Shared posts

22 Jan 05:19

Why Europa is more important than Mars

by Minnesotastan

 A fascinating video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

It's too bad the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission was cancelled back in 2005, or we might already have some answers.  One bit of good news re Europa investigation is this:
A future NASA mission to Europa became more likely today with the news that Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) will assume leadership of the House's Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations subcommittee. This committee writes the House's version of the yearly funding bills that include NASA and the NSF, and is extremely influential, particularly for smaller federal agencies like NASA.
Even Ted Cruz is supportive (note his constituency is Houston).
22 Jan 04:02

Why animals eat psychoactive plants

by Johann Hari
Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, learns about drunk elephants, the stoned water buffalo, and the grieving mongoose. Read the rest
21 Jan 03:05

Videoshopping still photos of Putin creates an uncanny valley effect

by Andrea James

Bennie Melwin shares this clip of how they videoshopped photos of Vladimir Putin for the making of a hilarious commentary on Putin's anti-gay policies. Read the rest

21 Jan 02:52

tinypeep: It’s warm here. I think I’ll stay forever,...





tinypeep:

It’s warm here. I think I’ll stay forever, thanks

SleeveBird™ is back

20 Jan 21:08

Happy Penguin Awareness Day!

Luke.stirling

Little known fact. Penguins hate to get wet.



Happy Penguin Awareness Day!

20 Jan 19:50

Which apocalyptic threats are most likely to wipe out Earth's population?

by Mark Frauenfelder
We have no definitive answer, but we do have an infographic with odds. Read the rest
20 Jan 19:46

Announcing Apollo 1201: Eradicate DRM within a decade!

by Cory Doctorow


I have gone back to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to work on a project called Apollo 1201, which will use a combination of code, law, norms and markets to eradicate DRM within a decade: we choose to do this not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Read the rest

20 Jan 19:44

“Jones Big-Ass Truck Rental and Storage Facility,” a very special TV commercial

by Xeni Jardin

“Now friends, I know many of you may be asking yourself, Now how in the hell can he store all this stuff for such a cheap price?” (more…)

20 Jan 19:42

Game Boy Pokemon mugs

by Cory Doctorow


Mug Emporium's $12 Game Boy Pokemon mugs come with your choice of Pokemon, though, one supposes, you should really catch them all. (via Geeky Merch)

20 Jan 19:42

Life inside a DDOS "booter site"

by Cory Doctorow

The internal records of Lizardsquad's Lizardstresser -- a service that would, for money, flood sites with traffic intended to knock them off the Internet -- were dumped to Mega by Doxbin's former operator, providing an unprecedented public look at the internal workings of booter. Read the rest

20 Jan 19:23

Fruit stickers are edible

by Minnesotastan
Fruit stickers are edible! They’re actually made out of “edible paper” or other food grade materials with that possibility in mind!  Even the glue is food grade.
Although, as I think about it, most paper is edible.  I suppose the "food grade" designation applies more to the ink.
20 Jan 19:22

Abolition of slavery in America

by Minnesotastan

Notice where the "freedom-loving" country ranks compared to the others.  Via Kottke.
20 Jan 02:52

WATCH: HOWTO create this mind-bending worldscape

by Andrea James
the-verge-lightfarm-studios Lightfarm Studios documented the making of "The Verge," this stunning worldscape based on work by Raqsonu Duhu. Lightfarm Brasil has the scoop: Read the rest
19 Jan 23:47

Progress in lithium batteries

by Minnesotastan
Just to give you an idea of how fast battery costs have declined, here is a chart (via futurist Ramez Naam) showing how the amount of energy that can be stored in lithium-ion batteries per $100 rose from 1991 to 2005.

That data is from a 2009 study by Duke University. Nor did storage efficiency stop after 2005; according to Naam, the cost of electric-car batteries declined by 40 percent from 2010 to 2013. The Tesla gigafactories are projected to drive costs down at an even faster rate.

These declines, unlike the recent 50 percent drop in oil prices, are not temporary. They are driven by increasing demand, which spurs technological progress -- not by reduced demand, which lowers the oil price.
More at Bloomberg View.
19 Jan 20:39

Photo

















19 Jan 20:38

"When I was 12 boys slid their hand up my thigh and slapped my butt. I smiled and took it because I..."

“When I was 12 boys slid their hand up my thigh and slapped my butt. I smiled and took it because I didn’t know it was okay to say stop. I didn’t know that I could say no. So, when the principal calls telling me my daughter is suspended for punching a boy who wouldn’t stop touching her, I will cook her favorite meals. When she tells me how she cursed at the boy who wouldn’t move his hands off her knee even though she asked him to, I will smile and pull out her favorite movie to watch together. I will celebrate the fact that she accepts her body as her own and knows she has the right to say no. I never want my daughter to think her body belongs to men, because it is her own and my god should she be proud. I will teach her it’s more than okay to say stop, something I wish I had known when I was that age.”

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don’t be soft, let the world know you exist // 5-26-14 // 9:01AM (via restrictedthoughts)

OH MY GOD FUCKIN YES PREAAAACH THIS IS SO FUCKIN RIGHT

(via isvla)

19 Jan 20:34

Photo



19 Jan 20:32

arcgurren: slow the fuck down there aristotle youre like 3...



arcgurren:

slow the fuck down there aristotle youre like 3 years old wearing a fucking hard hat

19 Jan 20:32

unstoppablyplushjuggernaut: KIRK THIS WHY YOU GOTTA FILL OUT...













unstoppablyplushjuggernaut:

KIRK THIS WHY YOU GOTTA FILL OUT THE LOG

19 Jan 20:30

January 19, 2015


So far, the experiment has worked. Those of you paying attention are now part of a secret society.
19 Jan 20:28

материнская плата

original-12

Нью-Йорк с высоты в два километра


original-1

original-2

original-3

original-4

original-5

original-6

original-7

original-9

original-10

original-11

via
19 Jan 19:55

The Old Battery looking beautiful this morning here in St. John's, Newfoundland!

19 Jan 19:54

January 17, 2015


Realizing I hardly ever post anything in this blog. Probably nobody checks it much any more. Penguins penguins penguins penguins penguins.
18 Jan 20:48

Cleaning up space dust

by Carter

I love the clean futuristic look of this scene by Wami Delthorn, contrasted with the dreary everyday chore of vacuuming the floor. The subtle textures in the floor and the walls make otherwise boring flat surfaces far more interesting than they have any right to be.

Vacuum Cleaning Duty

17 Jan 21:58

Phil Plait’s new series

by PZ Myers

His “Crash Course in Astronomy” is pretty good — the first part of this talk is universally (see what I did there?) applicable, since it’s a solid general description of science and how it works.

Of course, the last part is all this astronomy stuff — I suspect that he’ll avoid talking about cells and molecules for the next 11 episodes. Which is OK, I guess, if you’re interested in rocks and gas and plasma. And massive amounts of nothingness.

17 Jan 21:18

The glare was so bright, I might go blind

by PZ Myers

The Oakland Tribune was pitch perfect.

bestcaucasian

It’s OK, though, because they are all deservedly the best — there were no brown-skinned people performing in any way in any movie at any time in the past year. Right?

17 Jan 04:58

Defensive gun ownership is a farce

by Jason Weisberger
Sam

The story that gun owners defend themselves in numbers large enough to justify the tragic number of accidental gun deaths is pure fantasy.

Read the rest

17 Jan 01:54

Somebody is a little pissed off by the pope

by PZ Myers

Hey, that’s how I feel about him all the time!

I hope more people are beginning to see through Pope Francis’s superficial pretense to being the friendly pope — he’s actually the same old front for a deeply evil organization.

17 Jan 00:15

"Sex in northern Sweden must sound like an asthma attack"

by Minnesotastan

Via Neatorama.  Title via a commenter at Reddit.
16 Jan 22:10

Sheryl Lee And Dana Ashbrook Back For New TWIN PEAKS Season

by Evan Saathoff
Sheryl Lee And Dana Ashbrook Back For New TWIN PEAKS Season

Three down, only a couple hundred to go!