Next time I have a spare 50 or 60 thousand dollars, I'm gonna get me one of these:
Yes, it's a fossil - and yes, those colours are real. Wired's Geek Dad explains:
The fossil has naturally occurring iridescent colors created when the original shell substance turned into a mineral called aragonite ... The specimen in the photo is a pretty remarkable one that's about to go up for auction at Christie's - the sale takes place on April 7 if you want to mark that in your calendar.
Spectacular! That's going to look terrific on my future, lottery-winning self's mantle.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter: four of the things I love most about living in the temperate zone of a planet with a moderately eccentric elliptical orbit and a 23 degree axial tilt.
Today's vernal equinox marks the end of another bloody winter and the start of the next grilling, hanging out and drinking outdoors season.
Science has given us a lot. Cars; toasters; bombs; the elimination of smallpox, polio and God; the etch-a-sketch. But there is (or was) one question science cannot (or could not) fathom: "What is all this crap in my belly button?"
The researcher spent three years studying 503 pieces of schmutz from his own belly button, then published his conclusions in the journal Medical Hypotheses under the title, "The nature of navel fluff."
Steinhauser found that hairs around the belly button have a scaly structure that pulls fibers from clothing and then directs those fibers—along with dead skin, fat, sweat and dust—into the belly button.
Hmmm. Is this a "journalist brightens slow news day with off-the-wall science story" story, or is it a "scientist claims to make amazing discovery when actually we kinda guessed it already" story? I'm not quite sure.
Ah, well. At least there's still toe cheese. Even science would never dare try to explain that!
This footage of an octopus encountering a shark is - without a doubt - totally cool.
But the narration suuuuucks!
You have been warned: if you watch this video with the sound up, you will get nothing but a shitload of crass, annoying, dumbed-down, uninformative populist edutainment. It's so distracting, you may even lose sight of the amazing animal antics you were trying to admire in the first place.
Come on! This is National Geographic, for goodness sake. Aren't they supposed to be - you know - respectable?
Grrr. American nature program editors really need to learn that their audiences are not complete morons. It's not so hard - others do it just fine.
Methane burps from the Red Planet suggest the real possibility of life on Mars.
Plumes of gas emitted by the planet in 2003, and again in 2006, might best be explained by the existence of bacterial life deep beneath the Martian surface. On Earth, at least, microorganisms are a common cause of similar eruptions.
Various biology vs geology (or should that be marsology?) hypotheses were debated at a press conference by scientists today, helpfully liveblogged by Carl Zimmer.
Now hold up a second. Just to reiterate - we're talking about Life on Frickin' Mars here. How fantastic would that be - to see the existence of actual extraterrestrial organisms confirmed within our lifetime!
I really, really hope so. What an immense discovery that would represent ... and what a shake-up to the worldview of your average, homocentric Earth dweller.
I for one welcome our new flatulent Martian overlords.
This time of year, it seems every blog and his brother feels obliged to post a retrospective "Top Ten" of favourite *somethings* from the year past.
Here is my own list - compiled from my favourite Top Ten such "Top Ten" lists I found:
#10: Books & Movies (Amazon, New York Times, Salon) You have to have books and movies. Here are obligatory Top Ten 2008 Books from Amazon and the NY Times. Although honestly - I find these book lists largely uninspiring. Too general for my tastes, they only contain a couple of things I personally want to read.
Salon's list of Best Indie Movies of 2008 sounds much more interesting. Note to self: update Netflix queue.
#9: Crime (Discovery) The worst of human nature (or at least, those parts that make to the the news) is the subject of Discovery's Top Ten Crime Stories of 2008.
Crime comes second only to science in the category of "things I want to read about in newspapers." (See #4)
#8: Words (Chicago Tribune) If you don't like this Tribune colomnist's list of the Top Ten Words of 2008, feel free to phromligate your own.
#7: Awesome Photos (National Geographic, Bad Astronomy) Gawk in wonder at National Graphic's Top Ten Most Popular Photos of 2008. And if life on Earth isn't wonderful enough for you, try the Top Ten Astronomy Photos from Bad Astronomy.
Are these cars supposed to be more secure, I wonder, or just fugly? (Fortunately, they have pictures - so you can guess.)
#5: Media Hits & Misses (Politico) Re-live 12 months' worth of news coverage with Politico's Top Ten Scoops of 2008. And to be fair, they've included the Top Ten Media Cock-Ups as well.
#4: Science! (Arstechnica, The Scientist, Wired) Arstechnica has Science Magazine's Top Ten Scientific Breakthroughs of the year - enough to fulfil all your nerdly needs.
In case it isn't - check out similar lists from The Scientist and Wired.
#3: Everything (Time) Bastards from Time cheated. They have a gazillion Top Ten Lists on every subject under the sun.
#2: Life Hacks (Lifehacks) This was the only (other) "Top Ten Twenty Top Tens" I found. Lifehacks posts Top Ten lists throughout the year; this is their summary of 2008's Best. The wealth of information contained herein will quite simply make your life better. Digest it.
#1: Animals (New Scientist, Wired)
In the end, our furry friends take it. The New Scientist's list of Top Ten Weird Animals is sweet enough. But Wired's Top Ten Incredible Animal Videos really made my year. (Even though they failed to include Ninja Cat - above.)
