I’m quite delighted to have read that Sierra County, New Mexico has approved a 1/4 of 1 percent gross receipts tax increase to fund the building of Spaceport America. They’re working on getting all the other approvals they need to operate the spaceport, as well as a deal with Virgin Galactic.
There’s just something about seeing commercial space travel make progress that’s really exciting to me. I figure it comes of having a space-crazed father and reading quite a bit of science fiction.
Most glues are only so good. But even the best glues we have right now probably can’t compete with this ancient one. You see, a glue used by Roman warriors has been found to still be effective.
The glue found dates back to 1 BC. There’s just not much around that is likely to work for one century, never mind two millenia. That’s pretty impressive.
So far the glue appears to be made of bitumen, bark pitch and animal grease. So if you have any sitting around the house, get to it. But do note that they think there’s still something more to it, as they have not been able to recreate the glue.
Technorati Tags: super glue, roman glue, history
Some people get some really weird ideas. Take this one: A couple in Arizona has created a mirror to focus the light of the moon. Seems they feel moonlight has not been tested enough for potentially intriguing properties, whatever they may be.
Umm… last I checked, moonlight is reflected sunlight. It’s also, you know, light. Not much special about it, aside from it being dimmer. Possibly different proportions of UV and infrared, since the light is reflected, and of course some differences in the visible range, but that should be about it.
Sure, focusing light can do some interesting things. Just ask any ant caught by a child with a magnifying glass. Or think about lasers. But that doesn’t mean there will be anything special about moonlight.
Some have claimed that going there and standing in the focused moonlight has helped medical conditions. Reminds me of a quote I read somewhere… “Some people will get better from ANYTHING!” Placebos are wonderful things and I find that far more likely than actual results due to moonlight.
Technorati Tags: moonlight, arizona, focused moonlight
Really big. In fact, you won’t believe… oh, wait. Too much Hitchhiker’s Guide in my mind right now, and I haven’t even read it recently.
I’ve been paying attention to what people are saying about Comet Holmes lately. It’s a pretty interesting critter, and now its diameter is bigger than the sun’s diameter.
It’s visible to the naked eye. Sky and Telescope has a nice chart showing you where to look for it shortly after dark. It’s closest to Perseus, but for many the most familiar constellation it is near is Cassiopeia. Perseus is pretty much between Cassiopeia and the Pleiades.
I’m hoping to finally remember to check this out on a clear night. When it first started growing we had a lot of cloudy skies, and I haven’t checked for clear ones lately. Considering how beautiful the days have been here lately it should be perfect tonight.
Technorati Tags: comet holmes, bigger than sun, astronomy, comet
Yes, we’ve taken the kids to a lot of tide pools. Most of these, however, were taken either in La Jolla, California or near Haystack Rock in Oregon. It’s a lot of fun spending time watching the kids discover the various animals.
The Haystack Rock tidepools are particularly delightful. The starfish are so big and bright. You aren’t supposed to pick them up there, but they’re still a lot of fun to look at. And of course all kids seem to enjoy sea anemones once they get past being nervous about touching them.
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The BBC is reporting on a study that shows that women with curvier figures are more likely to be intelligent than women with fewer curves.
Amazing how much silliness there is in the world.
The study claims that the larger the difference between the hips and the waist, the higher the average intelligence. A part of the idea is that the fat includes more omega-3s, which are believed to good for the brain.
This study doesn’t delight me, nor does it delight many others. But it also wouldn’t surprise me if there’s some serious misinterpretation of the data coming from the BBC, as the article is very short and simple.
Quite simply, I don’t like using physical appearance and trying to correlate it with intelligence. It’s a risky game, and too often the results of one study flat out contradict another. There are a lot of highly intelligent people of all weights and figures. Even when you consider that this kind of thing is talking about averages, I find it improbable.
