This is one show that I had somehow missed. The "Aaagh! It’s the Mr. Hell Show"(wiki) was shown on BBC2 back in 2001. I took a look for it on Amazon but turned up nothing, I did however see that you can buy it on Anime-On-Line. In this exciting episode Mr. Hell talks all about the virtues of science and how it’s made burning the neighboring village down all that much easier. Go science!
(Thanks to brother Steve for sharing this with all of us)
Tag: Science
Solar Hot Air Balloons, Not Just For Kids Anymore
Everyone knows about hot air balloons. A great big sack filled with hot air that floats as if by magic in the sky. Ok, not by magic, they float because the hot air takes up less space than cold air so it weighs less and thus floats. I’m sure most people think that the air needs to be heated by great honking propane torches to obtain positive buoyancy but that just isn’t the case. With a thin enough envelope (ballooning lingo for the thing that holds the hot air) you can use the mighty power of the sun to do this job on the cheap and clean. This site is loaded with useful info (some may be in French however) and data for your own personal exploration of the atmosphere. Did I say personal? Yep, you bet. Some people have actualy build solar balloons large enough to lift a person. There are even instructions on how you can build and use a 1.9 meter diameter mini solar balloon. I’m surprised that this hasn’t graced the pages of MAKE magazine yet.
Things Creationists Hate
This is a handy list of topics that you may or may not want to bring up the next time you meet someone that is a firm believer in the ‘good book (no, not ‘Godel, Escher, Bach‘ although that is a fine read, I’m talking about The Holy Bible)
The following is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, nor is it meant to characterize the views of all creationists. But there are certainly some, if not most, who can be so characterized. The main objects of my satire, for so it is intended, are the young-Earth, biblical-literalist types, although other generations of creationists may detect some of their views skewered here also.
I particularly enjoyed this bit:
Ribs…human ribs, that is, present a real problem. I’ve been told, on good authority (by creationists, whose scientific authority is the Bible, and what could be more authoritative?), that men have one less rib than women, because one of Adam’s ribs was removed to mold into Eve. My creationist informant has generally become confused upon being asked if that means one less pair of ribs, or just one rib missing from one side. Then my instructor in human origins becomes red in the face and defensive, if not to say hostile, when asked if he has ever actually counted ribs on male and female human skeletons, living or deceased. None that I’ve met have ever actually tried this simplest of scientific experiments, which could go a long way toward proving a testable prediction of creationism. (For members of the Republic of Texas Militia: men have exactly the same number of ribs as women.)
DCA (Sodium Dichloroacetate) Cancer Treatment for Pets
Special agent Greg on detachment in the Interzone had this to say recently:
It has begun: this link is to a site that is ostensibly to sell Sodium Dichloroacetate for experimental use in pets with terminal cancer. This compound has received much press recently due to some encouraging preliminary lab test results. Obviously, desperate people are going to be purchasing and using this compound long before clinical trials even begin.
It may very well interfere with conventional treatments, be harmful in itself, or be ineffective. DCA is known to cause peripheral neuropathy (tingling and numbness of the extremities) with chronic use.
On the other hand, if it proves to be the miracle cure that some are hyping, we will begin hearing reports in the next couple months of people with untreatable conditions making miraculous recoveries.
I think he is absolutely right. Expect to see more and more people rolling their own treatments with DCA in the near future. For better or for worse.
Buy DCA – DCA Sodium Dichloroacetate Cancer Treatment for Pets
Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas on Saturn’s Moon Titan
Very nice, I hope the powers that be sign off on a Titan lander soon.
Instruments on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have found evidence for seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn’s moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth.
RFID Stapler, Office Products of the Beast?
Looks like a fine idea to me, I’d love to be able to sweep a scanner over a stack of papers and find out if a lost report is in it. Oh yeah, don’t let the title of the post fool you. That ‘xxx of the Beast‘ crap is for silly ninnies that don’t want the trains to run on time and like constant turmoil caused by the stupid notion of what happens to you after you die. I just figure that by using it in a title it’s a good way to get noticed. Note to all my friends that believe in that sort of thing, sorry to exploit your beliefs but why shouldn’t I when it’s so darn easy?
Anyway, the RFID enabled staples are something that I’d buy now if I could. I’d staple everything. Papers, boxes, books, you name it! I’d never lose anything ever again. Ah, bliss! However, if I did have a cool high tech trackable stapler I’d more than likely invest on one of these fine DataSafe Security Wallets. It’s best to play it safe now and again, don’t you think? In the mean time I think I might have a closer look at this nifty RFID Experimentation kit I saw over on MAKE. Think about it, how cool would it be to run a scanner over a sealed box of books and then be able to tell exactly whats in side of it? Anyone with a closet full of stuff will appreciate this I’m sure.
[via SCI FI Tech | SCIFI.COM]
Popluar Science (click on the slideshow)