Mirror bacteria May 3, 2025
This People I (Mostly) Admire podcast episode introduced me to the concept of mirror bacteria (or mirror life) which is the idea that biology uses molecules of a specific chirality, i.e. molecular formations that are either right-handed or left-handed.  The same chemical can exist in either form, but all biology tends to use molecules of a specific handedness, e.g. proteins are exclusively composed of left-handed amino acids.  There's a scary idea out there that if left-handed bacteria suddenly evolved or were created in a lab, the human immune system would be unable to defend itself because it evolved to recognize right-handed bacteria only. #science
More than five senses May 3, 2025
The traditional "five senses" we learned in grade school (via Aristotle) -- sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing -- are associated with specific sensor organs on the human body:  eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue.  But it's widely established now that there are more than five senses.  Temperature can be sensed by the skin or tongue, but it's different than simply sense of touch.  Balance and body orientation are sensed by the inner ear.  You can sense when you're moving versus stationary.  I would add a couple weird ones to the list:  You can often sense when someone is standing close to you, or if they're looking at you. #science
Engineering energy Jun 18, 2024
Engineering is essentially all about taking one type of energy -- mechanical, electrical, chemical, nuclear, solar, gravitational, orbital, potential, kinetic -- and converting it into a different type of energy, storing it for later, or using it to move or create or destroy something. #science
Believing in aliens Nov 8, 2023
I was asked recently if I believe in aliens.  Here's what my response would have been if I wasn't drinking: 

1.  I fundamentally believe there's a natural explanation for everything.  This is called naturalism, and it's the opposite of supernaturalism (e.g. religion).  Human beings have, for a long time, come up with supernatural and sometimes absurd explanations for things they didn't understand.  "God created the earth, then the sun" (oops, wrong order).  "Earthquakes are god's punishment for something" (oops, plate tectonics).  "You're sick because of bad air" (oops, germs). 

That's not to say people are big dumb stupid idiots.  I would go with less aggressive words like "ignorant" (i.e. didn't know) or "naive" (i.e. didn't know enough).  As we learned more, there was less of a need for supernatural explanations for things because we discovered natural explanations.  There are literally countless examples throughout the history of scientific discovery. 

I believe aliens fit in that category.  The pictures, videos, and eyewitness testimony all follow the pattern of, "I don't know what I'm looking at, so it must be aliens."  It's the same with "ancient aliens" who supposedly helped us build the pyramids and whatnot.  "I can't imagine a way humans could've built this structure, therefore aliens did it."  It's a failure of imagination. 

I don't have a good answer or explanation for things people attribute to aliens.  And I understand the thought process of appealing to that logic, because it does make a certain amount of sense.  But based on our well-documented human history of mis-attribution, I'm holding off judgment until we get some better data. 

2.  However, I also think the existence of aliens is pretty likely.  Another common theme in human history is thinking we're the center of everything and assuming we're unique.  We used to think the earth was the center of the solar system and the center of the universe, but it turned out to be sort of the opposite.  We used to think biological life was temperamental and rare, requiring just the right mixture of air and water and sunlight, but then we found things on hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean.  Life is not difficult, and we're not unique. 

If there are [whatever] billions of galaxies in the universe, and [whatever] billions of stars in each galaxy, the idea of a rocky planet in a goldilocks zone hospitable to some sort of life is at the very least conceivable, if not a near certainty.  It would be the ultimate example of human hubris to assume we're alone in the universe.  It might be alien bugs or alien lobsters instead of alien humanoids, but still. 

3.  That being said, I think the pro-alien lobby (just made that up) is a little short on evidence.  Claiming a certain rock couldn't have been cut or moved by people of a certain era because they didn't have the proper tools, and then claiming it's aliens -- this is like answering a question with a question.  You couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, so you went with unreasonable.  Or capturing a shaky-cam video of some lights in the sky that look weird -- like seriously have you never heard of image stabilization?  It's like Bigfoot sightings:  You're telling me in the 200 or so years of the existence of cameras, we haven't been able to capture a single clear shot? 

Discounting government cover-up conspiracy theories (a topic for another day), the evidence has yet to be compelling.  Interesting?  Yes.  But conclusive?  No.  However, to quote Bill Nye when he was asked what if anything would change his mind:  "Evidence." #science
Weird facts Nov 8, 2023
I always come across those listicles that are like, "17 Amazing Facts About Nature," and I'd say my favorite facts are these: 
#science
Wet-bulb temperature Jul 17, 2023
Since this has been coming up a lot lately,
The wet-bulb temperature is the temperature read by a thermometer covered in water-soaked cloth over which air is passed.  The wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached under current ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only.

Even heat-adapted people cannot carry out normal outdoor activities past a wet-bulb temperature of 32°C (90°F), equivalent to a heat index of 55°C (131°F). A reading of 35°C (95°F) -- equivalent to a heat index of 71°C (160°F) -- is considered the theoretical human survivability limit for up to six hours of exposure.
In other words, if the wet-bulb temperature gets too high, the human body loses its ability to cool down by sweating, so you can simply die from being too hot. #science
Memory eraser drugs Jun 27, 2023
Here's something I recently learned about and find both fascinating and terrifying:
Midazolam is a benzodiazepine with antianxiety and sedative effects. Because of rapid onset and short duration of action, it is commonly used in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to create anterograde amnesia, which prevents undesirable memory of the procedure that is painful for the patient.
There's a whole class of drugs that have this effect.  I always thought anesthesia drugs just sort of put you to sleep.  I didn't realize they actively prevent your brain from forming new memories. #science
Evidence vs. reality Jun 24, 2023
I'm a pretty big believer in the idea that evidence should mostly guide our actions and opinions.  For example, I'm in the camp that pretty much all vitamin and mineral supplements are essentially worthless for most reasonably healthy people.  If you eat an even modestly healthy diet, a vitamin supplement won't boost your immune system or cleanse your liver or whatever ridiculous thing it says on the bottle.  It's all complete quackery, based on incomplete or mis-information, often appealing to the "eastern" or "ancient" ways of thinking which is attractive to modern westerners.  [Side note:  When an eastern medicine works, it's no longer called eastern medicine, it's just called medicine.]

However, when I'm sick or stressed or not sleeping well and there's a supplement that claims to fix that, I'll swallow my pride and give it a shot.  I think part of the appeal is that it feels like you're addressing the issue by doing something.  And doing something seems better than doing nothing.  Plus there usually aren't many downsides to supplements because you just pee them out anyway.  So the worst result you could get is that they work.  So far I'm batting 0 for 1000, but hey why not try some new weird pill? #science
Convergent evolution Mar 31, 2022
Convergent evolution is "the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time".  A simple example is fish and dolphins.  Fish didn't just become dolphins.  First a non-fish became a fish, then they exited the water, then they grew legs, then they re-entered the water, then they lost their legs.  Both fish and dolphins became water-dwelling fin-propelled animals at completely different points in history and in different branches of the tree of life. 

Pretty much every section of that Wikipedia page made my jaw drop, but the part about light skin color evolving twice was pretty cool. #science
Masks Mar 8, 2022
Let me start by saying I'm not an expert and I didn't do any research for what I'm about to write, so I could be completely wrong. 

It's my understanding that humans spread germs to each other through their face holes.  People talk, whisper, laugh, sing, yell, cough, sneeze, and do a variety of other things to propel germs out of their bodies and into the bodies of the people around them.  It's disgusting. 

It seems to me that anything that can possibly prevent this from occurring is probably a decent way to reduce the spread of germs.  That could be
  • physical separation, i.e. distance
  • a solid barrier, like a wall or window
  • a flexible barrier around each person, like a bubble suit
  • a face shield like a welder's mask
  • a mask covering the mouth and nose
Somewhat obviously, a wall is a better germ barrier than a face mask.  But a mask still does something, albeit less than some of the other options.  Some mask materials are probably better than others, but I would imagine any mask is better at preventing the spread of germs than no mask at all.  Doctors and nurses and dentists have known and practiced this for decades (at least). 

There was talk early on in the pandemic about whether or not masks are helpful at all.  And there's been talk more recently about which mask material is best.  The LA Times actually has a good writeup of the CDC's history of discouraging and then encouraging mask use throughout the pandemic (whoops).  I would estimate, again not an expert, that masks are and were probably helpful at reducing the spread of Covid. #science