· January, 2008

Stories about Science from January, 2008

Russia: Osoaviakhim-1

  30 January 2008

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the Soviet balloon Osoaviakhim-1, which reached the record altitude of 22,000 meters on Jan. 30, 1934, but crashed during the descent.

Africa: Mathematics in African architecture

  24 January 2008

Afropolitan posts a video of Ron Eglash talking about mathematics in African architecture: “Mathmetician Ron Eglash traveled to Africa to do research on fractals. What he found was amazing, but not surprising to those of us who appreciate the ingenuity and creativeness in Africa.”

Africa: AfriGadget get a new look

  24 January 2008

AfriGadget has a new look: “We’re proud to announce a brand new design for AfriGadget! The old design was rather old and ugly, so thanks for putting up with it for the last 20 months. Actually, I think the reason that there are so many more RSS”

Environment: ‘Green Deserts’ in China

  9 January 2008

Gaoming Jiang of China Dialogue writes of ‘green deserts’ characterized by poplar trees and nothing else. “The Chinese government should consider the needs of local species and biodiversity. We need to consider planting slow-growth but high-quality wood alongside faster-growing species. We must reduce the dominance of the poplar, allowing natural...

Russia: Nikolai Marr

  7 January 2008

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis shares an extraordinary story of the life and work of Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr: “He became a great polyglot and could have become a great linguist, had it not been for the passion and obsession with his own unsubstantiated theories. He never even completed a single...

Singapore: Bathing Birds

  4 January 2008

Do birds take a water bath only when the weather is hot? asks YC at the Bird Ecology Study Group blog in Singapore.