Three Little Pigs - the real story

A brilliant video from the Guardian showing how the incident of the Three Little Pigs might be reported in the media today. Not everything is as it seems.



Perhaps most of the rhymes, stories and tales by Mother Goose, Aesop and the brothers Grimm could be reinterpreted.

Light travels at the speed of light.

Hong Kong researchers have published in the prestigious Physical Review Letters from the American Physical Society that the photon precursor cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Abstract

Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 243602 (2011)
Optical Precursor of a Single Photon

Shanchao Zhang, J. F. Chen, Chang Liu, M. M. T. Loy, G. K. L. Wong, and Shengwang Du*
Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

Received 31 March 2011; published 16 June 2011

We report the direct observation of optical precursors of heralded single photons with step- and square-modulated wave packets passing through cold atoms. Using electromagnetically induced transparency and the slow-light effect, we separate the single-photon precursor, which always travels at the speed of light in vacuum, from its delayed main wave packet. In the two-level superluminal medium, our result suggests that the causality holds for a single photon.

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.243602
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.243602
PACS: 42.50.Gy, 32.80.Qk, 42.50.Dv

*dusw@ust.hk

The press release from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology of 19 July 2011 was titled "HKUST Professors Prove Single Photons Do Not Exceed the Speed of Light". Excerpt

A group of physicists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) led by Prof Shengwang Du reported the direct observation of optical precursor of a single photon and proved that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum. HKUST's study reaffirms Einstein's theory that nothing travels faster than light and closes a decade-long debate about the speed of a single photon.

Prof Shengwang Du, Assistant Professor in HKUST's Department of Physics, and his research team have published their study in Physical Review Letters recently. Co-authors include three postgraduate students Shanchao Zhang, Jiefei Chen and Chang Liu, Chair Professors Michael M T Loy and George K L Wong. This is the fifth time in the last two years that Prof Du's team published their optics research in Physical Review Letters, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in physics, and the second time their papers were selected as editors' suggestion for reading. This research was also highlighted as a Physics Synopsis by American Physical Society with a title "Single photons obey the speed limits."

Prof Du's study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM waves. Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light. HKUST's team is the first to experimentally show that optical precursors exist at the single-photon level, and that they are the fastest part of the single-photon wave packet even in a so called 'superluminal' medium.

Read more.  This was also reported by AFP via France 24, which made a rather assertive conclusion

Hong Kong physicists say they have proved that a single photon obeys Einstein's theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light -- demonstrating that outside science fiction, time travel is impossible.

Read more. Surely a single experiment proving that light (photon as a light particle) cannot travel faster than light would not rule out faster than light travel by other types of particles. In any case, there are other time travel theories that are not predicated on travelling at faster than the speed of light.

2011 White House Correspondents' Association dinner

Last year, I wrote about the 2010 White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner. Last year, President Obama's speech was fairly light-hearted. This year, it was still light-hearted but very poignant.

The video of this year's speech is worth watching, if only for the references to Donald Trump (via C-SPAN).



Seth Meyers spoke after Obama (via Politico) and punched even harder.



This is President Obama's third WHCA address and they are improving every year.

April fooled fourth

This morning I fell for April fools' pranks. Not once but four times.

First, I visited a colleague on the other side of our floor. He had the local Canberra Times newspaper, which usually prints a serious article on the front page. None could be found. He then mentioned reports about bats in the local area and mentioned seeing some in the tree that could be seen through the window. He insisted there was one just hanging in a branch. I looked and looked and could not see any. Five minutes later...

The second time was when a colleague mentioned that a staff member whom she supervised would be leaving on promotion to another area. My colleague is also going on annual leave in a few weeks so her team would be down from three to one. While I was trying to work out how to fill the 'vacancy' as quickly as possible...

Meanwhile, I had received an email from another colleague who knew about my regular consumption of weißwurst. She mentioned media reporting about "another round of Gammelfleischskandal in Germany" and that Das "Bild is calling it the Schwarzwurst Skandal". So I looked...

Finally, the big boss' executive officer came around to tell me that he wanted to talk to me about something urgent and important. So I grabbed a notebook and a pen while trying to figure out what it could be. Upon arrival at his office, I peered in only to find the prankster sitting in his chair.

I must have had 'gullible' printed on my forehead this morning.

Meanwhile, some of the better pranks today were from
- Lonely Planet on non-human translations of its guides
- The Guardian on their new approach to the monarchy and new live blog
- Google's new Gmail Motion
- Richard Branson buying Pluto
- The Independent reporting about Cristiano Ronaldo being traded by Portugal to Spain
- BBC's 3D radio
- The Sun reporting about gorillas being given iPads
- The Telegraph reporting about ferrets being trained to lay cables for broadband
- Artline's new tweeter pen
- IKEA's Hundstol (see video below)



There is always the possibility that any one of those mentioned above could be serious.

James Creedon from France24 in his international press segment for today seemed to enjoy it a bit more

International press review

James Creedon from France24 also reviews the international (non-French) media. The one for 8 February 2011 is quite entertaining.



Our linguistically talented James is back to wearing glasses.

Egypt and Tunisia: Being caught unaware

The most startling revelation about the unrest in Egypt and the Tunisian revolution were the admissions by the governments of the United States and France that they were caught unaware. Understandably, resources tend to be prioritised based on strategic importance. A country like Tunisia, comprising a comparatively small population of 10.5 million, with a stable though dictatorial government and secular society with a proven record of controlling what it considered an Islamist threat would appear to be of lower importance.

The US State Department were certainly aware of the events unfolding in Tunisia, but may have underestimated how it would turn out, such as President Ben Ali's sudden and unexpected flee out of the country. Perhaps embassy staff, whose main interlocutors tend to be host government officials, were too comfortable with a long-term understanding of the intentions of the Ben Ali government, instead of listening to public mood. They would have found the blog by The Guardian's Brian Whittaker interesting reading. His columns in The Guardian are also worth a read.

More surprising is France's admission, given there was so much reporting and analysis by the French media including access to much content on Twitter by participants (labelled with hashtag #sidibouzid) written in French. Literacy levels are high in Tunisia and many speak French in addition to, and often in preference, to Arabic.

Even during the events of Tunisia, there were already low-scale levels of unrest in a number of countries in north Africa (Maghreb) and the Middle East over similar concerns. It should not have been a surprise that Egypt would be next in terms of the scale of protest activity. Egypt already had a 'martyr' to the cause since 13 June 2010, which has provided a focus for mobilisation, particularly through the internet. The protest planned for 25 January 2011 was known in advance but it was the strength of the larger protest on Friday a few days later that seemed to take many by surprise.

Analysis by some tried to compare Egypt with Tunisia. The BBC even went so far as deeming the "contagion spreading to Egypt" unlikely due to lower literacy and lower internet penetration. Of course, early analysis of what took place in Tunisia over-emphasised the role of the internet and social media, in particular Twitter and facebook. Out of a total population of about 80 million, 17 million internet users might be be considered low penetration. However, this analysis did not consider the possibility that many of the internet users themselves may reside in greater Cairo with an estimated population of nearly 10 million people. It only takes a few million well connected people, along with word of mouth to mobilise.

Amidst skepticism and misreading of the situation, Professor Amin Saikal, Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic studies at the Australian National University, had suggested Egypt as being the next most vulnerable following Tunisia as early as 17 January 2011 while I had picked it a day earlier.

Lastly, public mood was largely misread. Egyptians, like others around the world except those in China and other countries practicing censorship, had also witnessed what happened in Tunisia. It became a driving force for political action.

This post was also published in Crikey on 7 February 2011.

French press review

I haven't written in this blog lately, instead spending a lot of time monitoring global media and Twitter to check out developments in Egypt. I have also been tweeting a lot on the topic.

Staying with the France24 theme, they have a brilliant review of the French and international media, presented by James Creedon.

This is the latest, for 3 February 2011.

Behind the scenes of a news broadcaster

France24 is one of my major sources of news (online print and online live streaming), in addition to several Australian news services, BBC News and CNN on subscription television.

It was therefore interesting to watch a behind the scenes view of the workings of France24 shown by Francois Picard.



News anchor Jessica Lemasurier also shared one of her secrets.

A serious media correction. Or not.

Haynes, a worldwide publisher of automotive manuals, has published a manual for the USS Enterprise of Star Trek fame, which is already available in the US and UK. Haynes' Australian operation is soon to release it in Australia.

Yesterday, News Limited's online news.com.au, reported that

The 160-page guide covers the entire range of USS Enterprise models, from Captain Jonathan Archer's original NX-01 from the most recent TV series through to the NCC-1701 under the control of Captain Kirk and her replacement, the NNC-1701-E.

The online article attracted a number of comments including criticisms of incorrect information.

Today, news.com.au published a correction titled We're sorry for claiming Captain Kirk was in command of Captain Picard's starship, which began with

* There were many USS Enterprises
* Kirk didn't captain them all
* Patrick Stewart is handsome

YESTERDAY, a news.com.au article incorrectly stated that the Star Trek starship USS Enterprise-E, otherwise known as model NNC-1701-E, was the successor to Captain Kirk's original USS Enterprise.

It has since been brought to our attention that the NNC-1701-E in fact came two models after Captain Kirk retired and was under the command of Captain Jean Luc Picard.

The correction then apologised "unreservedly for the error", linking back to the "original, poorly researched article", which then later included a disclaimer apologising for "any errors in this apology".

Unfortunately, there was not only a typo in the original article, but in the apology - as NNC should actually read NCC. The attracted an even greater number of comments pointing not only this out, but a number of other errors.

However, it might have been intentional - to go along with the photo of Picard's hand gesture and a fake poll on "What's the coolest starship class?".

I can't wait to check out the manual when it is eventually on sale in Australia. As for another apology and correction, I won't hold my breath.

Any media outlet reporting on Star Trek matters should know by now that they should be meticulous with the (fictional) facts as geekdom criticism knows no bounds.

Earth ambassador was nonsense

Two days ago I wrote about reported plans by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOS) to consider the appointment of an ambassador as a point of contact for visiting intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms.

While I politely questioned the logic cited as the reason, I should have expressed greater skepticism.

AFP has now reported, quoting UNOOS, that the story was utter nonsense.

L'Unoosa, dont le siège est à Vienne, réplique ainsi à un article publié par le quotidien britannique Sunday Times: "L'article du Sunday Times est une absurdité", a déclaré l'agence onusienne dans un communiqué.

"La mission du Bureau pour les affaires spatiales est définie par l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies et il n'y a pas de projet de modifier la mission actuelle", a ajouté l'Unoosa.

It will be interesting to see how The Sunday Times (UK) that reported on the original story responds.

And now, science reporting by formula

Back in March, I wrote about (television) news by formula including Charlie Brooker's mock television news reporting by formula.

Martin Robbins, writing in The Guardian, has revealed the formula used in scientific reporting. Excerpt

This is a news website article about a scientific paper

In the standfirst I will make a fairly obvious pun about the subject matter before posing an inane question I have no intention of really answering: is this an important scientific finding?

In this paragraph I will state the main claim that the research makes, making appropriate use of "scare quotes" to ensure that it's clear that I have no opinion about this research whatsoever.

In this paragraph I will briefly (because no paragraph should be more than one line) state which existing scientific ideas this new research "challenges".

If the research is about a potential cure, or a solution to a problem, this paragraph will describe how it will raise hopes for a group of sufferers or victims.

This paragraph elaborates on the claim, adding weasel-words like "the scientists say" to shift responsibility for establishing the likely truth or accuracy of the research findings on to absolutely anybody else but me, the journalist.

In this paragraph I will state in which journal the research will be published. I won't provide a link because either a) the concept of adding links to web pages is alien to the editors, b) I can't be bothered, or c) the journal inexplicably set the embargo on the press release to expire before the paper was actually published.

"Basically, this is a brief soundbite," the scientist will say, from a department and university that I will give brief credit to. "The existing science is a bit dodgy, whereas my conclusion seems bang on" she or he will continue.

I will then briefly state how many years the scientist spent leading the study, to reinforce the fact that this is a serious study and worthy of being published by the BBC the website.

Read more. Robbins also reveals the purpose of subheadings and the comments following the article are definitely worth reading.

According to The Guardian, "Martin Robbins is a Berkshire-based researcher and science writer. He edits The Lay Scientist, a community blog about science, pseudoscience and evidence-based politic."

So not even the BBC is infallible. Just as well I usually check for original media releases from research organisations.

ABC News 24

At 7.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), ABC News 24 went live, Australia’s first free-to-air, 24-hour digital television news service on a government-funded public broadcast network.

It has the expertise of over one thousand journalists through out Australia and the world.

Colton has his wings clipped

I wrote about 'Barefoot Bandit' Colton Harris-Moore in February 2010 and December 2009.

He may have eluded authorities over the past few years including FBI, US Customs and Border Patrol, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, US Coast Guard, and sheriff’s deputies from at least six counties. However, a silly move in stealing a plane and flying to the Bahamas was always going to attract attention. The 'Barefoot Bandit' told to 'fly' has had his wings finally clipped. By authorities in the Bahamas.

Associated Press video


See also
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Everett Herald

Soon to come, the ballad of Colton Harris-Moore.

ABC News 24 is nearly here

In January this year, I wrote about the plan by our Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to establish a separate 24 hour news channel.

Well, it is nearly here. The channel is tuned, undergoing testing and will soon go live.



Of course News Corporation's 24 hour subscription news channel in Australia - Sky News will lose market share, given the ABC's reputation for high quality journalism.

I can't wait.

Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday

photo by AFP via ABC

The last birthday I mentioned was Nelson Mandela's 90th in 2008. In keeping with the theme of mentioning the birthdays of significant people, today was Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday, celebrated under continuing house arrest. She was leader of a political party that was democratically elected 20 years ago as the majority, chosen by the Burmese people to form government. They never did and Daw Aung was not allowed to be prime minister.

US President Obama issued the following statement yesterday

I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19. Her determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change in Burma inspire all of us who stand for freedom and justice. I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens. Towards this end, I encourage all stakeholders in Burma to engage in genuine dialogue towards national reconciliation, a vital step to set Burma on a more positive course for the future.

Of course President Obama's use of the name Burma is consistent with practice by the US State Department.

The Union of Burma is ruled by a military regime called the "State Peace and Development Council" (SPDC). The SPDC changed the name of the country to "Myanmar," but some members of the democratic opposition and other political activists do not recognize the name change and continue to use the name "Burma." Out of support for the democratic opposition, the U.S. Government likewise uses "Burma."

This is also the practice by other like-minded countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

The British Foreign Minister (and junior portfolio ministers) also made a statement



As international relations is the domain of governments, it is quite interesting that some media outlets continue to use the name "Myanmar" despite government practice - including Reuters, CNN, AFP and Associated Press.

Counting down to BBC News and an ABC News remix

There is something reassuring about the music counting down to BBC News (or BBC World News). Here is a compilation over time.



In Australia, the music to ABC News was recently remixed.

Gordon Brown's 'yes we can'

Incumbent British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had not been doing well at the polls ahead of the UK General Election this Thursday.

On Monday, he gave one of the best political speeches in recent times, of any political party in any country. For him, it may be too late, but he still has a few days to inspire voters.



The content and delivery were reminiscent of Barack Obama's "yes we can". Regardless of political views, it was very well done.

2010 White House Correspondents' Association dinner

This is the second time that President Obama has addressed the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner. The dinner raises money for WHCA scholarships for journalism students.

The video is 38 minutes long and worth watching. See also the C-Span coverage. Of course, knowledge of the happenings within the Capital Beltway is a prerequisite to understanding Obama's remarks, as well as some popular culture. Otherwise, most of it will seem like a series of "in jokes" for the Washington media.

The transcript can be found at Chicago Sun-Times. I love these

THE PRESIDENT: By the way, all of the jokes here tonight are brought to you by our friends at Goldman Sachs. (Laughter.) So you don't have to worry -- they make money whether you laugh or not. (Laughter.)

We do have a number of notable guests in attendance here tonight. Obviously I'm most pleased that Michelle accompanied me. She doesn't always go to these things. (Applause.) And there are few things in life that are harder to find and more important to keep than love -- well, love and a birth certificate. (Laughter.)

The Jonas Brothers are here. (Applause.) They're out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia are huge fans. But, boys, don't get any ideas. (Laughter.) I have two words for you -- predator drones. (Laughter.) You will never see it coming. (Laughter.) You think I'm joking. (Laughter.)

Speaking of 'tween heartthrobs, Scott Brown is here. (Applause.) I admire Scott -- a rare politician in Washington with nothing to hide. (Laughter.) Now, you should be aware that Scott Brown is not the only one with a salacious photo spread floating around. Recently David Axelrod was offered a centerfold opportunity of his own -- now, I did not know that Krispy-Kreme had a catalog. (Laughter.) But it's true.

I saw Michael Steele backstage when we were taking pictures -- AKA Notorious GOP. (Laughter.) Michael, who knows what truly plagues America today -- taxation without representin' --(Laughter.) My brother. (Laughter.) I did a similar routine last year, but it always works. (Laughter.)

Odds are that the Salahis are here. (Laughter.) There haven't been people that were more unwelcome at a party since Charlie Crist. (Laughter.)

Unfortunately, John McCain couldn't make it. Recently he claimed that he had never identified himself as a maverick. And we all know what happens in Arizona when you don't have ID. (Laughter.) Adios, amigos. (Laughter and applause.)

Funnier that last year's.

And now, news by formula

A few days ago I posted BriTANick's brilliant trailer for every Oscar winning film. Of course that applied to fiction.

However, even fact isn't immune to formula, in particular the reporting of 'fact'.

BBC Newswipe with Charlie Brooker


Onion (satire)



It isn't just the delivery of television news that is questionable. A lot of so called human interest stories are a waste of time.

Colton drops in

I wrote about "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore in late December 2009. It seems he has struck again. Reported by Islands' Sounder, excerpt

An airplane theft and a break-in at an Eastsound business could be linked to alleged serial burglar Colton Harris-Moore, authorities say.

On the morning of Feb. 11, an airplane taken from Skagit County was found abandoned at the Eastsound airport, and employees at Homegrown Market and Deli walked into a nightmare: the store was broken into, vandalized, and sustained damage to internal security systems.

“He took everything in the dessert cabinet. He took a whole tray of raw croissants with meat. I guess he has an oven to use,” said Homegrown accounts manager Sherri Pearson. “He discovered our monitor for our security system, broke that open and was trying to take out the parts. He put the monitor in the sink and ran water over it; (owner) Kyle found the water running in the morning.”

Large footprint outlines were drawn all over the floor of the store; each one is around three feet long. A parting message of “Cya!” was left by the front door.

photo by Meredith Griffith, Islands' Sounder

Read more

Associated Press video


See also
- Seattle Weekly
- Everett Herald
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Outside magazine - 'Bob Friel's 'The Ballad of Colton Harris-Moore'
- Bob Friel's blog Outlaws & Outcasts (apparently, read by C H-M)

Colton Harris-Moore's facebook fan club now has nearly 18 000 members.

Naughty Colton is closer to being caught.