Category Archives: Curiousities

Humans May Have Shortened the Life of the Universe

Never mind global warming. Human observation of the universe may have accelerated its demise. An article in New Scientist discusses the theory developed by cosmologists Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University and James Dent of Vanderbilt University. They believe that the observation of dark energy made in 1998 may have caused the universe to […]

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Man Marries Dog

From the BBC: An Indian man has married a female dog, believing the union will help him atone for stoning two other dogs to death.P Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing. The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The […]

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Chemistry Sets a Casualty of War on Terror

The article below, from the 12 Angry Men Blog, mourns the dumbing down of home chemistry kits. One has to wonder at these heavy-handed efforts to contain threats, particularly in a society that lacks gun controls. Are we next going to make styrofoam a controlled substance, since mixed with gas, it produces a decent napalm […]

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Why Does This Remind Me of Citi and the Treasury Department?

I must be losing perspective to think this has anything to do with the MLEC rescue proposal. From the BBC: Chimpanzees under attack exaggerate their screams to get help from higher ranking group members, researchers from Fife have discovered.The study found primates produce high-pitched and prolonged screams when they were the victims of severe aggression […]

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2007 Ig Nobel Winners

The Ig Nobel Prize is given annually by the Journal of Improbable Research to “celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative – and spur people’s interest in science, medicine and technology”. From the BBC, whose favorite award was for the “gay bomb”: 2007 Ig Nobel Winners Medicine – Brain Witcombe, of Gloucestershire Royal NHS Foundation Trust, […]

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It Pays to be a Metrosexual

According to Bloomberg (hat tip 2Blowhards), well-groomed men do better financially than their rumpled peers. And contrary to popular perception, the impact is greater for men than women. Note that the study measured time spent on primping, and made no effort to assess the efficacy of those efforts. Perhaps the seemingly lower economic impact of […]

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Product Naming Tip

Tonight we are likely to have a dog’s breakfast of posts. I’m leaving town later today, still haven’t packed, and am at the moment bored with writing about central bankers. This item struck me as useful business trivia. Since almost everyone knows someone who is starting a business, the question of what to call it […]

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