Heterogeneity

pati79: badwolfofbaskerville: sherlockian-humour: bendydicks: ...

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:15:59 +0100

badwolfofbaskerville:

sherlockian-humour:

bendydicks:

tugamaggie:

asherlockian:

inspectahradio:

motherflecker:

sorry sorry sorry

not thy date

And we’re back, just like the Five Musketeers!

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:07:53 +0100

And we’re back, just like the Five Musketeers!

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Wed, 22 May 2013 22:03:39 +0100

wolveswolves: By Steve Nilson

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:49:00 +0100

wolveswolves:

By Steve Nilson

smithsonianmag: A Brief History of Robot Birds Our recent post...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:43:49 +0100

smithsonianmag:

A Brief History of Robot Birds

Our recent post on the history of the cuckoo clock inspired some research into other examples of early, non-timekeeping robot birds. For centuries, birds–pigeons and canaries in particular–have been a popular subject for inventors and engineers experimenting with early mechanical systems and robotics. Take, for example, Bubo, the ancient clockwork owl seen in the 1981 film Clash of The Titans. Bubo was forged by Hephaestus to aid Perseus in his quest and Bubo was, of course, purely fictional. There were however, actual avian automatons in actual ancient Greece.

The earliest example dates to 350 B.C.E. when the mathematician Archytas of Tarentum, who some credit with inventing the science of mechanics, is said to have created a mechanical wooden dove capable of flapping its wings and flying up to 200 meters, powered by some sort of compressed air or internal steam engine. Archytas’ invention is often cited as the first robot, and, in light of recent technological advancements, perhaps we could even consider it to be the first drone; the very first machine capable of autonomous flight. Very few details are actually known about the ancient mechanical dove, but it seems likely that it was connected to a cable and flew with the help of a pulley and counterweight. This early wind-up bird was chronicled a few hundred years later in the pages of a scientific text by a mathematician, Hero of Alexandria. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.

Image: Bubo the robotic owl from the 1981 film Clash of the Titans.

Stem-cell treatment restores sight to blind man - health - 20 May 2013 - New Scientist

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:41:19 +0100

Stem-cell treatment restores sight to blind man - health - 20 May 2013 - New Scientist:

A man blinded by the degeneration of his retinal cells can see well enough to get a driver’s licence after receiving a stem-cell transplant

MY REACTION WHEN SOMEONE ASKS HOW IM DOING DURING FINALS WEEK

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:37:57 +0100

howdoiputthisgently:

griffdawgg: The Princess Mononoke stage adaptation has opened...

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:16:25 +0100

griffdawgg:

The Princess Mononoke stage adaptation has opened in London to sell-out performances and rave reviews. The play’s puppets and costumes are made out of recycled material, reflecting Miyazaki’s environmental message.

this is…what? why wasn’t i told about this?!

scinerds: Physicists Find Way to Measure Earth’s Rarest...

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:05:36 +0100

scinerds:

Physicists Find Way to Measure Earth’s Rarest Element

A fundamental property of the rarest element on Earth, astatine, has been discovered for the first time, scientists say.

Astatine occurs naturally; however, scientists estimate much less than an ounce in total exists worldwide. For a long time, the characteristics of this elusive element were a mystery, but physicists at the CERN physics laboratory in Switzerland have now measured its ionization potential — the amount of energy needed to remove one electron from an atom of astatine, turning it into an ion or a charged particle.

The measurement fills in a missing piece of the periodic table of elements, because astatine was the last naturally occurring element for which this property was unknown. Astatine, which has 85 protons and 85 electrons per atom, is radioactive, and half of its most stable version decays in just 8.1 hours, a time called half-life. In 1953, Isaac Asimov estimated the worldwide total of astatine in nature was 0.002 ounces (0.07 grams).

Full Article

The Archaeology News Network: Billion-year-old water could hold clues to life on Earth and Mars

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:40:00 +0100

The Archaeology News Network: Billion-year-old water could hold clues to life on Earth and Mars

Post-Punk / New Wave Super Friends by Butcher...

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:58:43 +0100

Post-Punk / New Wave Super Friends by Butcher Billy

http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Post-Punk-New-Wave-Super-Friends-by-Butcher-Billy/8688795

the-psychedelic-sea: Honeycomb

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:34:28 +0100

the-psychedelic-sea:

Honeycomb

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Wed, 15 May 2013 21:38:47 +0100

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Mon, 13 May 2013 22:20:35 +0100

tomhanksy: Tron Swanson. Hollywood, CA.

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:15:09 +0100

tomhanksy:

Tron Swanson. Hollywood, CA.

sometimes im really excited about things and i want to tell everyone but then i remember nobody...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:45:59 +0100

sometimes im really excited about things and i want to tell everyone but then i remember nobody cares and i just sit there like

to tell or not to tell

feminishblog: feministpizza: queerencia: kileyrae:thecheekylib...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:40:55 +0100

feminishblog:

feministpizza:

queerencia:

kileyrae:thecheekylibertarian:

In 2001, “out of 760 dogs impounded, they killed 713, arranged for 19 to be adopted, and farmed out 36 to other shelters (not necessarily “no kill” ones). As for cats, they impounded 1,211, euthanized 1,198, transferred eight, and found homes for a grand total of five. PETA also took in 58 other companion animals —rabbits. It killed 54 of them.”

As well as their disgusting body shaming, their hyper sexualization and objectification of women’s bodies, their romanticizing of violence against women… HUMAN BEINGS AGAINST PETA.

Let’s not forget their blatant and excessive racism.

fuck yeah humans against peta
also kitty cats against peta

Reblogging in case there is anyone out there who reads my blog and still respects/supports PETA. I remember when I first started Feminish a little over a year ago, I wrote a commentary about the org, and to my surprise, a lot of folks had no idea they were waist deep in this kinda bullshit. (Good thing to bookmark for when folks ask for evidence later.)

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Mon, 06 May 2013 14:26:26 +0100

interstellarclaire: missanthropicprinciple: The Hitchhiker’s...

Sat, 04 May 2013 10:07:00 +0100

interstellarclaire:

missanthropicprinciple:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Comparison 1981/2005 Part 10 :: HUMOUR

Surprisingly, the humour is actually what I didn’t like about the books, the show, and the radio programme when I was first introduced to it all. Crazy, right? But now that’s obviously why I love it so much now.

As far as the original comedy-factor is concerned, the tv series is better than the film. It kind of just chugs along and that’s what’s funny about it, whereas the film almost tries to be funny. So the more I watch the film, the less funny certain parts get and the more I watch the tv series the funnier it gets. Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion. There is a kind of snarky wisdom that drives the tv series. It just rings true for me. Also, the series was a product of its time. There is a kind of contempt for bureaucracy and the gross materialism of the early 1980s that is quite profound. Add Adam’s genius for philosophizing and logic and you’ve got something of an (to use one of least my favourite terms) existentialist comic masterpiece about the futility of mankind in the face of its own stupidity.

Although the series is not dated in terms of humour, it is rooted in the fundamentals of that decade and so the angst doesn’t translate in the 2005 film; it doesn’t have the same impact. Instead, the film focuses more on the personal angst of the characters which was (and still is) elemental in our ego-centric 2000s. The writing is mostly the same but the meaning is coming from a different angle.

The film is geared to a world-wide audience, which I feel takes a dent out of the unique British humour. Yet, it translated relatively well considering. I think the film only suffered comically because it came off insincere at times. (The emotional stuff was much more convincing.) It seemed they went with more of the visual and physical humour. Which is fine, but when Adams wrote the radio show/books by nature are word-centric.

I seriously get a charge out of both adaptations, but in this comparison, I have to go with the tv series as being not only my favourite, but better in terms of keeping Adams original erudite comic tone.

I’ll cover the subject of romance next week…

“…existentialist comic masterpiece about the futility of mankind in the face of its own stupidity.” Okay, that is the BEST summary of this series I have heard so far.

A summary far more eloquent than I could ever come up with. But I really, really disliked the film. A whole lot. Mainly because they had an interstellar cast consisting of some of the best British actors and personalities out there take on a script sourced from a really quite remarkable book and yet the product was astronomically terrible. You’ve managed to articulate exactly what I dislike about it. They burned the soul out of all original source material by trying to fit it into a blockbuster narrative. In fairness I felt they tried to retain some of the original humour and feel of the book, but the story became a slap-dash decoupage of disparate story arcs randomly glued together in doing so. It’s such a shame, because it had such potential. The TV series, however, I have a lot of time for.

porcelainpoet: unknowneditors: Human Paintings by Alexa Meade...

Sat, 04 May 2013 09:34:15 +0100

porcelainpoet:

unknowneditors:

Human Paintings by Alexa Meade and Sheila Vand.

Fucking awesome.