See this in your mind and hold it there, because this is the future:
You’re reclining in a dentist’s chair. You’re wearing one of those ridiculous bibs. The radio softly plays Steve Miller in the lobby. The pretty brunette dental hygienist pats your shoulder and walks out as the dentist, a tiny monkey, climbs up your chest, puts his tiny fingers into your mouth and uses a needle sharp fingernail to flip out a bit of gunk the hygienist missed between two of your molars. The monkey puts the mask on you and as he readies a syringe, the gas kicks in and you find yourself thinking “I wonder how often he cleans his kitty’s litter box?”
Remember, it all starts with a monkey on a bike.
“The Galileo Fallacy”
This is a great phrase. It’s going to save me so much time as soon as it catches on.
Ig Nobel Prize: Vanilla flavoring from cow dung
OK, I’ll be honest, the only vanilla worth eating is the stuff that comes directly from vanilla beans. Don’t bother with that fake stuff… even though I’m sure the cow dung vanilla is perfectly OK for human consumption.
I’ve collected a short list of interesting studies that give a little taste of why we now have ethical guidelines for research. Most of them come with YouTube videos embedded, for maximum enjoyment.
Look, more evidence that we just can’t process negatives.
Aetiology: Deck is stacked against “mythbusters”
1. Go to scienceblogs.com.
2. Start reading.
This video is nearly 48 minutes long, so don’t think it’s good for a laugh during lunch:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8669488783707640763
When I was young I liked to play a daydream game I called “When I’m President”. The fun came from imagining the inevitability of being elected president with all the power that comes with it. As I got older, my presidential edicts and executive priviledges increased in their absurdity, so the game had to be changed to “When I’m King” and eventually to “When I’m a Cartoonish Supervillain”.
Now that I’m older, I’ve moved on from these childish flights of fancy and moved straight to playing “When I’m an Omnipotent Omniscient God”. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I wouldn’t mess around with floods, fires and plagues… except the plague of frogs. So, after I’m God, if you come home to find your house full of frogs, you can guess that you’ve upset me. Take it as a warning or next time it’s spontaneous human combustion for you.
Now, let’s get depressed by following a thread about dying children:
Yes. Yes, it did. The folks at Quirkology can tell us just how far.
Ken Ham’s organization, Answers in Genesis, has just opened the Creation Museum and I am downright giddy at the prospect of taking a road trip. This place is to science museums what a cargo cult is to an airport.
As expected, Pharyngula has the story and a nicely edited summary from the blogosphere.
A sneak peek at the museum has disappointed me a little. It looks like the “science” is just as bad as expected, but the tone isn’t as outrageous, and therefore fun, as I’d hoped. I’m refraining from making any definite judgments until I get to visit the place and breathe it in for myself.
Update: more photos
