Someone who understands!

This person understands my aversion to IM, Skype, facebook, etc etc. uh and Twitter? Que es eso?

"However, when it comes to the flip side - posting my own stuff on Twitter - my introverted nature causes problems again. For one thing, being the inward-focused type that I am, the very thought of constantly telling the world what I'm thinking or doing makes me tired and gives me the vague sense of not having enough solitude and privacy.

...

You'll recall that introverts like to choose their words carefully and deliberately, and so for me, even a one- or two-sentence tweet requires thought and consideration. That ends up being another task on my already full schedule, so it happens infrequently."

Origin of Life

Some say God did it. Some say that life is a product of millenia of fortuitous events and natural selection. Some say it was the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

For another creation story check this article out.

Makes me wonder what kinds of mushrooms were on those sandwiches.

Today's Science Spotlight

ENTROPY

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a closed system tends to increase over time. Entropy, being the disorder of things, is best shown in the example used in this study (link above). Highly entertaining.

I particularly enjoy the "price" of the subject.

El Caminito del Rey

This video made me tense just watching it. El Caminito del Rey, in Malaga, Spain, was built in 1901 to give workers a pathway between Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls. It has now fallen into a state of such disrepair that it has become a dare for adventurous people like this guy in the video. I'm amazed at how many insane people he actually passed in this video. The world is apparently full of potential Darwin Award recipients.

"Welcoming Homer the Tree-Hugger"

George Meyer on the environmental movement:

"Great clouds of hypocrisy swirl around me. But even a fraud has feelings. And this summer, I'm feeling uneasy; I'm starting to think that our culture's frenzied and mindless assault on the last shreds of nature may not be the wisest course.

True, when you go for a stroll on a Sunday afternoon, nothing seems amiss. But as we know from horror movies, that's exactly when the giant alien embryos come blasting out of the sidewalk."

The entire op-ed on BBC is quite good...

Yeah Long Trail

From NPR: "Long-Trail Brewing Co. in Vermont has signed up for something the dairy state has plenty of: cow power. A utility in Vermont is offering — for just a few cents more — power derived from the methane gas given off by the manure on dairy farms. The brewery, in turn, will contribute mash, a byproduct of brewing, to feed the cows."

Not that Owen reads this but I thought he might be interested since we stopped there when up to snowboard. Their Belgian White is delicious, by the way.

They must have heard the news about climate change hurting beer brewing!

Beetles are going to cause the apocalypse

Well, maybe not but they may contribute to carbon emissions by killing western pine forests with a fungus they carry, making them a source rather than a sink.
"Researchers estimated that from 2000 to 2020, a 374,000-square kilometre area of B.C. forest (an area larger than Labrador) would produce 270 megatonnes of carbon." about the same amount that Canada has pledged to cut by 2020.

Mark and I saw this type of damage on the Western side of RMNP last year. I took the picture above of a dead tree showing all the beetle burrows.

Ode to a Beautiful Day!

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. ~W. Earl Hall


The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke


If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

An Engineers Guide to Cats

via Neatorama

More Cycling Related News

A new jacket with accelerometers that turn LED lights on the back green when accelerating to red when braking and turn on yellow lights on the sleeves when signaling a turn won a design competition.

While the jacket looks pretty interesting, I'm more intrigued but the mention of "underwear which can correct posture" another entry into the competition.

Nooooes Not the Beer!

Even more reason to act on climate change. Dry spells will impact barley production according to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.
'"It will mean either there will be pubs without beer or the cost of beer will go up," Salinger told the Institute of Brewing and Distilling convention.'

Creature Comforts - body image

Excellent! Especially the last line.
Via Neatorama

Flying Spaghetti Monster

FSM statue erected outside of a Tennessee courthouse (with video).

Crazy Runners

HERE is a great blog entry from Neatorama featuring five races of a different kind, two of which are hosted in Iowa, and one of which I'm fairly certain Sheyl's done before. I think my favorite is the Doughnut Run 5k.

My New Favorite Website

you park like an a$$hole

Check out the gallery for some laughs at how some people park.

Excellent example HERE.

Armageddon may have to wait

Since it seems unlikely to occur because of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN that's being built. If you were hoping for death by black hole, you'll have to figure out another way to do it than just loitering outside CERN.

Sheyl's next pet

A possibly new species of angler fish - read about it HERE.

hmmm...

apparently no one else knew what to say about my dick dawkins post either.

well, here is a video i sent Owen via email, because i am not sure he ever looks at our blog anymore.


i found that link when i was looking at this.

my favorite is the "game over" part...

so, does Owen look at the blog anymore?
if not, we should talk shit about him here or something...
but if so, i wish he would post some entertainment.

:)

New Google Features

Check THIS out! It looks like it's only for the Australian version of google, but hopefully it'll be available for us soon!

But don't worry, there's a new fun US gmail feature HERE!