Piltdown paradoxically presents robustness of science

It is 100 years since one of the great scientific hoaxes was perpetrated. In 1912, 50+ years after the publication of Darwin's seminal 'Origin of Secies' there were paeleo-anthropologists who were desperate to find the missing link between humans and their primate ancestors. so desperate in fact that if an unscrupulous 'scientist' were to come along and present them with some manufactured 'evidence' they would be all too willing to believe him. Enter Charles Dawson

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248916/Piltdown-Man-The-truth-fraud-revealed-100-years-fooled-world.html

He 'found' the skull of an ancestor with both human and primate characteristics in situ in the gravel beds near Piltdwon alongside much sought evidence of tool use by this species. It was a sensation and for 50 or so years seemed to have proved that missing link. Dawson however was a dubious character, an amateur who inveigled his way into scientific societies through amazing discoveries, a good proportion of which later proved to be fake.

At the time there were those who were sceptical but they were swept to one side by the excitement of the find, the prestige it brought to British paeleo-anthropology and the sheer desire of so may to confirm a find that was almost too good to be true.

Any scientist will tell you however if it seems too good to be true then it probably is just that; too good to be true. Every piece of evidence must be painstakingly analysed. Your own theories and desires for certain conclusions to be reached must be put to one side. If the evidence proves you wrong that is still a valuable conclusion and you have learnt something worthwhile and modify your approach/opinion.

It is in this latter point that the robustness of science can be seen. There were voices of dissent about Dawson's find and they didn't go away. Eventually the finds were proved to have been faked, teeth filed to look more human, bones stained to match the look of the age of the gravel pits. Dating methods much improved and were applied disproving once and for all the alleged ancientness of the bones.

Science is good like that, you are allowed to be sceptical, to question, to check, to re-check, to bring empiricism and new evidence to bear. Unlike religion there is no dogma, if you prove a previous scientist wrong it does not have to diminish them Einstein's universe view does not match Newton's but we still think they are both great scientists.

So in a way Dawson did us all a favour. whenever you look at the 'evidence' people present then analyse it rationally, bring critical thinking to bear and remember that when we have eliminated all else whatever is left no matter how seemingly impossible must be the truth.

Ever evolving language

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20332763

Language is, was and always will be a tool of communication. There are those who want to cherish and protect it, keeping it safe from all 'harmful' transformation. I am one of the first to shudder when the English language is mangled and processed and re-designed in the mouths of some, the linguistic barbs of teens for instance are incomprehensible at times. Some text language seemed like it would need a Rosetta stone to decipher initially. Yet we are and have adapted to things and will continue to do so. Simply because language is just that; a tool to be used and adapted.

No engineer would still want to use hand driven equipment if they could replace it wit water driven, steam, electric, solar whatever that was more productive and efficient. They understand the importance of adapting tools for their benefit. Hence so should we who sometimes seek to protect our languages. We need to be less precious about it. the Internet has opened up global communication in an unprecedented manner, and if that means the adaptation of language in multiple directions leading to greater ease of communication then that can only be a good thing.

The mistaken belief that language is sacrosanct may be an egregious conclusion.

Emphatically NOT Ada's 197th birthday.

I have to begin by professing my ignorance her. Prior to today i had never heard of Ada Lovelace. It is very gratifying then for those associated with her, with Babbage's early computer and in the realm of mathematics to have her celebrated. It is always a pleasure to learn about someone new and of the contribution to society/knowledge they have made that one might never otherwise have known of. For this Google should be saluted, it is something they do well.

However, - it is emphatically NOT Ada Lovelace's 197th birthday today As Google so inappropriately claims! Not to put too fine or indelicate a point in it, the lady is dead. She has passed on is no longer with us. She is NOT celebrating her 197th birthday! one imagines if she were she would be accompanied by someone from the Guinness book of records, historians clamouring for interviews and medical students/Doctors trying to assess the reason of such longevity.

Today is the anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth - the 197th anniversary at that. There can be no objection to celebrating such a thing, least of all from me, just so long as we remember it's NOT her birthday but the anniversary of her birth.

Clever viral advertising - Star Trek and the missing 12 seconds

Well, yesterday (and today for that matter) the Internet was a-buzz in the land of nerdery as trailers were released for next years 'Star Trek - into Darkness' film.

The main point of contention thought is that the Japanese trailer is 12 seconds longer than the on released to Western markets and shows an obvious homage scene to Wrath of Khan as we see 2 hands meet through plate glass a la Kirk & Spock in Star trek 2.

Whilst I 'm sure they're not repeating this plot line with a crew so recently put together and a potential series of films in front of them on e must question the editing policy here.

Why have those extra 12 seconds in Japan and nowhere else? Well, to be honest I think it's a brilliant marketing ploy. They know the Internet is globally connected - people will talk about this. People talking about your film - long before it actually comes out - and creating a viral news story like this is probably better advertising than just doing the full trailer direct globally.

So there you have it, we live in a tech savvy connected age, where even the advertisers of monstrously huge franchises realise the value of the viral marketing scene - and just how much coverage 121 seconds of film can reap!

Happy Birthday SMS

20 years ago on the 3rd of December the first officially recognised text message was sent, a rather charming if brief 'merry christmas' from one colleague to another. It is doubtful whether those involved in the inception of the idea can have had any inkling of how socially prevalent it would become. It is estimated that last year alone 8 trillion text messages were sent! Aside from just how much revenue this must generate for the networks involved, that figure is truly staggering.

People complain that we have lost the art of conversation. That we no longer communicate, that we are inhibited from interacting with each other because of all the artificial barriers in place, such as texting and the Internet. Perhaps we should take an alternative view though.

The proliferation of sites like Facebook and Twitter, the explosion of subject specific Internet forums,(catering to the individual on so many levels, e.g. the sports or teams they follow, the TV shows they watch, the fictional characters they wish to discuss and many many more), the irresistible rising tide of texting reflect one thing - we humans have an inherent compulsion to communicate and we invent ever more elaborate ways to do so. There are so many channels to go through now we are spoilt for choice. it's not that we can't communicate any more, it's more a case that we have to select what we want to discuss from a sea of information and interest.

So Happy Birthday SMS - you opened up another channel of communication - and this is a good thing.