Duck Goes Moo!

Image from PopSci

There has been an unexpected discovery at FermiLab that may hint at a previously unimagined particle or perhaps even a “new force of nature”.  The “asymmetrical behavior” of top quarks and anomalous energy readings during proton/antiproton collisions is pointing to what may be a completely unknown and un-theorized property of subatomic physics.

read more here at PopSci

Recipe at HandleTheHeat.com

from icanhascheezburger.com

Found these on the cheezburger network.  I must admit, they are pretty dang cute.

https://www.sifteo.com/

Introducing: SIFTEO!  This looks like a rather interesting product.   the system consists of a series of cubes with a screen on them that can be work together for playing games.  You can apparently use as many Sifteo cubes as you like, and the games will adjust to work with however many screens you are using.  They also seem to be able to sense tilt and proximity, which allows for many different game mechanics.

Here is a YouTube video of them in action:

https://www.sifteo.com/

Not sure of the benefits of such a thing, but it’s cool none-the-less.

from SMBC

You know, I’ve always viewed Keith Olbermann as an overly sanctimonious and loquacious demagogue, but his words in this speech really resonate with me. It has all the trappings of a Knox College Political Science essay, but I think it very well sums up and counters the rather obvious attempts by some opportunistic politicians who are looking to exploit xenophobia and fear to get votes, or a certain news network’s attempts to get more viewers.

Bravo, Mr. Olbermann. Maybe I’ll watch your show sometime.

In California scientists are filled with curiosity by a series of rocks which in Death Valley which seem to be slowly migrating aimlessly across the desert floor.  Dubbed “Sailing Stones”, they are more specifically found in the dried out lake bed known as the “Racetrack Playa” (and no, that’s not the name of a rap artist).

The rocks careen about in a seemingly random pattern, rocks very rarely moving in parallel. The exact causes are not known and remain a bit of a mystery to this day, though many scientists do have theories.

Wind and ice both are the favored hypothesis for these mysterious sliding rocks. Noted in Don J. Easterbrook’s “Surface Processes and Landforms”, he mentioned that because of the lack of parallel paths between some rock paths, this could be caused by the breaking up of ice resulting in alternate routes. Even though the ice breaks up into smaller blocks, it is still necessary for the rocks to slide.

from wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones

http://boingboing.net/2009/02/19/obama-sushi.html

Pixcetera has a beautiful collection of images of abandoned and decaying buildings and interiors:

More here

Harvey Pekar of comic world fame was found dead in his Cleveland home this morning.  He was 70 years old.

My friend Mike was nice enough to invite me down to Cuba, MO to his parent’s lake house and to watch the fireworks out on the lake.  I managed to take some nice pictures, but they fail to capture the absolute awesomeness of it all.

I also did some experiments with some long exposure times and wiggling the camera:

This is not a trolley...

Dear Metrobus,

This is not a trolley.  Just because you paint your buses to look like a cartoonish mockery of a trolley does not make it a trolley.

“The #99 Downtown Trolley features a whimsical and colorful wrap that transforms buses into trolleys,” said Dianne Williams, director of communications at Metro.

from globe-democrat.com

No… no it does not.

Still, I guess I am glad that they are expanding the public transportation in STL.

I’d rather have real trolleys though…