This is pretty neat, two billion years ago in Oklo Africa there was a particulary rich vein of uranium ore that started to fission. It produced enough heat to leave quartz which crystalized out of the (hot) underground waters that circulated around during and after the reactor’s operating lifetime
Astronomy Picture of the Day – Oklo: Ancient African Nuclear Reactors
Ice Fishing on Mars?
Oh yeah! Get the ice auger out and stock up the fishing shack, there could be a vast frozen of ice 45 meters under the surface of Mars.
Space Observations Suggest Frozen Sea Under Mars’ Surface
Hunter S. Thompson – 1937-2005
From CNN:
Journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, who unleashed the concept of “gonzo journalism” in books like “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” has died of what investigators suspect was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities in Aspen, Colorado, said Sunday.
The books of Hunter S. Thompson have always been a fascination of mine. I remember reading ‘Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72’, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, and ‘The Curse of Lono’ in high school and right after and it opened my eyes on to an entire new world. His prose have always been a little strange at times but always put things into a new a different light. He was a tough old guy, I would not be surprised if he accidently shot himself while trying to clean a gun, while drunk, after pumping a clip into the raccoons that were getting into his trash…
Update:
“On Feb. 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colo.,” said a statement issued by Thompson’s son, Juan Thompson, to the Aspen Daily News as reported by the Denver Post.
Author CNN – Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide
The Great Thompson Hunt – Hunter S. Thompson – King of Gonzo!
(Hunter S. Thompson
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Orthokeratology
Often refered to as Ortho-k, this is the process that corrects myopia (nearsightedness) by re-shaping the cornea with ‘forms’ that you wear at night. My brother did this and he said that it has worked wonders. I’d like to try it myself but I fear that my required correction is too great. I have -7.5 and -8 diopter corrections and the recomended max is -6. Oh well.
Orthokeratology and Corneal Refractive Therapy: Reshaping the Eye with Contact Lenses
The Ortho-k Net
High Power Supercapacitors From Carbon Nanotubes
Mumm.. I’ll take a dozen please. I have wanted to build a super small exploding wire device for some time now, this should do the trick.
Supercapacitors are electrical storage devices that can deliver a huge amount of energy in a short time
High Power Supercapacitors From Carbon Nanotubes
(Thank you secret agent Greg for this data)
Science Toys
This is a gold mine of DIY science demos and toys that you can make with just easy to find stuff. Anything that you can’t find can be bought from the site (handy, ain’t it?)
I think I’ll build the three penny radio, the Curie effect heat engine, and the film can cannon.
Science Toys