Exotic is, of course, a relative state.
In Central America, iguana is a delicacy. It's something - they're actually farmed for food. So this gentleman just thought, wow, I just have a bunch of protein here. He's on Key Biscayne. He's sort of picking up all these iguanas that appear to be dead on the road that had fallen out of trees. They turned gray and were not moving at all and very cold to the touch.
And he put them into his vehicle. He's loading them up like he was stocking up for a big barbecue. When they went back into the vehicle, the vehicle warmed up, and those iguanas started coming back to life. And all of a sudden, they started getting up and running around in the car, and it caused an accident.
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/05/576082463/what-to-do-if-you-come-across-a-frozen-iguana
Monday, 8 January 2018
It was just a bit of wind
An unusual footnote to the official telescope scheduling email :
(a) As you are probably aware, Puerto Rico was severely affected by Category 4/5 Hurricane Maria which decimated the island on September 20th, 2017. Even today, some 45% of our population have no access to electric power, many having no municipal water supply either. The eye of the storm passed over Arecibo Observatory, probably the most serious damage being the destruction of the 430-MHz Carriage-House line feed, which snapped about one-third of the way down its length. Its falling debris caused some damage to the dish surface. Nevertheless, our amazing staff had the telescope back "on the air" remarkably quickly, and 327-MHz pulsar drift-scan searches were soon being made again, followed up by L-band spectral-line and pulsar programs, atmospheric 430-MHz (Gregorian) and S-band planetary radar studies, and VLBI with RadioAstron at L- and C-band. A new pointing model has been determined and installed, and pointing is believed to be close to its pre-hurricane quality. While single-dish observations at and above 5 GHz are presently not being scheduled, the observatory staff are investigating the sensitivity at these higher frequencies, and it is expected that such observations will be recommenced before too long. Accepted proposals requesting observing modes currently affected by the ravages of Hurricane Maria will be scheduled as soon as is considered practical.
(a) As you are probably aware, Puerto Rico was severely affected by Category 4/5 Hurricane Maria which decimated the island on September 20th, 2017. Even today, some 45% of our population have no access to electric power, many having no municipal water supply either. The eye of the storm passed over Arecibo Observatory, probably the most serious damage being the destruction of the 430-MHz Carriage-House line feed, which snapped about one-third of the way down its length. Its falling debris caused some damage to the dish surface. Nevertheless, our amazing staff had the telescope back "on the air" remarkably quickly, and 327-MHz pulsar drift-scan searches were soon being made again, followed up by L-band spectral-line and pulsar programs, atmospheric 430-MHz (Gregorian) and S-band planetary radar studies, and VLBI with RadioAstron at L- and C-band. A new pointing model has been determined and installed, and pointing is believed to be close to its pre-hurricane quality. While single-dish observations at and above 5 GHz are presently not being scheduled, the observatory staff are investigating the sensitivity at these higher frequencies, and it is expected that such observations will be recommenced before too long. Accepted proposals requesting observing modes currently affected by the ravages of Hurricane Maria will be scheduled as soon as is considered practical.
Friday, 5 January 2018
Something something blockchain : solving the problem of idiocy through genetics
The term refers to unfiltered, untreated, unsterilized water collected from natural springs. In the ten days following Juicero’s collapse, Evans underwent a cleanse, drinking only raw water from a company called Live Water, according to The New York Times. “I haven’t tasted tap water in a long time,” he told the Times. And Evans isn’t alone; he’s a prominent member of a growing movement to “get off the water grid,” the paper reports.
Mukhande Singh (né Christopher Sanborn), founder of Live Water, told the Times that tap water was “dead” water. “Tap water? You’re drinking toilet water with birth control drugs in them,” he said. “Chloramine, and on top of that they’re putting in fluoride. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it’s a mind-control drug that has no benefit to our dental health.” (Note: There is plenty of data showing that fluoride improves dental health, but none showing water-based mind control.)
Let's take this to its logical extreme, and market something which is a) as woo-sounding as possible; b) as expensive as possible and c) most importantly of all, as dangerous as possible.
The problem should sort itself out within one or at most two generations.
Perhaps some sort of diamond-studded Ouija board that communicates "messages from the dead" by exploding ? An enchanted Ebola enema ? A home sulphur dioxide "wellness tent" ?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/fear-tap-water-is-a-toxic-plot-to-control-your-mind-heres-the-water-for-you/
Mukhande Singh (né Christopher Sanborn), founder of Live Water, told the Times that tap water was “dead” water. “Tap water? You’re drinking toilet water with birth control drugs in them,” he said. “Chloramine, and on top of that they’re putting in fluoride. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it’s a mind-control drug that has no benefit to our dental health.” (Note: There is plenty of data showing that fluoride improves dental health, but none showing water-based mind control.)
Let's take this to its logical extreme, and market something which is a) as woo-sounding as possible; b) as expensive as possible and c) most importantly of all, as dangerous as possible.
The problem should sort itself out within one or at most two generations.
Perhaps some sort of diamond-studded Ouija board that communicates "messages from the dead" by exploding ? An enchanted Ebola enema ? A home sulphur dioxide "wellness tent" ?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/fear-tap-water-is-a-toxic-plot-to-control-your-mind-heres-the-water-for-you/
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Puppy poop power !
Dog poop that powers gas lights via a biodigester. Neat, but...
Could everyone please stop putting their dog waste in plastic bags and then just leaving the bags on the ground ?!?! Please ???? Either take them away, or just let it decay naturally instead of littering the place with non-degradable plastic. Then we can talk about using it to power lights.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/42568333/inventor-shows-how-dog-poo-can-power-a-street-lamp
Could everyone please stop putting their dog waste in plastic bags and then just leaving the bags on the ground ?!?! Please ???? Either take them away, or just let it decay naturally instead of littering the place with non-degradable plastic. Then we can talk about using it to power lights.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/42568333/inventor-shows-how-dog-poo-can-power-a-street-lamp
Budget airlines for crows
Birds are very territorial, particularly during the summer when their hatchlings are vulnerable. Crows (and many birds) seem to have a Napoleon complex—the mere presence of a larger bird incites heckling and mobbing. McGowan says territorial birds don’t normally get too close, but this particular crow probably found itself in the eagle's draft and settled in for the ride.
But why didn't the eagle react to the crow landing? Since the crow wasn't pecking, it didn't warrant the eagle's attention.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150702-crow-rides-bald-eagle-animal/
But why didn't the eagle react to the crow landing? Since the crow wasn't pecking, it didn't warrant the eagle's attention.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150702-crow-rides-bald-eagle-animal/
Blair continues to say all the right things about Brexit
"Far better to fight for the right for the country to re-think, demand that we know the full details of the new relationship before we quit the old one, go to the high ground on opposing Brexit and go after the Tories for their failures to tackle the country's real challenges. Make Brexit the Tory Brexit. Make them own it 100%. Show people why Brexit isn't, and never was, the answer."
Mr Blair said there were "elites on both sides" of the Brexit debate and it was not "undemocratic" to call for another vote because it was not clear what kind of relationship the UK would have with the EU when the 2016 referendum took place. "When we see what the actual alternative is, we are perfectly entitled to say, having looked at it, we do not believe it's a better way forward for the country than what we have now," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He said "democracy doesn't just stop on one day" and "we are entitled to think again".
In Mr Blair's latest article published on his institute's website, he offered this advice to Jeremy Corbyn and his team: "At every PMQs nail each myth of the Brexit campaign, say why the Tory divisions are weakening our country, something only credible if we are opposed to Brexit, not advocating a different Brexit, and challenge the whole farce head on of a prime minister leading our nation in a direction which even today she can't bring herself to say she would vote for. If we do leave Europe, the governing mind will have been that of the Tory right. But, if Labour continues to go along with Brexit and insists on leaving the single market, the handmaiden of Brexit will have been the timidity of Labour."
He has previously attacked Mr Corbyn's stance on Brexit - prompting the Labour leader to say Mr Blair should respect the result of the 2016 EU referendum. Richard Tice, co-chairman of the pro-Brexit Leave Means Leave campaign, said Mr Blair "and his elite gang" were "still determined to stop Brexit" and will lead the UK "to the very bad deal which we had in the single market and the customs union".
Mr Blair said there were "elites on both sides" of the Brexit debate and it was not "undemocratic" to call for another vote because it was not clear what kind of relationship the UK would have with the EU when the 2016 referendum took place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42558162
Mr Blair said there were "elites on both sides" of the Brexit debate and it was not "undemocratic" to call for another vote because it was not clear what kind of relationship the UK would have with the EU when the 2016 referendum took place. "When we see what the actual alternative is, we are perfectly entitled to say, having looked at it, we do not believe it's a better way forward for the country than what we have now," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He said "democracy doesn't just stop on one day" and "we are entitled to think again".
In Mr Blair's latest article published on his institute's website, he offered this advice to Jeremy Corbyn and his team: "At every PMQs nail each myth of the Brexit campaign, say why the Tory divisions are weakening our country, something only credible if we are opposed to Brexit, not advocating a different Brexit, and challenge the whole farce head on of a prime minister leading our nation in a direction which even today she can't bring herself to say she would vote for. If we do leave Europe, the governing mind will have been that of the Tory right. But, if Labour continues to go along with Brexit and insists on leaving the single market, the handmaiden of Brexit will have been the timidity of Labour."
He has previously attacked Mr Corbyn's stance on Brexit - prompting the Labour leader to say Mr Blair should respect the result of the 2016 EU referendum. Richard Tice, co-chairman of the pro-Brexit Leave Means Leave campaign, said Mr Blair "and his elite gang" were "still determined to stop Brexit" and will lead the UK "to the very bad deal which we had in the single market and the customs union".
Mr Blair said there were "elites on both sides" of the Brexit debate and it was not "undemocratic" to call for another vote because it was not clear what kind of relationship the UK would have with the EU when the 2016 referendum took place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42558162
The White House all but admits that parts of Fire and Fury are true
Well now here's an interesting start to the day.
According to the book, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon thought a meeting between Donald Drumpf Jr and a group of Russians was "treasonous". The Russians had offered Donald Drumpf Jr damaging information on Hillary Clinton at the June 2016 meeting.
Wolff writes that Bannon told him of the meeting:
"The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Drumpf Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor - with no lawyers. They didn't have any lawyers. Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s***, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately."
In just a few sentences, Bannon manages to detonate a bomb under the White House's efforts to downplay the significance of that fateful June meeting in Drumpf Tower and their attempt to dismiss Robert Mueller's inquiry as a partisan witchhunt. It's bad, Bannon is saying, and even more unforgivably it was stupid. Taking aim at Mr Drumpf's own family in the most personal terms makes it all the more biting.
Former US National Security Adviser Mike Flynn knew that accepting money from Moscow for a speech could come back to haunt him, according to the book. Wolff writes that before the election Mr Flynn "had been told by friends that it had not been a good idea to take $45,000 from the Russians for a speech. 'Well it would only be a problem if we won,' he assured them."
And how does the White House respond ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42563443
US President Donald Drumpf's lawyers have written to his former strategist Steve Bannon, saying he has violated a non-disclosure agreement. The cease-and-desist notice accuses Mr Bannon of defaming the president in speaking to author Michael Wolff.
[There are tonnes of responses that could have been chosen but they went for "violating non disclosure", which, of course, means that at least some truths have been disclosed. That does not mean that all of the book is true, but at least some of it certainly is.]
Though it also makes a more bizarre allegation :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42561680
A new book says Mr Blair had shared a "juicy rumour" with the son-in-law of the US president, Jared Kushner, that campaign staff, "possibly even Drumpf himself", had been under surveillance. He is said to have been "angling" for a post-election Middle East adviser role. Mr Blair's office said the allegations "are a complete fabrication". A spokeswoman added they "have no basis in reality and are simply untrue".
Oh goody, the New Year's fireworks are still continuing !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42559436
According to the book, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon thought a meeting between Donald Drumpf Jr and a group of Russians was "treasonous". The Russians had offered Donald Drumpf Jr damaging information on Hillary Clinton at the June 2016 meeting.
Wolff writes that Bannon told him of the meeting:
"The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Drumpf Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor - with no lawyers. They didn't have any lawyers. Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s***, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately."
In just a few sentences, Bannon manages to detonate a bomb under the White House's efforts to downplay the significance of that fateful June meeting in Drumpf Tower and their attempt to dismiss Robert Mueller's inquiry as a partisan witchhunt. It's bad, Bannon is saying, and even more unforgivably it was stupid. Taking aim at Mr Drumpf's own family in the most personal terms makes it all the more biting.
Former US National Security Adviser Mike Flynn knew that accepting money from Moscow for a speech could come back to haunt him, according to the book. Wolff writes that before the election Mr Flynn "had been told by friends that it had not been a good idea to take $45,000 from the Russians for a speech. 'Well it would only be a problem if we won,' he assured them."
And how does the White House respond ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42563443
US President Donald Drumpf's lawyers have written to his former strategist Steve Bannon, saying he has violated a non-disclosure agreement. The cease-and-desist notice accuses Mr Bannon of defaming the president in speaking to author Michael Wolff.
[There are tonnes of responses that could have been chosen but they went for "violating non disclosure", which, of course, means that at least some truths have been disclosed. That does not mean that all of the book is true, but at least some of it certainly is.]
Though it also makes a more bizarre allegation :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42561680
A new book says Mr Blair had shared a "juicy rumour" with the son-in-law of the US president, Jared Kushner, that campaign staff, "possibly even Drumpf himself", had been under surveillance. He is said to have been "angling" for a post-election Middle East adviser role. Mr Blair's office said the allegations "are a complete fabrication". A spokeswoman added they "have no basis in reality and are simply untrue".
Oh goody, the New Year's fireworks are still continuing !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42559436
Wednesday, 3 January 2018
Let's spike the vegans, it'll be fun
I, for one, think vegan spiking should become a popular sport.
[As pointed out in the original comments, making death threats tells you a lot about someone's true motivation and character.]
A chef who claimed that she "spiked a vegan" has offered her resignation. Laura Goodman, co-owner and head chef at Carlini in Shropshire, faced a backlash over her comments on Facebook about a "pious, judgemental" vegan. Her fiancé and business partner, Michael Gale, said she had received death threats. Mr Gale told the BBC: "She recognises she needs some time away from the business to clear her head and think about what happened."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-42552755
[As pointed out in the original comments, making death threats tells you a lot about someone's true motivation and character.]
A chef who claimed that she "spiked a vegan" has offered her resignation. Laura Goodman, co-owner and head chef at Carlini in Shropshire, faced a backlash over her comments on Facebook about a "pious, judgemental" vegan. Her fiancé and business partner, Michael Gale, said she had received death threats. Mr Gale told the BBC: "She recognises she needs some time away from the business to clear her head and think about what happened."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-42552755
Monday, 1 January 2018
2018 : upcoming space highlights
Let's start the year with something optimistic.
2018 will see a raft of space missions that highlight the international nature of present-day space exploration. First up is Chandrayaan 2, India's follow-up to its groundbreaking lunar mission launched in 2008. While its predecessor was an orbiter, Chandrayaan 2 will comprise an orbiter, lander and rover developed by the country's space agency, ISRO. The mission is currently slated to launch on a GSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh around March.
2018 should be the year Elon Musk's private launch company SpaceX lofts one of the most powerful rockets ever built: the Falcon Heavy. In December, Mr Musk tweeted tantalising photos of the huge vehicle under assembly at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heavy-lift rocket consists of two of the company's existing Falcon 9 boosters strapped to a central core stage. The 70m-long leviathan has been designed to launch payloads up to 57 metric tonnes into space, allowing SpaceX to move into new satellite launch markets and - eventually - loft astronauts beyond Earth orbit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41972290
2018 will see a raft of space missions that highlight the international nature of present-day space exploration. First up is Chandrayaan 2, India's follow-up to its groundbreaking lunar mission launched in 2008. While its predecessor was an orbiter, Chandrayaan 2 will comprise an orbiter, lander and rover developed by the country's space agency, ISRO. The mission is currently slated to launch on a GSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh around March.
2018 should be the year Elon Musk's private launch company SpaceX lofts one of the most powerful rockets ever built: the Falcon Heavy. In December, Mr Musk tweeted tantalising photos of the huge vehicle under assembly at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heavy-lift rocket consists of two of the company's existing Falcon 9 boosters strapped to a central core stage. The 70m-long leviathan has been designed to launch payloads up to 57 metric tonnes into space, allowing SpaceX to move into new satellite launch markets and - eventually - loft astronauts beyond Earth orbit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41972290
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