Monday 25 May 2009

Daily Link Splurge

Daily Link Splurge

Little Ben Affleck on PBS

Posted: 24 May 2009 06:37 PM PDT


(11 votes - 1 comment - 220 views)
Yes, it's Ben Affleck at the age of 12 helping out in a science program called "The Voyage of the Mimi".

It's the clueless stare starting at 1:25 then his question then right back in to his clueless stare that really had me cracking up!

Dan Ariely on how symbolic wealth makes us act dishonestly

Posted: 24 May 2009 04:58 PM PDT


(18 votes - 6 comments - 259 views)
Dan Ariely describes his experiment of leaving 6 coke drinks vs. 6 dollars in a public place to test effect on ethical behavior. He extrapolates this result to a society that is dominated by symbolic representations of wealth: asset portfolios, credit, mortgage-backed bonds, etc.

The Professor of behavioral economics also alluded to this experiment in his TED talk:
http://philosophy.videosift.com/video/Why-we-think-it-s-OK-to-cheat-and-steal-sometimes

This video is part of a series promoting his book: Predictably Irrational: Expanded and Revised Edition (2009) in which he takes classical rational-based economics to task.

Glacial Lakes in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, U.S.A.

Posted: 24 May 2009 03:30 PM PDT

Photographer: Casey Bates

The Most Scientific Tattoo You'll See Today (PIC)

Posted: 24 May 2009 01:30 PM PDT

Joe writes: "My tattoo is 3 lines of equations, the top is the Born Oppenheimer Approximation, the second line is the equation in the form of a 3-Dimensional Schroedinger Equation, and the solution in the form of a Schroedinger Equation." Indeed...

321 Contact Original Opening Theme

Posted: 24 May 2009 12:02 PM PDT


(18 votes - 3 comments - 185 views)
This is the theme from 1983-1986.

Ah, how the words so quickly come back to me!

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Posted: 24 May 2009 11:50 AM PDT

In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebula. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically...

Human pathogens threaten ancient cave art

Posted: 24 May 2009 11:00 AM PDT

The Lascaux cave in south-west France houses invaluable animal paintings that are between 16,000 and 17,000 years old, making them among the oldest examples of cave art ever found. Now conservationists must deal with the twin threats of the Fusarium solani fungus and the new bacterial populations.

HIFiRE hypersonic test flight

Posted: 24 May 2009 10:40 AM PDT

Scientists have conducted the first successful test flight in the HIFiRE program, investigating hypersonics technology and its application to advanced scramjet-powered space launch vehicles.

Genesis 2.0

Posted: 24 May 2009 08:12 AM PDT


(17 votes - 5 comments - 313 views)
Michael Shermer revises the Genesis creation story with some hard science. Please to enjoy.

Carina Nebula Panorama from Hubble

Posted: 24 May 2009 06:06 AM PDT

Carina Nebula Panorama from Hubble In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebula. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically. The Keyhole Nebula, visible left the center, houses several of the most massive stars known and has also changed its appearance. The entire Carina Nebula spans over 300 light years and lies about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Pictured above is the most detailed image of the Carina Nebula ever taken. The controlled color image is a composite of 48 high-resolution frames taken by the Hubble Space Telescope two years ago. Wide-field annotated and zoomable image versions are also available.
Posted by johnald