Pulling our legs?

This story by Sonia Moghe at the AP claims that some students in Dallas have made a microscopic U.S. flag using an ion beam and a nano manipulator. Though the story is all over the place, I have yet to see an image of the flag, which leads me to believe the students may be a bit full of it. It's easy to make claims if you don't have to show proof to back it up.

Fighting panda extinction ...

... by holding a birthday party for one of the evolutionary dead-enders.

From the Washington Post:

Tai Shan, the National Zoo's rare and popular giant panda cub, turns a year old Sunday, and the scientists, keepers and volunteers who helped bring him into the world are holding a big public birthday party.

The celebration, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the animal park, will feature entertainment, children's activities and the opportunity to talk with the zoo's panda staff, scientists and veterinarians.

Gotta promote them pandas. Especially after all the trouble us humans have gone to to get them to breed. Whether they like it or not.

The cub, in particular, has become a high-profile ambassador -- used to promote efforts to save giant pandas in the wild, where 1,600 live in the rugged mountains of south-central China, and to increase the captive population of fewer than 200 worldwide, including 11 in U.S. zoos. His birth last summer using cutting-edge artificial insemination techniques also has put the National Zoo front and center among those working to breed and protect this endangered species. [emphasis added]

No matter what, the panda will survive. Because they are so cute.

Boo!

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army, Phil Manson.

Original caption at the Army's site: "Sgt. Tommy Hughes, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief from the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, participates in a pre-Iraq deployment exercise at Fort Hood, Texas."

Titan dazzles

Wow.

















This incredible picture was taken by the Cassini spacecraft, currently exploring Saturn and its environs. The hazy ring of light is a planet-wide (moon-wide?) sunset seen through Titan's thick atmosphere. Find out more here. [Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech]

Anchor day

Nothing but an anchor over the sea.

"Soldiers find, save baby"

You're in Iraq, and suddenly you are set upon by wild dogs. What do you do? Put the baby down so you can run faster.

From the site of the Multi-National Force in Iraq:

The mother of the child told Iraqi Police she left the child in her daughter's care. The daughter was carrying the baby on the road near the LSA when she was chased by wild dogs and left the baby so she could run faster, according to reports given to Capt. Lance Awbrey, commander, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery.

Good thing there were American soldiers nearby.

Staff Sgt. Donald White, patrol leader 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, and his team came across a box on the side of the road while on patrol.

Initially, he thought it was an improvised explosive device until he heard crying coming from the box. ...

The skin was literally hanging off the child and we could see it was massively dehydrated and malnourished. Sullivan told me we needed to get the child to a hospital right away and we jumped into the trucks and drove to the hospital as fast as we could, Smith said. ...

By the time the patrol made its way to the Balad Air Base hospital the staff was already waiting for them when the vehicles pulled up. The Air Force medical staff treated the child by putting a feeding tube into him to replenish lost fluids. After a while the baby regained its strength and was in stable enough condition to be released. A civilian liaison with the Iraqi hospital in Balad was called and the child was released to hospital care.

Those guys don't get paid enough.

Ship evening

Just a picture of a big ship making its way through the channel.

Fighting panda extinction

The Chinese are trying to help pandas reproduce by setting aside more land area as reserves for them.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is giving an unusually endangered species of panda extra space, privacy and protection to help the animals reproduce, state media said on Friday.

The 300 pandas of a rare subspecies who call northwest China's central Shaanxi province home will soon be protected by five new reserves in the fog-shrouded Qinling mountains, the China Daily said. ...

The reserves would cover about 80 percent of the pandas' habitat once they are expanded from 181,100 to 500,000 hectares, the paper said.

This is undoubtedly a triumph for all the panda lovers, but I can't see how changing the designation of land that the creatures already use will help them breed more.

"Hubble telescope main camera not working"

Oh no.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys, a third-generation instrument installed by a space shuttle crew in 2002, went off line Monday, and engineers are still trying to figure out what happened and how to repair it.

"It's still off line today," Max Mutchler, an instruments specialist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said Saturday.

I hope they can get it fixed. The images taken by Hubble have been breathtaking and sublime. It is sad to think there might be no more, but we can be thankful for what we have.

Fighting panda extinction

Good news for all those who love the cute dead-enders called pandas. There's more out there than we thought.

From the AP:

SHANGHAI, China - Scientists using DNA samples have doubled their estimates of the wild panda population in a nature sanctuary in China, a finding they say bodes well for the survival of the endangered species.

The researchers believe between 66 and 72 pandas are living in the Wanglang Nature Reserve — more than twice the previous estimate of 32, said Wei Fumin, a zoologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

How do they know this? They took genetic profiles of poop. And it had to be fresh.

[Study author Michael] Bruford said the field work, carried out by graduate student Zhan Xiangjiang, was arduous, not only due to the mountainous terrain but also because of the need to obtain fresh samples for DNA analysis.

"Once panda feces change from green to brown, we know we've had it," he said.

What a job.

Hashing out "times"

Interesting discussion at The Volokh Consipiracy about whether saying something is "X times lower" than something else makes any sense at all. The only definitive conclusion I can draw from the comments is that it's probably best to just skip the phrase. For example, Hedberg says:

As the first comment demonstrates, these usages (x times larger, x times lower) can be confusing. For ten times larger, multiply by 11; for ten times lower, divide by which: ten or eleven? Although I'm neither a genius nor an expert on English usage, I do have an advanced engineering degree and some facility and familiarity with both math and English. Despite that, I find the usage "X times lower" to be confusing; I'm never quite sure what is intended. If what is meant is "one tenth as much," I ask myself, when I encounter it, why did not the writer write that?

If what you have written causes this much confusion (128 comments to discuss the matter at the time of this writing!), then dump the phrase. Find another way to say it. This bugbear just isn't worth the hassle.

Pelican afternoon

Nothing but a shot of a few pelicans on a warm afternoon.

Engrish: Crawler Crab

CRAWLER CRAB
Flashing Light

THROW IT!

INSTRUCTIONS:

• PRESS BOTTOM OF CRAB TO TURN ON AND OFF THE FLASHING LIGHT
• THROW CRAB TO THE WINDOW OR SMOOTH SURFACE AND WATCH IT CRAWLING & ROLLING DOWNWARD

CAUTIONS:

• DO NOT PLACE ON PAPERED OR FLAT PAINTED WALLS
• DO NOT PUT CRAB INTO MOUTH OR AROUND THROAT
• TO REMOVE DUST OR DIRT ON CRAB BY WASHING WITH WATER AND AIR DRYING

WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD-Small ball. Not for children under 6 year.

Caution: If your crab gets dirty simply washing with clean water.

"Russian mission to Mars in 2009"

Everybody in the pool!

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia plans to send up a space exploration capsule to analyse the surface of Mars and collect test samples from one of the red planet's moons in 2009, Russia's space agency has said.

Let's all work together to get humanity to Mars. Soon. Even if it means working with Russia.

And, how can you not like a spacecraft called "Phobos-Grunt"?

Getting back in

Been out for awhile, but now I'm back. New posts soon.

Slamming a language slammer

Ouch.

Don't raise the ire of the people at the Language Log, especially Geoffrey K. Pullum.

The bottom line here is that people who are clueless about English grammar shouldn't be trying to humiliate others over grammar for political advantage. Those who feel grammar correction is something they want to discuss in the media should do just a little bit of work to prepare themselves for their calling. Not knowing a preterite from a participle or a clause from a phrase is like not knowing how to add small integers.

That's why I try to keep my criticisms to the obvious. If I'm unsure about why a piece of writing looks wrong, I usually keep my mouth shut to avoid putting a Reebok in it. And I almost never ridicule typos. They're pretty easy to identify, and I know they stem from a slip of the finger, not from a lack of learning. Though sometimes they are pretty funny.

"Adios, apostrophe"

The horror!

The Internet is reinforcing bad English habits started during the linguistically lackadaisical '60s and '70s, [Naomi Baron, professor of linguistics at American University in Washington, D.C.] says.

"There are other social forces affecting languages that make them far more informal than it used to," she says, citing the decline in formal tone and grammatical discipline set in motion in public education during the feel-good, express-yourself-as-you-will, don't-be-hampered-by-the-Man-with-the-red-pen hippie era.

"The Internet reinforces that," Baron says.

(He-he. Hippies.)

This is a good piece from Jen Gerson of the Toronto Star on the changing nature of the English language. I know that all languages evolve, but I lament any decline in punctuation in English. The properly placed mark can make all the difference in meaning, and I’m for more punctuation if it clarifies the message. Heck, I even prefer to use the optional comma before “and” in a series.

But, there is still hope for the language.

But Baron says that the day of abbreviating phrases and encrypting communication is ending.

She has found that while coded language is common among young teenagers, once a given person becomes more confident with typing and computers, the abbreviations and corruptions are abandoned.

The reason is simple: It often takes more time and effort to decode abbreviations than it does to spell out phrases in full.

I’ve often thought the same. What’s the point of “ROTFLMAO”? I can type the entire phrase as quick as it takes me to hold down the shift key with one hand and peck out the letters with the other. And how much does it actually add to “LOL”? Not much, I think.

I think Baron’s right. As people mature, they tend to put aside childish ways of thinking, acting, and—thankfully—writing, and they spell out words and use punctuation more. That’s good for our beautifully complex language.

Choosing a photograph

In the New York Times today (as on the Web site), there was some coverage of young golfer Michelle Wie. Though there is a slide show here that features several good photographs of Ms. Wie, the following is the one they chose to run in the hardcopy version.















That's an ass-shot of a 16-year-old. In the New York Times.

Is the Gray Lady going tabloid?

Coin from Canada

Nothing but a coin from the Great White North.

Beer evening

Nothing but a picture of a cool beer on a nice evening.

Writing exceptionally

Dean Bertram has a piece in The Australian about Hollywood's treatment of conspiracy theories and the silliness that ensues when new movies come out. I tend to agree with his arguments ("Hollywood has sanitised an assortment of weird beliefs and helped create what American political scientist Michael Barkun identifies as "a culture of conspiracy"."), but I enjoy his writing. He mixes magnificent words with common parlance in a way that is tight, expressive, and not overdone.

Take this wonderful sentence:

Intercutting the real with the staged and bombarding the audience with emotive footage and questionable data, these dubious productions served up an easily digestible but nonetheless half-baked reality, a type of dissent for dummies.

Nicely done. A little song in prose, as far as I am concerned.

"Violence flares again in Paris suburbs"

They're burning cars again in France.

MONTFERMEIL, France - Youths torched a dozen cars and hurled stones at police in a second night of violence in the troubled Paris suburbs, raising memories of rioting that rocked the nation last year. ...

About 12 cars were torched before calm was restored around 1:30 a.m., police said. At the height of last year's riots, more than 1,000 cars were torched in one night. Even in times of relative calm, torching cars is a regular occurrence in the troubled suburbs. [emphasis added]

The insurance rates in France must be high. And the car salesmen must be giddy.

Water afternoon

Nothing but an arc of water on a beautiful Memorial Day afternoon.

Honoring them on this day

Ben Stein delivered some remarks to people at a grief camp for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Stein is always a great writer and speaker, but this speech is almost perfect in construction and subject matter.

An excerpt:

The media try to rob your husbands' and wives' and kids' lives of meaning saying this war is not about anything.

They're wrong and they say what they say because they don't see the truth. They print a story on the front page about Marines killing civilians in a town in Iraq and if they did, it was wrong. But the big media never report a MARINE throwing himself on a bomb to protect an Iraqi child, or a Marine giving his life to rid a town of murderers or a Marine or an Army man or woman or a Navy Seal or a Coast Guardsman offering up his life so that Iraqi human beings can have the same freedoms and rights we take for granted here in America.

The media are like grave robbers, robbing you of the certain knowledge that your spouses gave their lives for something deeply worthwhile: human dignity.

Amen. We can't honor them enough.

"Bonds passes Babe with home run No. 715"

Faugh.

Even if Bonds breaks Aaron's record of 755 home runs, I think his record will be forever tainted by the steroids flap.

"Scientists float plan to blast water to moon"

What a stunning solution. If you need ice on the moon for future settlements, send a chunk up there.

From Leonard David of Space.com:

SLAM needs no midcourse correction en route to the moon — nor does it need a spacecraft, for that matter. All that’s necessary is a thermal jacket for the water ice payload that’s flung by rocket booster toward any selected spot on the moon. ...

At lunar impact speeds, virtually all of the ice will come to rest less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) below the surface, if properly pre-fractured.

Need I say the idea is cool?

Stink bug afternoon

Nothing but a picture of a bug that will stink up your hand if you touch it for even the briefest of seconds.

Most puzzling headline of the day

Some headline writers must just be bored. Else, why this?

"Scientists Show Dinosaur Fingernail Fossil"

The headline says the fossil is of a fingernail, yet the body text calls it what it actually is -- a claw.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A dinosaur claw fossil found in Brazil reinforces the theory of an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds, a new study says. Brazilian scientists dubbed the dinosaur the dino-bird, which they said was found in Minas Gerais state, about 370 miles northwest of Rio. ...

"The anatomic structure of this claw shows ..."

... he expressed doubt that a claw fragment could prove the existence of a previously unknown dinosaur. ...

"If this claw was all that was found, .... This claw doesn't add particularly much to our knowledge ....

"The claw is similar in shape to that of many other raptors ...."

Nowhere is "fingernail" mentioned, so why did the headline writer feel the need to anthropomorphize the fossil? Was it a joke? Was it a subtle way to try to influence readers to think of animals as somehow human? Either way, it was uncalled for. This guy's boss should admonish him.

Refreshing knowledge of the language

I found a new blog about the use of the English language: The Language Log.

Looks pretty good so far.

"Soldiers test space-age water purification system"

What can be done for the residents of a village whose sole source of water is severely tainted? Well, if the U.S. Army is nearby, you might see if they could help out.

From Sgt. Dennis Gravelle of the 138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment:

A creek running through the small village [of Dahuk] in northern Iraq is the only natural source of drinking water for the residents. Because there is no filtration system, the water contains pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals used in the heavily agricultural community. ...

“This village lost 10 children in June 2003 from drinking sewer water out of the stream, because there was no other water,” [Concern for Kids's John] Anderson said.

The 401st CA Bn. and NGO are testing a space-aged portable water filtering and purification system that was originally designed for NASA, which models after the space shuttle water recycling system.

Good work, guys.

"MRO: Delicate Dips into the Martian Atmosphere"

It's amazing what humans can do. By remote control.

On another planet.

Now underway is the delicate art of “aerobraking”—using hundreds of cautiously calculated dips into the upper atmosphere of Mars. The process uses brief burns from MRO’s thrusters. Those dips have to be deep enough to slow the spacecraft by atmospheric drag … but not deep enough to overheat or damage the orbiter.

At aerobraking’s end, MRO’s orbit around Mars will be approximately two hours. At that point, from the spacecraft’s nearly circular orbit, the mission’s science observations are to begin in earnest.

But the coolest part is the start of the multi-World Wide Web.

The multi-tasking Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will study the history of water on the red planet. In addition, it will become the first link in a communications bridge back to Earth—an “interplanetary Internet” that can be used by spacecraft in coming years.

Furthermore, MRO’s ultra-powerful camera system can guide future spacecraft missions—such as NASA’s Phoenix lander and the Mars Science Laboratory—to precise and safe landings on that faraway world. Data gleaned by MRO can also help plot the touch down zones for human explorers too.

Careful with that aerobraking. Sounds like we really need MRO.

Discussing "individual" vs. "person"

Eugene Volokh starts a worthy discussion on the relative merits of using the word "individual" vs. the word "person". The comments are lively, and they touch on other sticking points in the language. I especially like this from "John Jenkins":

Utilize: This is the most useless word in the English language. It should always be replaced with use. This one just drives me bonkers.

I heartily agree, though I would qualify his "always" with "almost always". "Utilize" has its place, but the shorter, more-to-the-point word "use" is often the better choice.

"Indian Moon Mission to Carry NASA Devices"

Wow. Who'da thunk this would've happened? India and the U.S. teaming up on a moon mission.

NEW DELHI - An Indian unmanned mission to the moon will carry two NASA scientific devices designed to find minerals and ice on the lunar surface, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

The deal between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO is seen as another sign of the increasingly close ties between New Delhi and Washington after decades of Cold War estrangement.

I wish them well, and I hope this bodes well for humanity's space exploration in general -- and our international relations in particular.

"Mars Spacesuit Prototype Trials Underway in North Dakota"

Encouraging news.

A spacesuit prototype designed for Mars exploration is bounding across the North Dakota badlands this week in a series of field tests to check its mobility and performance.

Engineers and university students are putting their North Dakota Experimental Planetary Space Suit through a series of challenges, including mock-Martian hikes, sample collections and - this Saturday - a simulated sandstorm.

They're testing a suit designed for another planet! That's exciting! I just hope they get a chance to use it for real in my lifetime.

Practicing plagiarism

Kaavya Viswanathan: fraud.

Little, Brown pulled “Opal Mehta” after extensive similarities were discovered to two works by Megan McCafferty, “Sloppy Firsts” and “Second Helpings.” But until Tuesday, the publisher had not said whether the book would be canceled altogether or simply revised, as originally planned.

The Harvard Crimson student newspaper, alerted by reader e-mails, reported Tuesday on its Web site that “Opal Mehta” contained passages similar to Meg Cabot’s 2000 novel, “The Princess Diaries.” The New York Times also reported comparable material in Viswanathan’s novel and Sophie Kinsella’s “Can You Keep a Secret?” [emphases added]

That's four works she ripped off in her laziness and deception. Does this woman ever write anything original? After all this, I would question the name she signs.


UPDATE: Make that five works she ripped off. From the Scotsman [emphasis added]:

Miss Viswanathan admitted to the Harvard Crimson that she borrowed language from two of Ms McCafferty's novels but that any similarities were "unintentional and unconscious". [Snort!]

The books involved, first identified by the New York Times, are Can You Keep a Secret by British author Sophie Kinsella, The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot and Haround and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.

All in one novel by a teenager? Wow. She sure assimilates information totally.

"Helmet protects Soldier from bullet wound"

At first, the headline quoted above seems trivial, way obvious, and hardly newsworthy. But then, helmets worn by soldiers in the Twentieth Century were primarily designed to protect the wearers from shrapnel, not direct bullet fire. And this story is a testament to how far we've come in military tech. Helmets are now stopping bullets, not just deflecting shrapnel.

And the following excerpt exemplifies the true spirit of the American soldier under that helmet.

While [Capt. John] McFarlin’s unit recently responded to attacks on an Iraqi police station in Buhriz, he was hit in the helmet with a shot from an AK-47.

“I was suppressed for a moment and then I got back up" and returned fire, said McFarlin of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers’ Military Transition Team who oversees the 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division.

A day after the attack, McFarlin was still sporting the damaged helmet. He said he felt unaffected by his brush with death.

Here's a link to other cool things the U.S. Army uses.

Stupidest headline of the day

"‘United 93’ movie includes invented details"

Thereby changing Hollywood's previous course of making completely factual movies.

"Earth's Moon: Best in the Solar System"

But, I already knew that.

However, Seth Shostak is talking about solar eclipses here, and what makes them so cool on Earth.

Mercury and Venus would be dandy places to see an eclipse (ignoring the lethal weather) since the Sun would loom large in the sky, showing up well in point-and-shoot photos. But neither has a moon. Other planets are saddled with satellites that generally appear either too large in the sky or too small. For example, the four Galilean moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are all hefty enough to block the Sun. Unfortunately, they block too much. The prominences and inner corona that are so spectacular during earthly eclipses quickly disappear behind one of these massy moons. ...

Mark yourself lucky to live on a planet where a solar eclipse is both possible and spectacular. And even luckier to be around when jet engines and cruise ships make it easy for thousands of people to journey to any eclipse’s narrow shadow path. For our grandparents and all their ancestors, who mostly died in the villages of their births, the chances of catching a total solar eclipse during a lifetime was about one in seven. Seeing as many as two was about as common as giving birth to quints.

I've never seen a total solar eclipse, but I have seen a couple of partial ones. They are definitely awesome, and, given the way darkness suddenly spread across a bright, sunlit day during an eclipse, I can see how the ancients would have been quite freaked out.

Ain't astronomy cool?

"Scientists Solve Rare Bone Disease Mystery"

Renegade skeletons?

NEW YORK - Scientists have discovered a mutant gene that triggers the body to form a second, renegade skeleton, solving the mystery of a rare disease called FOP that imprisons children in bone for life.

Frightening. But, the good news:

The finding, reported Sunday, may one day lead to development of a drug, not only to treat the rare bone disorder, but more common bone buildup related to head and spine trauma, and even sports injuries, the researchers said.

Medicine advances. Humans amaze.

"Congresswoman Apologizes For Profane Letter"

Oops.

A letter from the Missouri Republican [Rep. Jo Ann Emerson] to a resident of her district somehow ended with, "I think you're an (expletive).” The offensive word begins with an "a.”

Message to all business correspondence writers: Always check the letters sent out in your name.

Message to all the people who actually write those letters: Don't joke around with your copy. You embarrass your boss. You embarrass yourself. And, you could lose your job, if you're caught.

Shooting for the moon

What's cooler than practicing moonwalks on the bottom of the sea?

Also doing a surgical procedure. On the bottom of the sea. When the doctor is in Canada.

From Tariq Malik at Space.com:

One of the key goals for the NEEMO 9 crew included the assembly and operation of a surgical robot designed to allow physicians to dress wounds remotely with only an Internet link-up between them.

Canadian doctor Mehran Anvari, a veteran of telemedicine experiments with past NEEMO crews, directed the robot to suture a gash inside Aquarius. But instead of working aboard Aquarius, or even aboard a surface ship, Anvari sat at a workstation in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario, where he directs the Center for Minimal Access Surgery at McMaster University.

Long-term moon missions would be safer if astronauts could receive the best health care possible without having to send a range of specialists to take care of any eventuality. The work aboard NEEMO 9 paves the way for surgery on the moon that is performed by doctors on Earth -- which (do I have to say it?) is extremely cool.

Confusing space rocks with weathermen

Below is a screen capture of Yahoo news, Space and Astronomy, for April 17, 2006. Can you guess what shouldn't belong?























Yes, it's the piece about how southeastern Europe fears more flooding. Hardly something to do with space.

It used to be that, when I would see an incongruous classification such as this, I would just wonder at the wisdom of Yahoo. Now I realize that the "meteor" in "meteorologists" triggers whatever parameters are used to sort out the news items. That explains the incogruity, but it doesn't excuse it. Yahoo should fix its code.

"Scientists Release New Venus Images"

By the way, did I mention that this was cool?

BERLIN — European scientists released new photos of Venus' south pole Thursday, revealing a swirling mass of sulfuric acid clouds powered by 220 mph winds.

The clouds, 13 miles deep, completely enclose Venus.

Too bad the place is hell. It would be nice if it could be terraformed. "The Long Rain", it certainly isn't.

Spring morning

Nothing but some leaves on an early spring morning.

"NASA to Crash Space Probe Into Moon"

This is cool.

NASA scientists say the collision should excavate a hole about a third the size of a football field and hurl a plume of debris into space. After the crash of the space probe, the mothership that released it will fly through the plume and look for traces of water ice or vapor — similar to NASA's Deep Impact mission last July, which blasted into a comet.

Judas Priest!

Found in 1970, now made available in English -- The Gospel of Judas has been published.

The newly translated document's text begins: "The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot."

In a key passage Jesus tells Judas, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."

This indicates that Judas would help liberate the spiritual self by helping Jesus get rid of his physical flesh, the scholars said.

I don't think this new information will change the faith of many people. There have been many apocryphal works circulating through the centuries, including other gospels. But I think most Christians dismiss these other works as unimportant, if not distracting from the main meaning of the Christ, the annointed one who was sent to redeem our sins. At least I do. And I think the Gospel of Judas will find a similar fate, despite its new availability in English.

"Would you hire this man?"

Dominic Hilton properly berates the rioting French youth in The Toronto Star:

Lots of over-educated youths with too much black in their wardrobes are desperate to dress up in balaclavas and bandannas and torch things because (now let me word this correctly) they are disillusioned that their government wants to help them get jobs, because when you get a job there is a big danger you might one day lose it, especially if you are crap at it.

Hm. The French are disillusioned because someone is telling them they need to do a good job or they might be fired. How does that country stay afloat?

And, Hilton's right, what is with all the masks and bandanas? Geez, if you're going to protest, at least have the stones to show your face and take credit for what you're doing. Or just go home.

Waiting for opening day

Just a reminder: Texas League action starts April 6.















Go Missions!

"U.S. Losing Unofficial Space Race, Congressmen Say"

Not good.

WASHINGTON - Some congressmen believe the United States and China are in an unacknowledged space race that this country could lose if it doesn't spend more money on the civilian space program. ...

The China space-race discussion was touched off by Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican who in February participated in the first U.S. government delegation visit to China's remote space launch facility.

"The American people have no idea how massive the China space program is," Kirk said.

We took on the Soviet Union in a race to the moon and won. It would be a shame if we lost today to China.

"Russian Soyuz rocket successfully lifts off"

Brazil has sent its first man into space.

It's interesting that a person who speaks Portuguese has finally made it into space, given how prolific Portugal was in exploring and conquering the globe in the 15th and 16th centuries. But, times do change. After all, who would have thought that, forty years after the race to the moon, the Americans and the Russians would be working so closely together in space exploration.

The American space program has depended on the Russians for cargo and astronaut delivery to the space station since the Columbia explosion. The shuttle Discovery visited the station in July but had problems with the foam insulation on its external fuel tank.

[American astronaut Jeffrey] Williams praised the cooperation between the Russians and the Americans, saying the two countries were united by the common vision of space exploration and by the goal of keeping a permanent presence in orbit following the Columbia accident.

“I think the partnership is stronger because of it,” he said.

[Russian cosmonaut Pavel] Vinogradov said that, in space cooperation, the Russians and Americans “have learned to work together.”

Good to hear from former enemies.

UPDATE: Boy, I can't add or subtract. I have corrected this post to say that the space race was forty years ago, instead of the thirty I had originally put. Great math skills, huh?

"Mafioso shoots sister over 'dishonour'"

There's nothing romantic about the Mafia.

Police said that Giovanni had shown no remorse, admitting: “I shot her, I shot my sister . . . She had a child by a man she was not married to.

“It is a question of honour. I would have shot her in the back, but she turned round. I am not sorry. On the contrary, I am proud of what I did.”

He said that he had waited until she had had her baby because under the Mafia code “you don’t kill pregnant women”. [emphasis added]

This turns my stomach. I don't think I even want to watch The Godfather movies anymore.

"Australian Scramjet Screams Skyward"

Go, Aussies! Hooray for HyShot.

Researchers are now analyzing data from the test, focused on the last six seconds of flight prior to impact when the scramjet may have reached Mach 8—eight times the speed of sound, or nearly 8,000 kilometers per hour. That's about 10 times faster than a conventional jet.

Coin from Germany

Nothing but a coin from Deutschland.

Portraying casualties

Glenn Reynolds has an interesting discussion about whether casualities in Iraq are mounting, falling, or even receding. Of course, it's all semantics and context.

But yes, although "casualties," being additive, are always going to "mount" over time barring new improvements in resurrection technology, the casualty rates are falling, something the "mounting casualties" language obscures.

All in all, the U.S. military does not get a good break in the U.S. media. Too bad. Good soldiers should get as much press as the bad ones do.

Setting a standard for others

George Lucas thinks Hollywood movies dirty up the world.

Director George Lucas is worried about American "cultural imperialism." In a speech to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on Wednesday, he cited the lifestyles portrayed on "Dallas" as an example of how Hollywood irresponsibly infects the minds of poor people overseas. [emphasis added]

Apparently, Ewoks are OK to emulate, though. That's responsible infection.

Strangest headline of the day

"South Pacific Volcano Stops Search for Man"

Who told it to look for him anyway?

Scanning the horizon

Here's a cool photo of one of our soldiers keeping an eye out for the terrorists.
















Does anyone know what the character painted on the turret means or stands for? It certainly is cool-looking, and enigmatic.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army, by Staff Sgt. Alfred Johnson.
Original caption: A Soldier from 2nd Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment searches for insurgents from the turret of his M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle during Operation Swarmer, northeast of Samarra, Iraq. This photo appeared on www.army.mil.

"NASA launches trio of microsatellites"

This is way cool, especially the way the payload was launched into space.

The 55-pound (24.75-kilogram) Space Technology 5 satellites, which will test new technologies for future science missions, were carried aloft from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Lockheed L-1011 jet.

Shortly after 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET), when the plane reached 39,000 feet (11,700 meters), a compact Pegasus rocket dropped from the aircraft's belly, fired its engine and ferried the satellites on a 10-minute climb into space.

Here's to more innovations as we head out to the stars.

Protesting an idea to make the country stronger

In France.

In case you hadn't heard, French youth have been rioting and destroying a McDonald's (?) to protest a new labor law that would make their jobs more liable to termination by companies. How liable? Here:

The law would allow businesses to fire young workers in the first two years on a job without giving a reason, removing them from protections that restrict layoffs of regular employees.

Companies are often reluctant to add employees because it is hard to let them go if business conditions worsen. Students see a subtext in the new law: make it easier to hire and fire to help France compete in a globalizing world economy. [emphases added]

Wow. It's a good thing the French youth don't live in Texas. In this state you can be fired for practically any reason at any time. Quite an incentive to do a good job and make the boss happy.

But, the rioters obviously don't have any respect for competition or doing anything to improve their economy beyond collecting a paycheck. Seriously. Here's how one group of radicals proposes increasing the well-being of their nation:

In Marseille, extreme leftist youths climbed the facade of City Hall, replacing a French flag with a banner reading "Anticapitalism."

In other words, "Kick out the capitalist pigs and our jobs will be secure." Except, who would they work for, then?

No word on whether the protesters are largely immigrants or even Muslim, but this quote is suggestive of the answer:

Youth joblessness stands at 23 percent nationwide, and 50 percent among impoverished young people. The lack of work was blamed in part for the riots that shook France's depressed suburbs during the fall.

There is one upside to this news article, though. At least only four cars were burned in Paris.

Farming tools morning

Nothing but a bunch of historic farming tools on display.

"Poor Weather Threatens NASA Space Technology Launch"

Neverminding the headline for the article, this should be cool.

The Space Technology 5 mission, which is expected to shake down microsatellite technologies for future missions to track space weather, has just a 20 percent chance of rocketing spaceward from an air-based mothership due to poor weather conditions expected for its March 14 launch target. ...

NASA’s $130 million ST5 mission, part of the agency’s New Millennium Program to develop new technologies, is currently set to launch three small microsatellites – each the size of a large cake (or 13-inch television set) and weighing 55 pounds (25 kilograms) – into orbit atop an Orbital Sciences’ built Pegasus XL rocket.

An L-1011 Stargazer aircraft will haul the Pegasus booster to an altitude of about 39,000 feet (11,887 meters) before dropping the rocket into launch position at about 9:02 a.m. EST (1402 GMT). The space shot has a 77-minute launch window, Dovale said.

The microsatellites that are to be launched will be doing some important research, but the launch method for the rocket is so different from the traditional Roman-candle ride into space that it is exceptionally cool.

I wish NASA good luck on the launch.

Finding there is something new under the sun ...

... or under the sea.

And what does this new thing look like?

A furry lobster.

PARIS - A team of American-led divers has discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blond fur, French researchers said Tuesday.

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.

It's stunning to realize that, after all these centuries and generations on this planet, we are still discovering new creatures and amazing things and interesting possibilities. Our world is spectacular, and humanity can accomplish great things once we set our minds to the task. It is unfortunate that so many people try to distract our minds from effecting positive developments, choosing instead to punish the thinkers for such small offenses as mere offense.

Soldier day

Nothing but a man dressed as a Union soldier looking at some crafts.

Corniest headline of the day

"Fore play in space leaves scientists unamused"

"Stained Glass Reflects on Astronauts' Lives"

This is beautiful.

Beginning today, visitors to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson may find themselves moved to a more a reverential state of mind.

Unveiled during a private ceremony Tuesday night, the Cosmosphere's latest addition is an 8- by 11-foot (2.4- by 3.3-meter) stained glass creation that pays tribute to 17 fallen astronauts.

What an incredible melding of the scientific, the artistic, and the religious. The stained glass piece is actually quite breathtaking.

Defending "decimate"

Eugene Volokh makes a good argument for giving a little leeway to the word decimate. As he says, "Etymology is interesting -- but it's not the same as meaning."

I tend to avoid decimate because, even though I know it is commonly used to mean "destroy a significant portion", my mind still gets stuck on the original meaning that meant to kill a tenth of a group of people. To keep my writing clear, I use a different word. But I do not condemn the way others most commonly use decimate. There are other writing bugbears that are more worthy of my contempt.

"Greedy Clerk" in the comments section of the above post illustrates two for me.

Further, one more pet peeve: there is nothing wrong with "splitting" infinitives. English is not Latin. An infinitive in English is generally two words: i.e., to be, not ser. Thus, they can obviously be split. Also, ending sentences with prepositions is not wrong -- sometimes it is awkward not to do so.

Amen.

Giving us too many choices

OK. Which version do I get?

From a PC Pro article by Matt Whipp:

'We live in a digital world that is filled with more information, more things to do and more ways to communicate with others than ever,' said Mike Sever, corporate VP of Windows Product Management and Marketing at Microsoft. 'The PC needs to give people the clarity and confidence to handle this "world of more" so they can focus on what's most important to them. With our Windows Vista product line, we've streamlined and tailored our product lineup to provide what our customers want for today's computing needs.'

From what I can gather, here are my choices the next time I buy a computer:

Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate

And, there's even a Starter version. Wow. That's just too many things to choose from.

Coin from Nicaragua

Nothing but a coin from Nicaragua.

"Planetary Protection Study Group Mulls Life On Venus"

Not much chance of life on Venus. The planet is hell.

Surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. The surface pressure on Venus is the crushing equivalent of being nearly a mile deep in Earth's ocean. The landscape, covered in volcanic rock, is desolate and waterless, but rich in sulfur. Venus's atmosphere is more than 96 percent carbon dioxide, with 3 percent nitrogen and traces of other gases.

Enshrouding Venus are three distinct cloud layers. Water vapor there ranges from a few parts per million at the top of the cloud deck to a few tens of parts per million at the base. Cloud droplets, however, are formed of extremely concentrated sulfuric acid. Now toss in for good measure a high flux of solar ultraviolet radiation that floods the cloud deck. [emphases added]

...

But [planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute David] Grinspoon added that if there is life in the clouds of Venus, “then it exists in conditions which do not overlap conditions in which even extremophile terrestrial organisms can survive.” This life, he pointed out, would be so alien to Earth life that it and Earth life could not threaten each other.

That's good to know. Of course, a life form adapted to living in clouds of sulfuric acid wouldn't be very cuddly, either. So, we'd probably leave each other alone for the most part.

"RadioShack CEO Quits Amid Resume Questions"

David Edmonson has resigned as CEO of Radio Shack. For lying on his resume.

About being well-versed in religion.

Edmondson had claimed that he received degrees in theology and psychology from Pacific Coast Baptist College in California, which moved in 1998 to Oklahoma and renamed itself Heartland Baptist Bible College.

The school's registrar told the [Fort Worth] Star-Telegram that records showed Edmondson completed only two semesters and that the school never offered degrees in psychology. The school official declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Edmondson said last Wednesday he believes that he received a theology diploma called a ThG, but not the four-year bachelor of science degree listed on his resume. He could not document the ThG diploma. [emphases added]

Con-men have no scruples.

Quiz for today

Question:

What is this a "Top 10" list of?

1. Beta Canum Venaticorum
2. HD 10307
3. HD 211415
4. 18 Scorpii
5. 51 Pegasus
6. Epsilon Indi A
7. Epsilon Eridani
8. Omicron 2 Eridani
9. Alpha Centauri B
10. Tau Ceti


Answer:

Those stars that are the best candidates for having earth-like planets and/or extraterrestrial life.

The list was put together by Margaret Turnbull of the Carnegie Institute of Washington. (Read more about it at Alan Boyle's column here.) She thinks that these stars are good places to look for new planets and to listen for possible signals from other civilizations. And her list is apparently anything but arbitrary.

Turnbull's list serves as a device for targeting the search as well as focusing the imagination. She started out with a database of 19,000 stars surrounded by "habitable zones" where life could conceivably survive. Then she zeroed in on stable stars that were at least 3 billion years old, with masses no more than 1.5 times that of our own sun.

The stars also had to have at least 50 percent of the sun's iron content, because astronomers believe that stellar systems need a minimum of heavy elements in order for planets to form.

Sounds good enough for me. Turnbull also seems to like her work very much.

"These are places I'd want to live if God were to put our planet around another star," she explained.

Spoken like true, starry-eyed dreamer.

Looking out for the bad guys

Be careful, guys. And keep up the good work. We appreciate your efforts.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II. Original (and more) here.

"Space-elevator tether climbs a mile high"

Absolutely cool.

Coin from the Korean peninsula

Nothing but a coin from South Korea.

Developing future space journeys by challenging entrepreneurs today

NASA has come up with six new contests to stimulate bright minds into developing new space technologies. This is a cool move on the agency's part.

Planned contests include the development of:

1. Orbital gas stations (Fuel Depot Challenge)
2. Extraterrestrial SUVs (Human All-Terrain Vehicle Challenge)
3. Astronaut fashion on a budget (Low-Cost Space Pressure Suit Challenge)
4. Generators for the Moon (Lunar Night Power Source Challenge)
5. Little delivery trucks (Micro Reentry Vehicle Challenge)
6. Space sailboats (Station-Keeping Solar Sail Challenge)

I, for one, am encouraged by NASA's willingness to work with the private sector in developing the technologies that will be vital to future space exploration. I like the idea of the contests to challenge individuals and companies to develop new inventions for space travel, and NASA deserves a pat on the back for encouraging potential contestants to help set the boundaries of the competitions.

The current draft rules for the six new contests were developed by in-house by NASA personnel, [program manager for the Centennial Challenges effort Brant] Sponberg said, adding that before the agency launches the competitions officially, feedback from those who will compete in them is vital. “The whole idea is to go out eternally and to have the people competing for this, or whoever, let us know what needs tweaking.”

No longer insular, NASA embraces entrepreneurs. Let's see more of it.

"Mexican paper curbs reporting after attack"

Free speech is under attack around the globe, by Muslims in the Arab world and by drug lords in the New World.

“I say again to organized crime: You will not make the Mexican people yield,” [Mexican President Vicente] Fox told reporters in the Pacific state of Sinaloa.

Except for newspaper employees, apparently.

Let's hope the U.S. press does not go weak-kneed in the face of such criminal intimidation. Now, more than ever, we need free speech, and the American media outlets should be leading the charge.

Contrail afternoon

Nothing but a bunch of contrails criss-crossing the sky on a bright afternoon.

"Bush Seeks 1-Percent Increase for NASA in 2007 Budget Request"

Good news for the space boys.

Within the NASA request, roughly $6.2 billion would go to the international space station and space shuttle programs, about $3.9 billion would go toward the development of new human and unmanned spacecraft needed to replace the shuttle and send astronauts to the Moon, about $5.3 billion would go to space and Earth science missions, and about $720 million would go to aeronautics research.

If it were me, I would swap the destinations for the $3.9 billion and the $5.3 billion. We need to start moving out toward the stars, and we need new ways to do it. And, it takes funding.

Now, about that space elevator --

Making spacecraft bleed

When you cut yourself, you bleed, and that blood forms a scab to seal the wound and help it heal. It's possible that a similar process could be used to protect spacecraft.

From Tariq Malik of Space.com:

[Ian] Bond [of England's University of Bristol] and his colleague developed a similar system, but replacing blood with resin and veins with tiny glass tubes, to fill in cracks or small holes in satellite "skin" as part of a European Space Agency (ESA) program to study technology for self-healing spacecraft. By closing small cracks or micrometeorite punctures themselves, satellites could stave off more serious structural problems the initial damage may lead to, researchers said.

The future is upon us. Bleeding satellites.

Giving it to the insurgents

Here's a picture that shows our resolve, and why they will never be able to best us in a straight fight. As hard as they hit us, we will still give it back to them. With defiance.

Ignoring the true vile nature of insurgents

We keep hearing a lot about how a television talking head named Bob Woodruff has been injured by an improvised explosive device, or IED, in Iraq. And the media can't devote enough space to his continuing saga.

And, tellingly, this prompts no coverage that I can find.

During his weekly press briefing Jan. 26, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Coalition spokesman, provided details of insurgents emplacing a bomb at a school, and local citizens' growing rejection of the terrorists' goals and methods.

“They're seeing what you're seeing. Just in the last several days down in Basra , Zarqawi and his network placed an IED against the wall of a schoolhouse, detonated it and injured 20 innocent children,” Lynch said.

“Just last Sunday here outside of Baghdad Zarqawi and his network took a bomb, put it against a schoolhouse door and set it up as a booby trap.” Lynch said. “And if it wasn't for the awareness of the local Iraqi security guard, that bomb would have detonated when innocent children opened that door, and children would have been killed.” [emphasis added]

Seems like only the U.S. Army thinks this is worth covering. Injure a reporter or an anchorman with a bomb, and the press is all over it. Put schoolchildren in danger, however, and it seems not to register. What gives? Do the media really want the insurgents to win so bad that they refuse to portray them in a bad light until one of their own is hurt? Can they not work up even one inch of space for injured Iraqi schoolchildren?

Sadly, I think I know the answer to my own question.

"Russia plans mine on the moon by 2020"

Wow. Why aren't we (the Americans) planning for this?

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia is planning to mine a rare fuel on the moon by 2020 with a permanent base and a heavy-cargo transport link, a Russian space official said.

"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery... [sic] of the rare isotope Helium-3," Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the Energia space corporation, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying Wednesday at an academic conference.

...

Helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion.

Rare on earth but plentiful on the moon, it is seen by some experts as an ideal fuel because it is powerful, non-polluting and generates almost no radioactive by-product.

If this is true, wouldn't helium-3 be the ideal answer to our reliance on fossil fuels and our concerns about pollution? Shouldn't we be building more nuclear power plants fueled by moon-helium? Sounds like a good idea.

"Arctic Ocean Ice Crashes on Alaska Shores"

Beware the ivus.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Ridges of Arctic Ocean sea ice were shoved onto a Barrow road in quantities not seen in nearly three decades. Two ice surges, known to Alaska Natives as ivus, stunned residents who had never seen large blocks of ice rammed ashore. ...

Ivus are like frozen tsunamis and crash ashore violently. They have killed hunters and are among the Arctic's most feared natural phenomena.

And the Whoa, dude! statement of the day:

"It just looked like a big old mountain of ice," said L.A. Leavitt, 19, who left his nightshift job at the city early Tuesday to check out the ridges.

Remembering the Challenger

Twenty years ago, I had just finished filling the gas tank in the old Chevrolet Caprice I used to drive, and, when I got back into the car, I turned on the radio. Instead of music, I heard the DJ announcing that the space shuttle Challenger had just been destroyed in a horrific accident. I drove home as fast as I could and turned on the television. Sure enough, every station was carrying footage of the tragedy, and they were playing it over and over again.

I was stunned. The destruction of the Challenger and the loss of the astronauts was horrible, and I knew that this incident would set back the space program significantly (the next shuttle did not fly until September 1988). But I think that we need to keep exploring space. We should be careful, but not overly cautious to the point where we never get off this planet. Accidents do happen, and they are tragic. But it shouldn't take almost three years for us to figure out what happened and to work the courage up to launch astronauts once again.

This piece from James Oberg has some chilling and eye-opening information about the Challenger disaster. If you think you remember that day well, you should read this. You just might learn something.

Oberg's closing quote: "The disaster need never have happened if managers and workers had clung to known principles of safely operating on the edge of extreme hazards — nothing was learned by the disaster that hadn’t already been learned, and then forgotten."

Selling lies as truth

Why do publishers want writers to tell lies in a non-fiction genre?

Well, I have written a book. It is a book based on my experiences in Operations for a bush commuter in Fairbanks, AK. It is a book with a lot of flying, some dying, and a lot of thinking about just how much you should be willing to risk for your job. ... I have been trying to get an agent or editor interested, and pretty much everyone thinks it's a great idea for a book, that the flying is amazing and on and on. But - then - they think that it should be nonfiction. They have asked me to change the names of the pilots (they are all fictionalized composites already) and call the whole thing nonfiction. They want it to be a memoir and if I will do that then they will talk to me.

Is that what the reading public really wants these days? Do they want to hear about our "true" personal stories, about what happened to us? Even if it really didn't happen? Perhaps so.

I blame Oprah. When she puts her stamp of approval on something, that defines it as quality in the eyes of her adorers. Even if the thing is crap. The problem is, she has so many adorers that her stamp actually has an effect.

UPDATE: Oprah changes her mind and berates the liar she propped up.

NEW YORK - In a stunning switch from dismissive to disgusted, Oprah Winfrey took on one of her chosen authors, James Frey, accusing him on live television of lying about “A Million Little Pieces” and letting down the many fans of his memoir of addiction and recovery.

“I feel duped,” she said Thursday on her syndicated talk show. “But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.”

She should have said that from the start of the mess instead of initially defending him.

"Comet sample collection bedazzles scientists"

Nothing better than a few bedazzled scientists.

"This exceeded all of our grandest expectations," Donald Brownlee, a University of Washington-based researcher and the principal Stardust investigator, told a news conference.

The team was still giddy from the smooth landing of the Stardust capsule in the moon-lit Utah desert, but that turned out to be just the beginning.

When the sample canister inside the capsule was opened, scientists could see with naked eyes small black rocks and other particles that had been trapped in the probe's gel-filled collection device.

"We were totally overwhelmed by the ability to actually see this so quickly and so straight-forwardly," Brownlee said.

Them's comet parts they're looking at. Sublime in their very presence on Earth, trapped in aerogel for naked human eyes to see.

The universe is in our front yard.

"NASA probe blasts off for Pluto"

Go "New Horizons"!

With an unprecedented five solid-fuel strap-on boosters, the rocket sent the relatively tiny spacecraft into space faster than any object launched by man before. It sprinted into the sky and quickly disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean.

Fitting employment for him

"Cloning cult offers job to disgraced scientist"

PARIS - South Korean cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk, a science superstar disgraced when his pioneering stem cell research was unmasked as a fraud, has a new job offer from a UFO cult that says it has produced six human clones.

Clonaid, a company linked to a group that believes humans were cloned from prehistoric alien visitors to Earth, said it had offered him a post in one of its
laboratories.

Quite sad when a man who was revered as the top scientist in his field is reduced to fielding a job offer from an outfit tied to the Raëlian Movement. Also quite telling is that Clonaid is actually interested in employing a demonstrated cheat. That alone should be enough to warn off anyone who might be willing to give Clonaid--or the Raëlians--the benefit of the doubt.

Unsurprising headline of the day

This just in:

"AP Poll: Blacks Likelier to Celebrate MLK"

And in other news, the Irish are more likely to honor St. Patrick.

Park morning

Nothing but a park on a sunny morning.

"Capsule Brings First Comet Dust to Earth"

Hooray!

DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah - After a seven-year journey, a NASA space capsule returned safely to Earth on Sunday with the first dust ever fetched from a comet, a cosmic bounty that scientists hope will yield clues to how the solar system formed.

Calling attention to nothing

Don't worry, Jen. He didn't call to tell me either.

"Rep: Aniston Wasn't Alerted to Pregnancy"

NEW YORK - Brad Pitt did not call Jennifer Aniston to tell her about girlfriend Angelina Jolie's pregnancy announcement, entertainment TV show "Extra" reported Thursday.

"Frat handshake gives away principal's resume shortcomings"

Nanoo nanoo.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A secret fraternity handshake was the downfall of a Cleveland charter school principal who apparently faked his resume.

I've pretty much been of the mind that the secret rituals and trappings associated with fraternities and sororities are somewhat silly. In this case, since the secret Alpha Phi Alpha handshake helped expose corruption and dishonesty, I must disagree with myself.

Thinking about polygamy

Glenn Reynolds has an interesting discussion about polygamy here.

I don't have much to add to his observations (being as how my parents and their friends seemed to remain pretty faithful to their monogamous marriages, and I can't remember ever meeting a polygamist), but it seems to me that any romantic relationship is complicated enough as it is. Especially a marriage! Why anyone would want to intentionally make it more knotty and complex by adding spouses is beyond me.

"Zero hour approaches for Stardust delivery"

Here's hoping Stardust returns safely with its precious cargo of comet dust. It's too bad that people in my neck of the woods (Texas) won't be able to see the capsule as it burns through the atmosphere, but that should be some sight to see. If you live on the West Coast, I hope you take the time to watch the spectacle.

In the meantime, here's more on Stardust.

Euro coin

Nothing but a five-cent piece (Euro) from France.

"New Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls"

Absolutely cool.

The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press Service.

By simply holding the portable, handheld device up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing, he said.

The Radar Scope, developed by DARPA, is expected to be fielded to troops in Iraq as soon as this spring, Baranoski said. The device is likely to be fielded to the squad level, for use by troops going door to door in search of terrorists. [emphasis added]

I am all for giving our soldiers what they need to survive and win on today's battlefields. The "Radar Scope" seems like just what the general ordered.

Watch out, terrorists.

Puzzling baseball card

I was sorting through some old baseball cards when I came across this strange one. Pictured below are two copies of a 1988 Score card (158 of 660) featuring Lee Mazzilli of the New York Mets. The two cards are obviously from separate print runs (as you can tell by the difference in color saturation), but they should be identical in every other aspect.

They are not. Can you spot where they differ?














Yes, oddly enough, the two print runs featured two different spellings of the same player's name! (I believe the one on the right is the correct spelling.) I've never seen such a discrepancy before. It seems that Score misspelled Mazzilli's name at first, caught the error somewhere along the way, and corrected it. But not before some mistake cards got out.

If you collect cards, please let me know: have you seen a mistake like this before? If so, can you remember the example? If not, what do you think about Score's 1988 Lee Mazzilli mistake?

Tapping a new automotive market

I wonder if car dealers do a brisk business in France. (Filed under the remarkable headline "French police relieved by unremarkable New Year's".)

PARIS (Reuters) - French police said on Sunday they were relieved that expected violence failed to materialise on New Year's Eve, just weeks after the worst rioting in France in nearly 40 years.

...

Police said 425 cars were burnt, of which 177 were in the Paris region, and 362 revellers were detained. That marked a slight rise from the 333 burnt cars and 272 arrests last year. [emphases added]

I'd hate to see it when expected violence does materialize.

Coin from Germany

Nothing but a coin (obsolete, at that) from Germany.