Bill's Notebook

Great story on how network analysis can explain the 2008 collapse.  Look at the four network diagrams in the middle of the article.  You can see the various sectors of the economy gradually merge together.  The most alarming trend is how real estate went from an almost isolated sector to being the center of the combined networks.  Graphic proof of how the growing interdependence between the sectors fueled by increasingly exotic investment instruments short-circuited the regulatory safeguards of  the economy.

After several ScienceBlogs have left, Seed dropped “Food Frontiers” (blog sponsored by Pepsi).  A lot of postings back and forth over Seed‘s decision but one blogger made a rather telling point: if Seed‘s finances are to the point that they had to accept money for a sponsored blog that does not bode well for the future of ScienceBlogs.

Whatever the result, I’m dropping ScienceBlogs from my Bloglines reader.  Time to find some new science blogs that actually post about science.

A few years ago, I picked up the premiere issue of Seed magazine.  The magazine was devoted to science as culture and it was great.  Wonderful, insightful articles and some amazing photographs which reminded me of OMNI magazine in its prime.  Seed also had a great online presence with a network of science blogs.  I looked forward to the magazine every month and reading the blogs everyday.

Then the last issue appeared in May of 2009.  There was an announcement on the website that the next issue would be out on June 2009 but none have appeared since that May issue.  The ScienceBlogs are still active but they haven’t been as good as they used to.  The better blogs have moved on to other sites and what is left is not that focused on scientific (with a few exceptions).  You have a few blogs that spend most of their time arguing with creationists and fundamentalists; other blogs that essentially repost clips from Olberman, Maddow, or Jon Stewart; and a couple of self-aggrandizing blogs.  There are a few standout blogs that I enjoy but they seem to leave after a while or stop posting altogether.

Now, ScienceBlogs has a new blog from PepsiCo called Food Frontiers.  A corporate-sponsored blog has the other ScienceBloggers up in arms about this conflict of interest.  I find it an interesting position when Seed magazine had advertisements and the ScienceBlog site has banner ads all over it.  The other blogs have touted their own books and others (one blog even has a “shoe of the week” which is tongue-in-cheek but can be construed as blatant advertising).  To me, this is just another sign of the decline of Seed and ScienceBlogs because to allow such a blatantly commercial blog speaks of a desperate attempt to raise money.  And once Seed lets in one commercial blog, it is opening the door to more.

This is a sad reflection on modern science as it has been recently revealed how corporations have funded research that conveniently confirms the interests of the corporate sponsors.  I guess I didn’t expect this with science journalism.  It is sad to see but there are other science magazines and science blogs.  I really did like Seed and ScienceBlogs and I hope that they rediscover their objectivity.

Nancy Dixon (author of one of the best books on communities of practice – CompanyCommand) has a great blog post about how NASA used conversation to capture knowledge gained from currently canceled Constellation program.  She describes how she helped NASA develop a knowledge capture strategy by working with NASA employees and other thought leaders in knowledge management.  Some excellent stuff here and I hope she formalizes the process into a book.

The bright side of wrong

It’s basically the disappointment of expecting a cool toy on Christmas morning and you actually receive a pair of sensible pants.

Three interesting articles on memory.  The first is from the Frontal Cortex and it is a great summary of the second article which is an eight-part series on Slate’s experiment in altering political truths.  What Slate has done is to create four political myths and then inserted them into news stories (like 1984’s Ministry of Truth).  Then, Slate surveyed their readers to determine who picked up on the fakes.

Many readers picked out the fakes.  But, of the ones who didn’t, they were sure they remembered the incident.  The numbers rose when people were shown faked photos of the mythical events.  In some cases, people had elaborate memories surrounding the faked event.

Why does this happen?  Because, as Frontal Cortex explains, we reconstruct our memories every time we remember something.  And the more we remember something, the less accurate it becomes as we reconsolidate the memory.  We start adding new interpretations to remembered events and we add details that were not possible at the time of the memory.

Why isn’t memory a fixed and unchanging mental construct?  One possible answer could be in the third article – “Modeling the mobility of living organisms in heterogeneous landscapes: Does memory improve foraging success?”  This research article describes how foraging animals who inject some randomness into their search are seven times more effective than foragers who rely on their memory of past finds when both are searching in a changed landscape.

So, could reconstructing memories give us an advantage by allowing us to incorporate later experiences and thus we have a better understanding of past events that can guide us in current problem solving?  Are our imperfect memories a way to inject randomness into our thought processes and make us more effective thinkers?

This is why it is always a good idea to make notes when we need to remember something important or significant.  I have found that revisiting a journal entry from years past is always surprising because my memory of the event usually differs from what I wrote at the time.  Even photos can be a great check on our memories.

Unless you do have a photo of you meeting Bugs Bunny at Disneyland.  Then you know that someone has faked the photo.

“Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?”
The Graduate – 1967

In the late 60s, plastics may have been the growth industry but, according to Mike Loukides at O’Reilly Radar, the ability to work with data is the new growth industry.

Plasma rocket technology is a game-changer in space exploration.  With plasma rockets, we could travel to Mars in 39 days rather than the estimated 18 months by chemical rockets.  Plasma rocket technology will also make commercial mining of asteroids a real possibility.

After several studies on why lying is an important advantage in personal mental development, we have research that describes how cooperation evolved from our social need to punish cheaters.  To me, this is a great example of game theory in that what benefits us personally would not benefit society if adopted by everyone.  So, we are willing to tolerate leaders who lie well as long as the society benefits but we curb the leader’s self-interest once society suffers.  Fascinating dynamic tension in play here.