Hi rom-antics,
Valentine's Day / Singles Awareness Day has been and gone. Yay! :-D
Here are some themed posts:
'Romantic Ants'
http://youtu.be/hWWw3SHCIAw
'Valentines Day special! A History of Infection #8'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/76635895800/valentines-day-special-a-history-of-infection
Worst. Valentines. Everrrrr:
http://informoverload.com/woman-cuts-off-tattoo-with-ex-boyfriends-name-and-mails-the-skin-to-him/
A Valentines Poem, from a Mathematician:
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/76635929896/love
Some of the slushier moments from my favourite sci-fi sit-com:
'Roses Are Red (Dwarf)'
"Frankly, this story couldn't have been more romantic if it had co-starred Robert Llewellyn's own other half and been broadcast on Valentine's Day. Which, er, it was."
http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2014/02/14/roses-are-red-dwarf/
{Surprisingly humorous, actually. The slushy moments, i mean, not the show. Although you could also say that about Red Dwarf, given that all but one of the characters gets killed, in the opening episode :-D }
'Flashing For Sex'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/76719896012/flashing-for-sex-these-yellow-streaks-are-the
And ingenious/mad gifts, as featured on Ripleys.com:
'LIST: Ripley’s 10 Weird Valentine’s'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/2014-valentines-list/
My favourite's the mitten for two, LOL
Darwin Day has also been and gone - the 12th of February.
So a belated Happy Darwin Day to you all, and a Happy 205th Birthday Anniversary to Charlie :o)
https://www.facebook.com/humanism/photos/a.80798970922.112981.26806660922/10152191433020923/?type=1
Without him, evolution would never have been invented, and so there would be no species intelligent enough to appreciate computers and blogs and stuff... so yeah, 'big up' Chucky-D :-D
Something else that's been and gone, is the Nye-Ham 'debate'. According to one screenshot i found on Facebook, Bill 'the scienceguy' Nye 'won' by quite a margin :-D
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75986090213/not-even-other-christians-think-ken-ham-won
Post-match commentary has been divided, though. And some have been scathing in criticism of Bill Nye, for giving Ken 'I'm a Creationist: i agree that the Earth was made in China, cuz it says so on the bottom' Ham the false credibility of a pretence 'debate'.
I'm inclined to be lenient toward Bill. What many of those pundits seem to be missing, is that there was never (and there never is) any chance of a true debate going on, whoever plays. Advocates of superstition do not care about debate - intrinsic to the notion of superstition, is a disregard of rationality, evidence, or any form of fact - and time and time again, these 'debates' show this to be true.
http://american-atheist.tumblr.com/post/75852211907
He was no fool - he took his opportunity to advocate for Science, and didn't bother to get bogged down in the puerile rhetoric that Ham Gish-galloped over the stage, and splashed into the audience's ears! As demonstrated by this clip: http://youtu.be/Z_r60jc7lW4 And self-contradictory rhetoric is demonstrated by this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jMVYdgVVgc
The late great Hitch was brilliant at this - dodging the murky mires of religious intellectual obstipation, and taking the conversation his own way - toward killer statements, for which rationalists will always remember him.
It's not technically a debate, but like i said, we were never going to get that, anyway. Ham, like any advocate of superstition, took plenty of opportunities to demonstrate the confused incoherence of his ideology. This makes the most of a a dodgy enterprise.
Speaking of dodgy enterprises... the publicity Ham has got from this event, could be what he was hoping for - he's looking to secure funding for his much-desired Noah's Ark Theme Park, which will run into millions of dollars. This event comes conveniently at a time that his funds are reported to be running low, and could lead to those millions in donations, coming from people who genuinely believe that the hoarding of money, the building of temples, and the coagulation of adherents, somehow validates bullshit beliefs. That is the motivation for the cathedrals, endless bank vaults, and exaggerated religiousness statistics that are employed by all kinds of religions across the world, to this day.
In that context, maybe it was a bad idea, after all??
But then again, what we've had is publicity in favour of both supersition and science. Whether this 'debate' was worth it, should surely be judged by the overall outcome - if a revival of enthusiasm for Science comes, culturally and governmentally, from this, then it will have been worth the expense.
"Watch this space..."
'Bill Nye - The Joy of Discovery'
"A marvelous excerpt from Bill Nye's recent debate set to original music"
http://youtu.be/p0_YHVFoXkM
"I was against Bill Nye's decision to debate. I now realise Ken Ham is wonderfully embarrassing for Xtians & should be given max exposure" - Richard Dawkins on Twitter
https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/status/431468838069080067
The internet's reactions, according to someone on tumblr:
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75848096292
Another goings-on with USAian religion -- a British magistrate has issued a summons to Thomas Monson - the worldwide leaderrrrr of the Mormon Church (officially, the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
'Head of Mormon church Thomas Monson summoned by British magistrates' court over Adam and Eve teaching'
http://wwrn.org/articles/41670/
The summons was issued on behalf of ex-Mormon claimants that they and others have been defrauded by the Church, principally through being tithed (essentially, a form of 'rates' that everyone has to pay, or they don't get a cell in heaven).
"[The summons] lists seven teachings of the church, including that Native Americans are descended from a family of ancient Israelites as possible evidence of fraud."
"The document suggests that asking members of the church to make contributions while promoting theological doctrines which “might be untrue or misleading” could be a breach of the Fraud Act 2006."
This is something that i have been stressing for a while, now - all superstitionistic organisations are essentially incompatible with fraud legislation, which defines financial gain by deception (false or misleading statements) to be a criminal act.
All religious and quack organisations are therefore guilty of fraud. In the UK, it's Part B of The Fraud Act 2006, and i believe the sentence to be a maximum of 6 years in prison.
Monson and his conspirators are unlikely to face justice, however, because they are unlikely to be extradited in order for the prosecution to be enforced. This is why people go on the run, to different countries, to evade it: Sanal Edamaruku, as a good example; or Tony Blair as a bad one.
If this law could be enforced to all fraudulent scumbags, then we would see big changes, in society. At the very least, the superstitionists would have to do a lot more running for planes!
But in the meantime, we'd see a lot more hysterical religionists.
Speaking of hysterical religion...
'Where is it illegal to be gay?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25927595
Unfortunately, quite a lot of places. And homo sapiens does insist that it's an intelligent species [scoffs]
I've uploaded a fact-checked excerpt of Series 2, Episode 5 of Charlie Brooker's 'Weekly Wipe', replete with links regarding the situation, there.
'Homophobia And The Sochi Olympics (Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe - S2E5)'
http://youtu.be/z2SVg6Q-hFU
Rather tangentially, the Grauniad's 'Science Weekly' podcast has opted to do an episode on 'affairs of the heart' for Singles Awareness Day / Valentines's Day... but not those kinds of affairs - biological ones. Quite annoyingly, the programme is accompanied by Star Trek film-like background music, and weird sound-effects :-/ It is interesting, though!
'Science Weekly podcast: affairs of the human heart'
http://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2014/feb/10/science-weekly-podcast-human-heart-valentines-day
'The Dutch Kiss'
Share it around, he says; share it around... someone share it in my direction:-P
http://youtu.be/8gA4P-wkQJg
Meanwhile, in the world of YouTube, a smaller scandal is going on.
Myles Power is a fantastic Science YouTuber who, of late, has been sciencing a pseudoscience propaganda film called 'House Of Numbers'. In it, the film maker quote-mines real HIV researchers to make it look like they were saying AIDS doesn't exist, and calls on nutbag conspiracy theorists to provide false testimony. To put it simply, it's AIDS-denial. And yes, i'm sure plenty of you will doubt that that even exists!
http://www.youtube.com/user/powerm1985/feed?filter=2
But that alone, is not where the scandal exists...
Myles' docu-series is honestly titled 'Debunking the AIDS Denialist Movie House of Numbers' and subjects the original film to criticism. But oh no - the superstitionists don't like this - they've filed numerous false-DMCAs against his channel, meaning it could, potentially, with a failure of the justice system, result in the termination of his account... and a prohibition from making any new one! Essentially, Myles would be banned from YouTube, for life!
If you still feel an inkling of sympathy for the dangerous, lunatic AIDS-deniers, then consider this - there are multiple mirrors of the original film - replete with... a complete lack of criticism or even basic scientific credibility.
None of these have been DMCAed! {A DMCA is a legal copyright enforcement tool}
What's the difference between a film that contains all of your copyrighted material, and a docu-series that contains your copyrighted material plus valid, scientific criticism? Easy: the valid, scientific criticism!
Essentially, this abuse of the DMCA claim is an attempt to shut down criticism of their dangerous denialistic propaganda. If people see this film, and believe it, they will render themselves completely vulnerable to the disease, and destroy their chances of survival... or of not passing it on to other people!
For what it's worth, there's a petition that can be signed:
https://www.change.org/petitions/youtube-lift-the-dmcas-filed-against-myles-power-powerm1985-by-knowledge-matters-llc
Here's Myles' personal rundown:
http://mylespower.co.uk/
And here are my mirrors of the DMCA-ed series:
http://youtu.be/9m0JTbV7i1s
Turning to lighter things... if you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that that does eventually happen ;-)
Last November, i expressed glee at the potential in a forthcoming LEGO movie ingeniously titled 'The Lego Movie'. I now feel even more glee, having learnt that film critic Mark Kermode has reviewed it with a big thumbs up. Which is more than any of the characters could manage :-P
'Mark Kermode reviews The Lego Movie'
http://youtu.be/JOn5iOMTMgA
I look forward to seeing it :o)
And in fact, talking of upcoming films...
'ZOMBEAVERS - Official Trailer [HD]'
http://youtu.be/7onFrBK_hKE
This one looks pretty fun, too :-D
Zombie beavers are dangerous, LOL. But which are the most dangerous sports, at the Winter/Summer Olympics?
{Crap segues FTW!!!}
A compilation of statistics, on the matter, sums it up: Snowboarding, and Soccer.
'Snowboard cross tops Winter Olympics danger list'
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25058-snowboard-cross-tops-winter-olympics-danger-list.html
They do point out, however, that this is an aggregate of all reported injuries - from bruises to fatal accidents - so maybe soccer players are just terrible whiners, LOL
At last - the doughnut mystery has been solved!
'NASA solves mystery of Mars 'doughnut' rock'
http://phys.org/news/2014-02-nasa-mystery-mars-doughnut.html
Apparently, all it did was roll away from somewhere else, knocked by Curiosity's wheels as it drove past. Damp squib, if you ask me... [grumbles] :-P
In other news:
There has been a massive discovery of early fossils, discovered in the Burgess Shale strata. It has been described as a "motherlode", because: "In situ excavation and talus collections from a two-meter thick interval have so far yielded 3053 specimens representing at least 52 taxa." Wow - that's a lot of data to reap, for paleontologists!
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/new-burgess-shale-find/
http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2014/2/11/new-fossil-bed-found-by-scientists-hailed-as-motherlode#
Exploiting a mirror illusion has been found able to trick people into 'curing' itches by leading them to scratch a different part of their body, working as well as if it were the itchy part! Utilisation of this trick would ease the burden on people who suffer chronic itching in an isolated patch, where they rub until their skin bleeds.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129543.900-scratch-a-mirror-image-of-your-itch-to-bring-relief.html
The Italian soccer club 'Lazio' are threatening to sue anyone who claims that their Cameroonian player - Joseph Minala - is not 17, but actually 41. OK - he does look old, by his face, but threatening to sue? Can anyone say 'Streisand Effect'? LOL
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26162408
London South Bank University have issued a full apology over Flying Spaghetti Monster censorship. The Student Union there had torn down the Atheists Society's posters, repeatedly, claiming that the poster was 'offensive' because it featured pasta in place of a beardy bloke! Atheophobia like this is common, on Uni campuses, with Atheist Groups used to their posters being torn down by religionists who are trying to bully them into silence.
At first, the SBAS presumed that this was what had happened, so they went around replacing them - as you do - but a Union Rep halted them, saying their poster was unlawful! Depictions of the brutal, bloody murder of a Middle-Eastern Jew (a crucifix) are deemed perfectly fine, but pasta is heinous beyond reproach? Fortunately, it seems the SU has seen sense, in this case, but it is one of many examples of religious bigotry, completely tolerated at campuses aross the UK!
https://humanism.org.uk/2014/02/12/london-southbank-university-issue-full-apology-flying-spaghetti-monster-censorship-issue/
Peanut allergies are now curable... but it'll take a lot of patience! Taking more than a year, child patients ageing from 7 to 16 years have been given minute doses of peanut flour (starting at 2 mg) with the dose being increased, in hospital settings, every fortnight, eventually reaching up to 800mg. Some could even take doses of 1400mg. In the 5 years since the study ended, there have been no relapses in the successful triallists!
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1000587/
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24968-peanut-allergy-cured-in-children-using-immunotherapy.html#.Uv6FeIWuJcM
A 10-year-old Norwegian boy has driven his parents' car into a snowy ditch, with his 18-month-old sister by his side. He was driving to see his grandparents. His excuse, when the police caught up with him? He said he was a dwarf who forgot his driving license!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/12/us-norway-children-accident-idUSBREA1B18F20140212
Police in Beaumont, Texas, have fined a man for standing at a road junction, carrying an AK-47 rifle... while wearing a banana costume. The man was advertising a local 'security' shop. The NRA will probably fine him for making the gun industry look silly :-D
http://inagist.com/all/433699029630091264/
Superstitionists have come up with yet another barmy idea, intended to justify their pre-existing belief that the Shroud Of Turin bears the face of a fictional god-man -- they think neutrons were blasted into the fabric, by an earthquake. The dastardly effect of this, they claim, was to render the radiometric dating that has been done since, invalid... but presumably not any test that might show it to be old enough. Right, guys? Haha.
To anyone without prejudice in favour of Bronze Age superstition, the shroud is one of the world's most famous hoaxes. Only those who wish to validate Christian superstition have any interest in pretending otherwise. Scientific consensus is that it dates to the mid-14th century, CE.
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/02/shroud-of-turin-created-by-neutrons-released-by-an-earthquake/
A bottle that was released off the Atlantic coast of the USA, in 1956, as part of a study of oceanic currents, was discovered by a researcher studying seals, in Nova Scotia! The drift bottle was among thousands dumped in the Atlantic Ocean between 1956 and 1972 as part of Dean Bumpus' study of surface and bottom currents. About 10% of the 300,000 bottles have been found over the years. Warren Joyce found the bottle on the 20th of January, on Sable Island, about 185 miles southeast of Halifax.
He contacted scientists at Woods Hole and dutifully gave them the time and place information Bumpus had asked for in a postcard inside the bottle. His reward will be exactly what Bumpus promised in 1956 to anyone who returned a bottle: a 50-cent piece.
http://phys.org/news/2014-02-bottle-scientist.html
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152174246605155&set=a.496176595154.294030.8798180154&type=1
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'SURICATE - Movies vs Life 2'
Dans les films: "Ah - les sous-titres - ils sont très ingénieux!" Dans la réalité : "Quoi? [shrugs]"
http://youtu.be/pQHG4Ma_PPI
'"Anything For You" by Roy Zimmerman'
http://youtu.be/LvvfZC8ktog
'Kermode Uncut: Shia Shocker!'
Crikey, Mary Poppins! I'm climbing the apples and stairs, 'cos Shia LaBoeuf's up 'em, and he's stolen my sodding accent, 'asn't 'e ma'am. Ah, stroof...
http://youtu.be/pMNdoeTH-ow
'HBO's Questioning Darwin: Creationists Go Full Retard' - Dusty Smith
http://youtu.be/Znn5BzRd5_s
'The Law You Won't Be Told'
http://youtu.be/uqH_Y1TupoQ
{I didn't post this one. Right? [turns up collar and sneaks away...] }
'VolksWagen e-UP! | Fully Charged'
Enjoy Bobby getting slightly distracted, at about 8 mins in. Plus, he definitely drops the fuck-b at about 7:23 :-D
http://youtu.be/y8_yJydT3dA
'The Balloon Highline' via Cibermitanios
Argh. This is so scary :-O
http://youtu.be/NWd8La170L4
'Female praying mantis eats her lover during sex'
http://youtu.be/JgUAX5rmXNY
'How Modern Light Bulbs Work'
http://youtu.be/oCEKMEeZXug
'British Weather, 2014'
Sorry. Climate change doesn't work like that - it means a trend for more extreme weather events :-(
https://twitter.com/glenn_rig_out/status/432310501079384064/photo/1/large
And this is how their government deals with it:
https://twitter.com/AtheistBlobfish/status/433318237749907456
http://privateeyenews.tumblr.com/post/75586867128/eye-1359-heading-out-to-shops-and-subscribers-now
'Fifth Root Trick - Numberphile'
This is not a trick i'm ever going to need to use... i hope. In fact, i've forgotten it, already :-D
http://youtu.be/y8acoaakvPM
'PLONK'
A cod documentary about wine, featuring Chris Taylor of The Chaser... as himself. Was that a wise move? :-D
http://www.youtube.com/user/roadtoplonk?feature=watch
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: prosopagnosia -- inability to recognise and distinguish faces, using the fusiform gyrus; people with prosopagnosia have to rely on other prompts to recognise people they know e.g. gait, hair color, body shape, and voice.
Headline Of The Week: 'Holocaust survivor speaks about his experiences at Hereford Sixth Form College'
{Hereford Sixth Form College can't be that bad, can it?
Quote Of The Week: "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead" - Stan Laurel (In the film 'Brats')
Fact Of The Week: A study of kids' fastfood meals, offered in 2012, in the USA, found that of more than 5000 combinations, only 33 met healthy standards! Fast food companies spent $4.6 billion on advertising in the USA in 2012, and increasingly more of that marketing money is being spent on advertising on the Internet and mobile devices. You can visit http://www.fastfoodmarketing.com to learn about how fast food companies pervasively and aggressively market unhealthy foods to children and teens.
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
FEEDBACK CATCH-UP:
Does the caption that Frank Fahy saw in The Guardian newspaper on 4 November – "Solar eclipse lights up Africa" – imply the discovery of anti-light, he wants to know
14 Dec
Royal Mail in the UK informed Andrew Bristow that Special Delivery items to arrive by 25 December 2013 must be posted before Monday 30 December 2013. That's truly special!
21 Dec
{It's interesting that Royal Mail limits their embargo to mail posted 5 days into the future, or more. 4 days or fewer, and they're perfectly OK. Odd, people...}
CTC, the UK national cycling charity, informed Ken Hawkins that it "questions the utility of gadgets such as Cycle Alert, a device that warns bus drivers of the proximity of cyclists currently being tested at the University of York". Tip to cyclists: enrol for testing at York and you'll be fine. Tip to cycling charity: commas do matter.
21/28 Dec
On a recent trip to Malawi, Malcolm White was startled to find a stiff paper bag in a hotel bathroom labelled with the request to insert one's "Sanity Towel" for disposal
4 Jan
{This presents a reason why some female humans lose their sanity, once a month... blatant misspellings :-P }
A STEADY stream of readers have developed the concept of the elephant as unit. Bearing in mind NASA's problems with unit mix ups, Ian Bradley asks whether the unit is based on African or Asian elephants.
Pachyderms can measure more than just mass and force. Nick Lake quotes 7 Days, a free newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, describing the Bloodhound SSC, which is being built to attempt a land speed record. Its air brakes are, apparently, "equivalent in drag to a large elephant". So, Nick says, "we can add coefficient of drag to mass and force. As for elephants in drag..."4 Jan
THE BBC, Mike Moore observes, isn't universally blessed with the ability to detect numbers that smell wrong, or olfactorithmetic (21 December 2013). On 9 December, referring to a study on gender bias in science subjects, it reported the Institute of Physics finding "that nearly half of the co-educational state-funded schools we looked at are actually doing worse than average", quoting curriculum and diversity manager Clare Thomson. Feedback refers the honourable gentlepeople to the definitions of "mean" and "median" averages. Peter Main, IoP director of education and science, tells us this was "taken out of context, rather unfortunately, by the BBC".4 Jan
BEWARE the web. Feedback searched for "tea tree", came up with the Australian Melaleuca alternifolia and assumed it was introduced to New Zealand (16 November 2013). Jonathan Wood implores: "Please never mistake an Australian member of the Myrtle family with New Zealand's." Those are the Manuka or red tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium) and the Kanuka or white tea tree (Kunzea ericoides) – although Jonathan laments that "Kiwis can almost never tell these apart" and love to fell them.
4 Jan
WHEREAS the Australian tea tree is favoured by "natural remedy" fans as a fierce antiseptic, honey from Manuka flowers is tasty and credited with many things. We find NaturalNews.com asking "Can manuka honey prevent cancer?" and we respond: "any headline expressed as a question begs the answer 'NO'."4 Jan
AND how should we feel about Ann Parkinson's evidence that our tea-tree confusion is shared? She was invited to an "Australian version of a Maori hangi", a feast cooked on hot stones in a pit. "The keen cook, an Australian, was busily layering lots of branches of the Australian tea tree around the food to be cooked... My protests were brushed aside."
Ann invites us to imagine the flavours. We are trying to forget.
4 Jan
APOCALYPSE comes in many flavours – which may be considered an advantage of a globalised society with a variety of traditions. Having survived the last page of the Mayan calendar in 2012, Feedback is now informed that Ragnarok, the Viking day of doom, is coming on 22 February 2014.
"Ragnarok is the ultimate landmark in Viking mythology, when the gods fall and die, so this really... should not be underestimated," explains Danielle Daglan, director of the JORVIK Viking Festival in York, UK – the finale of which just happens to be on that date.
11 Jan
Maynards candy pieces announce "we are made with natural colours". Simon Freeman ask what "un-natural" colours exist. Feedback finds talking confectionery equally troubling
18 Jan
SURELY it cannot be coincidence that several readers have independently informed us of a marvellously bonkers conspiracy alarm. Trevor Cox, as a professor of acoustic engineering, has special reason to be concerned. Apparently, the standard pitch for orchestras, which is the note middle A at 440 Hz, was foisted on the world by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
It must be true. It's on the internets. At least, it's either Nazis or the ever-elusive Illuminati, or Bad People generally. At bit.ly/vibrospiracy1 we learn that "This unnatural standard tuning frequency... removed from the symmetry of sacred vibrations and overtones, has declared war on the subconscious mind of Western Man." This thought is credited – as so often with conspiracy "theories" – to a website with anti-Semitic links.
Ralph Finch, meanwhile, has lost all record of why he has the newer-age interpretation of this from bit.ly/vibrospiracy2, which informs us that "A=432 Hz... is an alternative tuning that is mathematically consistent with the universe... it is a pure tone of math fundamental to nature."
That sounds like "vibrations", a precursor of "quantum" as an indication of fruitloopery.
Apparently people have been investing in kit that can play their recordings at 432/440ths the intended speed, to achieve a pure harmony with the universe thingy. Have they tired of simply playing them backwards and listening for hidden messages?
18 Jan
READER Paul Baron informs us that on the uppermost observation deck of Auckland's Sky Tower in New Zealand, visitors are advised that "on Jupiter, you would weigh two and a half times [as much] as you do on Earth because of the planet's strong magnetic field".
Paul says visitors are also informed that the tower weighs the equivalent of 6000 elephants and asks "so what would it weigh in Tesla?"18 Jan
{Physics fail!}
REQUESTS to "adhere" to instructional signs are spreading. Hugh Carter was told in Toronto, Canada, that he "must adhere to traffic personnel" (14 December 2013). Now Henry Shipley informs us that carriages run by Arriva Trains Wales contain no-smoking signs with the rider that "Failure to adhere to this notice may result in prosecution." What a quandary: risk arrest or get well and truly stuck on a train?
1 Feb
AVERAGES continue to mean trouble – and the example that Matt Ashmore sends is at a rather higher level than the BBC's report that "nearly half of the co-educational state-funded schools... are actually doing worse than average" at countering gender bias in science subjects (4 January).
The UK's House of Commons Select Committee on Education was questioning the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove. Committee chair Graham Stuart asked: "If 'good' requires pupil performance to exceed the national average, and if all schools must be good, how is this mathematically possible?"
Gove replied: "By getting better all the time." And to the rejoinder, "So it is possible, is it?" insisted: "It is possible to get better all the time." Stuart then asked: "Were you better at literacy than numeracy, Secretary of State?" only to receive the strange reply, "I cannot remember."
Feedback accepts that it is possible for all schools to be better this year than last year's average. But we suspect that if results were "getting better all the time" in this way, the minister would be inveighing against grade inflation, or even railing against the Flynn Effect, which is the steady rise in unadjusted IQ scores (8 September 2012, p 26).
1 Feb
Packets of barbecue flavour Arnotts Shapes biscuits announce "Biscuits not actual size". Philip Ross wonders: do they ever achieve actual size, or are they Schrödinger's biscuits?
1 Feb
{Michael Gove might be able to help us, here: the biscuits are becoming more and more actual, every year :-P}
FINALLY, research papers sometimes have titles that just jump out at you. Consider "Foundations of the Crazy Bastard Hypothesis" in the January issue of Evolution and Human Behavior. Said "bastard" men take extreme risks, apparently making other men consider them physically larger. The Crazy Bastard hypothesis holds that they take such risks to signal to other men that they are formidable competitors, writes anthropologist Daniel Fessler of the University of California, Los Angeles.
The aggressive title, designed to draw the attention of journalists looking for easy news stories, thus appears to Feedback to be an example of what it describes.
1 Feb
Sunraysia Pure Squeezed Prune Juice informs Richard Lucas that it is "made directly from crushed prunes brought in from our farmer's fields". Ah, the prune fields of Sunraysia...
8 Feb
IN THE email inviting Anne Franklin to attend the "3rd International Conference on Biodiversity & Sustainable Energy Development", on 24 to 26 June in Valencia, Spain, organisers Omics Publishing Group describe it as "specifically premeditated with a unifying axiom providing pulpit to widen the imminent scientific creations". Feedback now definitely wants an axiom-providing pulpit; but we don't think we'll be attending any Omics conferences – general registration starts at $799 – and we're still trying to work out the economics of the organisation's 300 "open-access journals".
8 Feb
Hi Olympians,
And especially to those of you who are, have been, or are yet to become Olympic athletes.
And especia-specially to those of you who are, have been, or are yet to become Queer Olympic athletes.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are here, and Google has made clear what they think of the hosts' attitude to those people, with a rainbow Google Doodle... which lasted just one day :-/
And oh yes, it was there on the Russian version of Google, too. I checked :-D
Unfortunately, i've heard from 'Human Rights First' that four LGBT activists have been arrested, in St. Petersburg, for displaying a banner of the Olympic Charter's Principle 6 - the one that simply says sport is a right for all.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152212041360747&set=a.10151958934615747.1073741827.7474340746&type=1
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2014/02/07/four-lgbt-activists-arrested-in-russia-as-olympic-games-begin/
That's not a good start, for the Russian hosts!
In the opening ceremony, IOC President Thomas Bach exhorted tolerance, again and again and again, but never mentioned what to be tolerant of. He never once mentioned sexuality, or love. Was this speech intended as a gesture of sincere goodwill, or merely to placate the more moral amongst us? And would it be apposite to describe their speech with this week's 'Word Of The Week'? I hope not.
President Putin has, in the run-up, been executing some classically suspicious behaviour, with some classically suspicious one-liners, as ribbed on The One Show:
'President Putin Is Village People (The Now Show, 24th January 2014)'
http://youtu.be/n29IJxOlF5I
So good luck to all of the Queers on 'Gay Mountain'. And the rest of the world, as well, of course. Especially if they're going to be showing this on a loop! What do you think of it? It's too extroverted for me, LOL
http://www.comedy.co.uk/videos/6916/gay_mountain/
'McDonald's worker's Happy Meals had a bit extra: heroin, authorities say'
"A McDonald's employee in Pittsburgh was arrested Wednesday after undercover police officers said they discovered her selling heroin in Happy Meal boxes, according to a criminal complaint."
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/29/justice/mcdonalds-happy-meals-heroin/
Interestingly, Stephens Dubner and Levitt wrote, in Freakonomics, about the structural similarities between the McDonald's business, and typical drugs businesses across America. I wasn't previously aware of it, but after attempting to Google a reference for their writings, i found Steven Levitt's TED video, on the same subject:
'Steven Levitt: The freakonomics of crack dealing'
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html
It's quite poetic, really - that these two forms of business would come together, not just with utilisation of the same business model, but also with utilisation of the same premises... and cardboard boxes :-D
As Steven describes in his TED talk, the serfs of drug gangs typically also have a job working in somewhere, if not actually McD's, then very much like it.
This is an old video, but newly uploaded - James 'the Amaz!ng' Randi (that's a gerund, by the way) demonstrating how 'psychic surgeons' turn people's stomachs over, while extorting money out of them.
'James Randi Psychic Surgery'
http://youtu.be/LjF1sUZEy2U
It's gory, and a laugh for us, but frankly, it's no different to the make-believe that everyone in the I-SCAM industry perpetrates on gullible people.
The chiropractors (death by twisted arm), the acupuncturists (death by a thousand cuts), the ayurvedicists (death by lead poisoning) and the homeopaths (death by sheer preposterousness) all utilise the idea of 'no pain, no gain' to con people out of their money.
Ultimately, it's all proverbial smoke and mirrors - an elaborate bluff, developed only to persaude you to part with your money, in the empty hope that this particular grinning dickhead will help you in some way!
So stay skeptical, people. Stay skeptical :-D
'The Electric Highway | London to Edinburgh | Fully Charged'
"Only 3 years ago it took the BBC's Brian Milligan 4 days to drive an electric car from London to Edinburgh. This year we did it in 13 hours."
http://youtu.be/eHcC65ZoyBw
That driving attempt was made before any of this serious weather hit Britain's southern and western coastline, of course. MagMon supplies some handy tips for anyone who might find themselves faced with a flooded road:
'Who, What, Why: How do you drive in floods?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26082257
'The Dumbest thing ever said about Nuclear Power!'
http://youtu.be/d2PxY-wOrI8
An excellent video, to add to Thunderf00t's recent series of videos on nuclear power, and the hysterical beliefs of anti-nuclear campaigners. That's not people who campaign against the use of nuclear weapons (amongst whom i could be counted) but people who campaign against the use of any 'hot' isotopes, in any situation!
It seems so weird, to me, that people fear nuclear radiation so much, as a cause of cancer for example, to an extent that their fear eclipses chemical causes of cancer, which are far more potent. The dangers of nuclear radiation are vastly overestimated, distracting from bigger threats to our health.
'The Radioactive Bomber (that irradiated girls)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu68Ap9SU7I
'Fukushima "Death Cloud" Kills hundreds on US Warship'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw33AVqzQxA
'Fukushima 'Death Cloud' and Flying: The REAL danger'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Syv9arXqU
'Panic as Fukushima radiation 'found' on Californian beach!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTJlkEE3edo
'Millions Die from Fukushima Fallout!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7Zm8XO7Zc
'FUKUSHIMA MUTATED MY CAT!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qwOc3ytqaw
'Faces we don't forget: Psychologists explain how attractiveness prevents the recognition of faces'
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-02-dont-psychologists-recognition.html
Can this be true? Are we less able to remember the faces of people we find more attractive? I don't think so, and i'll tell you why...
When it comes to beauty studies, we must remember that beauty itself is largely subjective. Hence the quote:
"It is said that gentlemen prefer blondes. I hope then that lesbians prefer brunettes, otherwise we might have to organise some kind of rota system." - Johnny Pring
And yet, in the artificial circumstances of a study, the participants know they are being tested. They are likely to bend their perceptions of beauty (completely unconsciously, of course) to a popularised notion of beauty, because people like pleasing people, and participants in studies want to please the researchers.
They even use the example of Angelina Jolie as "the epitome of female attractiveness". She doesn't hit my buttons all that hard, though, i feel compelled to point out!
It is a known psychological/sociological phenomenon, that when groups of people are put in a situation where they must reach a decision of choice, they tend to converge upon the blandest option. Consequently, none of them are all that happy with the result, but importantly, no-one is majorly cross about it.
This is why restaurants tend to have generic menus, and will title themselves as a 'fish restaurant' for example, so that people know in advance what the options will be - any way, steaks and chips always seem to be on the menu!
So i suspect that what we see in studies, such as this one, is the participants biasing their perceptions of beauty towards the faces that they think they could reach agreement with the other participants, or the researcher, over. In other words, Angelina Jolie has a bland, dull, boring face :-P
When eyes meet, across a crowded room (or however it might happen, in reality) it is not blandness that really enthuses us - it is idiosyncrasies that do that. And when we really find them attractive, we can't get them out of our head, and so creep ourselves out with the vast amounts we can remember about them. Or am i alone... anyone? ... :-D
I think it's telling that this study finds 'more attractive' faces more difficult to remember. It certainly clashes with my experience! The data sounds valid, but i think they're misinterpreting it.
'Wibbly Wobbly Planet, Gaia's focusing, Chandra visits an old friend. Space Fan News #126'
http://youtu.be/-Jcfz3dkGMY
Scott Lewis tells us about an exoplanet that's orbiting not one, but two stars. That's not so odd, but take a look at its orbital path! Funky as what!?! :-D
BTW, that video's the first to be added to my new YT playlist 'Science 7' ...and there's room for 200 in each. There's a heck of a lot of nice, sciencey stuff out there, if you haven't seen much of it, and want to see more!
If only i'd seen this for last week's article, in which the exploding dairy farm story appeared. This is what it looks like, when an hour's worth of cow fart is set alight, as demonstrated for an Ri lecture, in 2009:
'How Much Methane Does A Cow Produce In An Hour?'
http://youtu.be/-X83sMnoy-U
Quite a lot, by the looks of things :-D
And let's finish with something hugely weird:
'Enormous jellyfish new to science'
It's not a jellyfish - it's just an inanimate amorphous blob... oh wait, that's what a jellyfish is!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/02/enormous-jellyfish-new-to-science/
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/new-species-of-giant-snotty-jellyfish-found-in-tasmania-20140206-323ko.html
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'chimpnology' - cyriak
If you know cyriak, you know what's coming. Something hugely weird :-D
http://youtu.be/CBBvXth-O_g
'Tree shrew dines and defecates in toilet plant'
I once met a dyslexic girl, who preserved the shape of their shoes by stuffing tree shrews into them. She got lynched by PETA :-P
http://youtu.be/1mfA7DnaGTg
'NEW - 10 Amazing Bets That You Never Lose (Episode 10)'
http://youtu.be/CDh2FHx6nYg
'"Restaurant Decisions: The Musical" Tales Of Mere Existence'
http://youtu.be/sPmE925IXUo
'Gunshot produces world's longest echo'
Some things bemuse me. One of these, is the fact that this video, of the world's longest echo, gives us 35 seconds of a 75-second long recording. Would it have breached copyright, to give New Scientist the other 40 seconds!? Gah...
http://youtu.be/VZwVl4Fvl1k
'Skeptoid #400: It's Just Science'
http://youtu.be/ufP-DA3rEOk
It's not as good as the 'I'm A Climate Scientist' rap, featured in 'non-contemporary stuff' a few weeks ago though:
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/entertainment-stuff-from-week-13-19114.html
'FLOBER - Le Bureau des Rêves'
A dark one, this week, from LeGoldenMoustache, and written by FloBer. But i have two questions:
1) What's wrong with Children of Bodom?
2) What the hell actually happens in his dream??? Tell me!!!!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/KUTtKnI90H0
'Amazing piece of metal (speculum)'
http://youtu.be/4ESW_NTIhBM
'Oranges are Flammable'
Slow-mo footage, showing the ejection and combustion of limonene - the chemical in oranges that burns.
http://youtu.be/zp8RwIQBRBo
'Robotic arm sculpts Charles Darwin's bust'
http://youtu.be/7AVi9IpNVNA
'Bionic hand gives lifelike sense of touch'
Lifelike in what sense? Lifelike in the sense that they can feel, and so can living people - yes; but not as well as most. Anyway - what an incredible advance!
http://youtu.be/lz3mDaZ90M8
'On the importance of balance'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/on-the-importance-of-balance/
'The Sound of Atoms Bonding'
http://youtu.be/Ehw8PTA4QkE
'Incredible Moiré Patterns!'Who wants to see an old man fumbling his way to awesomeness? I do :-D
http://youtu.be/cvWF_Q5-Kt8
'The Vein Viewer // Life Fantastic 2013 CHRISTMAS LECTURES'
http://youtu.be/KZGrQZSF1xY
There's more from the Ri, down the page, in 'non-contemporary stuff'
'Science Bulletins: Biodiversity Unveiled—New Animal Discoveries of 2013'
That realisation that haunts me every time: "because of human disturbance to their ecosystems, many will become extinct before they are found." [shivers]
http://youtu.be/Grij9596Ayw
'Pizza Wedding Portraits'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/pizza-wedding-portraits/
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: perfunctory -- describing an action carried out with diffidence and minimal effort
Etymology Of The Week: potassium -- from 'potash', literally ash made in pots. wet logs would be rendered down in huge pots, to make ash, which is a good source of what we now know to be the element potassium
Quote Of The Week: "Channeling is like bad ventriloquism - they talk funny, but their lips move" - Jamy Ian Swiss
Unfamiliar-to-Northerners Beverage Of The Week: Camel Milk Coffee
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
'Tchaikovsky, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, en vasos con agua'
There's nothing like the music of a Gay man to set off an Olympics in a country where even mentioning homosexuality is now unlawful. But i notice this composition did get played at the Sochi opening ceremony! #darklyironichumour
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/75635986806/tchaikovsky-dance-of-the-sugar-plum-fairies-en
'Michael Mapes’ Amazing Collage Portraits'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/michael-mapes-amazing-collage-portraits/
Did you know there's such a game as Beach Tennis? Oh yes:
'Beach Tennis Basics by the ITF'
http://youtu.be/pEupr8mP0lI
Last week, i posted a link to a 'magic eye' music video. That had moving images, but no colour. This, on the other hand, has (some) moving images, and colour, and is from years ago. How's that work, then?
'Magic Eye Video'
http://youtu.be/_SrUTUuAJRc
This week, due to the aforementioned music video, the BBC's Magazine Monitor found themself getting nostalgic for paper. Nostalgia? On the BBC? I don't believe it :-D
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26035877
ommadawnfan - the uploader of the 'magic eye' video - uploaded some of their old Beatles 45s, played at 33 1/3 speed. Here are those that i think work best... by which i mean "sound funniest":
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - Nowhere Man'
http://youtu.be/pGcirJcn2YA
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - I'm Down'
http://youtu.be/lrxsY3Wo8uY
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - Strawberry Fields Forever'
This one sounds like they've been munching on something... but it ain't strawberries!
http://youtu.be/-awaik3mtJ0
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 Series - I Saw Her Standing There'
http://youtu.be/-8wgt1yq1FA
Royal Institution videos:
'Tales from the Prep Room: Argon Ice'
http://youtu.be/zEjWWQIeV5U
'Tales from the Prep Room: Laser Diffraction'
http://youtu.be/pRZ7cSP1zMM
'Lighting a match with water'
http://youtu.be/f6QR2AN6_es
'Tales from the Prep Room: Lighting a match with a single drop of water'
http://youtu.be/digTC1Ne8Ug
'Steam trains, bridges and potential catastrophe'
http://youtu.be/-7d0Z9yhKSg
'Andrea Sella - Glassblowing and Didymium Glasses'
http://youtu.be/6Ul8CmUkO4E
{With this video, Thunderf00t demonstrated the filtering of an entire city's streetlamps, using the same effect: http://youtu.be/3ZiZe5o56vQ }
'Creating a Fireball - Pouring Water on an Oil Fire'
Short version: http://youtu.be/-4clsX2MTNw
Long version: http://youtu.be/NC45vREoEOg
'Contact Explosive - Detonating Nitrogen Triiodide'
Short version: http://youtu.be/H7oZafSywow
Long version: http://youtu.be/cWMlUDT2sK8
'Reacting Fluorine with Caesium - First Time on Camera'
http://youtu.be/TLOFaWdPxB0
'Tales from the Prep Room - Paramagnetism of Liquid Oxygen'
http://youtu.be/rz57PJToGEs
'Colour Mixing: The Mystery of Magenta'
http://youtu.be/iPPYGJjKVco
'Finding Tiktaalik: Neil Shubin on the Evolutionary Step from Sea to Land'
http://youtu.be/yvDQCa7rleI
'Sir David Attenborough Interview - Presenting the 1973 CHRISTMAS LECTURES'
http://youtu.be/CB5vMfPvJyg
'DemoJam - A Night of Science and Song at the Ri'
http://youtu.be/RiAWrH3-xFk
'The Vacuum Bazooka'
I've saved the best 'til last. And i want one for myself. But don't worry - you may share :-D
http://youtu.be/Rq62uPdKSWs
.
Greetings all you cool methane-producers,
If you live in the Far Northisphere, it's that time of year again - the time when all the boys and girls of climate change obstructivism come out to point at the thermometers and say "look - global warming can't be happening - it's cold out" - yep, it's what's technically knows as... 'winter'.
'If There's Global Warming ... Why Is It So Cold?'
http://youtu.be/XZGsdnYqbjk
So what's a polar vortex, and why has the weather been so bad, recently? Well, in four words: irrelevant, and bad luck.
A polar vortex is a cold circle of air, and irrelevant to contemporary weather over America and the British Isles, as noted in New Scientist. The extremity of bad weather Britain's been having, while symbolic of the long-term trend toward greater extremities of weather, is more a product of Chance being clumpy than a sudden worsening in local climate.
That means it might be indicative of what's to come, but like all weather events, should not be confused with the climatic trends that have advanced, evidentially, decade upon decade, for the last 170 years.
It's been a great week for film reviews, however :-D
Mark Kermode has described 'I, Frankenstein' as "a turkey - the dialogue is absolutely lumpen - the film makes no sense at all", and 'That Awkward Moment' as "witless, charmless, unfunny, and unengaging", LOL
'Mark Kermode reviews I, Frankenstein'
http://youtu.be/WxWLLC1-ebc
'Mark Kermode reviews That Awkward Moment'
http://youtu.be/5i_y7UTDBTg
I'm not one to jump on a bandwagon of celeb-bashing, but these reviews are pretty funny. Mark Kermode's the only critic i really trust to distinguish subjective and objective opinion, and both seem to align quite well, with these films :-D
'An icon of Dunning Krugerism: Joseph files frivolous suit against NASA'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/an-icon-of-dunning-krugerism-joseph-files-frivolous-suit-against-nasa/
A couple of weeks ago, i wrote this parody piece, that i put only on a tumblr post (so not on here), and linked to to some people that i thought might appreciate it, on Facebook:
'Face Of Mohammed Mysteriously Appears On Mars'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/73957483607/face-of-mohammed-mysteriously-appears-on-mars
As i said, it was just a parody, but it seems there are always new kinds of nutjobs out there, who will 'see' (erroneously perceive) their delusions in reality.
In my parody, i make out that the mysterious rock, seen on Mars by NASA's Opportunity Rover, was in fact a jelly doughnut, bearing the face of Mohammed (pbuhmf).
This guy has decided that it is definitely biological, and that NASA is being negligent, by not investigating it further!
Um... they know it's a rock. It's just a rock. And it's a rocky kind of rock. Made of rock. Possessing rockyness... it's a rock :-P
"I’ll be blunt – this guy has a long record of crackpottery"
I am not surprised :-D
Other news:
'German cows cause methane blast in Rasdorf'
The detonation of methane, built up inside the cow shed of a German dairy farm, damaging the roof, and injuring one of the 90 cows inside.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
'Road served as a major boulder holder in Italy'
"Several boulders let loose from the mountains above and cascaded down. No one was injured but the road was blocked. One of the largest boulders stopped just short of a house. And I MEAN JUST..."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/road-served-as-a-major-boulder-holder-in-italy/
'Candidate for year’s worst ghost photo already taken in Los Angeles'
"This pathetic picture, submitted to the newspaper by a believer who thought it was spooky and gave him nightmares."
This just goes to show: superstitionists have very low standards!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/candidate-for-years-worst-ghost-photo-already-taken-in-los-angeles/
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'SURICATE - Siri'Scary, scary stuff... what's my mouse doing? ...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/tbLkIaxxqzM
'Ron Jeremy on a Wrecking Ball'
Probably the world's most famous male pornstar, in a parody of Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball'. They copied the original, shot for shot, so you'll see as much of Ron as you would/have of Miley. Here's a side-by-side for proof:http://youtu.be/6BTK50QUqiY
http://youtu.be/6xljA6zJn4I
'FUKUSHIMA MUTATED MY CAT!'
This series just gets funnier. Just as in his WDPLAC series, Thunderf00t rips apart superstitionists ideas, using Science and Reason e.g. showing us the comparative power consumption of a hurricane, and 7.6 billion becquerels of plutonium radiation. Fascinating and funny :-)
http://youtu.be/5qwOc3ytqaw
'ScienceCasts: The Coolest Spot in the Universe'
http://youtu.be/J9_LmSTtpkI
'Burning Magnesium in Water - Periodic Table of Videos'
http://youtu.be/KS3A8reNZyw
'LEAKED Google Orientation Video'
I hope this kind of thing wards Google away from behaving like that, but then again, how much does satire really achieve?
http://youtu.be/GS0475iODGk
'FACEPALM!'My life in 5 minutes :-D
http://youtu.be/zbYf5_S7oJo
'Set Yourself Free'
How Ozzies keep their kids in school. No worries, mate, no worries... it's made by these guys, who have a "love for horror comedy" :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/75152116278/set-yourself-free
'Richard Herring: Rudyard Kipling wrote exceedingly bad poetry'
He did indeed!
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/24/richard-herring-rudyard-kipling-wrote-exceedingly-bad-poetry-4274549/
'This Magic Eye music video from indie band Young Rival will blow your tiny mind'
...if you can see it, that is. If you're inexperienced at this, my advice is to get really close to the screen, then pull out slowly, until you can see the rest of the image. But the content: basically, it's like a usual music video - singer leaning toward camera; guitarist guitarring; random stuff going on in between.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/01/this-magic-eye-music-video-from-young-rival-for-single-black-is-good-will-blow-your-tiny-mind-4286598/
For the giggles...
'Loving this random neuroscience paper title generator - they sound more useful than actual papers'
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/428676278388940801
It's not as funny as the 'Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator' though :-D
http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: succubus -- the female form of an incubus; both of which seduced people through sexual intercourse, and robbed them of their health by doing so; they are featured as supernatural characters in mythologies and devils in religious mythology
Anagram Of The Week: Nigel Farage -- Fe Real, Nigga
Absurd Crank Quote Of The Week: "The essential nature of the physical world is that it's not physical" - Deepak 'rubber-head' Chopra
Tweet Of The Week: "I just went to a meeting of The Anti-Measurement Society. There was well over quite a lot of people there."
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
FAKE SCIENCE CATCH-UP!
'How To Fall Asleep'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359111461/how-to-fall-asleep-children-however-are
'Get The Facts About Identical Twins!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359107851/get-the-facts-about-identical-twins-also
'Why do redheads have freckles?'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359104314/why-do-redheads-have-freckles-also-moles
'Understanding shadows'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359114994/understanding-shadows-since-publishing-this
'Catch The Goofs!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359099937/catch-the-goofs-also-i-have-noticed
'Extreme downhill trail Descenso del Condor in La Paz Bolivia'
Well, this looks exciting. Wouldn't like to do it, though :-O
http://youtu.be/XZV7DcUvIfc
Beware! There are some maybe-obscure references in this one :-P #nerdstylehumour
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138995433
Yeah - Screw babies - why shouldn't adults live? :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138835771
'we all deal with situations differently'
What you don't know, is that 'the big C' started off as 'the little c'. It was about Rupert Murdoch. Needless to say, it was never made :-P
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75040049228
'Wine isn’t just a beverage anymore'
What they did was to use bacteria to partially digest the wine, and use the resulting gooey solids as material to sculpt into a dress. Well, part of one! Basically, this is a kind of wine-cheese. Ewww :-D
My first question is: who the hell would want to wear this? My second question is: there's clearly too much wine in the world, that anyone can afford to do this with it! Back in the day, when i was a lad, wine was too expensive to waste :-P
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/inside-ripleys-world/inside-ripleys-books/wine-isnt-just-a-beverage-anymore/
http://www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/dress-made-from-fermented-red-wine-by-bioalloy-microbe-project#image-rotator-1
'3d Printed Ultrasounds'
Frickin' creepy. An eviscerated gynandromorph, manufactured for anatomical zoological purposes... that's perfectly fine. But with all its skin on? Who do these people think they are!?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/body-oddity/3d-printed-ultrasounds/That's it, for this week, folks. Seeya :-D
Hi antihumans,
First up - a mini-essay i wrote, in the week: 'Neuromarketing: Good Or Bad?' which proves that i do finish mini-essays sometimes. And all in one day, too :o)
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/neuromarketing-good-or-bad.html
And a quiz:
Which animal was discovered in Nelson Mandela's ear, this week?
The answer's at the bottom of the page...
What was that, what went supernova in M82? Well, what that was what went, was a supernova in M82!
'Bright Supernova in M82'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/74483942376/bright-supernova-in-m82-image-credit
"M82 is a mere 12 million light-years away (so the supernova explosion did happen 12 million years ago, [and that light is] just now reaching Earth), making supernova SN 2014J one of the closest to be seen in recent decades."
'Antimatter experiment produces first beam of antihydrogen'
http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2014/01/antimatter-experiment-produces-first-beam-antihydrogen
As is probably common knowledge now [said with a Dunning-Kruger-like air] Supersymmetry explains the observation that matter is, fundamentally, made of fundamental particles, but it is also known that they might all have complimentary antiparticles - each of these might have a 'twin' - a mirror-image-like antiparticle that corresponds to it.
Electrons are matched with positrons, for example, and larger structures, such as hydrogen, can have antihydrogen. These are not negatively present - they are corresponding anti-particles - but they do annihilate when they meet their doppelgangers. This makes it incredibly difficult to isolate antimatter, using matter-made equipment, but they are known to exist.
In order to collect any, it must be held away from its container - this can be done with hugely powerful magnetic fields. The trouble is, those magnetic fields make it incredibly difficult to do spectroscopic analysis i.e. to 'see' what the matter is and how it interacts with light. The solution: to create a beam of antimatter, isolated from its container, but outside the magnetic fields, for long enough that it can be studied.
"the unambiguous detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 metres downstream of their production" might seem like a small achievement (certainly small numbers, for Physics!) but it sets the stage for grander discoveries about antimatter. Roll on, 2014! :-)
Happy 10th anniversary Opportunity!
http://phys.org/news/2014-01-happy-10th-anniversary-opportunity.html
The Opportunity Rover wasn't expected to last until the end of 2004, and it's still going strong!
Held over from last week, because there was so much stuff:
'First instance of ball lightning captured on video and spectrographs'
http://phys.org/news/2014-01-instance-ball-lightning-captured-video.html
Ball lightning, though oft-reported, had not been caught on camera before, in such a way as to verify it as a real thing. All those videos on YT could be anything.
...but here's the video of it. The researchers have isolated the image, and presented its spectrum, to the right.
Interestingly, the hypothesis presented for this phenomenon, by the researchers, is the vaporization of silicon oxide, in the soil, which rises up and floats in the air as it burns out.
We've also recently heard about flames hovering above the ground, prior to earthquakes:
'Extraordinary earthquake lights explained -- they're not UFOs'
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57616750-76/extraordinary-earthquake-lights-explained-theyre-not-ufos/
The explanation they give, in that case, is that the energy of the preceding tremors energises (heats) certain types of rock, causing small amounts of plasma to form, which races up through cracks and out at the surface.
As excited materials tend to do, they give off light. That's how the Sun works. And lamps. Except lamps don't turn into plasma as they illuminate. Candles in microwave ovens, however...
So plasma is involved in both circumstances, the evidence suggests. The difference is that in 'ball lightning', the energy to form it comes from the atmosphere, and in 'earthquake lights', that energy comes from the ground.
Oh, and note the "they're not UFOs", in the title. Due to the lack of a real explanation, and the wont of bullshitters, they have exploited the opportunity to claim all kinds of ridiculous nonsense. [shakes head derisively] :-D
Speaking of bullshitters - a hysterically conservative lunatic in the UK has joined people of less-enlightened cultures in blaming bad weather on dem gayz!!!
'UK storms are divine retribution for gay marriage laws, says UKIP councillor'
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/18/uk-storms-divine-retirubtion-gay-marriage-ukip
The guy defected from the Conservative Party, to the nationalist party UKIP, because they weren't quite homophobic enough for his tastes - David Cameron saw more votes in allowing Queer people to marry each other, than joining his fervent, baying, bloody-toothed peers.
So there you go, Rest Of World - there are nutbags scattered all over the place :-D
...more nutbaggery:
'No, Edward Snowden Did Not Blow the Lid Off the Alien Conspiracy'
"What do Adolph Hitler, Edward Snowden, and extraterrestrials have in common? Who knows. But FARS is a semi-official news agency of the Iranian government, reportedly affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, which suggests that someone in Tehran thinks this new report alleging that Washington is secretly run by a malevolent race of extraterrestrials known as "Tall Whites"—who also, by the way, engineered Hitler's rise to power—will boost their country's geopolitical posture vis a vis the United States."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/no-edward-snowden-did-not-blow-the-lid-off-the-alien-conspiracy-20140113
...aaand, again:
'Popular Blood-Type Diet Debunked'
The researchers found no correlation between blood-type and responsivity to any kind of diet, as should be expected by anyone who is aware that blood 'groups' - A, B, AB and O - are, to be pedantic, different to blood 'types', which are defined by the biological features of our blood cells. Of which, there are many, many, many more combinations. Blood groups are only what relate to transfusions.
The blood-type diet is merely a pseudo-scientific fad diet, invented by a naturopath (quack) in order to sell a book - surprise, surprise - 'Eat Right for Your Type', which presented no evidence in favour of the claims within it, at the time.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140115172246.htm
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084749
...aaaaaand, again!
'Knees strewn with gold thread'
"When doctors examined an X-ray image of the knees of a woman experiencing severe joint pain, they found a gold mine: hundreds of tiny gold acupuncture needles left in her tissue."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/knees-strewn-with-gold-thread/
Look at that picture! Quackupuncturists just don't know how to stop!
"Not only is there no scientific evidence that this form of acupuncture works or does anything resembling what they claim, it’s also dangerous. The needles may migrate and damage other parts, they can cause a reaction or infection as the body tries to get rid of the foreign object and they make Xrays hard to read."
...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, again :-D
'I get that cows are sacred and all, but drinking pee?'
"Urine-drinking Hindu cult believes a warm cup before sunrise straight from a virgin cow heals cancer – and followers are queuing up to try it"
Another claimed panacea -- rule of thumb: claimed cure-alls actually cure nothing!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/i-get-that-cows-are-sacred-and-all-but-drinking-pee/
Well, i knew all religion was batshit crazy... but cowpee crazy, too? Seems like it is... :-D
The side-effects of 'urotherapy' as the quacks call it, can involve anything related to ingredients in your wee. Any chemicals that are not entirely degraded in your body can build up, if you keep feeding it back in. This means it amplifies the hazards in 'herbal medicine', which involves munching on the hundreds of chemicals found in plant vegetation, potentially meaning overdosing on... pretty much anything. To conclude: don't rely on drinking your own piss, if you don't have to!
And out of the world of bizarre fiction, to...
'Peter Capaldi's first Doctor Who action figure looks great - it's just a shame about Clara'
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-21/peter-capaldis-first-doctor-who-action-figure-looks-great---its-just-a-shame-about-clara
Nah, she looks good to me... she just looks like someone else... so who is this imposter?? :-D
'JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records in Both Precision and Stability'
http://www.nist.gov/pml/div689/20140122_strontium.cfm
The new record-holder is 50% more precise than its predecessor, and just as stable... yet the buses still struggle to run on time :-/
For anyone who likes (electric) cars, and shiny things... and maybe even girls that go faster on tiny wings? {Roger Taylor shout-out :-P }
'London to Edinburgh.... in January'
http://llewblog.squarespace.com/electric-cars/2014/1/15/london-to-edinburgh-in-january.html
And here's the follow-up, post-trip:
'London-Edinburgh. Mainly Mundane.'
http://llewblog.squarespace.com/electric-cars/2014/1/26/london-edinburgh-mainly-mundane.html
"All-in-all, a 100% successful trip"
"But sir - we lost Mr. Rimmer!"
"...all-in-all, a 100% successful trip!"
#REF!
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'Pourquoi j'ai quitté Facebook (Adrien Ménielle)'
http://youtu.be/XP1AU6z_NGI
'Millions Die from Fukushima Fallout!' - Thunderf00t
This is how comic anti-nuclear hysteria gets... as far as i'm aware. Haha :-D
http://youtu.be/hN7Zm8XO7Zc
'Sodom and Gomorrah' - DarkMatter2525
Righteous, my ass! :-D
http://youtu.be/p6DnujiVCwo
'Magical vines' via Richard Wiseman
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/magical-vines/
'AO Bloopers - 2014 Australian Open'
Stepanek. Patience... Someone give that man a Guinness :-D
http://youtu.be/4ssq-OEZuxQ
'Dry Ice Depth Charge'
More on the evaporation of liquid CO2, from Nik2K, using a short section of straw, held sideways between tweezers.
http://youtu.be/WE8ufjCGgos
'Gollum Singing Wrecking Ball'
Very good. Andy Serkis would be so proud :-D
http://youtu.be/B9lN482M3yA
'Zero S electric Motorbike | Fully Charged'
Bobby Llew's shown an electric bike (as in motorbike) that can do 556 miles per gallon! (equivalent, obviously - no petrol!) With special guest... well, if you don't know who they are, shame on you for not watching Red Dwarf or Death In Paradise :-P
http://youtu.be/37Mzp3jEWWg
'"Freedom Industries" by Roy Zimmerman'
http://youtu.be/dd2aXYTQkPc
'Super Bowl 48: The most EPIC Super Bowl ever!'
Dusty explains what's going to make Super Bowl 48 the greatest ever :-D
http://youtu.be/7-WfKUGmQUg
'"MORE NFL" — A Bad Lip Reading of The NFL'
http://youtu.be/rRqKYXcL-2U
'Kung Fu Dung Beetles - Operation Dung Beetle - BBC'
Not, strictly-speaking, comedy; and not, strictly-speaking, contemporary; but newly-uploaded by the Beeb, and chuckleatable:
http://youtu.be/Zskz-iZcVyY
'Weather Phenomenon - Halo 'Three suns' filmed over Russia [sun dog]' via cibertimanios
A stunning parhelion, filmed over Russia. There are more pictures of parhelia, on my tumblr: http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/tagged/parhelion
http://youtu.be/pNTeVSkIwbE
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: hyperforeignism -- a mistaken translation resulting from the misapplication of foreign linguistic forms e.g. spelling latte with an accent (it doesn't have one) or habanero with a tilde (which it doesn't have)
Tweet Of The Week: "In lift. 2 guys talking. One says he is going to a session on focusing. Presses 9 th floor button. Gets off at 5 by mistake."
Pronunciation Of The Week: Hyundai -- HYUN-day (Korean) Hy-OON-die (British) HUN-day (American) Han-die (Californian Spanish)
Comic Observation Of The Week: The current President of Italy is called Giorgio Napolitano. He has a son called Giulio Napolitano. In 1962, Norman Wisdom played a character called Giulio Napolitani, in the film 'On The Beat'. I wonder whether they're anything alike :-D
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
'John Finnemore - 50 Things You Must Do Before You're 30'
http://youtu.be/w2mO6KTrSrw
'The Travelling Lemon Goes To Europe'
http://youtu.be/yGLoK9rmoH0
'WTF Happened to Movie Posters?' via Cibertimanios
http://youtu.be/VXJiBkFgprQ
'Which words crop up most frequently in song titles?'
Surprisingly, there are more "man"s than "woman"s, but "love" conquers both. How true [sighs] :-D
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/426681230726541312
'AXE PEACE'
I agree with the sentiment, but deodorant is really not going to solve complex social problems! :-P
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73418309433/axe-peace
'Could have been worse'
They might be a danger to sick people, and should be banned from hospitals, but as guide animals, there could be far worse than dogs :D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73292755087/could-have-been-worse
'Divorce happens'
Bloody thumbnails! :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73520958358/divorce-happens
'Give it to Jesse Jane'
I'm pretty sure this idea's been done before :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/74370100134/give-it-to-jesse-jane
On a side note: Birmingham (UK) is proud to be the home of HP Sauce. In celebration of 100 years of production, in 1998, the Queen Mother visited to address workers at the HP factory. Her Majesty was a little frail and unable to get her words out, so they turned her upside-down and smacked her on the bottom. The rest of her speech came out so fast, it was more than her audience could manage! Incidentally, the QM spent the last few months of her life, standing on her head, in a cupboard :-P
'Si miras fijo y de cerca esta imagen, desaparecerá'
Focus on the centre of this image, and the colour will seem to disappear!
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/73667758243/si-miras-fijo-y-de-cerca-esta-imagen-desaparecera
'Do you see a nativity scene or two T-Rexes?'
My question: who are the dudes holding up the roof?
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/do-you-see-a-nativity-scene-or-two-t-rexes/
'Kinetic Sculpture - Fisher Technical Services, Inc'
http://youtu.be/5tCxMLjOCgc
'Trevor Noah - Melbourne Comedy Festival'
http://youtu.be/YZQ7NL-o6E8
'Trevor Noah - Live at the Apollo - London'
http://youtu.be/2LQw_J-sbeU
'Trevor Noah: Crazy Normal - President Jacob Zuma's Speech'
http://youtu.be/Q12H1dpOwdE
'Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS'
http://youtu.be/-NuKhW3sJsA
'Trevor Noah: Crazy Normal - Attention All Passengers'
http://youtu.be/Xiqwkx4oujo
'Richard Herring: The Racist Origin Of The Belief That Black Men Have Bigger Penises'
Recently uploaded to YouTube, by me. Not so comic, but certainly interesting, Richard expounds the fascinating story behind the myth that Black men are hung like space shuttles.
http://youtu.be/FyNo1YrJMag
'Goldtatze: Your cats wants'
I want this for me :o)
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/goldtatze-your-cats-wants/
'FUR-CEDES BENZ ANYONE?'
I'd rather see them wrapped in
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/fur-cedes-anyone/
'So, how did you pose the taxidermy crocodile? Oh'
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/424683216692596736
"Just saw this on side of drinks cabinet. Am assuming it means I am fine to stick my thumb up my arse. Am I right?"
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/420907994558509056
'Look at the invisible tree'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/look-at-the-invisible-tree/
'Can you keep and eye on the cross?'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/can-you-keep-and-eye-on-the-cross/
'Ice Tsunami..Glacier like ice moving across Mille Lacs lake, damaging houses, Minnesota' via Cibertimanios
Amazing footage! Glacial ice, apparently, splintering into shards as it's pushed onto land and across these people's lawns.
http://youtu.be/ER2WSBtVoPw
'Gael Monfils - INSANE Forehands (HD)'
Ridiculously powerful strokes :-D
http://youtu.be/-Mx68OvBO9I
'Wet floor'
This reminds me of a Mitchell & Webb sketch.
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73774827762
"There is a lot of moisture, but it's not actually a damp problem - it's actually water which the current owners deliberately keep here... i don't know if you can tell, but the floor level actually descends toward this end of the property, and the moisture is even more pronounced here!"
http://youtu.be/vGQkTCInpNc
John Howard, former Prime Minister of Oz, gettin' down wiv da yoof, bruv :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/74062975979
Googly eyes. Aaargh!
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73778528521
Time-lapse snow, in Connecticut:
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/74333957809/ventisca-timelapse
'Glen Arbor Ice Boulders in the Making'
Just like with rocks, the rolling and abrasive friction that these lumps of ice experience, is roundening them off into smoothed boulders. Neat :-) Well, not that neat, and they're all dirty, too... [mumble grumble mumble...]
http://youtu.be/P4exUbA2sXQ
'20 Videos Of Bubbles Crystalizing In Freezing Temperatures'
http://www.buzzfeed.com/aaronc13/20-videos-of-bubbles-crystalizing-in-freezing-temperatures
The answer to the quiz:
It was a little bunny rabbit. The designers of the 10-metre-tall bronze Mandela statue, in Pretoria, were found to have added a tiny rabbit into the cast of his right ear, apparently as a trademark and as a symbol of the speed with which they had to complete the statue. The idea being that the Afrikaans for rabbit is 'haas', which also means 'haste'.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/23/nelson-mandela-statue-conceals-tiny-bunny-ear-pictures-video_n_4650730.html
For South Africans who didn't get that answer: [shakes head mournfully] :-P
