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The Complexities of Dying in a High-Tech Era
I thought this recent Fresh Air interview with Robert Martensen was very good: End of Life Care in America, A Doctor's Diagnosis. Martensen discusses the problem of medical intervention in the very...
View ArticleRevisiting Snow’s Two Cultures
New Scientist asked several prominent people for an update on C.P. Snow's Two Cultures: Science and Art: Still Two Cultures Divided? I finally got around to reading Two Cultures a few months ago. What...
View ArticleNYT on “The Coming Superbrain”
John Markoff writes about AI, Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity, and other such things in a New York Times article. Excerpt: Today, artificial intelligence, once the preserve of science fiction writers and...
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Galileo Goes To Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion
Interesting new book edited by historian Ronald L. Numbers: Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion. From the publisher's page: If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in...
View ArticleDan Lyons on Singularity Man Ray Kurzweil
Dan Lyons (formerly Fake Steve Jobs) has an article about Ray Kurzweil, who is behind the new Singularity University and whose book The Singularity is Near will soon be a movie, in Newsweek. Excerpt:...
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New Books
Some recent books I've bought or spotted: Hal Niedzviecki's The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors looks at oversharing in the digital age. Naturally he has a...
View ArticleScientists debate dangers of AI
From the New York Times: Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of...
View ArticleMichael Sandel on Genetics and Morality
"It is tempting to think that bioengineering our children and ourselves for success in a competitive society is an exercise of freedom. But changing our nature to fit the world, rather than the other...
View ArticleRadiation Treatment Errors and Bad Design
The New York Times has an excellent investigative report into radiation treatment errors. They tell the story of two patients who died due to errors, and report on the frequency of these events. Sadly...
View ArticleFukushima
A good article from the Guardian: Quiet voices must be heard to avert a future Fukushima. Some excerpts: Japan's part-natural, part-human disaster is an extraordinary event. As well as dealing with the...
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