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May 31, 2002
OK, if you came across
OK, if you came across this site you may be a Parker. But... are you a Parkour? Recommended: go the videos and check out Speed Air Man.
Posted by John at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2002
Scientists discover a new amino
Scientists discover a new amino acid. One more "building block" of life. It amazes me the faith that people put in science. How can we ever hope to understand and explain everything in our physical world, when we haven't even identified all the building blocks yet? The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
Posted by John at 02:43 AM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2002
When you put together the
When you put together the fact that India-Pakistan conflict simulations always end in nuclear war with the fact that Pakistan rushed out to test a nuclear-capable missile today, it makes you more than a little nervous. Given the latest stats on estimated casualties in such an exchange, maybe "outright worried" would be more appropriate.
Posted by John at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
If C-Span could broadcast stuff
If C-Span could broadcast stuff like this, I'd be a regular. Dateline: Bangkok. Thailand's parliament meeting is thrown into an uproar over the visit of Grandma Nuem's ghost, who is upset that the lands she willed to a local temple are being turned into luxury homesites and a golf course. Ancient curses are invoked in anger. It all started when the monk smuggled in the AK-47...
Posted by John at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
Sandia National Laboratories charged a
Sandia National Laboratories charged a panel of outside experts with the task to design a 10,000-year marking system for the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) site. If you're going to bury nuclear waste, what should the warning sign say? Will they be speaking English in 10,000 years? How do you create something that will last that long? An interesting, if unfortunate, problem, with some possible solutions from academia. I think the "Field of Thorns" depicted near the bottom of the page would be a pretty effective warning system. The text is good, raising some very difficult questions and offering some chilling observations: "We have all become very marker-prone, but shouldn't we nevertheless admit that, in the end, despite all we try to do, the most effective "marker" for any intruders will be a relatively limited amount of sickness and death caused by the radioactive waste? In other words, it is largely a self-correcting process..."
Posted by John at 04:55 AM | Comments (0)
Carlos has issues with his
Carlos has issues with his redneck neighbor.
Posted by John at 04:49 AM | Comments (0)
"For some time, Toyota's genesis
"For some time, Toyota's genesis group has been carefully listening to, and studying ways, to connect with the net-generation reaching driving age and entering the car market," said Jim Press, TMS executive vice president and COO. Either the "net generation" has the worst taste since Saturday Night Fever was on top of the movie rankings, or Toyota, um, missed the boat. The Scion (pronounced SY-en) is, if possible, even uglier than Volkswagen's "The Thing." [via neoflux]
Posted by John at 04:30 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2002
HubbleSite has compiled some absolutely
HubbleSite has compiled some absolutely stunning photography from the space telescope, which has been up there for 12 years now. Some of the best shots have already been made in desktop wallpaper for your enjoyment. Read the articles on the history and engineering behind it as well - fascinating stuff!
Some of the pictures evoke strange feelings, I have to admit. Just sitting here at the computer, flipping through these images, you feel very, very small. Then you start coming across pictures like this one and this one, in which the stars and galaxies look alive... intelligent...purposeful. The weirdness continues with the large scale galactic formations which make the Star Trek special effects look like those cardboard tube rockets spitting sparks across the screen in a Flash Gordon TV show. The final eerie touch is provided by the shot of the giant black hole eating a small galaxy. As I read the text, I could see the hair on my arm stand up.
Posted by John at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
