tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76511932011-04-21T23:29:46.951+01:00Here you'll find some of my views regarding issues that transcend the usual daily worries, be they scientific, ethic, metaphisical or other. For the daily chitchat check luisferreira.blogspot.com.Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1117926943484281412005-06-05T00:13:00.000+01:002005-06-05T00:15:43.493+01:00

In the past, when I heard that someone had become a buddhist (Richard Gere for instance) I always felt it was a bit ridiculous. The small effort that I dedicated to the critic of such people left only room for making fun of it. My respect and sympathy for the figure of the Dalai Lama, however, has existed since I heard about him, so I was left in the middle of these two attitudes, in a shaky

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1115900683070205432005-05-12T13:24:00.000+01:002005-05-12T13:27:47.466+01:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Self-replicating robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction.Scientists at the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York have created small robots that can build copies of themselves.Each robot consists of several 10-cm (4 inch) cubes which have identical machinery, electromagnets to attach and detach to each other and a computer program for replication. The robots can bend

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1112949705761634282005-04-08T09:32:00.000+01:002005-04-08T09:41:45.763+01:00

My friend Pedro sent me this Wikipedia article about Grey Goo, a hypothetical end-of-the-world event involving nanotechnology. I was worried with this some two years ago and I remeber Bill Joy from Sun was very worried with the possibility. I found some more info on this here.

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1108751269573296492005-02-18T17:52:00.000Z2005-02-18T18:44:25.136Z

I just finished reading the book "The Way of Zen" by Alan W. Watts, (or rather, a portuguese translation of it). I was motivated by a sudden interest on Haiku poetry and a fascination for Koans. Beginning only as a superficial interest, in a short while I found myself delving deeper into it and accepting a colleague's offer to read the book just mentioned, since she remembered having read in the

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1105350649785780972005-01-10T09:41:00.000Z2005-01-10T09:50:49.786Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - Humanist and atheist groups around the world are looking to boost their profile in 2005 to counter religious fundamentalism and efforts by some Western leaders to relaunch faith as a keystone of national life. Under pressure from the rise of militant Islam, Vatican activism in the European Union and the re-election of a "born-again" Christian to the White House, they feel they

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1101304308691757302004-11-24T13:50:00.000Z2004-11-24T13:51:48.690Z

I found this interesting link on the Philospohical foundations of Personality Theory.

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1093264618384461132004-08-23T13:26:00.000+01:002004-08-23T13:51:15.560+01:00

Given enough time, atoms and other more basic particles (1) subject to varying conditions and sheer randomness produced by accident structures even more stable than the atoms themselves. As before, this further level of stability means not only internal stability but also greater resistence to interference by other particles. Form protons neutrons and electrons to atoms and then to molecules (and

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1093252534191660352004-08-23T09:56:00.000+01:002004-08-23T10:37:46.650+01:00

We use the word atom to designate an aggregation of neutrons, protons, and electrons which form a stable structure. They have become common because, by definition, stable structures tend to survive longer than unstable structures. This stability is very convenient for us as observers. We can trust that within certain conditions atoms behave in well-known ways, allowing us to abstract much of the

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1092996653833383672004-08-20T10:58:00.000+01:002004-08-20T15:17:24.626+01:00

At a low level of analysis of the physical world, there are neutrons, and protons, and electrons. We know these apparently basic particles are themselves composed of still smaller particles, quarks, etc., although I hope that such level of detail will not be needed here (1). At this level, we see particles move and interact. The complexity is overwhelming, since the sheer number of entities is

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1092920596429159672004-08-19T13:59:00.000+01:002004-08-19T14:03:16.430+01:00

One problem I have faced in trying to reach an understanding of what I am and what I am doing here is the top-down approach usually taken. It's the high-level concept of Me that I'm familiar with, so it's a natural tendency. :-) I will try to invert that tendency here, hoping that by putting together limited scientific knowledge, honest and logic reasoning, and courage to ignore any undesirable

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1092227573755031862004-08-11T13:29:00.000+01:002004-08-11T14:13:13.913+01:00

Reuters - August 11th, 2004British scientists said on Wednesday they had been granted permission to clone human embryos for medical research, thought to be the first such license given in Europe. Researchers at the University of Newcastle in northern England will be allowed to create embryos as a source of stem cells to cure diseases after being given permission by the government's regulator, a

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1090487645223682322004-07-22T10:05:00.000+01:002004-08-11T14:12:34.116+01:00

Peter Griffiths, Reuters - July 22nd, 2004 Cosmologist Stephen Hawking lost one of the most famous bets in scientific history Wednesday after he rejected the 1975 black hole theory that helped make his name. The best-selling author of "A Brief History of Time" conceded that American physicist John Preskill was right to doubt his theory and gave him a baseball book as a prize. "I am now ready to

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1090403427523985312004-07-21T10:46:00.000+01:002004-07-21T11:05:07.733+01:00

A braver soldier never couched lance, A gentler heart did never sway in court: But kings and mightiest potentates must die, For that's the end of human misery. - Shakespeare, "King Henry the Sixth"

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1090317792819897592004-07-20T10:59:00.000+01:002004-07-21T11:04:35.670+01:00

Appetite is to emotion as desire is to feeling - Antonio Damasio

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1090227278466981582004-07-19T09:54:00.000+01:002004-07-21T11:04:18.980+01:00

Love is nothing but a pleasurable state,  joy,  accompanied by the idea of an external cause. - Spinoza

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7651193.post-1089982136084750022004-07-16T13:44:00.000+01:002004-07-16T13:48:56.083+01:00

Not surprisingly, there's a tremendous amount of energy, but not too much matter. Time will pass before anything of substance shows up. Patience is now the primary value. This blog has just been created.

Luishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15033564635715344344noreply@blogger.com0