www.jacobsen.no / anders / blog / Science and Technology Archives

August 22, 2008

What people believe in depends on where they're born

science evolves and scientists of the (whole) world generally update their knowledge while religion is highly regional and individuals' beliefs depending mostly on where they were born: [...] MORE...


March 02, 2007

HDMI and error correction (do your cables make a difference? v2)

Digital signals can deteriorate slightly in poor cabling over long distances, and the message, rather than buy the cheapest possible HDMI cables, is that 'your mileage may vary' and it can be worth doing some testing before buying... MORE...


February 27, 2007

What's the difference between different HDMI cables?

Buying a $300 HDMI cable is like polishing your CDs with 'Hi-Fi-oil': not changing the outcome of digital processing... MORE...


April 02, 2006

Test your senses

some classic, some new optical and auditory illusions; test your senses and your speed of reaction! MORE...


February 06, 2006

'Intelligent Design' - now also at NASA(!)

For those that have seen the intelligent design theory discussion, read NASA Watch's latest: apparently some minion of the Bush administration is now asking NASA (yep - that's the NASA that flew to the moon) to append 'theory' behind any usage of the words Big Bang on their websites. ... just to make sure that creationism is still on 'equal' footage. [...] !!?? MORE...


October 25, 2005

Cow-powered trains in Sweden

The world's first biogas-powered passenger train is taking its first passengers between the Swedish cities of Linkoping and Vastervik. And the biogas comes from the entrails of dead cows(!!) MORE...


May 17, 2005

How annoying are mobile phones in cinemas?

Very! MORE...


April 07, 2005

LitraCon revisited

About a year ago I wrote about LitraCon - a funky type of light-transmitting contrete. Their website since disappeared, a lot of people searching for information wrote comments here or mailed me. The LitraCon company representative wrote me the other day to tell that they are back in business (joy to all you architects out there: go out and use this!!) MORE...


February 07, 2005

Can we see circular rainbows?

Yes, you can see circular rainbows: [...] MORE...


January 13, 2005

Skeptics alert: Astrology and Leadership

Formerly known as NIF, the professional organization for Norwegian master engineers, Tekna, is now organizing a training in 'Astrology and Leadership' - Yep you read right! [...] MORE...


January 11, 2005

London Congestion Charge OCR technology

The London Congestion Charge zone is a defined area in London where you have to pay a fee to drive your veichle. The charging of this fee (and the tracking of evaders) is being done by a large number of CCTV-style cameras [...] MORE...


January 05, 2005

Women and horoscopes

An incredibly harsh and sexist but funny attack on believers in astrology from the Guardian [...] MORE...


November 18, 2004

Is dihydrogen monoxide a bad thing?

No. Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O) is plain old water. The dihydrogen monoxide-scare you might have heard is a prank. More information: [...] MORE...


September 10, 2004

International Phonetic Alphabet

I thought it was the International Phonetical Alphabet: in fact Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc are part of the so-called NATO phonetic alphabet, which, it appears, has never been formally published by NATO at all. MORE...


September 07, 2004

If there it's a 'one in a million' chance...

... it happens to an average person once a month... The fun side of sceptical statistics. [...] MORE...


August 20, 2004

Phantom Phone Vibrations

All the time! ''The phenomenon of experiencing a sensation of vibration in the pocket-region, leading one to believe their cell phone is vibrating.'' MORE...


August 17, 2004

The Human Locator

... the very name of this one brings to mind Minority Report-style advertising posters: personalized content depending on who and where you are. By many, brushed off as an 'Sci-Fi' Privacy issue only in a far future, but in fact, available for purchase; today, and not even using RFID tags or anything like this, just image recognition. MORE...


August 09, 2004

Architecting an ID card

As part of the discussion ensuing the announcement of new Estonian ID cards on Slashdot, member 0x0d0a posted an insightful yet basic list of requirements for ''the ideal ID card'': MORE...


August 04, 2004

Thinking ahead

Dan Bricklin: ''We need to start thinking about software in a way more like how we think about building bridges, dams, and sewers. What we build must last for generations without total rebuilding. This requires new thinking and new ways of organizing development. This is especially important for governments of all sizes as well as for established, ongoing businesses and institutions.'' MORE...


Scientific use of my photos

Recently I've received a couple of queries from the scientific community regarding the use of some of my photos of natural phenomenae. More spesifically, the photo of the circular rainbow and my photo of the Crow instability are now being used in forthcoming scientific publications. MORE...


June 15, 2004

Debunking the debunkers

Ferro-magnetism, diamagnetism, magnetic flood and flying frogs; the Guardian's Bad Science section has something for everyone... :-) MORE...


June 14, 2004

Scientific imagery

30,000 images from the British Science Museum, the British National Railway Museum and the British National Museum of Photography, Film and Television can be found at ingenious.org.uk MORE...


May 13, 2004

Wearable computers are happening!

'' [...] it's fun to see that this once sci-fi product is actually picking up commercial traction and potentially becoming more mainstream as the prices continue to go down. [...] '' MORE...


April 27, 2004

Finally a ''digital pen'' that works?

[...] This time it's Microsoft tinkering with the technology, integrating it with the most sold word processor of all times: Microsoft Word! [...] MORE...


March 15, 2004

Aliso Viejo votes on dangers of dihydrogen monoxide

''City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.'' MORE...


March 11, 2004

LitraCon - Light-transmitting concrete!

Light transmitting concrete letting light in (and out of?) your walls. MORE...


January 02, 2004

RFID and privacy

[...] I'm not advocating brining out the tinfoil hats just yet, BUT: [...] MORE...


November 28, 2003

New Robot Vacuum Cleaner

... control it from your browser! Yeah! We like!!! MORE...


September 30, 2003

WalMart goes serious with RFID

Apparently, US Giant retailer Walmart is forcing it's top 100 suppliers to track goods using RFID by 2005. Walmart even seems to track women's panties already!! MORE...


September 18, 2003

1st place at the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair 2001

WHAT? ''The bacteria cultures were divided into two groups, one group (A) received prayer while the other (B) didn't.'' MORE...


July 28, 2003

NASA Johnson Space Center

Three of the International Space Station's modules are named Leonardo, Donatello and Raffaello... Who were they named after again...? (Funny story from real life) MORE...


June 02, 2003

Ice crystal formation in airplane windows

Some pictures taken 37 000 feet above Greenland yesterday afternoon... MORE...


August 31, 2002

Electronic evolution

New Scientist reports: ''A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver.'' Recently researchers produced a robot that ''learned to fly''... MORE...


August 18, 2002

Science of hangovers

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk, noted Lord Byron... MORE...


July 30, 2002

Skeptics rejoice: Paranormal beliefs may be linked to brain chemistry

Skeptics rejoice: New Scientist reports Paranormal beliefs may be linked to brain chemistry Whether or not you believe in the paranormal may depend entirely on your brain chemistry. People with... MORE...


July 10, 2002

Cropcircles

Oh no... Crop circles are back in the media hype... Wired 10.08: Wheat Graffiti Hollywood has even picked up on the trend, producing Signs, (by Sixth Sense director M. Night... MORE...


June 17, 2002

CNN: Amusement parks put science into screams

Long before roller coasters launch their riders through cobra rolls, hair-raising twists and corkscrews, many must pass the 'Fred' test. MORE...