liquids. via @wikipedia
@sciencebase Sally Thomsett is 73. I don't feel so guilty now.
@sciencebase I was so young when I first saw it that I was more interested in Geraldine Cowper (Willow) than Brit Ekland. Scared me more than Daleks.
@sciencebase "Oh Christ, oh Jesus Christ"
Steel industry metallurgical specialist.