Archive for June 12th, 2008

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Studio 360: When Particles Collide

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Large Hadron Collider

Large Hadron Collider
Credit: US LHC

Actress Marth Plimpton reads a short short story Lydia Millet was commissioned to write for Studio 360 on the idea of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) producing a black hole, and the cultural, political, and spiritual ramifications of this ludicrously remote possibility.

What happens if the worst happens? is a nice bit of speculative fiction, and just a few minutes of your time. The rest of the show is interesting as well (if a bit sensational).

Posted in Pure Speculation | 2 Comments »

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Science Etcetera, Jupiterday 20080612

Thursday, June 12th, 2008
  • The International Astronomical Union has decided to really convolute their field and turn people away from astronomy by calling “Dwarf Planets” “Plutoids”, but only Pluto and Eris get the new name. Ceres is still a dwarf planet. I think it’s time to start a new IAU that isn’t staffed by morons.

    • Poor Pluto

    Poor Pluto
    Credit: Mathias Pedersen
  • Alcohol abuse in Canada costs its citizens $1 Billion and 800 Lives a year.
  • University of Florida professor is patenting a plasma-propelled flying saucer.
  • Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) will be used at the Olympic Games in China to measure air pollution, which appears to be helping to keep the Earth cool.
  • Suck it Dittoheads!!! Europe’s Cap-and-Trade system to combat global warming is working wonderfully, without any negative economic effects. Thpppt! On you! Thpppt! I say!
  • The Earth’s crust rises 25 centimeters with every high tide.
  • Humans have a sense of echolocation, capable of knowing where silent objects are in a room from the ambient sound while blindfolded.
  • xkcd: Scientific Fields Arranged by Purity.

    • Fields Arranged by Purity

    Fields Arranged by Purity
    Credit: Randall Munroe
  • Trees regulate their temperatures to 71 degrees Fahrenheit, carrying the implication that climate data based on tree-rings is off.
  • I’m curious about how this works: Heron’s Fountain.
  • Zoomable NASA image: Coma Cluster of Galaxies.
  • It’s time the Federal Government started letting Homosexuals donate blood.
  • Clearest photo ever of ovulation.
  • NASA plans to visit within 7 million km of the sun with the Solar Probe Plus, hoping to launch by 2015.
  • Yay! The Phoenix Lander has an oven full of soil for baking and analyzing.
  • Dramatic photos of the midwest floods.
  • In the 1990s, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake investigated the idea that dogs know when their owners are coming home. Now the open-source science project Dogs That Know is seeking volunteers to further test this idea:



    • Posted in Science Etcetera | 2 Comments »