Month: May 2008
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A 1945 Steampunk Vision of the Internet: As We May Think
53 years ago this Sunday, Dr. Vannevar Bush composed this incredible bit of futurism, where he describes an Information Technology tool called the “Memex,” a device that can instantaneously serve up any article or book in its user’s possession and navigate to any spot within the text. He describes scientists working in the field, their…
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Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope
Finally installed the World Wide Telescope (WWT) after downloading it to sit on my desktop (aka “The Place of No Return”) for a few weeks. It’s very impressive, but less impressive when you run it side-by-side with Google Earth (GE). Still, there are a few features that are going to make me keep both softwares…
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EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson’s Contempt for Americans
Awhile back I linked to this video of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson refusing to explain to Congress why he will not do his job despite the Supreme Court mandating he take action on CO2 pollution, and his refusal to allow Californians the right to take action on greenhouse emissions for themselves. Three hearings later and…
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Peak Water
“We’ll never know the worth of water until the well goes dry.” – Scottish proverb. In November 2007 Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue prayed for rain to alleviate the state’s worst drought in history. Before this last-ditch effort, he had sued the Army Corps of Engineers to cut off Florida’s water supply. Georgia legislator even made…
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The Thrill of Loosing a Pint of Blood
My father teaches phlebotomy at ODU, but is a total wuss when it comes to donating blood. He used to fall back on the excuse that his type I diabetes excluded him from donation, but had to find another excuse when that prohibition was lifted. I’ve been prohibited from donating blood for a year every…
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Rush is Right!
Rush Limbaugh is right. Rush is right when he says it would be better for Republicans to lose than vote for McCain, and Rush is right when he proposes Operation Chaos to help McCain win the general election. Rush is right when he says he wants Hillary to win the nomination because she’ll be easier…
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NY Hall of Science: The Search for Life Beyond Earth
Coolest item by far in this portion of the NY Hall of Science was the Cloud Chamber, an apparatus that uses dry ice and pure alcohol to let us see the paths of cosmic particles, which are passing through and around us all the time. Different particles leave different tracks in the display. Simulating the…
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Robert Asprin 1946-2008
Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections A moment of silence please for fantasy/SF author, Robert Asprin, who has passed away at 62. Author of the delightful MYTH Adventures, a seemingly never-ending series of novellas, which chronicled the lovable Skeeve, Aahz, Tananda, the pet dragon Gleep, and the carnival of other characters making up the M.Y.T.H. mythos. I very…
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Edge Question: What are You Optimistic About?
Every year Edge sends out a question to all the world’s greatest minds. This year, the question was “What are You Optimistic About?, somehow, my invitation to answer the question got lost in the mail, and Edge forgot to post the response I so helpfully e-mailed them, so I guess I’ll just post it here…
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Michael Pollan In Defense of Food
“The dinner we have eaten tonight, was part of the sun but a few months ago.” – Weston Price When geneticists mapped out the human genome, they found a complex world of proteins that will take decades, possibly centuries, to fully decipher. Medical applications, such as gene therapy, cloning, and medications must go through years…
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The Aquatic Ape Theory
Leah, a gorilla, uses a stick to test the depth of water while wading through it Photo by Thomas Breuer/WCS/PLoS Biology Like Humans, dolphins, whales, and porpoises are mammals. They are warm-blooded, breath through lungs, and give birth to live offspring; however, they also have fins like fish and live in the sea. The skeletons…