Awesome Cell Illustrations

These scientific illustrations by Russell Knightly are stunningly beautiful. Seen at Fresh Photons.

Animal Cell

Plant Cell

Bacteria

A Brief Discussion of the DOMA Litigation with Very Few Interesting Points

I am not involved with the subject of this post and I don;t know that much about it, but that doesn;t prevent me from going off half-assed about it. This is the interwebs, people. Anyway, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. I suspect that, if it falls, it will fall because regulation of marriage is viewed as solely a State law issue, and the death knell of DOMA will also be a severe blow to federal Commerce Clause power. That is bad from a civil liberties and liberal perspective because many important federal laws and are premised on a strong federal commerce power.

It is hard to understate how important this is (and how unappreciated it is by many liberals who support gay rights). It is also important to understand that the validity of a law is a very different thing than a law being good policy. DOMA could be repealed; that is a better result for liberals supporting broad commerce power than finding DOMA unconstitutional unless the Court finds a fundamental right to gay marriage inherent in the Constitution, a thing I think a majority of the current Court is very unlikely to do.

Let me note, in the above regards, that the case in which the Supreme Court accepted certiorari, United States v. Windsor, was premised on finding DOMA discriminates against gays in violation of the Fifth Amendment (note that the Fifth Amendment's due process clause is thought to incorporate an equal protection guarantee similar to the Fourteenth Amendment's, which is explicit; the Fourteenth Amendment only applies to the States). This incorporation of equal protection guarantees is reviled by many hard line conservatives -- it is a form of "substantive due process" Justice Scalia, for one, has railed against. Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito and Thomas certainly share that view.

That means that the Court could go off on "substantive due process" and find DOMA not unconstitutional, reversing the circuit court's reasoning. That means that if it is to uphold the circuit it would have to do so on another ground, such as finding DOMA in violation of the Commerce Clause. Of course, the Court could also find DOMA unconstitutional as a substantive due process/equal protection violation, but, again, I am doubtful a majority of the Court will do that. Finally, the Court has asked for briefing on the issue of standing, and it could find that the case is not properly in court at all, dodging the issue. I doubt that is likely, too, though the conservatives have wanted to limit standing of plaintiffs to sue.

This is so important -- and so poorly understood by so many -- that I may right separately about it another date. I thought, though, it might help to give a heads up about it now.

Basic Human Decency Just Seems to Bother Some People

The video and its subject below seems to be offensive to some people. Personally, I think knowing who you are and taking care of yourself and becoming happy are wonderful things.

Upcoming Posts at Galileo Feynman

When I began this blog I imagined a mix of posts on art and politics, music and culture, science and society interspersed with short essays on a variety of more philosophical subjects. I haven't had much chance to focus on the essay side -- which I'd normally post under the tag Blah blah blah, among others -- but I thought I'd mention what's in the hopper. It's all pretty nerdy, so abandon all hope if you're looking for something else. A lengthy list follows bellow the break.

Electron Micrographs from the Blog Small Stuff

Small Stuff (or is its name Many Little Things? it's not clear) is an awesome tumblr blog featuring mostly fantastic electron micrographs. Here are some of just the most recent ones (not in original order), just because ... they're cool.

Hydrozoans on the surface of a krill

This May Make You Barf

Another sophisticated Galileo Feynman post title. Via Cynical C.

Highlights of Last Weekends' NFL Playoffs

Continuing the world class sports coverage provided here on Galileo Feynman, today, via Kotke, we bring you what he claims is "the best thing ever." Yes. Yes it is.

Deep Thinkin' by the Gun Advocates

The anti gun control crowd has screwed their thinking caps on real tight in response to the potential that dangerous weapons might be regulated. Here's what they've come up with:

• If blacks had guns slavery would never have happened.
• The President's children are protected by agents carrying guns, so the President's an elitist tax lover.
• Gun control apparently causes crime.
• Gun control attacks firearms (and the NRA is only thinking of the children, people!).
• Obama is acting like a king. A king! 
• Guns don't kill people, people (with guns) kill people, who are crazy people on psychotropics, and if you support gun control I am going to kill you.
• The Connecticut shooting is a "false flag" (and our media is controlled by the state, I am telling you on the radio).
• Chicago is Obama's mafia city and he's a psychopath and the time for insurrection is at hand.
• Obama is the antichrist.

That's some fine, fine thinking.

At Last Our Rights are Protected!

Celebrity Make-Unders (What Celebrities Would Look Like if they were Related to Me)

Planet Hiltron, run by photographer Danny Evans, takes photos of celebrities and with unspecified Photoshop magic involving photo composites and not age altering software, makes them look like non-celebrities. Very nice, Mr. Evans, very nice. Via Kotke.

Britney Spears

About Bertillonage (Anthropometry)

Bertillonage (which is also known as anthropometry, though that is a broader area of study) is the process of taking bodily measurements and identifying key markings from criminals and those accused of crimes so they can be identified in the future. It was invented by Alphonse Bertillon, who was from a family of statisticians, after he dropped out of school, went through a stint in the army, and then ended up on the police force. It and its founder became famous. Per Wikipedia, "Bertillon is referenced in the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles, in which one of Holmes's clients refers to Holmes as the 'second highest expert in Europe' after Bertillon."

Alas, bertillonage was prone to error as officers did not take all measurements the same way, and multiple people could have the same basic measurements. So it is fair to say it sent more than a few innocents to prison. It's not clear that this deeply worried Bertillon, who, in fact, appeared as a prosecution expert in the infamous Dreyfus Affair. Although Bertillon had no expertise in handwriting, his handwriting testimony is what sent Dreyfus to Devil's Island. According to an observer at the trial, Bertillon was "certainly not in full possession of his faculties" and his testimony was "a long tissue of absurdities."

Bertillonage was supplanted by fingerprinting though it's still with us in the form of mugshots and other identifying photos taken on arrest. It should not, by the way, be confused with anthropological criminology, the discredited theory that cranial dimensions and facial features are a predictor of criminal behavior.

Also -- a pro tip. If your wife asks you to buy her clothing, do not ask her what her dimensions are. Ask for her measurements. (Alternative approach: do not ask at all as you're supposed to know these things. Just measure her clothes when she's not looking.) If you do ask for her dimensions, though, referencing bertillonage will not help you. 

Quiz: Jay-Z Lyric or Line From The Great Gatsby?

From Vulture, an online presence of New York Magazine, comes the quiz Jay-Z Lyric or Line From The Great Gatsby?

Hey, this is hard. I got exactly zero right.

John Baez's The Crackpot Index

John Baez, a well known physicist and more importantly the cousin of Joan Baez (I'm not sure why that is more important and I am sure he gets tired of hearing about it but everybody probably asks), developed the Crackpot Index a number of years ago to measure the degree of crackpottery of laymen who write to mathematicians and physicists about the layman's latest great discovery. We here at Galileo Feynman believe that "Dr." Baez is a hidebound reactionary and a self-appointed defender of the orthodoxy who created his index as part of the conspiracy to SUPPRESS ORIGINAL IDEAS.

A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics:

1. A -5 point starting credit.
2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.
3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.
4. 3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.
5. 5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful correction.
6. 5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a widely accepted real experiment.
7. 5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with defective keyboards).
8. 5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann" (sic).

"True Facts About Sloths"

Admittedly sloth-like posts by me lately as I am working on a project and have quite a lot of old links to clear out .. and who doesn't like sloths? (This may be in violation of Our New Year's resolutions, but I haven't checked the terms ....)

Quantum Physicists' Beliefs about Quantum Theory

Physics arXiv recently published a paper on a poll on the meaning of results and the future of quantum physics, which was taken of physicists specializing in quantum theory, as well as a few mathematicians and philosophers attending a seminar on the subject. I thought the results were really interesting, so I reproduce some of the key results, below (as images from the paper -- the entire paper is an easy read and illuminating not only on the poll but physics disputes underlying it). I should note that none of the authors or poll participants is questioning the validity of quantum theory -- which extraordinarily well supported by experiment and observation. Indeed, even Albert Einstein, whose antipathy towards some of the broader interpretations of quantum theory is well known, was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics.

Organisms with Super Powers?

Hey, these aren't super powers; it's biology! Anyway, the blog Southern Fried Science has a popular post on five organisms who have "powers" similar, in the author's view, to the super powers of comic book heroes. You've got Bdelloid rotifers that are unisexual and caeable for going dormant for extraordinary periods and can survive in space and when they come out of dormancy in a new environment can absorb DNA or local organisms adapting to the new environment. You've got a deep sea snail that can absord iron sulfide into its shell and foot, making them metallic and aiding their survival at great depths. You've got the parasitic barnacle Sacculina which takes over the blue crabs sexual system replacing it with its own, changes the crabs mating behaviors to mate with other crabs infected with Sacculina, and, if the infected crab was a male it will change its sex to make it a female to care for the Succulina's eggs, which grow on the crab. Then you've got octopi whose ability to shape shift is now well known from numerous videos. And you've got black mold that was altered by radiation at Chernobyl and now "feeds" on radiation.

That actually is a tiny fraction of the weird and incredible things that organisms on Earth do that seem like super powers. And, while the Sacculina parasite may gross me you out, its about the tip of gross parasites. Hey, here's a video of a roundworm emerging from the stomach of a dead spider. Um, enjoy!

"The World's Best Father"

Dave Engledow is "The World's Best Father." Via Devid Sketchbook.

Images of Unmixed Paint

From Imgur the found abstract art of paint with tints prior to mixing -- very beautiful more exciting than watching paint dry. (And I have no recollection where I first saw this.)

The Fermi Paradox and the Logic of a Tapeworm

The "Fermi Paradox" was an assertion by famous physicist Enrico Fermi that if intelligent life exists elsewhere in the Universe it would have visited Earth already. Since it hasn't it must not exist.

It is, obviously, silly. It makes assumptions without evidence as to the ease of travel between star systems, the large prevalence of life elsewhere if it exists at all, the widespread desire of other lifeforms to visit Earth, and at its heart it misunderstands (indeed, sort of makes a mockery of) positivism as a scientific principle.

Boing Boing links to a post by Charlie Stross on his blog Charlie's Diary that takes Fermi's paradox apart imagining it as the philosophy of a tapeworm wondering if there are other tapeworms. It is, in Stross's words, "the Fermi paradox, mired in shit." He takes apart its errors point by point.

What we know of the world is well reasoned conjecture based on observation. The observations on which the conjecture that life exists elsewhere in the Universe are the scale of the Universe, the number of galaxies and stars it contains, the likelihood that Earth-like planets exist, and what we know of the circumstances where life could arise. Life elsewhere, somewhere, seems likely.

"If You Believe in Yourself You Will Know How to Ride a Bike"

God Intervenes on Behalf of Cindy Jacobs' Shoes

Yes, ha ha, she's a nut and possibly should be institutionalized. Oh this is funny. Except that Cindy and Mike Jacobs run a huge evangelical Christian network and are leading supporters of Texas Governor Rick Perry. According to their site God Knows "[t]he ministry has moved from a small gathering in Texas to an international movement to reform the nations of the world through ministering in the prophetic and apostolic." Here's some summaries from Right Wing Watch which, although not intended this way, make for hilarity if, um, you have a good sense of dark humor.

Da Capo -- A Beautiful Short Video

Da Capo from JuBaFilms on Vimeo.

Aw, This is So Touching!

As reported by The Onion, America's Finest news Source:

NRA Sends Complimentary Bereavement Gun Baskets To Families Of Shooting Victims

NEWTOWN, CT—As the nation continues to mourn the women and children who lost their lives in last month’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the National Rifle Association has reportedly joined the outpouring of support for families of victims by sending each household a bereavement gun basket. “On behalf of everyone here at the NRA, we extend our deepest sympathies to your family during this difficult time, and hope you enjoy this complimentary assortment of the finest semi-automatic weapons and ammunition,” read the note accompanying each wicker basket, which included a variety of magazine cartridges, shooting range memberships, dried fruits, and high-powered firearms. “If there is any other ammunition or handgun accessory we can send to you, please let us know. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” Sources said the NRA has also offered to match any assault rifle purchase in the Newtown, CT area.

RIP Whiskers

Via Boing Boing. I don't know whether this is a hoax, either (I am going to guess no on this one). Whiskers, we hardly knew ya.

Nat King Cole's Nature Boy with the Mad Men Theme Song, Sung by Allison Williams

This is just simply awesome. Allison Williams, by the way, is the daughter of U.S. television news anchor Brian Williams.

Moonwalk from The Man Who Can Fly

Moonwalk from Bryan Smith on Vimeo.

This shot was part of a bigger project  about Dean Potter for National Geographic called The Man Who Can Fly. Via TIM!

The New York Times Stands Corrected

Coped from media maven :
Megan Amram

Corrections

The New York Times would like to issue corrections for the wedding announcement of Mr. Adam Penview to Ms. Katie Jasper that ran in yesterday’s paper.

We incorrectly identified in the announcement that Mr. Adam Penview and Ms. Katie Jasper were married at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan. They were married at St. Brigid’s.

Additionally, we inaccurately wrote that the groom “attended Cornell University and double-majored in English and Humping Other English Majors’ Girlfriends.” Mr. Penview, in fact, only majored in English. He did not major in “Humping Other English Majors’ Girlfriends,” as that is not currently an existing track of study at Cornell or any other accredited university.

We erroneously wrote yesterday that Mr. Penview was the “son of Dr. Ryan Penview, a third-generation ophthalmologist, and Mrs. Claire Penview, a Zuckerberg-ass beaver-bitch.” Mrs. Penview practiced law in New York State until 2004, and is considered by many to be a friendly and beautiful member of her community, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to Mark Zuckerberg or his rear end. “Beaver-bitch” is not a profession.

We mischaracterized the bride as having worn “a peace [sic] of shit mayonnaise tent. Also, you know how sometimes people see the Virgin Mary in stuff? It was like that, except you could see Hitler in the wedding dress, but specifically because she had hand-embroidered a picture of Hitler in her dress.” In truth, Ms. Jasper wore Amsale.

The Mirage and the Chicago Sun-Times

Thirty five years ago the Chicago Sun-Times ran a 25 part story about graft and corruption in Chicago. It uncovered shakedowns by city and state inspectors who let flagrant violations pass if they were sufficiently paid off, accountants and accounting schemes acting to defraud the State and city of enormous amounts of sales taxes, misuse of government property and demand for payment for routine government services, and criminal shakedowns by a jukebox and gaming vendor. The scene for the story was the aptly named Mirage Tavern:

It looked like any neighborhood tavern in Chicago. The beer was cold, the bratwursts hot.

But the Mirage, 731 N. Wells St., was never quite what it seemed.

It was a tavern operated by the Sun-Times and the Better Government Assn.

The bartenders were reporters and investigators. The repairmen were photographers headed for a hidden loft.

All were investigating years of complaints from small businesses about the day-to-day corruption they face in Chicago, the city that works if you know how to work it.

The Sun-Times will tell the Mirage's story -- with names, dates and amounts -- in the days to come.

The Sun-Times is running the story again. It's an interesting tale, and I wonder if they'd find the same thing today. I suspect the graft is less rampant, and the sales tax fraud is still widespread.

This Looks Like the Fine Work of Galileo Feynman Labs (But It's Not)

Our work is not this well tested.

Bump Firing Your AR-15 at 900 Rounds Per Minute, Legally.

Apparently this is for hunting zombies. Or just hunting. Because assault rifles, particularly assault rifles that fire hundreds of rounds a second, are good for hunting.

This works by "bump firing," where the shooter doesn't pull the trigger back but pulls the rifle forward. Holding it forward with the recoil from each shot pulling it back turns the semi-automatic effectively into an automatic. It's an old technique, but, as discussed at Slate, the perfectly legal Slide Fire turns an ineffective hip firing method into an effective (aimed) shoulder firing method.