December 14th, 2010:

Linkpost, 10/29/10 to 11/3/10

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

Fermilab is Building a ‘Holometer’ to Determine Once and For All Whether Reality Is Just an Illusion.
A cure for the common cold may finally be achieved as a result of a remarkable discovery in a Cambridge laboratory. For those of you who don’t pay attention to the source, that’s Cambridge, England.
Rushdie on Jon Stewart. A bit of old news, sure, but just more confirmation that Stewart is a tool.
The Economic Misconceptions of College Students. Joe Carter rightly points out that college students probably shouldn’t be singled out. Click the link and see if you fare better. (I did OK on 3 of the 4. The increase in median salary surprised me.)
Breakthrough: Microchip Implant Restores Partial Sight.

And I’m caught up! It only took a cold-induced bout of insomnia to do it.

Linkpost, 11/4/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

New Report Reveals Ozzy Osbourne is a Genetic Mutant. I quote: “The biggest differences in Osbourne’s genes compared to other people is how he processes drugs and booze.” I can’t say I’m surprised.
San Diego religious leader among those charged with aiding Somali terrorists. The dude’s name is “Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud”. If I were profiling people, that would be +3 on my terrorists detection system. (+1 for each instance of a variant of Mohammad in your name.) It’s not necessarily sufficient by itself â€” that’s reserved for people who name their kids “Osama” â€” but you probably wanted to watch that guy.
Hayek and Keynes Battle at The Economistâ€™s Buttonwood Gathering. Not as cool as the first video. But then, what is?
The Limit of Tax Revenues. A great look at “Hauser’s Law” which posits that the revenue of the federal government is limited to around 19% of GDP. While the data supports that theory, Dan Mitchell over at the Cato Institute points out that other nations get around that limitation. The rub is that they don’t do it by taxing the rich (who can avoid the taxes through relocation and other dodges) â€” they do it by taxing the middle class, which Mitchell doesn’t think is politically feasible in the United States.

Linkpost, 11/5/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

World celebs. In case you missed it, a Canadian couple donated an $11 million lottery jackpot to various charities.
Americans Less Healthy Than English, but Live as Long or Longer, Study Finds.
Deep Impact: The Website. I linked to this one just so I could quote it:

I am a proponent of the Strong Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis views the Earth as a single organism that regulates conditions to sustain life on the planet. The Strong Gaia hypothesis accepts this notion, but further hypothesizes that Gaia finally got so pissed off at being whacked by roving asteroids that She evolved big brained primates as an immune system to fend off asteroids using nuclear bombs.

Linkpost, 11/16/10 to 11/19/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

Airports Can Opt-Out of TSA Screening in Favor of Private Companies.
Surfaces that Keep the Ice Away. Or, de-icing through nanotechnology.
Sea Life Flourishes in the Gulf.
A Techno-Agrarian Manifesto. Or, what the heck are we going to do with all that empty space in Detroit?
Surprise Link Between Weird Quantum Phenomena: Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Sets Limits on Einstein’s ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’. Yeah, this one’s as brain-melty as the title implies. It’s worth a read just for the mind-expanding experience.

Linkpost, 11/23/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

Was the Big Bang Preceded by Another Universe (Which Was Preceded by Another Universe)? This is a link to the Popular Science article, which includes a link to the actual paper. (The Kotaku article didn’t.)
Is the Ben Bernank Stupid Like a Fox? Apparently there’s some question whether the Fed is actually printing money, or just claiming to.
Adam Savage Mythbusting Security. Now, I don’t think an Isreali-style profiling system would bother with Adam Savage, but this just goes to show how useless the “find the bomb” strategy really is.
The Well-Pilfered Clavier. Tim Cavanaugh ponders the actual effectiveness of our current Intellectual Property approach.

Linkpost, 11/29/10 to 12/1/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

A biochemist worries about the radiation levels to which air travelers (and TSA agents) are exposed to by the TSA’s new machines.
Dark Jupiter May Haunt Edge of Solar System. We’ve been wondering about the way comets drop out of the Oort Cloud, and this might be an answer.
Scientists trick cells into switching identities. Just more evidence that we don’t need no stinkin’ stem cell lines.
The primitive social network: bullying required.

Linkpost, 12/6/10 to 12/9/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

An FBI informant tries to infiltrate a mosque, and they turn him in to the FBI. I wish there were more headlines like this.
10 Failures of the US Government on the Domestic Islamist Threat.
Taliban Murders Afghan Elder, Thanks Wikileaks for Revealing “Spies”. I really wish we were prosecuting Julian Assange for his hand in Khalifa Abdullah’s death rather than the trumped-up rape charges.
The Booming Business of Bootlegging.
North America: The new energy kingdom. Ah, think of what could be if we could get the idjits out of the way.
A live-blog of the Space X launch. (In case you were under a rock and missed it.)
New species of rust-eating bacteria destroying Titanic. There’s some debate about whether these bugs are actually “new”, but they’re still cool.

Linkpost, 12/13/10

Dec 14th, 2010

by Mark.

Comments are off for this post

I’m up early this morning because of this stupid cold, waiting for some tea to heat. While I wait, I figured I’d try and clear out my links. Today’s:

FET, 1st Batallion, 8th Marines.
More pictures of same. (It’s from Yahoo, so the link will go stale eventually. If anybody finds the original photos from Getty, let me know.)
Trusted Traveler Program Lets Mexicans Skip Airport Security

December 14th, 2010:

Recent Posts