Bits and Pieces
jlynch | December 23, 2006
I'm going to be force myself to remain offline for the next few days, so I just want to take the opportunity to wish all my readers a peaceful holiday season. Back soon ...
jlynch | December 22, 2006So I survived jumping out of a perfectly good plane.
All I can say is what a rush once you get over the "what the hell am I doing here"-feeling that is inevitable. Twenty of your closest friends squeeze into a Twin Otter, climb to 13,000 feet, and amazingly quickly decant themselves (as harnessed pairs) into the void. You rapidly accelerate to approximately 120 mph, freefall for a minute (feeling as, I imagine, a dog must do with its head out the window of a speeding car). At 5000 feet,
you pull the rip cord. You jerk up. All goes quiet. The ride down from here takes about three minutes, and…
jlynch | December 22, 2006
I'm not going to be around today. As a present to my wife, I'm taking her sky-diving for the first time - a harness jump from 13,000 feet with approximately one minute of free-fall. It's a surprise, so shhhhhhhh! Actually, by the time you read this, we will be beginning our short orientation before hitting the skies.
Perhaps the real surprise is that I'm going to be jumping as well - I'm not a huge fan of heights (though I like flying), so this may be interesting.
Pictured above, via Google Earth is Eloy (AZ) at 13,000 feet, looking SE towards Tucson. The airport (and thus the starting…
jlynch | December 18, 2006
... because none of us are going anywhere.
Everyone else has mentioned it, but I was busy finishing grading. Now thats out of the way, here are my fellow SciBlings in all their, ahem, glory. I'm in the top right-hand corner looking very redheaded. Here is the big version for those of you who want to experience us in full ScienceBlog-o-Vision. Don't get too close to the gorilla though ... he bites.
jlynch | December 17, 2006The votes are in and congratulations are due to Orac over at Respectful Insolence (Best Medical/Health Issues Blog) and PZ at Pharyngula (Best Science Blog) for winning their respective categories.
And Daily Kos beat out LGF for Best Blog Overall. Hah!
jlynch | December 16, 2006
Well, I laughed.
Not so sure that the final copy will feature the line, but what the heck.
(source)
jlynch | December 16, 2006
We are assembling our eldritch army and will prevail
[Click for dancing goodness]
jlynch | December 16, 2006A few days back I posted a picture of the recent shuttle launch. Here's another view:
This is a four minute time exposure of the exhaust plume along Discovery's path against the background of the starry sky. As APOD notes:
At the upper left, the end of the drifting plume is punctuated by Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka in a vertical line, the belt stars of Orion. To the right of the belt stars, the pinkish jewel in Orion's sword is not a star at all, but the great Orion Nebula. Still farther to the right, at the foot of the hunter, lies Rigel, the brightest star in view. Rigel is a hot…
jlynch | December 14, 2006Afarensis has previously mentioned the recent death of Peter Boyle.
And now, my fellow scientists and neurosurgeon...I must ask you to ...suspend belief. For up until now, you have seen the Creature perform the simple mechanics of motor activity. That this Creature was an inanimate blob, which I endowed with the secret of life -- yes!...in all honesty -- that showed some measure of skill on my part. But for what you are about to see next...we must enter -- quietly -- into the realm of genius. I say this modestly, only because I am, myself, as in awe of the gifts I possess as if I were…
jlynch | December 11, 2006
Photo of this weekend's night launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. [Source: National Geographic]
jlynch | December 11, 2006Karmen and Razib have both taken the Belief-O-Matic quiz. So here's what I got:
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Theravada Buddhism (93%)
3. Secular Humanism (90%)
4. Liberal Quakers (90%)
Relatively accurate if you ask me. If I was a believer, I'd probably be a UUist. I'm ethically Buddhist (or at least I try to be) and that squares with Theravadism rather than Mahayana Buddhism.
The quiz is a little flawed in that it mixes atheism, agnosticism, and "don't care"-ism together and really thus only distinguishes between pre-determined religious positions. Still, it was interesting to…
jlynch | December 8, 2006I have family in town for the next few days so I don't know whether I'll be posting much if at all. To keep you amused, check out Orac's wonderful Friday Dose of Woo which this week deals with 9/11 Conspiracies. Example:
The hologram theory says that south tower (WTC2) was not hit by a large Boeing 767-200 (flight UA175) but by a small USAF cruise missile or drone with a large holographic cloak around it that made it look like a flight UA175, i.e. a flying deception.
The comments section is already hotting up and should be a doozy for the rest of the weekend. Enjoy!
jlynch | December 5, 2006As Bora notes, the 2006 Weblog Award nominees have been announced and there are some startlingly familiar names:
Best Science Blog
PharyngulaJohn Hawks Anthropology WeblogRealClimateDeltoidGood Math, Bad MathMixing Memory The Panda's ThumbIn the PipelineBad Astronomy BlogSciGuy
Best Medical/Health Issues Blog
BrainhellFleaStayin' AliveShort Gut NewsRespectful InsolenceThe Cheerful OncologistA Life Less ConvenientDoc In the MachineThe Cancer BlogThe Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl
Congrats to all my SciBlings.
Oh, and I'm shocked, shocked, I say, that fine science blogs like Uncommon Descent…
jlynch | November 18, 2006I haven't done one of these in a while ... this week's AaSb asks "Who would you nominate for Scientist Laureate, if such a position existed?"
The answer that immediately sprang to mind was Ed Wilson (but then I noticed Razib mentioned him). So treat this as a second vote for Wilson. Frankly, after him there is no one with similar scientific acumen and communication skills.
jlynch | November 16, 2006
Todays featured photo on Wikipedia is a classic - "Migrant Mother" (1936). Read the full story here.
jlynch | November 15, 2006
Buzzcocks, 1978
I was ten ... and loved this one.
And while I'm at it ...
jlynch | November 15, 2006
Birdwatchers rushed excitedly to see a swallow that hasn't been seen in Britain for 20 years - then got a nasty surprise when eaten by a hawk in front of their eyes.
The twitchers had been watching the red-rumped swallow for 20 minutes when it stopped to rest on a TV aerial.
It was then that the sparrowhawk swooped, near Montrose in Scotland.
Group member Mike Sawyer said: 'We were horrified. We had just called other birdwatchers to tell them the news, and then had to call back to say it had been eaten.'
The red-rumped swallow isn't normally found any further north than Greece.
A RSPB…
jlynch | November 12, 2006Carl Buell, a.k.a. Olduvai George, is back after an eight month hiatus. Wander on over