Take a look at Escher’s “Ascending and Descending” in LEGO.
The largest object since Pluto was discovered in 1930 has been unofficially named Quaoar (pronounced KWAH-o-ar) after “the creation myth of the Tongva people who inhabited the Los Angeles area before the arrival of the Spanish and other European settlers.” The Kuiper Belt Object is just over half the diameter of Pluto and has a period of revolution about the Sun of 288 years. This is a very interesting discovery, but something has to be done about that name! Officially, the designation is 2002 LM60 and the International Astronomical Union will vote on its official name in a couple of months. Hopefully, they’ll come up with something that won’t be, as one Slashdot reader put it, “what happens when scientists get a load of crappy letters in Scrabble.”
Music seems to be much more of a factor in TV commercials these days, mostly to my consternation, such as when slightly obscure gems like the Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love” or “new” songs like Dirty Vegas’ “Days Go By” become so overplayed that I can’t stand them anymore. If you’re watching TV and can’t figure out which latest artist has sold out, take a look at this web site.
Can you name which film these computer screens are from? This site also has nice sections of other movie visual quizzes and text quizzes.
The Cirrus Design Corporation can claim a first in the history of manned flight, when a pilot aboard Cirrus aircraft used its parachute system to safely bring his disabled aircraft to earth. That’s right, Cirrus aircraft are standardly equipped with parachutes capable of supporting an *entire* aircraft. I had heard of this some time ago and was wondering whether it was feasible, but apparently not only is it feasible but it has also saved its first life. Pretty amazing…
GoogleFight lets you compare the search results for two terms. Just for fun, I tried Darryl Hall versus John Oates. Can you believe that John Oates “won?”
I hate it when Blogger ignores my template. The sidebar has been missing since Friday, apparently!
“Beatles Reunite for Harrison Tribute” I am sad to say that talk of “reuniting” the Beatles is 23 years too late. I don’t know why, but I find this headline upsetting. George Harrison is worthy of a grand tribute, but it is tasteless to say the band is reuniting to honor him. Shame on you E!
I am not certain what the point of this story is… I am certain that this is a sign that control of media outlets by a dwindling number of corporations is a bad thing. I must add… WTF makes THIS news worthy?!
The Theban Mapping Project presents the Atlas Of The Valley Of Kings, a really nice interactive atlas of the many tombs unearthed and explored in Egypt.
