Graduate science degrees at risk

Graduate science degrees are at risk of being degraded as Texas contemplates granting accreditation to the Institute for Creation Research in order that it may offer online master's degrees in science education. Read about it in this week's Nature.

Happy Leap Year!

Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1908

Immigrant McCain?

An article in today's NY Times writes about the constitutionality of McCain's presidential bid. The question arises out of the meaning of "natural-born Citizen" written into Article II of the Constitution. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in the '36. Can you consider a child born of American citizens on a foreign military installment a "natural-born Citizen"? Personally, I'd be inclined to say yes, but then again, I'm not a constitutional scholar.

Saving Sinking Ships

THIS is a fantastic story of how a team saved a huge ship from sinking. The narrative is wonderfully written. Enjoy midday story time!

Stealth Ninja Pirate Patrol Zone (with Moose)

Election 2008

A new candidate is being thrown into the mix.

This American hero has helped to keep this country safe from terrorists for twenty years.

In '88 he defused a hostage crisis in LA, in '90 he foiled a terrorist plot at Dulles International Airport, in '95 he saved the New York Federal Reserve from a heist, and in '07 he brought the greatest cyberterrorism conspiracy in history to its knees.

Vote John McClane.

Environmental Impacts

Bottom trawling as seen from space. This is a view of the track marks left by bottom trawling for fish in the Gulf of Mexico. They guy in the article calculated that yearly we disturb a land area in the ocean roughly the size of the lower 48 states. This is another compelling reason to make sure the fish you eat is sustainable (and hopefully these effects are included in the sustainability analysis).

Another strange music cover

Beer and Booze

Apparently they mix well - at least in this case.

And here's another video for you of the Harry Potter theme done on wine glasses.

moo... maybe.

What Were They Thinking: Cownicorn

sobering art?

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php

happiness...

dogs, sushi, difficult breakups, michel gondry, recycling, the sunday new york times, public radio, apple products, the daily show... how can i argue with any of this? okay, well some of it. but this is kind of funny.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Frogs from Hell

Stony Brook University (and University College London) researchers in the news:

"Its diet would most likely have consisted of insects and small vertebrates like lizards, but it's not impossible that Beelzebufo might even have munched on hatchling or juvenile dinosaurs."

Total eclipse of the heart... uh, moon, sorry

Wednesday the 20th (tomorrow) there will be a total eclipse of the moon at 10:26 PM EST at which time the moon will appear red as the Earth's shadow passes over it. Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies!

Scientists and dancing: safe mix for society?

Today's Science magazine has an article entitled Can scientists dance? Apparently this includes a competition on a dance representation of the performer's PhD thesis. And after the dance competition there was music entertainment called Molecular Code - music created only using sounds in a molecular lab.

Check the link out - there are even videos of the dances and music.

Americans are to knowledge as Sheyl is to _____

a) Long Island drivers
b) loud snotty-nosed kids
c) a certain person who shall not be named (*cough* rhymes with Furia *cough*)
d) people who mess up her lab space
e) all of the above

If you realized that the relationship theme in this word puzzle was "hostility" and thus answered e) you might want to check out this article from the NYTimes on the demise of an intelligent American culture.

As a side note the person referenced in choice c) could be classified as anti-rationalist, based on the article, which makes a lot of sense, though it in no way makes that person normal or sane or remotely human.

Oceans in Peril

Shocking news, I know, but a new article in Science found that

"Only about 4% of the world's oceans remain undamaged by human activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts on the seas."

And they made this pretty map

Green Cities

Check out this article listing America's top 50 greenest cities.

Impressive art from humble materials

It's pretty amazing what artistic talent can do with a few random materials

Artificial sweeteners

Sugar makes you fat, oh wait now artificial sweeteners make you fat (or at least they made rats fat). Who would have thought that something that occurs naturally in food, although in highly procesessed concentrated form (although we don't actually eat much sugar in the form of cane sugar rather more high fructose corn syrup), would be healthier for you than an artificial chemical developed in a lab.


I think the artificial sweetener/corn industry is watching me, had trouble getting this to post.

Interesting Research

Apparenly Sheyl has one more reason never to marry - according to this article marriage and groundbreaking science don't go well together. Though the transition from scientists to criminals was disturbingly short.

Suicide Jumper

Read the story here.

Paper Planes in Space?

Researchers at University of Toyko "are testing prototypes of a paper plane designed by the Japan Origami Airplane Association. The association approached the professor for help in getting their design into space."



"So far the planes have resisted wind speeds of up to Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound. They have also endured temperatures of around 300 degrees Celsius."

"Bloody Enormous" Wind Turbines

England: "Our windmills are bloody enormous!
Oh, and I’m ever so sorry, but they’re upside down as well."

Other things that have been killed off...

The Panamanian golden frog population was wiped out in 2006 by a fungal infection. But not before the BBC shot footage for a series called Life in Cold Blood. The video shows the frog's unique communication technique using semaphore or waving rather than the typical croaking.

Killing coral reefs while saving yourself

A recent study has shown that ingredients in sunscreen have a devastating effect on the symbiotic algae in coral reefs and thus leads to coral bleaching. Looks like people going to visit coral reefs are going to have to risk sunburn in order to save the coral.

Possum!!!

There was one in our backyard this morning, ok, it wasn't quite that spastic looking as it lumbered through the yard, but I don't think I've ever seen a real life possum before.

High Heels

"Could strutting your stuff in high heels boost your sex life?"

Cool Visualizer Effects

Magnetic Ink, Process video from flight404 on Vimeo.


Solar from flight404 on Vimeo.

Google and Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris

Catch 22

What goes through people's minds when they decide to break into someone's car and steal something? I mean, obviously it's something along the lines of "ooh, look, that person has something I want", but isn't there usually another thought closely following that says "oh, wait, this isn't my car, this isn't my stuff, so I better just go on my way"?? There should be. But obviously not. And it doesn't even matter if your car is locked or not, because if they really want it, there's little one measly pane of glass can do to keep someone from getting it.

So my philosophy on locking my car - someone looking in my car is probably (just a guess, here) not looking to steal my car (while I love Atilla, she's not a beauty nor is she in remotely stellar condition). And since replacing a pane of glass requires a significant amount of money (at least to the poor grad student), I only lock my car when what is in there is worth more than what it would cost to replace the window. This only, of course, holds true if the car is parked in a well-lit, well-traveled public place. If you park in the dark corner of a parking lot, you're screwed no matter what. They'll break into your car for your change (but of course only pick out the good coins, you know).

What really irks me, though, is no matter what you do, you still get screwed in the end. You, not them, have to replace the window, or replace what they lifted. So something that cost you nothing to get but is valuable to you (like a parking pass, for example), someone's thoughtless selfishness means you have to now dole out money to replace it and then live in fear that someone else is going to steal from you. I hate having to live and work in a place where I feel the need to lock my door every day. I want to live somewhere where I can actually trust the people I'm around not to do something dumb or selfish.

Now to go to Parking Services and report a stolen parking pass.