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Philip Ball
@
philipcball
London, UK
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Author, writer and broadcaster, mostly about science. Books include The Music Instinct, Curiosity, Critical Mass. Obsessed by (too) many things.
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17.184
Tweetovi
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167
Pratim
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11.136
Osobe koje vas prate
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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12 h |
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Sorry, I'd like to but I'm not completely sure Walter is ready to make it public yet... I hope he will, it is full of interesting ideas.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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Likewise, a pleasure to be interviewed by you! Keep in touch.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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OK, I'm going to think on that carefully rather than responding straight off. But I know already that you'll be making a good point. Thanks again.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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His conclusion, then, seems very sound to me: "Today, the uniquely difficult challenge of biology is [not quanitification but] representation. To reason about something you first have to represent it somehow."
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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Now here, from Walter's paper, is a representation of most of the protein-protein interactions so far identified that involve axin. In what sense then does the preceding image offer an actual molecular-scale picture? What is "happening" in real time? (3/3 + 1 to come) pic.twitter.com/IEZatQ8BHB
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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See, here's a conventional view of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. Note that axin is one of the proteins involved. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/CDiyKBJOgA
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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This very interesting paper (text of a lecture) by Walter Fontana that I'm reading is giving me a lovely perspective on what I was driving at in this piece (1/3)
chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-ch…
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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Some of my reservations in this regard are about what counts as a causative explanation (which might not matter to folks just seeking correlations, but correlation can of course all too easily slip into an assumption of causation). I'm about to tweet something relevant to that..
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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Phew - you arrived at the same place I would (but you went by a better-informed route). Thanks so much for making this effort Ewan - I'll digest this carefully now.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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I certainly agree with that, i.e. that resistance to genetic "explanations" happens and is based on that falsely deterministic view.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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15 h |
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Pausing again here: is this true? Do the numbers really work out that way? (It may or may not matter - I'll see - but I wonder...)
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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16 h |
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With you so far Ewan - until here. I'm not sure what the second part of that sentence can mean. "Due to" seems to impute causation that seems sometimes true only in such a vague sense as to be trivial. But now I'll read on...
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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19 h |
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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19 h |
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It's true, he goes (surprisingly) too far the other way - some can't be reversed, but must be accommodated.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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19 h |
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"A molecule is a structure that electrons have shaped to be comfortable" - Walter Fontana. I have to think about this, but it feels like a nice perspective.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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19 h |
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Indeed - and consequently, it needed "intellectual" justification, which they found without too much trouble.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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20 h |
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I have. Leaving in three hours and it is way too soon.
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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20 h |
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Thank you. I think that might be work in progress...
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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20 h |
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I think I get a sense of what those old Romantics meant by the Sublime when I see this. twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/…
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Philip Ball
@philipcball
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20 h |
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Wow, that is a powerful way to put it. twitter.com/shaistaAziz/st…
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