Bench Press

As Ars Technica reports, Sony has decided to pull the plug on experimentation with non-game-related software on the Playstation 3. The latest software updates to the Playstation prevent the user from installing Linux (even on older models that previously could do so), which is the first step for making the PS3 into a more general computer capable of more than playing games.

We’ve mentioned the Playstation 3′s enormous computational potential in the past, and so we’re sad to see this capability disappear. It’s easy to understand the need for the changes from Sony’s perspective; Linux installation allowed for a lot more video game piracy, which is especially important considering that Sony makes very little money from the PS3 unit itself. The PS3 is most likely a loss-leader for Sony’s much more lucrative game licensing business, so Sony decided the cost of supporting the relatively tiny community of researchers and hobbyists just isn’t worth the hit in revenue from allowing video game piracy.

In any case, the newest PS3s don’t have support for general Linux installation in any case, so the overall impact of this software update will probably be limited. Existing users won’t need to install the software unless they really want to play games online on the Playstation Network, and newer users won’t be missing much anyway. Still, the older PS3 was a relatively inexpensive way to obtain a test-machine that had IBM’s Cell processor, since Sony could aggressively price their PS3s through large economies of scale. It’s just too bad that the newest PS3s and older PS3s with the new software won’t be able to contribute to massive scientific computational projects for the betterment of mankind.

A recent publication (requires access; discussed at a high level here) in Nature actually demonstrates quantum effects on a “large” object (still only 30 micrometers, but much larger than the single/handful of particles where it’s been demonstrated previously). Scientists were literally able to make a paddle simultaneously vibrate and not vibrate! This modern day Schrödinger’s Cat inspired me to look for something nerdy to commemorate this.

Behold: take Hello Kitty, and mix it with a little Schrödinger’s Cat, and put it on a shirt, and you get “Hello Schroddy”:

Interestingly, the shirt also comes with printable explanation cards so that you don’t have to explain it to the quantum-ly-challenged:

Schrödinger’s Cat is a thought experiment. In quantum physics, a subatomic particle can exist in multiple states at once (imagine coming to a fork in the road and going both left and right). All of these possibilities combined is a thing called quantum superposition. When the particle is observed, however, it collapses into a single state, giving us the option of left or right not some of both left and right at the same time. To explain how difficult it is to conceive of this indeterminacy at a non-subatomic level, Schrödinger described a hypothetical experiment involving a cat. He puts the cat in an opaque box so that the cat cannot be observed. Also in the box is a flask of poisonous gas and a radioactive substance. The radioactive substance controls the flask so that when an atom decays, the gas is released. At any given moment, then, from outside the box, the cat is in a state of indeterminacy. From a theoretical perspective, it’s both alive and dead at the same time… until we open the box.

No actual cats were harmed in this experiment. Many theoretical physicists, however, were.

Now, who’s the lucky lady who’s going to receive one of these from you, huh?

(ThinkGeek link; comes in pink in many sizes, $18.99)

Paper: O’Connell, A. D., et al. “Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator.” Nature. Mar 17 2010. DOI: 10.1038/nature08967

Previously at Bench Press we’ve written about the power of distributive computing and it’s ability to pool resources from volunteers over the internet to tackle projects on protein folding and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. As distributed computing approaches mainstream, numerous projects focusing on a variety of questions have emerged.

One project that caught my eye is the Quake-Catcher Network (QCN). The network is described as

a collaborative initiative for developing the world’s largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers.

The QCN utilizes accelerometers attached to computers to monitor for vibrations. Vibrations detected by the accelerometer are then recorded and compared to readings from other computers in the network. Only when a sufficient number of computers report comparable readings at the same time will the data be reported as an earthquake. Most recently the QCN detected a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in the Los Angeles area yesterday morning. The data generated from QCN participants can be seen here.

The beauty of the QCN is the enormous cost savings their approach can provide in comparison to traditional seismic networks like those run by the USGS. New accelerometers are now much more affordable. Sensors that plug into a USB port can cost less than $50. In addition, an increasingly common feature for laptops is a built in accelerometer to detect sudden movements like drops in order to shut down components to protect them from damage. These accelerometers can be utilized and provide a fairly large potential participant base who merely need to install BOINC and join the QCN project to begin providing data to the network.

As the number of QCN participants grows the heads of the project, Drs. Elizabeth Cochran and Jesse Lawrence, hope the network will provide not only a wealth of data for geologists but potentially a small bit of warning in the event of a large earthquake for those miles away from the epicenter. Currently, Drs. Cochran and Lawrence are working hard to increase the number of participants while also providing educational tools for use in schools to teach about earthquakes and science behind them.

Living in San Diego I think I’m in a prime location to help out so I look forward to contributing some data to the QCN (magnitude 4.0 or less please!).

(Join the Quake-Catcher Network)(Source – LA Times)

We posted before about the rhymes of Stanford University biologist Tom McFadden who creates very inspired raps about science to help his undergraduate students prepare for exams. A friend of mine showed me one of his latest creations, a remake of Fifty Cent and The Game’s song Hate It or Love It about metabolism.

What especially caught my eye, however, was another video in McFadden’s collection: “Clouds Make it Rain”. It’s a re-make of the Fat Joe song “Make it Rain”, but what made it special was that instead of the usual undergraduate-level “flow”, this was focused on and starred a classroom of fifth graders! According to the YouTube caption, McFadden worked with a classroom at East Palo Alto Chartered School with a program of field trips, lab experiments, and short presentations to study the water cycle and its impact on insect life.

East Palo Alto is notorious for being a difficult neighborhood, especially for children. This project’s use of hip hop and other integrated learning experiences strikes me as an ideal way to better connect science to the children’s lives and to make the learning more fun and memorable. Judging from the quality of the music video and the enthusiasm of the kids in it, I think this counts as a strong success.

Well done!

I’ve never understood why researchers or authors cheat or plagiarize. Either what you’re lying/cheating on is completely inconsequential, and hence its not worth it to risk your career/reputation over being caught, or its a big deal and sooner or later someone will verify it.

And as Derek Lowe’s blog In the Pipeline points out in a recent post, it’s especially not worth it when someone is extorting you. Apparently a postdoc in Peter Schultz’s renowned group at Scripps named Zhiwen Zhang did a little fudging in some published papers on incorporating glycosylated amino acids into proteins.

Around the time that the Schultz lab was starting to have difficulty replicating Zhang’s work, Zhang apparently began receiving e-mails at his new faculty position at the University of Texas which demanded he send $4000 to an address in San Diego or “you lose job… Texas will fire you before you tenure”

The San Diego police were apparently involved and, although they found a suspect, Zhang did not press charges (presumably to avoid publicizing his fib?). Eventually, though, the extortionist sent an anonymous letter to Scripps, University of Texas, and a number of publications, and Zhang was denied tenure.

Who was our mystery blackmailist? And who knew what and when? I have no idea, but I will say two things:

1. Don’t cheat in a publication. Like I said before, it either doesn’t matter enough to risk your career or it matters a great deal and, in that case, you’ll be caught when someone tries to replicate your work.
2. It’s only in the era of the internet that such a thing gets spread so widely and so quickly.

(Comic credit – CheatATE)