There are GMT+14 time zones...not really possible.

The Line Islands are +14 GMT. That's over a half a day (You know, those things based on the earth's rotation period so that any point to should +/- 12 hours of any other spot on the planet). I mean, I could see if these islands were the last thing before open water for several hours, but it does not exist. There are Islands to the northeast of these that are -11 GMT. Crazy.

Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Standard_time_zones_of_the_world.png

Giant Jumping Shark! Do I have your attention yet?

This is the photo the NY Daily News ran to accompany a story about Chatham (Cape Cod) beach closing due to recent sitings of 3-4 Great Whites. The article describes the sharks "Great White Sharks, like this one off the coast of South Africa, have been spotted off the coast of Cape Cod." Not really.

Sure, it is unusual to find Great Whites in the Atlantic, but the researchers certainly didn't find them leaping 10 feet out of the ocean. That behavior is reserved for particular feeding frenzies and has only been observed a limited number of times by people. Also, that shark looks quite a bit bigger than the 8-10 feet noted in the article (I am going by wave/ripple size), so the shark is both bigger and badder than anything close to what we're seeing off the coast of MA. Oh, and did I mention that Great Whites aren't among those sharks generally considered dangerous to humans? If these were hammerheads, black tipped reef sharks (I have scuba'd with these - they are more scared of us, yadda yadda yadda), etc., get out of the water.

Did anyone in the editorial department stop to think that this photo might be inappropriate fear-mongering, or is that a legitimate editorial aim at the NY Daily News?

Tough but worth the time.

This is a longish video, walking through good visualizations of the 10 theoretical dimensions. It's worth the 11 minutes, considering you will not find a clearer explanation.

The Universe May Taste of Raspberries.

Actually, that's not true. It's just one galaxy.

Current Tiny Thing. Next Big Thing.

This TED talk is about how bacteria "talk" to each other. More accurately, it about how they sense when there is a critical mass of bacteria and then act in concert. When the bacteria is virulent, this means you get sick. Solution: Block the sensors, stop the behavior. Amazing.

Smoking - in any form - Kills.

Just have to read it to believe it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6639461.stm.

Suddenly, I am lot more sympathetic to the argument that you may have a shorter life, but it will be worth living.

World Depopulation

Those not content to turn over the relevant crises of the day can find solace in the speculative concern of tomorrow: World Depopulation. Phillip Longman wrote a book on this "coming crisis" and how you can solve it. Um. Phil, I support "Legs Across America" as much as the next guy, but can't you get a woman to sleep with you based on something less than, "The future of the human race depends on it?" Indeed, I'd imagine we turned to "flowers," then "chocolate," then "feelings" when that argument didn't work.

I do mean to make light of this idea. I think there is a grain of truth to the notion that we need the young to provide resources to assist the old in society, but to suggest that a declining population rate will go "out of control" ignores the most basic human desire. We want to do it anyway. If we feel there is a "higher-calling" for a baser instincts, trust me, we'll rise to the occassion.

Can I get an "Amen"?

Eyes In Your Head

Nope. Not in the back of your head - IN your head. That's what Macropina has. The green balls it is transparent head are its eyes. The black eye-looking things are olfactory organs - its nose.

Expensive, But Dumb

It's not that Cheetah snowboard's must think we're crazy if we're going to buy a $1300 snowboard. In truth, snowsports are where trust fund babies can ride a conveyor belt over and over again so that everyone can see what happens when you stick several grand worth of skis, poles, boots, technical undies, and designer outerwear on an uncoordinated beginner. They might be right there.

It's that Cheetah must think we're stupid. See that slit in the center of the board? That's to allow you to go faster because there is less friction. Except that every skier and boarder knows that to go faster, you get longer skis or a taller board. Increasing surface area means that you have more space to spread your weight, so there is less pressure pushing each point of your board/ski into the snow. That results in less friction. Reducing the area has the opposite effect.

It is true that you can wear skis long enough (in theory) that their weight alone will increase the friction and slow you down, but that would take some damn long skis. Think about opposite extreme: skiing on ice skates. They have a small surface area so all your weight cuts into the ice to get you an edge.

Who would have thought that such a cool looking board could make its rider look like such a tool? I think they are banking on it.

Aural Lie

Your voice sounds different in your head than it does through a microphone because your ear picks up the bone conducted vibrationa as well as those traveling through the air. The bond-transferred tones are usually low and full, which is why mic'd sounds tend to sound high and tinny.

Bone conduction has been used with great success in headsets, most notably the Aurial Jawbone, to identify the speakers voice and isolate it from the background noise.

[Arigato to Styx for the pun ]

Blow-vo.

Baking soda. Water. Egg. Deep Breath. Awesome.

HT: FIL

Want to Blow Your Mind? Give It Space Into Which to Expand

Ganzfield-induced Hallucinations.



- 1 ping pong ball, halved
- 1 rubber band or plastic to hold halves about nose-width apart
- 1 Set headphones
- 1 recording of white noise



Just sit in a lit room with the ping pong balls and headphones in place and do...nothing for 10-30 minutes. See what happens.



Or you can read this research account. The hallucinations are widely reported and quite vivid. It is not news that sensory deprivation causes this; it is news that it is so easy to induce. There is no need for a deprivation tank, just a chair, a ball, and an iPod.

Braindroppings - The Electric Marshmallow Roasting Test

Client/Matter/State of Matter

There may be a new state of matter. Electrons, which normally travel around the nucleus of an atom on a 2D plane (a disk, or an orbit), were seen to shift to a "quasi 3D plane" when subjected to massive magnetic forces at near 0 Kelvin.

Practical uses: use the shift in state of a matter to store bits of data, allowing bits to shrink to the single particle level. Well, perhaps "practical" isn't the perfect term.

I Totally Thought I Was Done for the Day

Whoa! This showed up at the LA Museum of Science! Amazing.


Extinct, my ASS! from The Original Joe Fisher on Vimeo.

Stands Hair On End, Prevents Cancer

LA just dumped 400,000 of these babies into its reservoir (the Ivanhoe) as sunscreen. The sun combines Chlorine and Bromide to produce a carcinogenic compound. Solution - create shades for the reservoir. Now to find out what chemicals the balls will leach into the water...

Video at LATIMES
HT: www.gizmodo.com.

How in the World?

Nova has a special on deciphering ancient Mayan pictoglyphs. There is an interactive glyph here where you can see individual marks, see their translation, and hear them read aloud.

1. Mayans used a base-20 number system. Fingers and toes people. Fingers and toes.
2. The glyphs are big!...and complicated!
3. How did anyone ever decipher the meaning of these things? They look like complete gobbledegook!

The Great Leap....Downward

This is the flight pattern of Michael Fournier, who has not yet attempted this jump because of high winds. A few notes - he will break the sound barrier at 761 mph, then he will accelarate to nearly ONE THOUSAND MILES AN HOUR before the thicker air slows him down, and he will free-fall for over seven minutes. Unreal. Good luck sir.

Did we mention he's a senior citizen?

Nano-'sbestos.

Cabon nano tubes are amazing. They have helped create "the new black," a substance that absorbs over 99.995% of light striking it, and they are thought to be the building blocks of structures like the space elevator or new medical devices. Just one teensie problem, they are small and fibrous. A study shows that, when inhaled, they cause inflamation of the lungs (not unlike silicates and asbestos).

Is this is the kiss of death? Actually, I think this is a sign of progress. This is science seeing the unintended consequence of another great idea and working to test for and prevent it up front. Of course, there will be other unintended consequences to nano tubes...but that is always a function of venturing into the unknown.

Marital Bliss for the Boy Scout Set.

This is an actual psychological questionaire used in 1957. Spouses would simply grade one another and turn it in to the shrink, who would compile the data for social psych studies. (See more here from the APA).

My favorite: your wife gets 10 merits for taking the kids to church and going herself. She gets yet another merit for letting you sleep through the same.

[ HT to DCFearless]