Monthly Archives: October 2009
I Believe I'll Have Another Drink
if you believe in science, you’re doing it wrong
The post-modernists can complain about the limitations of our senses and our technology but what seems to be lost on them is the cardinal rule of the scientific thought process. If you have no proof for it, you can’t insist that it’s real or objective. Because we don’t know something, we can’t randomly jam anything we want in there and pretend it’s a good idea. And this is exactly what we do when we involve deities for which we don’t have a shred of proof into processes we otherwise understand and want to explore in farther depth. To equate a way to describe the natural world through objective means with simply inserting one’s own opinion in the gaps of our knowledge and chalk both up to belief is an absurd assertion that can only be made by people who don’t understand the nature of science and can’t wrap their minds around the fact that it’s simply a methodology by which people accumulate and connect facts, not a set of answers to questions or ready made opinions.
That's a Nice Arabidopsis thaliana You've Got There
Sorry, that’s just some biology small-talk
Arrr, Monica!
The Armonica, also called the glass harmonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. In 1757, while in England he attended a concert given on the wine glasses. He thought it was the sweetest sound he had ever heard but he wanted to hear more harmonies with his melody. Thus the Armonica was born and named by Franklin for a word taken from the musical Italian language. It has been said that if the harp is “the instrument of the Angels”, then the Armonica is “the voice of the Angels”.
What Goes Up, Must Come Down
Built on Facts: Longfellow, Wellington, and Coriolis.
In the early days of physics the question of refining the predictions of projectile motion was not merely one of academic or poetic interest. If you’re commander Wellington of the noble British army wishing to lob cannon shells at the nefarious French (or vice versa), these other more delicate physics corrections to the projectile equations can mean the difference between life and death – or at least which side experiences which.
Livin' on the Edge
Edge detection
Robin, Give Me the Bat-Infrared Camera!
More than 500,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats, emerging to forage at night, light up the pitch black darkness of New Mexicos Carlsbad Cavern in this thermal infrared video.
Better than Bacon?
When bacon isn’t enough, add butter and blue cheese
Why use plain butter when it’s so easy to make your own compound butter? My latest combination is real bacon and blue cheese, perfect for topping a fresh-off-the grill steak. The butter keeps in the refrigerator for about a week. If you’re not a fan of bacon and blue cheese, just pick your favorite spices and/or herbs to mix with the butter.
I suspect this will seem more appetizing to me once I’m over the flu.
Next Generation GPS
I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced “Wesley-Ann”.
Victor: You NEED to remember to put the GPS in your car.
Me: No. I’m not using it anymore.
Victor: Why not?!
Me: It’s trying to kill me.
Victor: *
Me: Remember last week when I had to go into town and I got the driving instructions from mapquest and you made me take the GPS as a back-up but then halfway there the GPS is all “Turn left now” and I’m all “No. Mapquest says to go straight” and it’s like “TURN LEFT NOW” and I’m all “No way, bitch” and then she’s all sighing at me like she’s frustrated and she keeps saying “Recalculating” in this really judgey, condescending way and then she’s all “TURN LEFT NOW!” and then I’m all freaked out so I turn left exactly like she says and then she’s all “Recalculating. Recalculating.” and I’m like “I DID EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID TO DO. WHAT’S WITH THE TONE, WHORE?”
I got my mom a GPS unit for her car last Christmas, and she makes similar comments about the tone and meaning of “recalculating.” She doesn’t think it’s trying to kill her, though there’s a funky map anomaly we noticed, where the directions were to turn left and then immediately turn right and left again, when you were just supposed to go straight. (It’s at the light just before you go North over the bridge into Rexford, NY on Rt 146). Hadn’t really considered that it might just be a conspiracy.
Oh, and there’s this, too.
"V" is for Vortex
Flying in the shape of a “v” allows geese to have an equal field of vision while conserving energy, using wingtip vortices to decrease any drag in flight. The bird in the front is working the hardest, but when the leader grows weary it rotates to a position farther back and allows another feathered pilot to take its place.
Much like cycling teams. (except for the feather part) … (usually)
Obligatory joke:
Q: Do you know why the “V” is usually longer on one side than the other?
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