Category Archives: science

amusements, ramblings, science

Thinking Thursday #5 Answer

This week in Thinking Thursday I asked you to find the next number in the sequence:

3, 13, 1 113, 3 113, 132 113, 1 113 122 113, ?

Who discovered that it is 311 311 222 113?
If you did, then well done!
So how do you get there?
Well this is what’s known as a look-and-say sequence in which each term is constructed by describing the previous term.
So if we start with the number 3, the next term is “one 3” as the previous number contains just one of the number three. So now we have 3, 13.
And the third number describes the second number, hence it is “one 1, one 3” or 1113, which we wrote as 1 113 just to throw you off the scent a bit. We now have 3, 13, 1 113.
Similarly, number four is constructed from number three: “three 1s, one 3”; or 3 113, giving us the sequence 3, 13, 1 113, 3 113. And so on.
But do you notice something else about this sequence? Yes, that’s right, the last number is always 3. In fact that’s true for any look-and-say sequence which starts with an integer between 0 and 9 — the last digit of each term will always be the starting number.
What I didn’t know was that the look-and-say sequence was introduced and analysed by the British mathematician John Conway who is still alive, and who also invented the Game of Life.
Good fun!

amusements, ramblings, science

Thinking Thursday #5

1 Comment

We haven’t had a “Thinking Thursday” post since before Christmas so it’s time for a bit more fun.

Here is deceptively simple sequence:
3, 13, 1 113, 3 113, 132 113, 1 113 122 113, ?
What is the next number in the sequence?

As always there’s no prize except the fun of getting it right. But if you want to show off by putting your answer in the comments, then that’s fine with me!
Answer on Sunday evening, as usual.
Oh, and of course, there’s no cheating!

amusements, history, links, science

Your Interesting Links

Our (now monthly) round-up of links to items you may have missed the first time.
Science & Medicine
First off, Compound Interest gives us the low-down on the complexity of the drug discovery business, and why drug research is so expensive.
We’re the only animals with chins. Yes really! And it seems nobody really knows why.
There’s a guy here who hasn’t had a shower for 12 years. And he still appears to have friends.


Conversations. They’re complex but there are almost universal cultural rules we obey.
What’s that strange thing floating in my vision? We all get UFOs (aka floaters) in our eyes. Here’s something about them.
Just as I suspected, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is maybe not the wonder therapy everyone (except me) thought. Trouble is it means Freud might have been right all along.
OMG, there’s been so much hoo-ha about the governments new alcohol guidelines. Mainly because they are based on misinterpretations of totally false science (see for instance here and the subsequent posts). But Simon Jenkins writing in the Guardian goes further telling the government to butt out of people’s drinking habits. And quite right too.
Sexuality
For once a good news story: masturbation actually has health benefits.
Emer O’Toole on body hair and the art of being naked.
Social Sciences & Business
Now, think very carefully before answering this. When do you really become an adult? No, not easy is it!?
Language
And now here’s something which those of us who think at all about our language already know: English is not normal. In fact it’s much odder than most languages.
So what in the world is the plural of emoji? There should be a right answer, but no-one has agreed on it yet. Personally I favour emoji.
History (mostly London-centric)
Headless Romans in London? Solving an ancient mystery.
But then again what did the Romans ever do for us? Oh, yes, they brought fleas, lice and bacterial infections with them. How kind.
Only briefly in vogue, the codpiece has left a rich legacy in art and literature. Here’s a brief history of the codpiece.
A history of the grimness and gruesomeness of pubic shaming in London; in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2.
Meanwhile there was the development of Soho into a nice little suburb.
The bra, as we know it, is a late 19th century invention. So what did women do in the 17th century?
The Blessing of the Thames — a modern revival based on an ancient custom.
Hundreds of old photographs of London pubs have been saved, having been rescued from a skip.
Finally in this section, IanVisits gives us a calendar of gun salutes in London during 2016. One day I will get to photograph one.
Food & Drink
So there’s more hoo-ha going on about diets, so we bring you a few myth-busters and the like …
I’ve never been a great breakfast eater and it seems I may have been vindicated as there is now a suggestion that breakfast may be a waste of time.
And here’s an article which claims to bust eight food myths. Who believes all these things anyway?
Next up we have a look at the science behind a number food trends.
Beware the chia seeds, my friends, just as you would the Ides of March. Cosmopolitan brings us a cynical look at seven natural foods that can totally fuck you up.
Now some fairly sensible food safety advice, and myths busted, from a scientist who should know.
Novelist and restaurant critic Jay Rayner, in the Guardian, has 12 things he really wants restaurants to stop doing this year. Me? I’ll just settle for having food on a plate, not on a piece of slate, or floorboard, or in a tin bucket.
And now here’s Rebecca Rupp, in National Geographic, on the wonders of chicken soup.
Finally in this section one for the all cookie baking linguists: cuneiform cookies.

People
On the wonder of cats and our relationships with them.
Shock, Horror, Humour
Emer O’Toole again, this time taking a (sideways?) look at how to be moderately successful. Top tip: follow the “Ah, fuck it” rule!

And finally the present for that friend who has everything: a dick in a box.

history, links, science

Your Interesting Links

OK boys and girls, here’s the next instalment of links to items you may have missed the first time round.
And as from this issue, these link posts will be monthly, on around the last day of the month (or maybe a day later).
So here we go …
Science & Medicine
Let’s start with a look at some science myths that just refuse to die. Own up: how many of those did you believe?
You would expect, wouldn’t you, that medics would by now understand the menopause and how to alleviate its worst symptoms for those women worst affected? Seems that isn’t the case and the menopause isn’t well understood at all.
We hear a lot about “evidence-based medicine”. But is there any evidence that “evidence-based medicine” is any better than any other variety?
You need to be fit to go into hospital. Yes, really! Apart from the rise in hospital-acquire infections, it seems that the environment is physically and mentally debilitating.
So who has needed a hangover cure in the last few days? Here’s a bit about the possible underlying causes of hangovers, which again are still not well understood.
Sexuality
Possibly only the French would dare put on an exhibition called Splendours and Miseries: Images of Prostitution 1850-1910. Kim Willsher reviews for the Guardian.


Now here’s a brave teacher who believes in what I have always said: we would be better off being open and honest and discussing sexuality etc. This really should be the norm.
Hair. Why do men grow it on their chins but (apparently) insist women remove it from their genitals? Could we be about to see a resurgence of pubic hair?
Environment
George Monbiot (yes, him again!) has a rant about the environmental damage caused by agriculture and the growing of our food.
Social Sciences & Business
Cheating (generally, not sexually). We all do it — some more than others. But we all do it to some extent if only in pursuance of our personal myth.
Talking of cheating, it’s estimated that 3% of £1 coins currently in circulation are fakes. To counteract such forgery the Royal Mint will be issuing a new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017.
Londonist proposed 15 ways in which London’s train network could be improved, and all without building a single foot of new track. Some of them do seem to be incredibly simple to do!
Art & Literature
Is there really any point in collecting books? Howard Jacobson has a view.
History
This really should be called London Curiosities, but they all have some historic basis …
Londonist, again, hunts out London’s top 10 moats. Oh yes, there really are that many moats in London, although not all are historic.
And one more from Londonist, this time London’s top 10 tunnels and catacombs.
Being English we do like our cup of tea (or a large mug in my case!). So why didn’t I previously know about Twining’s teashop and museum. Must add this to the 2016 bucket list.

And finally in this section, an old favourite. Caroline’s Miscellany gets a look round the long closed Down Street Station.
Food & Drink
Most of us probably drank some champagne over Christmas, or maybe to see in the New Year, so here’s a little of the chemistry that makes champagne work.
Alice Roberts writes about choosing to be a vegetarian, although she eats fish for health, and actually likes the taste of meat.
Shock, Horror, Humour
And in our final sections, Ipswich’s most famous cat burglar, Theo, relapses into his thieving ways.

And lastly, Londonist (yes, them again) investigates the 10 rudest museum exhibits in London.
More in a month’s time!

beliefs, ramblings, science, thoughts

Cargo Cult Ethics

Yesterday I came across an article on the Farnham Street blog which talks about, and reproduces, Richard Feynman’s 1974 commencement address at Caltech entitled “Cargo Cult Science”.
As always with Feynman it contains good stuff, explained simply. Let me pick out a couple of quotes:

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.
I would like to add something that’s not essential to the science, but something I kind of believe, which is that you should not fool the layman when you’re talking as a scientist … I’m talking about a specific, extra type of integrity that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you’re maybe wrong, that you ought to do when acting as a scientist. And this is our responsibility as scientists, certainly to other scientists, and I think to laymen …
One example of the principle is this: If you’ve made up your mind to test a theory, or you want to explain some idea, you should always decide to publish it whichever way it comes out.

This is about how to do good science — indeed any good investigation. What Feynman is saying in the article is that in doing an investigation one has to publish the full scenarios. Whatever the outcome, why could it be wrong. If the experiment didn’t work, why might this be. And importantly, show that you understand, have accounted for, and can reproduce any prior work and assumptions on which your work depends.
Being Feynman this is all explained quite simply with lots of examples, often drawn from his own experience.
But it is wider than this. It is something Feynman touches on but doesn’t highlight. It is essentially about being open and honest; being ethical. Feynman is applying it to scientific enquiry but, as you can see from the quotes above, it should apply equally to any enquiry, aka. life.
Feynman’s address is an interesting 10 minute read even for non-scientists.

amusements, science

Oddity of the Week: Sperm

There is a surprising diversity of size, shape and number of sperm produced by different species.


Just as an example, sperm length varies by several orders of magnitude, and in general the larger the animal the smaller the sperm. For instance porcupine sperm is just 0.0003 cm long. Compare that with the sperm of fruit flies which is 6 cm in size — that’s some 20 times the length of the fly! This only works because the fruit fly’s sperm is like a ball of string which only unravels once inside the female’s reproductive tract (which is longer than the sperm!).
For more amazing facts about sperm see The Biggest Sperm Come In The Smallest Packages – And Other Odd Facts About Male Sex Cells.

history, links, natural history, science

Your Interesting Links

So here we are then with another round of links to items you may have missed the first time round.
Science & Medicine
It seems that humans are not the only animals who have personal names, but we are probably the only ones who gossip.
Its well known that dogs will eat anything, but why are cats such fussy eaters?


The more we look at them, the smarter crows turn out to be. But are they smart enough to fall in love?
Talking of being smart, it appears that those of us who sleep late are smarter and more creative.
But then you die. Here’s what happens to your body after death.
Meanwhile it seems health experts are explaining drug-resistant bacteria so poorly that people aren’t believing them.
Sexuality
Just beware the rodeo! The sexual positions most likely to cause penis fractures.
But avoid that and researchers have worked out that the happiest people have sex just once a week — and it’s good.

This article on sex for the elderly shows just how tricky it is to maintain the well-being of people in care.
Environment
George Monbiot in the Guardian tells us there’s a population crisis, but it isn’t the one we usually think of.
Meanwhile one way round the population crisis would be to make humans smaller.
You’ve probably heard of guerilla gardening, well now here’s guerilla grafting — activists are grafting fruit-bearing branches onto ornamental city trees. Excellent idea!
Social Sciences & Business
The class system is dead; long live the class system. Apparently the UK is still class ridden, but in today’s society the classes are different.
Why the internet is like a series of lead pipes. Very interesting comparison.
From pipes to streets. Clever cartographers add fictitious trap streets to their maps. Here are some trap streets in London.
Art & Literature
[NSFW] A Japanese museum is aiming to confront the taboo of shunga head on. Is it art, is it pornography, or could it be both?
The British Library is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland with a new exhibition. IanVisits takes a look.
History
In another new exhibition the Wellcome Collection is featuring Lukhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet’s Secret Temple. IanVisits again takes a look.
Returning home again, did you know that, once upon a time London was the motor manufacturing centre of the UK?
People

Nothing highly salacious to leave you with this time, so here’s the obituary for Roy Dommett (with accordion, above), a true British eccentric. The video is just excellent! [With thanks to Bruce for alerting me to this.]

natural history, science, words

Word: Aposematic

Aposematic
A zoological term applied to usually bright colouring or markings designed to warn or alarm, and thus to repel the attacks of predators.
According to the OED the first recorded use was as late as 1890 and the word is derived from the Greek ἀπό apo away + σ̑ημα sema sign.
Wasps are a fairly classic example of aposematic marking.

amusements, history, links, science

Your Interesting Links

So soon already here’s another rag-bag of links to interesting articles you may have missed the first time round …
Quite a long time ago Scientific American posted an interactive Periodic Table, but they have been doing some updates to it. Click the element for some basic information. May be helpful for those with yoofs studying chemistry.
So ladies, what if everything your doctors told you about breast cancer was wrong? Find out some of the realities ad decide for yourself whether you should have that mammogram. [Long read]


Staying with jiggling lady-parts … here’s why scientists are saying you should throw your bra away.
Moving down the body, Belgian sexologist Goedele Liekens is on a mission to sort out prudish British sex education. And not before time, says I.
In another medical piece, scientists now think that anything up to 25% of our genes work in sync with the seasons. And that may mean our central heating and artificial lighting are screwing our physiology which expects winter to be different to summer.
Here are just two of many recent pieces which have looked at the sleeping patterns of hunter-gatherers and compared them to our modern habits. Seems they aren’t so different as we thought. First from the estimable Ed Yong in The Atlantic and the second from IFL Science.
And now for the obligatory piece about our feline companions. It seems our cats aren’t so emotionally distant as we think and they do seem to be able to sense our moods.
So at last to the history section …
It’s right what they say: you don’t know what you’ve got until you look. An historian has found the earliest known draft of part of the King James Bible hidden away in a Cambridge college.
Those of us who live in London love to moan about London Transport. But have you ever wondered what London’s public transport was like in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries?
Back in the 17th century lots of amateur natural philosophers (what we would now call scientists) were experimenting with lenses and looking at the microscopic world. Mostly they didn’t understand what they saw and had to get artists to try to draw it for them.
Returning to London, here’s a brief history of Georgian London (1714-1830).

And finally here’s something totally mad … A Steampunk-themed café filled with kinetic sculptures has opened in Romania.