Online Cortex Thoughts on Science and Technology

I recently learned of the project called “Encyclopedia of Life“, which endeavors to create an online encyclopedia featuring every known life form on Earth.  From what I can see, this is going to be done in an open access manner.

Sample pages exist for the following organisms:

Death Cap Mushroom    (Amanita Phalloides)
Rice   (Oryza Sativa)
Yeti Crab   (Kiwa Hirsuta)

and come in three flavors

Polar Bear   (Ursus Maritimus) : Novice Users
Polar Bear   (Ursus Maritimus) : Expert Users
Polar Bear   (Ursus Maritimus) : Biodiversity Heritage Library

I can’t wait!

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Biology, Birds, Climate, Exploration, Green, Internet, Wildlife

In East Germany a pensioner has been breeding bunny rabbits the size of dogs (article).  He has been approached by the North Korean government to sell these rabbits to breeding farms in North Korea for the purpose of feeding the populace.

Seriously???

This reminds me of the horrible movie “Night of the Lepus” starring Janet Leigh and DeForest Kelley who played Dr. Leonard McKoy in Star Trek.

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Fun, Seriously???

Today I just discovered that blogs can have pages.  These pages can be edited and maintained, but stand outside of the time-based thread.

I have started entering some of my favorite quotations.
http://www.huginn.com/knuth/blog/favorite-quotations/
I am not sure how to organize them, but we’ll see…

Enjoy,
Kevin Knuth

Posted under General, Internet, Note to Self, Quotations, Solutions

I received this brochure from Wolfram Research (Mathematica) describing their web resources.  I am going to lose it… so I will remember it here in my Online Cortex.

wolfram.com
http://www.wolfram.com
Wolfram.com is updated regularly with information on new breakthroughs and developments for Mathematica users and technology enthusiasts around the world.  This site features demonstrations and videos on the core Wolfram products, a secure and reliable online store, and a variety of valuable resources for professionals, academics, and students in any field.

The Wolfram Demonstrations Project
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com
The Wolfram Demonstrations Project is an open-code resource that brings to life concepts in science, technology, mathematics, art, finance, and a remarkable range of other areas. From elementary education to front-line research, topics span an ever-growing array of categories, with new interactive visualizations added each day by Mathematica users.

Wolfram Mathematica Documentation Center
http://reference.wolfram.com
All Mathematica documentation is now deployed both in-product and online, featuring over 50,000 carefully chosen examples, animations and tutorials, as well as over 100,000 links.  Used every day as an indispensible reference guide, for Mathematica users, the uniquely powerful documentation system is also ideal for those new to the system who want to learn more about Mathematica’s 2500+ high-level functions for visualization, programming, and computation.

Wolfram Mathworld
http://mathworld.wolfram.com
MathWorld is the web’s most extensive mathematics resource.  Assembled over more than a decade and updated regularly with contributions from the world’s mathematics community.  MathWorld features downloadable Mathematica notebooks, interactive applets, and nearly 13,000 entries on topics ranging from pre-algebra to calculus, number theory, and more.

Library
http://library.wolfram.com
A vast colelction of Mathematica-related material, including thousands of articles, references, and courseware programs, conveniently indexed and organized.

Integrals
http://integrals.wolfram.com
A unique webMathematica-powered site for instantly solving integrals online.

Functions
http://functions.wolfram.com
The worlds largest collection of formulas and visualizations about mathematical functions.

Wolfram Science
http://wolframscience.com
The official website of Stephen Wolfram’s A New Kind of Science, with full-text and enhanced features.

Tones
http://tones.wolfram.com
Original music mined from the computational universe, featuring free-downloads and a generator to create your own personal tones.

StephenWolfram.com
http://stephenwolfram.com
A homepage from Mathematica creator, A New Kind of Science author, and Wolfram Research CEO Stephen Wolfram.

Posted under Computation, Entrepreneurship, Exploration, Fun, Information, Intelligent Systems, Internet, Mathematics, Research

This photograph was taken by the Cassini probe of the water geysers on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.  The water is heated in the interior of Enceladus to a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.  The water is hot compared to the -200 degrees Celsius surface, and after venting through cracks in the moon’s surface it blasts off into space unable to be contained by the moon’s low gravity.  The water then freezes into tiny ice particles and forms Saturn’s E-ring.  This is a gorgeous example of what is known as cryovolcanism.

Posted under Astronomy, Exploration, Space