Article here
For the first time, astronomers have located a planet that could be hospitable to life. It's a rocky planet about three times the size of Earth. The planet 's orbit is smaller than Mercury's, but its sun is a comparatively cooler red dwarf, meaning temperatures are likely reasonable.
Blah blah blah, the point is that a spaceship originating from this planet recently crash-landed in Iowa, and it looks like there's a baby inside. A baby with superpowers.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Benyamin Netanyahu's speech to the UN
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN last Thursday. The entire transcript can be read here
rocketed British cities during World War II. During that war, the
allies leveled German cities, causing hundreds of thousands of
casualties. Israel chose to respond differently. Faced with an enemy
committing a double war crime of firing on civilians while hiding
behind civilians - Israel sought to conduct surgical strikes against
the rocket launchers.
That was no easy task because the terrorists were firing missiles from homes and schools, using mosques as weapons depots and ferreting explosives in ambulances. Israel , by contrast, tried to minimize casualties by urging Palestinian civilians to vacate the targeted areas.
We dropped countless flyers over their homes, sent thousands of text messages and called thousands of cell phones asking people to leave. Never has a country gone to such extraordinary lengths to remove the enemy's civilian population from harm's way.
Yet faced with such a clear case of aggressor and victim, who did the UN Human Rights Council decide to condemn? Israel . A democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is morally hanged, drawn and quartered, and given an unfair trial to boot.
By these twisted standards, the UN Human Rights Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the dock as war criminals."
Here are some highlights:
"The greatest threat facing the world
today is the marriage between religious fanaticism and the weapons of
mass destruction"
today is the marriage between religious fanaticism and the weapons of
mass destruction"
"For eight long years, Hamas fired from Gaza thousands of missiles, mortars and rockets on nearby Israeli cities. Year after year, as these missiles were deliberately hurled at our civilians, not a single UN resolution was passed condemning those criminal attacks. We heard nothing - absolutely nothing - from the UN Human Rights Council, a misnamed institution if there ever was one."
"there is only one example in history of thousands of rockets being
fired on a country's civilian population. It happened when the Nazisrocketed British cities during World War II. During that war, the
allies leveled German cities, causing hundreds of thousands of
casualties. Israel chose to respond differently. Faced with an enemy
committing a double war crime of firing on civilians while hiding
behind civilians - Israel sought to conduct surgical strikes against
the rocket launchers.
That was no easy task because the terrorists were firing missiles from homes and schools, using mosques as weapons depots and ferreting explosives in ambulances. Israel , by contrast, tried to minimize casualties by urging Palestinian civilians to vacate the targeted areas.
We dropped countless flyers over their homes, sent thousands of text messages and called thousands of cell phones asking people to leave. Never has a country gone to such extraordinary lengths to remove the enemy's civilian population from harm's way.
Yet faced with such a clear case of aggressor and victim, who did the UN Human Rights Council decide to condemn? Israel . A democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is morally hanged, drawn and quartered, and given an unfair trial to boot.
By these twisted standards, the UN Human Rights Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the dock as war criminals."
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The best engineer is selection pressure
In 100 years, computers will look like human brains, and airplanes will look like birds. Take a gander (ha ha ha):
DARPA builds an ornithopter - a device that flies like a hummingbird. The technology will allow small craft to fly using far less energy than tiny helicopters and the like:
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-07/darpa-tests-first-robotic-ornithopters
An engineering student at the University of Toronto builds and flies a Boeing-sized ornithopter by FLAPPING HIS FREAKING ARMS:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-09/video-canadian-student-flies-bird-first-time-using-record-setting-ornithopter
Finally, and this is the coolest video, look how awesome it is to be a peregrine falcon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_RHRAzUHM
DARPA builds an ornithopter - a device that flies like a hummingbird. The technology will allow small craft to fly using far less energy than tiny helicopters and the like:
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-07/darpa-tests-first-robotic-ornithopters
An engineering student at the University of Toronto builds and flies a Boeing-sized ornithopter by FLAPPING HIS FREAKING ARMS:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-09/video-canadian-student-flies-bird-first-time-using-record-setting-ornithopter
Finally, and this is the coolest video, look how awesome it is to be a peregrine falcon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_RHRAzUHM
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Listen Up, Atlanta!
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/63481/title/To_tame_traffic%2C_go_with_the_flow
By tracking input and output flows at individual traffic lights, scientists in Germany found a way to modulate traffic flow from the bottom up. The numbers are staggering - public transit vehicles' time spent stuck in traffic was cut by MORE THAN HALF.
Listen up Atlanta - it's time to be smart about traffic. We don't actually have that many people. In fact, the population density of Atlanta is only about 4,000 people per square mile; we're not even in the top hundred (#125 on the list has us beat by two-and-a-half times). Again, the problem isn't congestion - it's idiotic city planning. Here's hoping somebody with some clout reads this article.
By tracking input and output flows at individual traffic lights, scientists in Germany found a way to modulate traffic flow from the bottom up. The numbers are staggering - public transit vehicles' time spent stuck in traffic was cut by MORE THAN HALF.
Listen up Atlanta - it's time to be smart about traffic. We don't actually have that many people. In fact, the population density of Atlanta is only about 4,000 people per square mile; we're not even in the top hundred (#125 on the list has us beat by two-and-a-half times). Again, the problem isn't congestion - it's idiotic city planning. Here's hoping somebody with some clout reads this article.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Chaos in the Brain by Lewis Dartnell
Read the article here
Lewis Dartnell, a grad student at UCL, gives an easy to read and fascinating explanation of how the brain and other neural systems flirt with chaos to extract order and, ultimately, promote survival.
If you're like me, and A) think the brain's functions can only be understood once we've understood its rhythms and B) care, this is a must read.
Lewis Dartnell, a grad student at UCL, gives an easy to read and fascinating explanation of how the brain and other neural systems flirt with chaos to extract order and, ultimately, promote survival.
If you're like me, and A) think the brain's functions can only be understood once we've understood its rhythms and B) care, this is a must read.
The closest to an acid trip you'll get without shaving off all your dendrites
http://wonderfl.net/c/qDpw/fullscreen
Click the link, and then watch closely. Don't multitask, it only takes 10 seconds or so.
This exploded my brain and then put it carefully back together.
Click the link, and then watch closely. Don't multitask, it only takes 10 seconds or so.
This exploded my brain and then put it carefully back together.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
DARPA developing mind control
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/14/darpa-seeks-out-remote-controls-for-soldiers-minds/
This is absolutely terrifyingly awesome. Given our admittedly fuzzy and macroscopic understanding of brain function (the amygdala does fear? or anger? or something like that), the possibilities are limited. For the moment. I don't know much about the spatial resolution of ultrasound brainzapper waves, but I do know a fair bit about brain function, and how gol-dang fast we're figuring it out.
I'm not saying we need to take to the streets. I'm not even saying this is a bad thing, although at first glance it gave me the willies. In fact, I'm not even saying part of me isn't itching to be a part of this. What I am saying is that it's important to be aware. So, here you go.
This is absolutely terrifyingly awesome. Given our admittedly fuzzy and macroscopic understanding of brain function (the amygdala does fear? or anger? or something like that), the possibilities are limited. For the moment. I don't know much about the spatial resolution of ultrasound brainzapper waves, but I do know a fair bit about brain function, and how gol-dang fast we're figuring it out.
I'm not saying we need to take to the streets. I'm not even saying this is a bad thing, although at first glance it gave me the willies. In fact, I'm not even saying part of me isn't itching to be a part of this. What I am saying is that it's important to be aware. So, here you go.
Monday, September 13, 2010
How to strut yo stuff
This article will tell you all you need to know about attracting a mate. Congratulations. Also, the videos are beyond hilarious.
Freelance Whales - Hannah
Chill indie-pop. Really witty lyrics, pretty vocal harmonies, nice integration of basic rock instruments with electronic elements.
Freelance Whales - Hannah video
I hope you like it, this guy certainly does: CRAYOLAHIPSTER
Freelance Whales - Hannah video
I hope you like it, this guy certainly does: CRAYOLAHIPSTER
The Age of Rockets - Elephant & Castle
Very pretty, mellow ambient electronica with some real strings and Postal Service type beats. The vocal harmonies are incredibly rich and textured.
The Age of Rockets (semantically ambiguous... get it?) is a solo project by Andrew Futral of New York City, who went to the Purchase College Conservatory and won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2004.
The Age of Rockets - Elephant & Castle
The Age of Rockets (semantically ambiguous... get it?) is a solo project by Andrew Futral of New York City, who went to the Purchase College Conservatory and won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2004.
The Age of Rockets - Elephant & Castle
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Ask, tell, get over it
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/09/us/AP-US-Gays-in-Military.html?_r=1&emc=na
Does anybody still think this is a good idea? I can't think of a single argument in favor.
Does anybody still think this is a good idea? I can't think of a single argument in favor.
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