Walking to work this morning I saw a profusion of butterflies, flurries of them. From a distance they looked like leaves carried on the breeze, but as they fluttered past (so fast!) it was obvious they were on a mission. I think they were “painted ladies”:http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/27/special_reports/science_technology/12_31_263_26_05.txt flying their hearts out toward the desert [...]
Posted by Chris in Art on March 31st, 2005 | 3 Comments »
Oh, this is just too sad for words. The other day I noticed an ad for the new “GMC Sierra Hybrid Pickup”:http://www.gmc.com/sierra/hybrid_popup.jsp. I was surprised by the idea that US automakers were finally getting on the hybrid bandwagon. Turns out I shouldn’t have been.
Read on for the rant…
Posted by Chris in Technology on March 30th, 2005 | 6 Comments »
“Parand”:http://www.parand.com/say/index.php/2005/03/23/plugging-back-into-academia/ thoughtfully provided a short list of interesting online academic courseware from “Harvard”:http://athome.harvard.edu/, “MIT”:http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html, and “Berklee”:http://www.berkleeshares.com/ (the music school, not a typo). The Harvard videos remind me of the fun educational/classroom shows (like “Mechanical Universe”:http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tmu/ or “French in Action”:http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html) I used to watch on UHF channels. I was just thinking about online [...]
Posted by Chris in Education on March 28th, 2005 | Comments Off
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, now it looks like “a bloc of southern school districts are successfully removing science from all textbooks”:http://www.ambiguous.org/archive.php3/2005/03/24#robin2005324.1. Sigh.
“But Chris,” you say, “They’re just calling for the removal of sex ed and evolution and the heliocentric model and other such blasphemies. Surely there’s still room [...]
Posted by Chris in Education on March 28th, 2005 | Comments Off
I don’t know how else to say it. You *must* read “Linda’s travelog of her journey through South America”:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gal_on_the_Go_SA/. If it were a book on my shelf (which it should be, it really should), I would be pulling it down, opening it to “the most recent entry”:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gal_on_the_Go_SA/message/28, and shoving it under [...]
Posted by Chris in Travel on March 24th, 2005 | 2 Comments »
How about some Chinese space program propaganda?
Edited to Add: Oh my God. Scroll all the way down. Seriously.
Posted by Deana in Space on March 23rd, 2005 | Comments Off
Aaargh, despite me tone, this is serious stuff me maties! Take a look…
Posted by Deana in Crime on March 22nd, 2005 | Comments Off
I don’t have the right phone to get these neat Eddie Izzard ring tones but some of you might (Chris, I’m looking at you). For the rest of us, you can at least listen to them on the site above. Just press the buttons on the little phone picture.
Posted by Deana in Technology on March 21st, 2005 | 3 Comments »
Here’s a follow-up to my earlier post on “this administration’s budget priorities”:http://www.globalspin.com/mt/archives/000499.html. A recent “PIPA study”:http://www.globalspin.com/mt/archives/000499.html shows that most Americans have similar budget priorities, but those priorities are very different from the budget proposed by the President and Congress.
_ìThe American public as a whole takes a fairly coherent position. They favor redirecting a [...]
Posted by Chris in Politics on March 18th, 2005 | 1 Comment »
Want to become the next big name in science? It’s easy: “solve one of these nagging questions”:http://www.newscientist.com/channel/space/mg18524911.600 and you’re almost guaranteed a Nobel prize.
I particularly like number 4, the effects of homeopathy. I actually use homeopathic remedies, and some of them have worked well. I just try not to dwell on the [...]
Posted by Chris in Science on March 18th, 2005 | Comments Off
