Category: Items of Interest

Happy Phi Day! – now with added Pyrofibonacciology

Today is one of the annual celebrations of my quixotic quest to have the “days” associated with particularly important numbers, like Phi (φ) and Pi (π), placed upon days that actually reflect the math behind the numbers. The number Phi (φ) is the ratio between a longer line segment and a shorter line segment in a variety of geometric shapes, including the famous golden rectangle, pentagrams, and the Fibonacci spiral. August 14th is the day in the calendar year that best creates this same ratio between the total length of the year and the date in question. Therefore, August 14th is, or rather should be, celebrated internationally as Phi Day.

Since I run this joint, it is officially Phi Day at The Finch & Pea. If we had merchandise, there would probably be a discount. I suspect this would not change the likelihood that you would buy The Finch & Pea merchandise.

In honor of Phi Day, I thought it might be fun to revisit the foundational text of the field of pyrofibonacciology. Continue reading “Happy Phi Day! – now with added Pyrofibonacciology”

Evolution and Gene Regulation in Chicago

Happening at the U of Chicago today is the ASBMB meeting “Evolution and Core Processes in Gene Regulation”. The attendees here are an eclectic mix of evolutionary geneticists, systems biologists, developmental biologists, and hard core biochemists. So far the result has been fascinating, as Ian Dworkin over at Genes Gone Wild tells us.

Follow the meeting over at #genereg, where Ian has done a great job summarizing the talks in real time.

I’ll try to chime in occasionally during today’s talks (@genologos) and put up some more in depth thoughts on my favorite bits here.

Dewey Decimal Easter Egg?

“Super Why!” Logo (Fair Use)

My kids force me to watch a number of shows I would never have watched on my own that I actually find quite enjoyable, like My Little Pony and Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. Others, like, Super Why!, well, not so much. It is fine. I just happen to not be an illiterate four year-old, putting me outside their target demographic. Continue reading “Dewey Decimal Easter Egg?”

Linkonomicon: Science, Democracy, and Plato’s Revenge

Some decisions clearly require expert knowledge, but democracy is a commitment to letting consequential decisions be resolved by a group of people who are clearly not experts on every important issue, i.e. all of us. And so we have a problem.

My favorite philosopher of science, Philip Kitcher, says Plato would think we’re crazy:

If the public does not think a particular issue should be addressed, then it is entirely right that nothing should be done about it. Plato saw this as a fundamental commitment of democracy, and, because he understood that people may be massively deceived – or misled – about what is in their interests, he drew the conclusion that democracy is a political disaster.

But Kitcher doesn’t think Plato should have the last word. Go check out his ideas about the role of experts in democracy in “Plato’s Revenge: An Undemocratic Report from an Overheated Planet”, via the journal Logos

Send not to know for whom the patent trolls, It trolls for thee

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Edith Ramirez, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced that the FTC is committed to using its investigatory and antitrust powers to take on patent trolls:

First, she revealed that the FTC will conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the conduct of patent trolls. Second, she confirmed that, when appropriate, the FTC is committed to using its antitrust enforcement powers. – Daniel Nazer for EFF