So it’s time for one more quick note: If you check out Obama.com, you’ll see that the whole “Obama is a Muslim” thing is actually a head-fake to disguise his true ethnicity. And he did grow up in Hawai’i, after all…
Archive for June, 2008
29
Jun
Analtech is totally SFW!
I’m working my bottom off right now, but need to alert you to this awesome local news story. An instrument company that has labored under the name Analtech (short A, people) for almost fifty years has decided it needs a viral video to increase its market share. The article is all kinds of funny and well worth a read. I’m especially impressed that they’re taking that horrible name and both working it and downplaying it. Quixotic!
Oh, and in case you’re as skeptical as me: Either it checks out or they’ve invested millions of dollars in hoaxing the world. I wonder if the Arrested Development folks were familiar with this company?
Caesarean birth increases asthma risk by 50%. It’s certainly not a matter of strict one-factor causality, but that’s huge.
17
Jun
Why I remain childless
17
Jun
Tip of the day
(I wasn’t going to comment, but I can’t help myself: The cop’s quote at the end made me laugh.)
Singh is an excellent science writer, capable of great feats of both explanation and inspiration. Even readers who were brutalized by math and science teachers at a tender age (I’m looking at you, Junior) should have a hard time finding anything in here to trigger their Post-Trigonometric Stress Disorder.
His explanations of the various theories and experiments that led to the modern Big Bang theory are lucid and all the formulae he presents are easily skipped, leaving plenty of room for the big personalities and weird conflicts that make top-shelf, big-issue science so compelling. George Gamow fled the Soviets with his wife in a kayak! The Pope jumped all over the Big Bang because the alternative was a universe without a beginning! Tycho Brahe was a duel-fighting badass!
The book starts with early efforts to understand the world, its origins, and our place in it, and quickly skips ahead to the confluence of astronomy and cosmology. Along the way, Singh compares each theory to the one that preceded it, which is a neat trick that drives home the long-term process of science pretty thoroughly. A brief epilogue discusses what’s left to learn – there’s an awful lot. Get thee to a radio telescope!
(No, that header is not a trick to force Dalton to post a “yes, you are” comment.) (But that parenthetical was.)
So Tim Russert died earlier today at 58. He was the host of Meet the Press and had once been a Democratic fixer. The first thing I thought was “sucks, man,” because the bell tolls for me, and there’s enough death in this world and so on, but after an hour or so, I wondered how long it would take for right-wing pinheads to try to try to link his untimely death to Hillary Clinton. I googled half-heartedly, and very quickly found a comment on NBC’s report on his death that suggested just that (Vince Foster, don’t you know). But the commenter was named “Obamafan” or something and is pretty obviously a troll or someone just as clever as me who wanted to show off…wait, that’s not what I mean. Right? Oh dear, I need some fresh air. Talk amongst yourselves.
12
Jun
Dibs!
Lord knows I don’t want it to happen, but in the unlikely event that Senator Straight-Talk pulls off a victory in the fall, I want to trademark the phrase “Deus Ex McCaina.” Thank you, that is all.
10
Jun
The prodcast post
Paul reminded me the other day that I’ve been meaning to do a prodcast* roundup. I listen to a few pretty regularly, and though I’m always behind, I always do try to catch up. Here’s what I like:
This American Life, duh. If you haven’t listened, you should. It’s always good stuff. I especially recommend the recent episode called “The Giant Pool of Money,” which is grossly atypical but still incredibly good. It explains the recent housing market meltdown in a way that shouldn’t alienate anyone. So good.
Radiolab is my favorite of the bunch. It’s sort of ostensibly covering science, one topic per week, but it’s actually just a couple of smart guys who crack each other up playing with zillions of dollars worth of sound tech. Man, is it ever hard to explain, but I think it’s well worth checking out. Their live show about “War of the Worlds” was good fun.
Studio 360 covers arts and culture, and often surprises me with new or old music I’d never heard and want to hear, or an interview that I’m sure will suck that actually enlightens. The host is kind of a radio dude (not in a good way), but he knows well enough to back off and let his subjects do the heavy lifting. Fans of This American Life should definitely check it out.
Quirks & Quarks lives up to its dopey name, but is still worth listening to every week. The irrepressibly Canadian Dr. Bob McDonald (oh my god, that name!) is kind of like that one teacher who thought he was cool, but his guests are always nerdy and great, and their work is ripped from today’s science journal headlines. Each episode brings 4-5 scientists on talking about recent work, and at least one gets me fired up. You should listen once, just to hear Bob’s childlike glee when talking about sex or poop, which usually comes up at least once per show.
The Material World is the BBC’s shorter version of Quirks & Quarks, with a goofy host (Quentin Cooper) joking through short interviews with scientists about recent work. Again, he’s not as funny as he thinks he is, but his guests rock out.
In Our Time is amazing. It feels timeless, except the topics are occasionally based on recent scientific results. It’s one smart, understated host (Melvyn Bragg) letting three academic guests meander all over the place in an effort to explain one topic – anything from Newton’s Laws of Motion to Soren Kierkegaard to King Lear to the Statue of Liberty. Some of the guests are practically caricatures of British academics – this recent one on the history of our understanding of the brain featured a doc with the voice of Peter Cook’s character from The Princess Bride talking about the bwain quite earnestwy.
Okay then. I’ve bunched them together and set them up as links over there on the right. Please let me know if there are any floating around out there you think I should pick up on.
* I still can’t bring myself to use the Apple marketing term, but I also can’t come up with anything better than “prodcast.” Please help?
06
Jun
Life imitates schmomedy
“Conference on Gambling and Addiction to be Held in Las Vegas”
Researchers are preparing to shock the world by announcing that less than 10% of what happens in Vegas actually stays in Vegas.
You said it, sister