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Author Archives: Bruno Van de Casteele
How ancient Indian astronomy can enrich modern science
Sometimes the news is less scarier than the title suggests. For instance, when I read here about “link astronomy to ancient science”, my skeptical senses started tingling. Reading in the first few paragraphs about “astronomy [...] should be linked with ancient / read more…
First powered flight – controversy solved by law?
A somehow odd news item came to my attention this week. The Connecticut State Senate voted in favour of a bill that gives recognition to Gustave Whitehead for being the first human being to fly a heavier-than-air and powered aircraft. / read more…
Posted in Science
Why silver looks like silver, and gold looks like gold
I used to give introductory trainings to astronomy. One nice way to start those was asking people to look at their rings or any other gold object. The point was that this gold, though mined on Earth, was really created / read more…
Posted in Cool Stuff / Science
The real speaking robot
This is just an amazing piece of technology, even though it’s not complete yet. After the robotic music band, here is the talking robot. No, I mean really talking, not just (as we are already used to) a speaker that / read more…
Posted in Cool Stuff / Technology
Belgian hype around mindfulness
Last Thursday there was a documentary on the public television network (Dutch) here in my country about Mindfulness. In an hour-long documentary, this hyped phenomenon was presented in a rather nuanced way, with both the advantages and risks associated with this psychotherapy. Luckily / read more…
Posted in Health / New Age / Pseudoscience / Science / TV & Media
Centralized production of Roman glass
Sometimes we underestimate the capacities of our ancestors. Take for instance the ancient Romans, who developed the craft of blowing glass, instead of casting it. The results are sometimes phenomenally beautiful, as the Wikipedia page on Roman glass attests. The knowledge of / read more…
Posted in Science
Herschel closes its eyes – for good
ESA, the European Space Agency, announced several days ago that their infrared space observatory, Herschel, has gone blind. The probe was specialized in observing near-infrared and sub-millimeter wavelengths, but had to be cooled to almost absolute zero in order to / read more…
How an Excel error impacted the world
In 2010, an important economic science paper was published by Reinhart and Rogoff (pdf here). One of their main points was that countries with a public debt above 90% of GDP had a significant lower economic growth rate. They compared data / read more…
Posted in Science / Technology
The hygiene of wind
Hygiene in a hospital environment is very important. Medical staff with a cold are only allowed around critical patients with the necessary protection – or not at all. This is quite normal, as sneezing and coughing can spread diseases. So / read more…
Caviar against aging
On my way to work (by car, while listening to podcasts), I pass this beauty parlor. Some time ago, as seen in the picture, it offered a promotion. Translated it reads “anti aging facial treatment with caviar – new”.
Posted in Health / Pseudoscience
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