who will watch the watchers

If the increasing reports of police brutality in America bother you, you may be interested in Copwatchers, a collection of YouTube videos of "police abusing their powers for all to see."

rust in peace

Haunting pictures of places where vehicles go to die. You can see one such place in great detail.

it's a small world

A recent mathematical discovery by scientists is being hailed as "one of the most important developments in the history of science." The conclusion? Parallel universes just may exist. An illustration of what this means:

In Everett's "many worlds" universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out - in its own universe.

A motorist who has a near miss, for instance, might feel relieved at his lucky escape. But in a parallel universe, another version of the same driver will have been killed. Yet another universe will see the motorist recover after treatment in hospital. The number of alternative scenarios is endless.

It is a bizarre idea which has been dismissed as fanciful by many experts. But the new research from Oxford shows that it offers a mathematical answer to quantum conundrums that cannot be dismissed lightly - and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a Phd student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track.

oh great

The latest innovation in crowd dispersal: the pain gun.

free

Play with the sky.

quote of the day

(Seen at a rally where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking yesterday.)

quote fact of the day

The only really workable answer to the question of why the universe was created:

In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.
-- Edward P. Tryon

sublime

rational ink

Science tattoos. My favorites are either this one or this one.

luck defined

If this guy were a cat, he'd have only one life left.

gooooooooo tolerance, go!

brave new world

This is so cool I have to post the whole thing:

Photon Propulsion Breakthrough Could Cut Mars Transit From Six Months to a Week

TUSTIN, Calif., Sept. 6 [PRNewswire] -- The aerospace industry has taken notice of a California researcher who, using off-the-shelf components, built and successfully demonstrated the world's first successful amplified photon thruster. Dr. Young Bae of the Bae Institute first demonstrated his Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) with an amplification factor of 3,000 in December, 2006.

Major aerospace agencies and primary contractors have since invited Bae to present his work, including NASA JPL, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory). Senior Aerospace Engineer at AFRL, Dr. Franklin Mead, "Dr. Bae's PLT demonstration and measurement of photon thrust (is) pretty incredible. I don't think anyone has done this before. It has generated a lot of interest."

Recently, the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, a peer-reviewed AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (http://www.aiaa.org) Journal, accepted Dr. Bae's PLT demonstration paper, "Photonic Laser Propulsion: Proof-of-Concept Demonstration" for publication this year. In his paper Bae documents in explicit detail how he overcame the inherent inefficiencies of traditional photon thrusters in generating thrust by amplification with the use of an innovative optical cavity concept. For decades rocket scientists have tried to overcome the inefficiency of photon thrusters by amplification based on optical cavities separated from laser sources, but failed. In contrast, Bae's patent-pending PLT breakthrough places the laser medium within a resonant optical cavity between two platforms to produce a very stable and reliable thrust that is unaffected by mirror movement and vibration -- ideal for spacecraft control or propulsion.

Dr. Bae will be presenting his PLT concepts, demonstration, and applications at the AIAA Space 2007 Conference 18-19 September 2007 in Long Beach, CA, in four sessions: Space Transportation Systems, Promising Space Concepts from the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts (NIAC), Space Systems for the Next 50 Years, and Advanced Vehicle Systems.

The PLT research was partially funded by NIAC (NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts) as part of a spacecraft formation flight concept grant.

Bae's PLT demonstration produced a photon thrust of 35 uN, which is sufficient for several space missions currently envisioned, and is scalable to achieve much greater photon thrust for future space missions. Applications for PLT include: highly precise satellite formation flying configurations for building large synthetic apertures in space for earth or space observation, precision contaminant-free spacecraft docking operations, and propelling spacecraft to unprecedented speeds greater than 100 km/sec.

Bae, looking forward with anticipation, observes, "This is the tip of the iceberg. PLT has immense potential for the aerospace industry. For example, PLT powered spacecraft could transit the 100 million km to Mars in less than a week." Several aerospace players have expressed intent to collaborate with the Bae Institute to further develop and integrate PLT into civilian, military, and commercial space systems.

quote of the day

Eppur si muove

razzle dazzle

If you're an amazon associate, you'll find Amazon's shiny new widgets interesting.

bic meets kawasaki

This is the most ridiculous pen I've ever seen.

all the news that fits

The New York Times has decided to open up its online archives to the public. The Times will make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986 (who knows why) and some will be free.

give it away

"There are no pockets in a shroud."

-- Chuck Feeney

and speaking of money

The haves often live right next to the have nots.

debit or credit?

Good question. Here are some facts you might want to know about the difference.

last ditch

If you ever find yourself losing a criminal defense trial, you might consider popping the question to the jury.

juxtapose

Josh Keyes is weird but wonderful.

endgame

This list of the Five best apocalyptic prophesies almost makes me wish I still listened to Dio and Iron Maiden. Almost.

UPDATE: I guess it's not surprising to find such dramatic prophesies being preached when you've got people talking about them in buildings like these.

artopsy

Brian Dettmer carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex layered three-dimensional sculptures.

arrrrrgh

Get your skull font here.

hystery

Scientists are now using a powerful x-ray machine to read portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls which are too fragile to be unrolled. The machine works by propelling electrons at great speeds across the parchment, which allows the creation of virtual images that can then be "unraveled" by a computer and read. Now we will be able to determine if Jesus in fact walked with dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden, as some claim (and tell children) he did.

who has the oil, and who uses it

This explains a lot. Or it should.

out there

Sean Penn is making a movie of John Krakauer's book Into the Wild, a haunting account of a young man's idealistic, inspired retreat from society into the wilds of Alaska in 1992. I'm looking forward to the film very much, as I too read Krakauer's book twice, making a rather frightening connection with Alexander Supertramp as I found my own love of nature. I know several people who had the same experience.

My only hope is that the film conveys something of what it feels like to need the outdoors, the very real emotional condition that can only be settled by staggering beauty and original experience. Christopher McCandless wasn't a freak or a recluse. Yes, he went further out there than most of us, but people do the same thing on their own terms every day.

do not use on a date

Sometimes a nice word can be quite ugly.

clarification

In the previous post I pointed out that you do not owe me a beer. I just wanted to be perfectly clear on the fact that you do not owe me a beer.

You do not owe me a beer

Let me first attempt to dispel the myth that you owe me a beer. A lot of people have said that the next time we meet, you should buy me a beer. Others have said that you should send me a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale every month. But these rumors are really false.

I repeat, you do not owe me a beer.

whoops

Couple divorce after online 'affair'

A Bosnian couple are getting divorced after finding out they had been secretly chatting each other up online under fake names.

Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32, from Zenica, poured out their hearts to each other over their marriage troubles, and both felt they had found their real soul mate.

The couple met on an online chat forum while he was at work and she in an internet cafe, and started chatting under the names 'Sweetie' and 'Prince of Joy.'

They eventually decided to meet up - but there was no happy ending when they realised what had happened.

Tungurahua Erupts

Good lord this is beautiful. More here.

space trash

Just in case you were wondering (and I know youe were) what sorts of objects humankind has left on the moon, a handy list has been provided. Use it well, good people.

UPDATE: the moon has many other secrets as well.

new edition

Congratulations to Kin and Jamie Johnston on the birth of their daughter, Carol Hartwell Johnston!

full circle

This is interesting, though not surprising. When Clinton was sending troops to Bosnia back in 1995, the Republicans were outspoken in their opposition to the plan, making many of the exact arguments made today by those opposing the "open-ended peacekeeping mission" in Iraq. Pat Buchanan's 1995 criticisms sound eerily familiar: "What I think would be deplorable would be for Congress to sit back, not take a stand, let the American troops be put into Bosnia and that, if some disaster occurs, say it's Clinton's fault, it's Clinton's war (and) we're not responsible."

Of course, so do comments made by Bush when he was still governor of Texas: "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."

still life with Tom

Tom Robbins, one of my favorite authors as a youth, is now writing excellent travel pieces for British publications. He's toned his writing style down a bit, probably much to the relief of his editors, but he's still got a lot of pluck. In fact, this article made me want to plan a roadtrip through Namibia.

whoa

A recent study conducted by a British polling organization found that over 1.2 million people have died in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.

1.2 million.

I'm all for chaos and disorder

It appears that Bush has chosen Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. This amused me:

Bush supporters say Mukasey, who was chief judge of the high-profile courthouse in Manhattan for six years, has impeccable credentials, is a strong, law-and-order jurist, especially on national security issues, and will restore confidence in the Justice Department.

"law-and-order jurist"? As opposed to what?

craigslife

From the Best of Craigslist, the following funny/sad/startling entries:

• Do you feel lonely or empty?
• I chased you for 12 years around the world, and I still can't find you
• I puked at the megachurch
• Package Deal - Free Husband and Audi

sit n' learn

I want this chair.

such a tool

From the knife to the scramjet, this article celebrates 2.5 million years of human invention.

stop

Sometimes you either get the shot or you don't. These folks got the shot.

do not play at work

This little game is very addictive. You implement technological advancements, which in turn affect how the "society" on the island develops. The goal is to maximize each technology to its fullest potential. It seems simplistic but it ain't.

fight the power

If you've had a flight canceled or delayed recently (who hasn't?) then it will behoove you to know about Rule 240 and exactly what your rights are.

gone gone gone

Fascinating Vanity Fair article on how $9 billion was sent to the Federal Reserve in Baghdad in 2003 and is still unaccounted for.

find yourself a city to live in

Get the skinny with demographic data based on your area as compared with other areas: zipskinny.com

thanks, mom!

resolution

You may have seen some of these before, but here are some more super-clear pictures from the last space shttle mission.

write your congressman

academia, we hardly knew ye

For you have taken the following set of principles too closely to heart: How to write Consistently Boring Scientific Literature.

not so bad after all

It's time kudzu had an image overhaul.

Laundry is the fifth dimension

If like me you've sometimes had trouble understanding Zippy the Pinhead comics yet you feel like there's some valuable thing/element/zoological paradigm you're missing, Zippy himself presents a quick 6-part crash course in Understanding Zippy.

I hop you

I'm not sure what is happening here, but I love it.

coolest room on the block

I would have been a lot cooler in school if my parents had tricked out my bedroom like this. Every healthy child needs a fire pole to slide down in order to do his or her homework. Found in this uber-cool set of swingin' pads on flickr.

smart bird

good question

What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople?

"The potential is huge"

Mark my words. The name John Kanzius will become famous one day.

wow

Greensburg, Kansas Before and After the May 2007 Tornado.

close, but no cigar

Paleo-future is a rather fun blog that showcases that future of the past, or the images and perceptions of the future as imagined in the past. If you find that description confusing, as I do, just check out the site. Be sure and check out these French prints from 1910 showing what life will be like in Paris in the year 2000.

must've been lonely

Incredible images of a polar bear playing with a husky. The bear returned every day for a week to play.

seems silly, but..

I could really use one of these.

i did it

Oh man am I sore. Yesterday I competed in the Coosa River Challenge, a sort of very quasi-triathalon in the beautiful Coosa River environs. The race consisted of a three mile run, 9 miles of mountain biking, then a 7 mile kayak ride. There were also .5 to .8 transition runs from place to place, including a few "challenges" thrown in to make things interesting, like archery contests, trivia stations and mud pits. We also had to scale a cliff and then rappel down it, which I had never done before.
They haven't posted the times yet but I think it took me around 4 1/2 hours to complete. At the end we had to climb up and leap 20-25 feet off of a big concrete structure into the river, with prizes awarded for style and creativity. I gave my best aaiieeeeeeeeee but by that time I was busted and worn out. It was a great day, though. It was very hard but well organized and everyone had fun. Needless to say, I'm nursing a rather severe sunburn and sore quads today. I love it.

UPDATE: It took me five hours and six minutes to complete.

because 1000 songs just isn't enough, dammit

This is pretty cool. Wired has a review of a new program called ShrinkMyTunes, which they liked and should become popular quickly. For $40.00, this program reduces the size of your MP3, MP3pro and WAV files to almost a quarter of their original size, with minimal loss of sound quality. Audiophiles may cringe, but most of us who just want a lot of music on our new iPods will rejoice. You can buy the program here.

librophile

While it may seem like an oxymoron, library porn does exist.

lost in language

A review of a scholarly book on (mis)translation makes the following interesting observation:

The Virgin Birth and Virgin Mary are, pardon the pun, pregnant with social symbolic significance in most, if not all, parts of the world. Whether you believe in them or not, they are solid social constructs, rehearsed endlessly in art, humour, everyday life, and language. And yet their birth is due to a relatively simple mistake in translation. The Old Testament talks about almah 'young woman,' not bethulah 'virgin.' However, the scholars in the 3rd century BC translated the Hebrew almah as parthenos in Greek. Thus the 'young woman' in Hebrew metamorphosed into a 'virgin' in Greek—and she has remained a virgin ever since in translations across the world. The notion of 'virgin birth' was born, thanks to a mistranslation.

For an accessible story of how this happened, I recommend Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. Historians have noted that many pre-Christian cultures had virgin birth mythologies, including the Romans, who believed that Alcema, a mortal woman, was impregnated by the god Zeus and gave birth to Hercules. However, the dispute over the historicity (much less the likelihood) of virgin birth has never really stopped people from believing in it. Nor did it stop a British insurer from providing three Scottish women with a £1 million insurance policy covering the costs of bringing up the Christ if one of them were to have a virgin birth. (The policy was cancelled following pressure from the Catholic Church.)

best internet forum topic, ever

"Hi, this guy challenged me to a duel as i have for many years been practicing in the art of brutal murdering people with samurai swords...."

rock and/or roll

Mike White at Deadly Designs took some great pictures of my brother Jim's band All The Saints a week or so ago at Lenny's in Atlanta. Check 'em out.

whirlibirds

Celebrating a century of helicopters.

quote of the day

"The job of the president is to think strategically so that you can accomplish big objectives. As opposed to playing mini-ball. You can't play mini-ball with the influence we have and expect there to be peace. You've gotta think, think BIG.

"The Iranian issue is the strategic threat right now facing a generation of Americans, because Iran is promoting an extreme form of religion that is competing with another extreme form of religion. Iran's a destabilizing force. And instability in that part of the world has deeply adverse consequences, like energy falling in the hands of extremist people that would use it to blackmail the West. And to couple all of that with a nuclear weapon, then you've got a dangerous situation. ...

"That's what I mean by strategic thought. I don't know how you learn that. I don't think there's a moment where that happened to me. I really don't. I know you're searching for it. I know it's difficult. I do know — y'know, how do you decide, how do you learn to decide things? When you make up your mind, and you stick by it — I don't know that there's a moment, Robert. I really — You either know how to do it or you don't."

-- George Bush, from the book Dead Certain by Robert Draper.

planespotting

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (thank god for 'em) has a site up which tracks the increasing number of delayed and canceled domestic flights. Not like you aren't already extremely aware of this situation.

searchergy

Help save valuable kilowatts by searching with Blackle rather than that nasty ol' watt-hogging Google.

thanks, Sharon!

this is "great"

This is a "blog" reporting the all too widespread use of unnecessary "quotation marks."

hoo hoohehe

CIA Realizes It's Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years

tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are

Ahem.

--> steps onto quasi-soapbox <--

Folks, it is a shame and a disgrace that a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed that one in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

I realize that I have a great bias when it comes to reading, but I cannot understand how so many people can go a whole year without reading a book. There's not one book out there that strikes yer fancy? Not one? In the entire panoply of literature, there's not a single story or history or biography that you've been a little curious about and wanted to know more?

Jesus H. Christ. People, reading good books helps stem the tide of idiocy which daily washes over the world. Go learn something deep and meaningful and articulate. Please.

--> steps off of quasi-soapbox <--

If you need some assistance in developing your new reading habit, try Daily Lit, a service that sends you chapters of books regularly by email so you can read a little at a time. It'll probably be the best email you ever read.

Hail heliography

Interesting article on the first photograph ever taken.

fyi

If you've seen the movie Gallipoli you may have also wondered exactly how one uses a wristwatch as a compass. Well, here's how you do it.

paradise

Robinson Lakes, uploaded by Mat Honan.

I'd definitely rather be here. Check out the rest of Mat and Harper's pics from hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail.

good idea

Has anyone used one of these? Does it work as well as it looks?

quote of the day

"Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate."

— John M. Ford

pain and gain

Lately I've been feeling sort of like the fellow at left, and that will not do. You'll notice the little widget in the sidebar showing my new running schedule, which I hope to increase over the next few months. Yes, I'm very slow and out of shape right now. However, I have been inspired by a friend's recent achievements and have committed myself to getting my ass back in gear. The Coosa River Challenge and 12 Hours of Dauset should help get me going in September. Onward and upward, folks.

religious confiction

Last week I tried to explain what I thought was significant about Mother Theresa's crisis of faith, but as usual Daniel Dennett has said it a lot better than I ever could.

Some people can juggle three tennis balls for minutes on end without dropping them. Most people can’t. Some people can whistle a happy tune beautifully, but most people can’t. It is obvious, is it not, that whether you can juggle or whistle has nothing at all to do with whether you are a good, honest, loving person. If only it were equally obvious that those who can manage the intellectual gymnastics required to keep alive a conviction that God exists in the face of all the grounds for doubting it have no moral superiority at all over those who find this proposition frankly incredible! In fact, there is good reason to believe that the varieties of self-admonition and self-blinding that people have to indulge in to gird their creedal loins may actually cost them something substantial in the moral agency department: a debilitating willingness to profess solemnly in the utter absence of conviction, a well-entrenched habit of deflecting their attention from evidence that is crying out for consideration, and plenty of experience biting their tongues and saying nothing when others around them make assumptions that they know in their hearts to be false.

hell yes