Swans on Tea

The testosterone channel
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The Daily Show as Legitimate Journalism
Jon Stewart makes no pretense that he’s all about the entertainment, but I think the article is right — he does ask the tough questions when the time comes and shows good insight into issues.
The venerable Sunday morning news shows, oftentimes featuring some of the most reputable people in journalism, largely [...]

Quantum setback for warp drives
Bad news I’m afraid — it looks as if faster-than-light travel isn’t possible after all. That’s the conclusion of a new study into how warp drives would behave when quantum mechanics is taken into account. “Warp drives would become rapidly unstable once superluminal speeds are reached,” say Stefano Finazzi at the [...]

Dr Bunsen Honeydew- Gorilla Detector
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I know, scientifically, that I am not being eaten by a gorilla!

This was a nit that may have bothered only me (and my ilk. My ilk is somewhat sensitive to such things). In this past week’s episode of NUMB3RS, there’s a scene where Liz and Nikki go to arrest some 350-pound badassMF™. One of them tries some FBI-fu on him, is thwarted, and [...]

Famous art, Simpsonized

Diandra writes about social networks at Cocktail Party Physics, in it really is a small world
This reminds me that according to the Oracle of Bacon and some simple math, I have a Bacon number of three, sort of. Back when I was in high school, the local TV station (WRGB Channel 6) must have [...]

Starship Size Comparison Chart

CSI lies and suspicious science over at Cocktail Party Physics
Forensic science has come a long way since Sherlock Holmes bragged that he could identify 140 types of tobacco from their ash. And far be it from me to diss one of my favorite shows on the TV I don’t own, the original CSI, which is [...]

What Doctor McCoy is and isn’t. Also includes others in the Star Trek franchise.
I’m a doctor, not a…

Tony Soprano, Archimedes. Archimedes, Tony Soprano.
The Physical Mob
So Tony Soprano pitches ties a concrete block to Salvatore Bonpensiero and pitches him into the ocean, where he will inform the police no more. Being a big guy, Bonpensiero has a fairly low density compared to your average human being - say, 0.96 grams per cubic [...]

Oh, the humanity…
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I have a relative who sells appliances, and met Gordon Jump (who was later The Lonely Maytag Man) at some convention. Apparently a lot of people asked him about this episode.