Brent Kearney

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, and I was hoping to have this blog redesigned before my next post. Oh well. I’ve been busy with all kinds of things in the past few months.

There has been a lot of cool developments in the news since Christmas, stuff I’d normally mention (this is, after all, a *web log*). So I thought I’d write a quick little summary of some interesting things I’ve recently read.

Underwater Breathing Device Invented

As reported on IsraCast, an Israeli engineer has invented a device that allows people to breath the oxygen stored in water, the way that fish do. It’s still experimental, but in a few years, “the new tankless breathing system will be operational and will be attached to a diver in the form of a vest that will enable him to stay underwater for a period of many hours.”

Science Gains Insights About Morality via Brain Injury and Primate Studies

The Science section of the New York Times has an interesting article on the study of primates and their altruistic behavior, which strongly overlaps our own. This research shows that morality evolved long before philosophy or religion. Also, a very interesting finding, as reported by Reuters, about a study on people with a particular frontal lobe brain injury: they were more likely to make utilitarian ethical choices. That is, when confronted with the choice of doing harm to an individual for the benefit of the larger group v.s. doing no harm to an individual despite consequences for a group of people, they would choose the former. Many people choose the latter. For example, would you kill your own child so that 10 other children could live? The subjects of this study would usually say “yes”. They should have titled the study, “How to fix a Kantian.”

British Research Shows that Alcohol and Tobacco are as Bad as Presently Illegal Drugs

“In the end, the experts agreed with each other — but not with the existing British classification of dangerous substances.” This article in Time details a study in the U.K. of 20 different drugs and their harmful effects on people and society. They came up with a danger ranking of substances that people use recreationally; alcohol placed 6th and tobacco 9th. Marijuana placed 11th, and surprisingly, Ecstasy came in last, at 20th. “The current drug system is ill thought-out and arbitrary,” argues the head scientist, however, his conclusion is rather obtuse: that alcohol and tobacco should be banned as well. I think many people would argue the opposite: that all of the other drugs should be legalized, or at least those below 5th on the list.

Skiing in Banff Still Rocks

Last but not least, I wanted to mention that despite the very warm temperatures lately, the ski conditions at Sunshine this week were superb. They got 37cm of snow in 3 days, and it was like mid-winter conditions up there. It stayed cold enough in the Village. Not too many people were around either, so there was plenty of fresh, fluffy powder to bomb around in. We’ve also had a string of sunny bluebird days, so it’s really quite excellent! :)