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Posted Mt. Semantics to Boing Boing
Mount Everest may be the tallest mountain on Earth, but that's only if you're measuring from sea level. Thanks to the curvature of the planet, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the highest if you're measuring from the center of the Earth. In fact, by this system, Everest comes in fifth. (Via Chris Pasco-Pranger)...
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Posted Standard vaccine injections don't work as well for the obese to Boing Boing
Standard vaccine injections, done with a 1-in.-long needle, aren't as effective in obese patients. Instead, they need a longer needle to get the same level of immune response. Researchers aren't sure why, but it's possible that fat prevents shorter needles from delivering the vaccine directly into muscle, where it has better access to immune cells.(Via Ivan Oransky.)...
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Posted Energy use and your food to Boing Boing
The whole American food system, from farm to fork, accounts for about 10% of the energy we use in this country. Of that, the largest single portion, 32%, is the energy involved in household food storage and cooking. Put it another way: If we reduced agricultural energy use by 5%, nationwide, we'd save about 20 trillion British Thermal Units of energy a year. Them's no small potatoes. But if just 5% of American households got a more efficient refrigerator, we'd save 54 trillion BTU. Context: I'm spending today and tomorrow at a conference on energy efficiency in agriculture, put on by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Those stats come from a presentation by Martin Heller, a researcher with the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems....
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Posted New hope for a neglected disease to Boing Boing
Mamma always said you can do anything you put your mind to. But that's both a blessing and a curse. Science has made some amazing strides in medicine, but where minds—and money—aren't applied, progress sputters. Chagas is a parasitic disease spread by a bug. Somewhere between 8 and 20 million people—mostly in the Americas—are infected. No one knows for sure. Most of the victims are poor. A little over 100 years after the parasite that causes Chagas was first discovered, this disease is still difficult to diagnose, treatment regimens are complicated and fraught with side-effects and 20,000 people die from Chagas each year. The best hopes are prevention campaigns, and a new generation of drugs that researchers hope will be easier to take....
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Posted Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Practicing safe earthquake to Boing Boing
Two models of a 12-story building are tested on a shake table. The one on the right is supported by a base isolation system, which effectively puts a shock-absorbing barrier between the building's foundation and potentially shaky ground. In fact, during the tests, which took place in 2007, this particular base isolation system, called Earthquake Protector, turned out to be many times more effective than any other system then known. There are three trials on the video. Watch it through to the end for the final fall. Learn more at the Network for Earthquake Engineering Thumbnail is a USGS photo taken in San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. This is the kind of damage that could cause a building to collapse. Technology like base isolation systems can prevent it....
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Posted Start your weekend off right with dancing hexapod robots to Boing Boing
They've got better moves than some people I know. (Via ScienceHack, one of my favorite sources for science videos of all types.)...
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Posted Twitpics In Space to Boing Boing
That's an image of the Moon and Earth sent via Twitter on February 3rd by International Space Station astronaut Jose Hernandez. I've seen plenty of official space photos were equally breathtaking, but there's something about getting them from Twitter that makes this, and other photos sent by Hernandez and fellow astronaut Souichi Noguchi, feel more intimate. Suddenly, I'm not looking at A Very Important Photo from Space, it's a real picture taken by a real guy ... and, for a moment, the infinite out-there feels just a bit closer. Sin palabras, indeed, Astro_Jose. Slideshow with more great pics up at Io9....
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Posted Size matters in international diplomacy to Boing Boing
A respected Pakistani diplomat keeps getting rejected as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Why? Because his full name translates into Arabic as "Biggest dick." (Thanks, Samuel Rubenfeld!)...
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Posted What it's like to live under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to Boing Boing
Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah recounts her life inside the military's legally-enforced closet. "Whenever the admiral would call me to his office, 99.9 percent of me was certain that it was to discuss an operational issue. But there was always that fear in the back of my mind that somehow I had been "outed," and he was calling me to his office to tell me that I was fired." (via Steve Silberman)...
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Posted Fun with punctuation to Boing Boing
From Dweebist. (Thanks, Christina!)...
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Posted Is adoption really saving Haitian children? to Boing Boing
The Racialicious blog has been posting some interesting and thought-provoking articles on the instinct to "save" Haitian children through adoption to the United States, and why we need to re-think our motives and examine the ethical realities involved in international adoptions in general—and particularly when the children come from a country in the midst of a crisis. One of the biggest concerns: Whether children labeled "orphan" really are, and whether their parents have approved an adoption. Is immediately placing kids with new families in America really a greater good than getting them short-term care in Haiti, and trying to reunite them with their families? Those posts are a perfect lead-in to news reports about a Baptist missionary group from Idaho who were caught trying to bring 33 Haitian "orphans" across the border into the Dominican Republic without proper paperwork or permissions. Many of the kids still have parents, who were apparently told that their children were simply being taken to a safe, clean school and would be able to visit their parents any time they wished. That's also the story the missionaries are telling authorities. However, the Web site for New Life Children's Refuge makes it clear that the place was intended to connect American families with children they could adopt. The New York Times reports: In addition to providing a swimming pool, soccer field and access to the beach for the children, the group, known as the New Life Children's Refuge, said it also planned to "provide opportunities for adoption," and "seaside villas for adopting parents to stay while fulfilling the requirement for 60-90 day visit." Image of a Haitian boy (not one involved in the missionary case) courtesy Flickr user Photo Denbow, via CC...
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Posted Phishing scheme goes after carbon credits to Boing Boing
Using a pretty basic "You need to re-register your account" email, a group of phishers managed to swipe carbon credit permits—basically, entitlements to produce greenhouse gas emissions above the cut-off level stipulated by cap-and-trade laws—from six companies. Wired reports the permits were worth more than $4 million. But what do you do with pilfered carbon credits? These thieves re-sold 'em, to buyers who apparently thought they were purchasing legit credits in a standard trade—companies that produce less than their allotted share of greenhouse gases can sell the excess allowance to others....
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Posted Scientists hash out the uncertainties of climate sensitivity to Boing Boing
In a perfect world, we'd have all the answers and solve the problems of humanity sometime before dinner. Sadly, in real life, dinner is often delayed, or put off altogether in favor of a microwave noodle pot. On those long, metaphorical evenings, we turn to science as way of narrowing down the number of things we don't know, and helping us push through problems as best we can. Climate science is a great example of this process in action. We know some big, important facts about how Earth's climate works—how adding extra greenhouse gases to the atmosphere causes the planet to get hotter, for instance. Other things are more uncertain, such as exactly how sensitive our climate is to heating by greenhouse gases. In an upcoming paper in the Journal of Climate, Stephen Schwartz, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and his colleagues contribute to the ramen-fueled work of inspecting the things we don't know, and offering suggestions for how to get closer to the truth....
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Posted On-site recycling, now with more potty jokes to Boing Boing
Behold, The White Goat: A machine that turns shredded office waste paper into toilet paper. Sadly, the return on investment is crap. It would take about 11 years and 200,000 rolls before the Goat pays for itself. Also sad, the Good Blog beat me to the Arthur Anderson jokes....
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Posted Cheetahs catch impala, and release it alive to Boing Boing
In a moment reminiscent of the classic children's book The Tawny Scrawny Lion , a wildlife photographer caught a pack of cheetahs in a remarkably benevolent mood—sparing the life of a young impala. In fact, after the cheetahs chased down and trapped the impala, they only subjected it to some light batting about, licking and nuzzling before allowing it to flee. Officially, it's a rare example of what happens when cheetahs catch an animal they're too full and tired to eat. No word on whether said impala has five fat sisters and five fat brothers, or whether they were able to convince the cheetahs to become pescetarians. And, yes, I know it's the Daily Mail. But come on, it's cute. And there's photographic evidence. Go check out the rest of the pics. Edited: Sadly, I may have been led astray. A couple commenters posted a link to the full series of photographs. It looks like (brace yourselves) the Daily Mail made the story up and (again, brace) the cheetahs actually ate the baby impala after all. Photos (at least, the pre-death ones) are still cute, though. And The Tawny Scrawny Lion is still an awesome book. Daily Mail: Pictured: Three Cheetahs Spare Tiny Antelope's Life...
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Posted Military brass takes a stand against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to Boing Boing
Admiral Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates—the top defense officials in the United States—have come out in support of allowing openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans to serve in their country's military. Both criticized the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and Gates has appointed a team to figure out how the military would have to change things like housing and benefits in order to accommodate queer soldiers. Interestingly, Gates seems to be planning on taking action whether or not Congress formally repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", at least making application of the law "more fair" by no longer discharging service members who get outed by someone else....
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Posted Why does time fly? to Boing Boing
Why does time seem to move faster the older you get? NPR's All Things Considered tackles some of the theories behind this phenomenon, which is reported all over the world, regardless of culture. One plus: A Duke researcher says things slow down again once you hit your 60s and 70s. (Via, Mocost)...
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Posted The Pentagon addresses energy and climate to Boing Boing
The Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review includes a focus on the national security concerns that go along with both climate change, and energy use. Highlights include efforts to convert the nontactical vehicle fleet away from gasoline-dependence, and a Navy plan to deploy a carrier strike group running on biofuels and nuclear power by 2016....
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Posted A simple case of miraculous conception to Boing Boing
Never bring your uterus to a knife fight. I think that's how the old adage goes, or perhaps, how it should go. NCBI ROFL reports on the strange story of a woman with no vagina, who nevertheless managed to end up "with child", apparently thanks to giving a blow job, followed by receiving a stab wound. Trust me, you'll want to read the full summary. The case report is real and comes from a 1988 issue of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Image courtesy Flickr user 3Neus, via CC...
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Posted Behind the meme: Secrets of octopus intelligence to Boing Boing
The little octopus picks up two halves of a coconut shell and carries them across the ocean floor with her suckers. Suddenly, startled, she drops the shell halves and dives inside. Like a lot of you, I watched that video and wondered, "Just how smart are cephalopods, anyway?" Turns out, on a scale of one to chimpanzee, octopuses are probably somewhere close to matching wits with a dog. We don't really know for sure. It's difficult to devise intelligence testing for an animal that is so clearly different from us. That said, research does offer some tantalizing hints that we may need to rethink our anti-invertebrate biases. Octopuses have personalities. They can recognize and respond to individual humans. And there's even some evidence that they play....
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Posted Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Beating Metal Heart to Boing Boing
A simple experiment makes a drop of mercury beat like a nervous, little mouse heart. Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user SharkeyinColo via CC...
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Posted Philippine island qualifies its way to a "World's Largest" title to Boing Boing
Qualifiers are a lot of fun. Example: Greenland is the world's largest island. The world's largest lake is the Caspian Sea. But the world's largest island on a lake, on an island, on a lake, on an island? Then the title goes to Volcan Point in the Philippines. Treehugger has a great series of zoom-in photos that show you how that complicated geological title was won....
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