Category: current events
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useful
Finally! Somebody’s teaching robots to do something useful! There are probably a lot of people who would look at this robot from a lab at UC-Berkeley and the first thought that would pop into their heads would be something like, “Well, that’s typical for an elitist institution, wasting time and money on building robots to… Read.
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fling
Leaders of various evangelical groups gave their endorsement to Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, because he’s the tall, dark stranger they would most like to have a fling with before resigning themselves to political marriage with Mitt Romney. I promise I’m not making that up. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee… Read.
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interminable
And now, a summary of every news bulletin, editorial and talking pundit I’ve heard on the radio this week: Monday: Caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus caucus. Tuesday:… Read.
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stars
Oh I have just passed a most happy hour watching Brian Cox explain how atoms work. No, really. You may think you don’t have an hour to watch a video about a subject that you think you’ve never been interested in about knowledge you think you’ll never use, but just give him at least ten… Read.
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quantum
Neil deGrasse Tyson gets all worked up about why the study of quantum mechanics matters: In the 1920s, quantum physics was discovered. That is the science of the small: the science of electrons, protons, neutrons, particles, nuclei. At the time, you’d say, This is just physicists burning tax money. Who cares about the atom? I… Read.
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flames
The whole world is on fire! In a time-lapse video shot from the windows of the International Space Station, your home planet burns so brightly it’s hard not to wonder how anything can be alive down there. Cities are ablaze, lightning flares through the cloud tops, and the atmosphere itself swirls with the yellow-green flames… Read.
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ink
I’m a huge geek for space flight. I’m not sure why it’s called “manned” when there are women doing it now, and I’m as puzzled about calling it “flight” when it can and often is done without wings, but even so, I geek out in a major way whenever I run across a book or… Read.
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consistency
To The Editor: In your editorial comment, Capitol Common Sense (Oct 11, 2011), you wrote: Here’s how a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald made the argument this week for allowing concealed weapons inside the state Capitol. “So long as the Capitol remains open, our members, their staff and the public have a right to… Read.
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zap
So, the thing that really amazed me about the news that neutrinos might possibly travel faster than light (I’m not convinced) was not that this would change all physics forever and make Einstein a dooty-head as well, it was that physicists were using the Large Hadron Collider in Bern, Switzerland, like a particle-beam cannon to… Read.
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bummer
National Public Radio has been presenting a series of articles about growing old and retiring that don’t make it sound all that appealing. As a matter of fact, they make it sound like a great big bummer. “Retirement: Reality Not As Rosy As Expectation” is all about how retirement was not at all what people… Read.
This Is Drivel 