http://ideonexus.com Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:00:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There are so many times I could have used this feature, Google Maps has added walking directions, but I doubt they'll give you the shortcut through your neighbor's backyard. Now I Can Walk to the Science Center! "The greenhouse gas emissions arising every year from the production and consumption of cheeseburgers is ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/25/science-etcetera-venusday-20080725/ Posting this on the off-chance that there is an aspiring comic artist out there who might be interested in collaborating with an aspiring writer. I had found a fantastic cartoonist to work with me on this project, but, unfortunately, real life was making too many demands on his time, but ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/24/the-safeguard-a-creative-commons-comic-book-script/ Odorrana tormota is a frog that can tune its ears to different frequencies. Odorrana tormota Credit: Albert Feng An estimated 19 percent of total energy used in America goes toward food production. Healthy eating and traditional farming could reduce that energy consumption by 50 percent. Dentists are learning bedside manners from virtual patients in ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/24/science-etcetera-jupiterday-20080724/ As a child, I was a master at chasing the ice cream man. I remember one time when that big white truck got a good four-block lead on me before I leapt outside in a pavlovian response to its musical tunes (I still salivate when I hear them). That time, ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/23/homo-sapiens-as-long-distance-runners/ Human speech originated with singing fish. midshipman fish singing to attract a mate Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation Radiohead video uses no cameras, just 3-D Plotting for a very stunning effect (HT oranchak). Shucks. Oscar Pistorius, amputee sprinter with cyborg legs failed to qualify for the Olympic Games, possibly because he's spent ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/23/science-etcetera-mercuryday-20080723/ Screenshot of DaisyWorld Simulation Credit: GingerBooth.com Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, there was a cold, gray planet named DaisyWorld orbiting a star much like our Sun. On this planet some aliens scientists sprinkled some seeds that produced only white and black daisies. The aliens were performing an experiment ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/22/daisyworld-a-fable-of-planetary-homeostasis/ The American Human Development Project ranks states and congressional districts using a similar criteria the UN uses to rank countries. Not surprisingly, the South sucks. Find out where you reside on the Well-O-Meter here (My HD index is 9.02! Yay!!!). American Human Development Project Life Expectancy at Birth Epigenetics at work: overweight mothers ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/22/science-etcetera-marsday-20080722/ Michael Crichton, Glen Beck, the Washington Times, and the Randroids, have all equated environmentalism with eugenics, population control, and fascism. We environmentalists hate human beings, we want to exterminate the human race and have everything go back to a "garden of Eden," to quote Crichton. So what about the anti-environmentalists? The ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/21/human-life-goes-on-sale-under-bush-administrations-epa/ Aaaaaggggghhhh!!! John Boehner (R-OH) claims there is no wildlife in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!!! Japanese researchers have built a molecular motor, and it works like a hula hoop. Rotary movement of a chromophore-modified alpha-cyclodextrin Credit: (C) Wiley-VCH 2008 Al Gore is challenging America to go 100% Carbon-Free in Ten Years. Should we move polar ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/21/science-etcetera-moonday-20080721/ (Light blogging this week as I work on my house.) Images of the atomic blast in it's first millionth of a second. Atomic Blast in first Millisecond Credit: Harold Edgerton Local children born after closing a coal-fired power plant in China had larger skulls and healthier body weights. Interactive oil-spill incident map from the NOAA. Background ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/17/science-etcetera-jupiterday-20080717/ (Light blogging this week as I work on my house.) "Plutoid" 2005 FY9 has been named Makemake after the Rapa Nui god of fertility. You can see the status of the Dwarf Planets here. Kuiper Belt Objects Credit: NASA Intestinal bug H. pylori can cause ulcers, but apparently not having it can increase children's ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/16/science-etcetera-mercuryday-20080716/ Hunting, fishing, and shooting sports are dumping millions of pounds of lead into our environment each year, threatening wildlife. Radiograph of immature bald eagle containing numerous lead shot in its digestive tract Credit: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association One benefit to high gas prices is that they are driving automobile deaths down ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/14/science-etcetera-moonday-20080714/ "Break it up! Break it up! You're in a feedback loop!" Ms. Moriah had grabbed the two boys by their shirt-collars and was wrenching them apart. Within moments, her thoughts were interceding between their minds, just as her arms were pushing apart their bodies. Alvin and Cory were both breathing ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/12/flash-fiction-open-source-minds/ Hermit Tarot Card I test out INTJ (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging) on the Myers and Briggs personality test, meaning I'm like Isaac Newton, Niels Bohr, and Ada Lovelace. My Riso-Hudson Type Indicator ranks me as Thinker(8), Peacemaker(6), Reformer(4), Skeptic(4), Artist(4), Motivator(4), Helper(3), Generalist(3), Leader(0). I am the Hermit Tarot Card. According ... http://ideonexus.com/2008/07/11/the-internet-is-a-mirror/