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May 4, 2013
Jake Bugg – Two Fingers #song4mixtape
Continuing in the sunny music vein… (When I first heard this, I thought it was Oasis back in form).
May 4, 2013
#song4mixtape Inner Ninja by Classified and David Myles
Nice and sunny today – this should work…
Links to Classified and David Myles
May 1, 2013
Quick! Assign the letters JHMLCNVTURISEYAPO to the integers -8 to 8 and tell me what you get…
… a piece of brilliant recreational math from Lee Sallows.
Specifically:
S + U + N = 3 + 0 – 3 = 0
M + E + R + C + U + R + Y = -6 + 4 + 1 – 4 + 0 + 1 + 5 = 1
V + E + N + U + S = -2 + 4 – 3 + 0 + 3 = 2
E + A + R + T + H = 4 + 6 + 1 – 1 – 7 = 3
M + A + R + S = – 6 + 6 + 1 + 3 = 4
J + U + P + I + T + E + R = -8 + 0 + 7 + 2 – 1 + 4 + 1 = 5
S + A + T + U + R + N = 3 + 6 – 1 + 0 + 1 – 3 = 6
U + R + A + N + U + S = 0 + 1 + 6 – 3 + 0 + 3 = 7
N + E + P + T + U + N + E = -3 + 4 + 7 – 1 + 0 – 3 + 4 = 8
P + L + U + T + O = 7 – 5 + 0 – 1 + 8 = 9
E + R + I + S* = 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 10
Via Futility Closet
May 1, 2013
This lizard would totally win a “look like a dragon” contest.
Or at least a very striking looking Armadillo Girdled Lizard (Cordylus cataphractus).
For more information, check out the Wikipedia page. Bottom photograph by Steven Troter.
April 30, 2013
In Canada, After Any International Climate Change Conference: I Fear Correspondence of this Sort will be Sent
By DAVID NG
“In stark contrast to its cuddly international image, Canada is the dirty old man of the climate world – missing its Kyoto emissions reduction target by a country mile (by 2007, it was 34% above its target) and showing no signs of reigning in its profligacy.” The Guardian, November 30, 2009
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What the hell is going on? That conference was a freaking fiasco! What happened? And how is Mr. Environment Minister going to do to fix it?
Stevie (The PM).
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Steve buddy!
O.K. We have a plan. A couple of things actually. Most of them revolving around science and stuff, since we keep getting hammered on our stance with what the climatologists are telling us (you know, the IPCC reports and such). Anyway, the plan is multifaceted, and we’re still bouncing off ideas (FYI: if you got any Prime Ministery input, just pass it on), but here is what we have so far:
1. To get the scientific community off our back, we’re going to challenge them to perform definitive, but basically impossible, climate science experiments. Doesn’t that sound great? I wrote that myself. And here’s one just off the top of my head, which I’m calling the TRI-EARTH experiment (also, wrote that myself). Here, we’ll ask scientists to create two other planet Earths, and populate them with identical geology, biodiversity and anthropogenic infrastructure, and then do a compare and comparison. Our current Earth could be the test subject, whereas the other two could represent “controls” (ooh actual science lingo). These would be conditions with (a) zero fossil fuel emissions, and (b) intensive fossil fuel emissions. Scientists would then be asked to collect data for 100 years, and then reconvene with their conclusions. Brilliant right? Oh man, our tech guys are gonna love making that website.
2. To get the environmental community off our backs, we’re thinking of asking the HR Departments of all tar sand companies to actively hire members of the biodiversity community. And we’re not talking scientists here, but actual animals – the cuter and the furrier the better! Anyway, the idea is that this would be an excellent way to create tension between all those environmentalists. Imagine the debates! I can hear them already: “You can’t shut down the tar sands! Think of the livelihood of our friends, the [insert name of cute furry mammal]. How will they maintain their way of life?” Basically, with the right amount of nuts, we could get a squirrel or two to say anything. As an added bonus, the irony alone just might get Suzuki’s brain to explode.
3. This one is a biggie! We’re looking into actually creating new scientific laws! Wouldn’t that be great? I mean a good chunk of the data out there is based on rigorous climate modeling, which is powered by scientific laws and mathematical equations (bla bla bla). So we say: why not take matters into our own hands, and create something like a new addition to the Laws of Thermodynamics. I mean, these laws are well known, they come up a lot in climate studies (the first law with its overbearing “energy cannot be created or destroyed” mantra is especially annoying), and as a bonus, they even have too many syllables which we know is always good for added confusion. If we’re smart, we can even make the new law a little “magical” (seriously, maybe something about unicorns – you like unicorns right?). This might make the whole creationism angle a little easier to swallow scientifically (and you know me, I’m always looking for ways to widen our support base).
4. Advertising: and lots of it. Maybe go with either a “Canada is a Climate Change Free Zone” angle (wouldn’t that look great on a t-shirt?); or maybe just a straight up promotion of things to do in a hotter climate. I think the “Hot Canada” idea could sell itself. I’m thinking five words: beach volleyball and umbrella drinks. Hmmm… let me write that down. Could work as a possible slogan.
O.K enough writing… I’m going to send this memo off right now. These are just a few ideas we’re ready to act on. Add on a good old general marketing blitz, and I think we got something that should do the trick. Anyway, just say the word boss and we’ll get on it pronto.
Petey
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Petey,
Sounds great. Make it so (I love saying that). Oh and how about this for a slogan, “No more sweater vests!”
Later,
Stevie.
April 30, 2013
Scientific result: 1 in 4 cats gave zero f***s #funny
This would make an awesome slide on the subject of data interpretation (for college level anyway).
By Maki Naro, from Scie-nce.org
April 29, 2013
Wordsworth on poetry and science #lovely
By Maria Popova from Brain Pickings.
April 26, 2013
Happy Arbor Day! Here are some Phylo tree cards!
From Wikipedia:
“Arbor Day (from the Latin arbor, meaning tree) is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States by J. Sterling Morton. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872 and an estimated one million trees were planted that day. Many countries now observe a similar holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.”
Download the cards here (scroll to bottom of post).
April 22, 2013
“Timestacked” photography of our Earth’s sky. Just shows the dynamic (and beautiful) nature of our atmosphere.
These would make a wonderful slide showing the dynamic nature of our atmospheric systems…
“…photographer Matt Molloy has daily encounters with brilliant sunsets and cloudscapes that he’s been photographing for over three years. One day he began experimenting with time-lapse sequences by taking hundreds of images as the sun set and the clouds moved through the sky.”
By Matt Molloy, text via Colossal
April 22, 2013
Who needs Pokemon cards, when you can get free CEPHALOPODA cards!
And these are just 10 of close to 500 different free biodiversity cards on the website, which are also playable as a game!
If you want to print them out, go to Phylogame.org/cephalopoda, and click “print” (on the left sidebar). Then click on page “2” (near the top) and click “print” again. If you want to include card backs with these printouts, then download the card back (the link is on the left sidebar), flip your card printouts and print the back on the other side.
April 21, 2013
I think we can all agree that nebulae are just pretty
That is: “A nebula (from Latin: “cloud”; pl. nebulae or nebulæ, with ligature or nebulas) is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases.” (from Wikipedia)
Images compiled by Antony McAulay, via ScienceAlert
If you have some time to kill, you can even read up on a few of them…
Eagle Nebula, Carina Nebula, Cat’s Eye Nebula, Horsehead Nebula, Crab Nebula, Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302), Eskimo Nebula, Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), Cat’s Eye Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, Helix Nebula, Hourglass Nebula, Medusa Nebula, Orion Nebula, Rosette Nebula, Tarantula Nebula, Trifid Nebula
popperfont.net 