This is getting curiouser and curiouser. First there was “free textbooks.” Now there is free energy. Scientific American: Irish tech firm throws down “free energy” gauntlet
Perpetual motion machines of the first, second, and third kind? Not going to happen.
Scientific American podcasts. Free. Haven’t yet checked them out — so cannot say whether they are good or not.
It is a sad day for Hindustani classical music fans. Dr Bismillah Khan passed away today. May his soul rest in peace.
His sublime music will, of course, live on. I cannot express the hours of joy his rendition of Bhupali Todi has given me.
A Tentative Taxonomy of Problems
Compared to all other life forms in the known universe, our species can be characterized as the one that consciously solves problems. There appears to be – at least in some specimens of our kind – an inherent drive to not only solve problems but in fact to seek out new problems to be solved. Of course, some would argue that many of our attempts to solve problems in turn create new problems. That in itself is probably not such a bad thing because otherwise we would have little to occupy ourselves with. Confronting challenges – natural as well as artificially created – exercises our faculties and makes us feel alive and lends purpose and meaning to our existence. Continue reading
