February 2012
63 posts
4 tags
7 tags
3 tags
3 tags
Watch This: The Scale of the Universe 2 Will Blow... →
itscandidlycara:
Enjoy being reminded of your mortality and insignificance. I have this weird mix of wonderment and depression right now. You broke my heart, Plank. You broke my heart
SCIEEENCCEEGAHJHJHDJKSJK
I remember the original Scale of the Universe video from grade school. Always stuck with me, always blew my mind in a great way. This one’s just as good, although it goes so fast...
6 tags
“Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible...”
– Thomas Jefferson
Lo an behold, here’s the Jefferson quote Maher refers to at the end of the video in my previous post. And much to my surprise, it actually has to do with the Trinity.
Yes, THAT Thomas Jefferson. As in, one of the people who founded and built the country the conservative...
5 tags
“The triumphs of science are due to the substitution of observation and inference...”
– ‘The impact of science on society’ by Bertrand Russell, p.89.
(via scipsy)
I wish more things had a peer review system. Especially politics…it’d be some much nice to be able to just oust someone from office immediately when they perform some gross violation of the constitution. Like...
emotionalcreativity asked: If you could be any fictional character who would you be and why?
6 tags
Followup on Braun →
There is a BIG, HUGE difference between “Innocent” and “Case Dropped,” the latter of which is basically what happened here.
Yes, the procedure violated the agreed upon rules for drug testing, and thus yes, the dismissal of the charges via the appeal process is justified, but that does NOT mean Braun was INNOCENT of what he was accused of. Of course, anyone can see that...
No one's asked me any questions yet...
Anyone out there got any? Ask away!
5 tags
Braun's appeal is successful! →
Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension was successfully appealed, and his suspension thus overturned. He is the first player to successfully appeal a drug suspension….which is particularly noteworthy when you consider this line:
“No reason was given for Thursday’s decision.”
This can’t help but make you go “hmmmm……” No reason, huh? Sounds...
6 tags
A Comment on Dune Messiah
WARNING: There might be some spoilers in here. I’m not sure yet.
I just finished reading Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert, the other day, something I’ve put off for a long time. Since high school, in fact (I’m 33 now…some 15-odd years or so). And I must say, I was VERY disappointed.
I read Dune back in high school, and I thought it was one of the best science fiction...
4 tags
Modern vs. Older Sleep Patterns →
This is a very fascinating article on the human history of sleep and sleeping patterns (thanks John O. for posting this on FB!).
I found this personally relevant because I’ve always been someone with significant sleep problems. I should clarify actually: my sleep problems aren’t significant in that they’re severe, but rather that they have consistently bothered me for my entire...
“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a...”
– Socrates (via philphys)
I love this quote…but, since Socrates never actually wrote anything himself, I’m wondering what source it comes from. Plato?
2 tags
1 tag
So Am I The Only One Whose Wondering Why The... →
section9:
letterstomycountry:
I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I feel like the media really glossed over this one. I don’t recall there being too many articles written about this.
note: link above is to an article about the new gov’t.’s attempts to crackdown on opium. here’s a NYT blog post that mentions the elections. Here’s a CFR article that discusses them as...
4 tags
7 tags
Ooo, Another Local Possibility for E.T. Life!
Lo and behold, I discovered that there is another body in the solar system that is a good candidate to support extra-terrestrial life aside from Europa (which I posted about here)!!
Ceres is the largest body in the Asteroid Belt, and it looks like it has more fresh water on it than on all of Earth. Spectacular! And, two awesome facts:
1. It’s a lot closer than Europa, and thus easier to...
