{"id":674,"date":"2010-04-05T08:39:50","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T13:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bourdaghs.com\/blog\/?p=674"},"modified":"2010-04-07T18:01:32","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T23:01:32","slug":"this-and-that-science-and-technology-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bourdaghs.com\/blog\/?p=674","title":{"rendered":"This and That: Science and Technology Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

We enjoyed a quiet Easter. I managed to get to church — but cheated, in that my “worship service” consisted of the Art Hoyle<\/a> Quintet performance at Hyde Park Union Church, sponsored by the always wonderful Jazz Sundays series organized by the Hyde Park Jazz Society<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Some interesting science and technology news that’s caught my eye lately:<\/p>\n

The lunatic notion that genetic codes found in nature can be patented is finally facing skeptical court scrutiny, the New York Times<\/em> reported last week<\/a>. For the sake of culture and scholarship, we really need to curb the voracious appetite for infinitely expanding intellectual property claims, and this seems a modest step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Are the problems faced by scientists trying to gear up the Large Haldron Collider actually the work of a Terminator sent from the future in a desperate attempt to head off an unwelcome scientific development? The possibility has been suggested in a series of recent scientific papers, Time <\/em>magazine reports<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Finally, a whole slew of new technological devices and digital scientific analytical techniques are being applied to baseball<\/a>. The conclusion from statistical crunching of multi-angle digitized tracking of pitches over the course of an entire season? That good pitchers paint the corners, while bad ones hang it over the plate. Now they’re turning their attention to batters and defenders and will not doubt reach many revolutionary hypotheses, such as declaring that batters should try to hit the ball with the sweet spot of the bat and that fielders should try to catch the ball with both hands. Ah, the marvels of science. <\/p>\n

In the meanwhile, play ball! The Twins kick off their season tonight in Anaheim. <\/p>\n