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Curious Times No. 282
February 3, 2005
MADNESS OR GENIUS?
After
a couple of years out of the spotlight, the man who built a suit of armor
which could withstand an attack from a grizzly bear is back with his latest
wild invention. Troy Hurtubise, who became infamous after the movie “Project
Grizzly” documented his seven-year quest to build a grizzly-proof
suit (check it out at www.nfb.ca/grizzly),
has now created a beam of light which can see through walls. Dubbed “The
Angel Light,” Hurtubise says the concept came to him in a series
of recurring dreams in which the mechanics of the device were shown to
him. “I had the same dream about that three times and by the third
time I had it in my head and I started to build it,” he says. After
spending $30,000 of his own money, plus $40,000 which he claims to have
received from unidentified scientists at MIT, the Angel Light can now
see through walls as clearly as looking through a window. Of course, it
would be nice if someone from the scientific community would test this
thing. According to Gary Dryfoos of MIT, there’s a Nobel Prize waiting
for Hurtubise if his machine actually works. (baytoday.ca)
TODAY IS JUST MILDLY DEPRESSING, WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF ANGST
Congratulations! The fact that you’re reading this means that you’ve
survived the most depressing day of the year. This is according to psychologist
Dr. Cliff Arnalls from Cardiff University, who devised a highly scientific
formula in order to discover that Monday, January 24, was the most depressing
day of the year. The equation, [W+(D-d)]xTQ MxNA, analyzes factors including
the crappy weather (W), leftover debt from Xmas shopping (D), and the
amount of time which has passed since you failed to quit a bad habit (Q).
(Yahoo
News UK)
I’LL DRINK TO THAT!
More good news from the “it’s my life so I’ll do what I
want” files: a study of over 4,000 women carried out by researchers
at Wake Forest University in North Carolina has found that having one
or more alcoholic drinks a day helped to prevent the cognitive decline
related to aging. “In our study, older women who drank moderate amounts
of alcohol tended to perform better on tests for cognitive function and
dementia,” said Mark Espeland, who headed the study. The research
concluded that having one or more drinks per day could give you a 40%
lower risk of significant mental decline over the years. (Betterhumans.com)
EXPERTS AGREE: WE’RE EITHER RIGHT OR WE’RE WRONG
Check out bigbrainboy.com
where someone managed to grab a photo of their television set while CNN
showed a picture of bin Laden with the enlightening caption “Experts
agree: Al Quada leader is dead or alive.” No shit, sherlock! I guess
CNN is trying to cover all the angles in order to escape the possibility
of their “experts” being wrong. As whoever posted this gem said
“This does rule out the terrifying possibility of an unkillable zombie
Bin Laden though.” Whew...
HAVE A RUFF FLIGHT
As the standard of living for North American pets keeps outpacing that
of most of the world’s children, here’s just one more perk of
being a rich dog rather than a poor human. Midwest Airlines announced
last week that they would begin rewarding travelling pets with frequent
flyer miles. The “Premier Pet Program” will reward your pet
with a free roundtrip flight after flying with their owners three times,
which is a far better deal than frequent flyer rewards for people. “We
decided that it was high time to throw a bone to our frequent customers—and
their best friends,” chortled the CEO of Midwest.
A HEALTHY HABIT I CAN EASILY CONTINUE
More good news for us slackers... last week we learned that laziness might
help us live longer, this week the BBC reports that not bothering to make
the bed in the morning might be healthier for us. Research done at Kingston
University in England found that dust mites are less likely to live through
the day in the warm, dry conditions of an unmade made, but thrive in the
cool moistness underneath the sheets and blankets of a properly made bed.
And less mites in your bed reduces the chance of developing or aggravating
asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The doctor who led this research
claimed that “something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during
the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites
will dehydrate and eventually die.” (BBC)
GOD IS A BIG SHOWOFF
Ignoring the inconvenient fact that last month’s tsunami killed something
like 40,000 or more innocent children, hardcore religious nutbars continue
to rant on about how the disaster was sent from God as a punishment for
ignoring his laws. The latest “proof,” according to at least
one Muslim leader, is a satellite photo of the waves hitting the coast
of Sri Lanka in which the pattern on the waves seems to spell out the
Arabic character for Allah. “Allah signed His name,” said Mohamed
Faizeen of the Center for Islamic Studies in Colombo. “He sent it
as punishment. This comes from ignoring His laws.” (news24.com)
TEN YEAR WARNING
If you’re like me you’re probably bored of listening to scientists
tell us how climate change is coming any day now. We’ve heard this
tale since at least 1989 so get on with it already. But anyway, in the
interest of keeping relatively informed, here’s the latest: a report
written by an international task force of high-level politicians, business
leaders and academics has concluded that a further 1.2 degrees of average
temperature rise on the surface of the Earth could bring on climate change
catastrophes. The unique thing which separates this report from the others
is its claim that we are within 10 years of this turning point, after
which we can expect “widespread agricultural failure, water shortages
and major droughts, increased disease, sea-level rise and the death of
forests.” To dumb it down for everyone who doesn’t bother to
read scientific reports, Stephen Byers, one of the task force members,
said simply “There is an ecological timebomb ticking away.”
(The
Independent UK)
“I READ IT ON THE INTERNET SO IT MUST BE TRUE” FACT OF THE
WEEK
A “jiffy” is 10 milliseconds in computer science terms.
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