Science marches on !

 
 
"Spectroscopic Discrimination of Shit from Shinola"
by Thomas H. Painter, Michael E. Schaepman, Wolf Schweizer and Jason Brazile.
 
We conducted an experiment to determine whether people can tell shit from Shinola (a brand of shoe polish once manufactured in the United States).
 
We find that to the human eye, the two substances are inseparable given similar morphology, whereas with near-infrared spectroscopy one is easily distinguished from the other



 

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Marcel Marceau, Renowned Mime, Dies at 84

News Item:

Marcel Marceau, the wiry French mime who mostly performed as the chalk-faced Bip and did much to revive the art of pantomime, died Saturday in France. He was 84.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/arts/24marceau.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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In honor of his artistry, let us all observe a Moment of Noise.

: Batman's arrival ruffles politicians

news item:


HONG KONG (Reuters) - The arrival of Batman in Hong Kong this November for filming of the latest Hollywood sequel has ruffled local politicians who say the masked hero could disrupt traffic and cause noise pollution, reports said on Friday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKHKG23201220070921?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

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It's a good thing Spiderman's not filming there.
Batman only causes noise pollution.
If Spidey visits, Hong Kong officials would be cleaning cobwebs off the city skyscrapers.

Another Celebrity with single digit I.Q.

 
New "View" Co-Host Sherri Shepherd Doesn't Know If World Is Flat
 
After declaring she didn't "believe in evolution, period," new "View" co-host Sherri Shepherd was asked if she thought the world was flat.
 
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Is the world flat?
SHERRI SHEPHERD: Is the world flat? (laughter)
GOLDBERG: Yes.
SHEPHERD: …I Don't know.
GOLDBERG: What do you think?
SHEPHERD: I… I never thought about it, Whoopi. Is the world flat? I never thought about it.
BARBARA WALTERS: You've never thought about whether the world was round or flat?
SHEPHERD: I tell you what I've thought about. How I'm going to feed my child–
WALTERS: Well you can do both.
SHEPERD: …how I'm going to take care of my family. The world, is the world flat has never entered into, like that has not been an important thing to me.
ELIZABETH HASSELBECK: You'll teach your son, Jeffery, right?
SHEPHERD: If my son, Jeffery, asks me 'is the world flat,' I guess I would go…
JOY BEHAR: You know, didn't some person already work this question out? I mean, why are we doing this again? (laughter, applause)
 
http://www.thedailybackground.com/2007/09/18/video-the-view-co-host-doesnt-know-if-the-world-is-round-or-flat
 
 

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Fun maps

 
http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp
 
Tons of ways to customize the view;
You can display a map of the USA based on Agriculture, Climate, Geology, People, Politics, Transportation, Water, etc.
 
Each of the above categories are broken into smaller groups. For example, "People" is subdivided into Crime, Economy, Energy Consumption, Health and Population.
 
And those categories have further breakouts. "Economy" contains Average Wage per Job, Food Stamp Recipients, Median Household Income and more.  (and each of those can be displayed via year.  Whew!)
 
And it's zoomable, too.
 

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"This Day in History"

I've customized my Google page to give me RSS feeds. One module displays "This Day in History"

This is what it says for today:
Sep 19, 1881: President James Garfield died of a gunshot wound
inflicted by a disappointed office seeker the previous July 2.

"Disappointed Office Seeker"... just as comedian Robert Klein said.

Child of the 50's

Topical Humor

Heard about the new book O.J. Simpson's writing?
It's called "If I Stole It."

Sally Field : Actor, Political Science Major

"And, let's face it, if the mothers ruled the world, there would be no god-damned wars in the first place."
- Sally Field, during last Sunday's Emmy awards

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Indira Gandhi,
Prime Minister of India during the the 1971 India-Pakistan war

Children:
Rajiv Gandhi (born 1944)
Sanjay Gandhi (born 1946)

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Margaret Thatcher
British Prime Minister during the Falklands War of 1982

Children:
Mark Thatcher (born 1953)
Carol Thatcher (born 1953)

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Golda Meir
Prime Minister of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War

Children:
Menachem Meyerson (born 1924)
Sarah Meyerson (born 1926)

Larry Craig toilet 'tourist site'

The Minneapolis airport toilet where US senator Larry Craig was arrested for allegedly soliciting gay sex is now attracting tourists, say airport staff.

"People are taking pictures," Karen Evans, an information officer at Minneapolis-St Paul international airport, told Associated Press. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6998619.stm

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Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a famous L.A. tourist destination, featuring the footprints of famous celebrities set in cement. Perhaps the Minneapolis Airport stall can persuade Larry Craig to do the same... with an appropriately "Wide Stance."

Another Kinetic Sculpture

 

My buddy, Bradley Litwin, has completed another Kinetic Sculpture, and posted a video of it in operation on YouTube.

 

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 "Sway of Public Opinion" at  www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKrNJdJj7uE

 

6r+ --   http://www.jujubee.com/

 

 

Robot Maker Builds Artificial Boy

RICHARDSON, Texas (AP)- David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there's the robotic Zeno. It can't speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions.

At 17 inches tall and 6 pounds, the artificial Zeno is the culmination of five years of work by Hanson and a small group of engineers, designers and programmers at his company, Hanson Robotics. They believe there's an emerging business in the design and sale of lifelike robotic companions, or social robots. And they'll be showing off the robot boy to students in grades 3-12 at the Wired NextFest technology conference Thursday in Los Angeles.   http://www.livescience.com/technology/070913_ap_artificial_boy.html

 

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There you go Astro Boy. 
On your flight into space. 
Rocket high, through the sky 
What adventures soon you will make. 

Astro Boy bombs away 
On your mission today 
Here's the countdown, and a blast off 
Everything is GO Astro boy

 

 

 

Science Marches On !

Now THIS is the kind of research I'd like to be doing...

http://www.livescience.com/health/070911_bounce_support.html

More Ugly Cars

Another list of Ugly Cars, courtesy of Maddox:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ugly_cars

Tell me something I don't already know

The LA Times reports on a new study that says the brains of liberals and conservatives process information differently.

In everyday situations, "conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments, whereas liberals are more open to new experiences."

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-politics10sep10,1,3200056.story?ctrack=3&cset=true

another successful experiment from Dadlabs

Have you ever wondered what it must feel like to be hooked up to a breast pump?

http://www.dadlabs.com/labs/breast_pump.html

 

 

New iPhone

 Apple unveils the latest version of the iPhone ...

 the iPhone Shuffle

 It has one button which, when pressed, calls a random phone number.

 

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Turnabout is fair play

Miss Teen USA 2007 South Carolina asks some questions. 

Can you answer?

http://www.people.com/people/quiz/0,,20053640,00.html

 

 

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for those of you with an engineering mind

 

History of Pop-Up and Movable Books:
http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/

My blog:  http://silent3.blogspot.com

 I WANT TO WRITE LIKE E. E. CUMMINGS !

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Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question

Question (Aimee Teegarden): "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?"

Answer (Caitlin Upton; 2007 Miss Teen USA South Carolina): "I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because, ah…some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and ah, I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like, such as…and I believe that they should, our education over here, in the US, should help the US; or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries. So we will be able to build up our future for our children."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

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Don't worry about her getting a job.

There are recent openings in Bush's administration.