Astronauts cannot burp in space. There is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
Friday Oct 29, 2004
Astronauts cannot burp in space. There is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
A summary on earthquake survival based on a so-called "triangle of life" position. Sounds cheesy, but its really quite logical. Check it out if you spend any significant amount of time in Cali.
It also mentions that doorways should be avoided, contrary to what was taught when I grew up. Good to know.
Thursday Oct 28, 2004
gapingvoid's post on How to be Creative. Obviously about being artistically creative, but directly applicable to software engineering also (see #20: The choice of media is irrelevant. Be it charcoal, clay, or Perl.)
Just catching up on some unfortunately-not-so-frequently read sites, and found an interesting post and video clip taken from a Quantum Leap rocket. There's some funky visual that looks like the fins get all warped briefly- check it out.
And while I'm linking to random kevinfoo sites, this image (Boys to Men) via Kevin Site's blog a week or so ago was particulary memorable. I wonder if it was staged...
Monday Oct 25, 2004
Zeppo Marx (the unfunny one of the Marx Brothers) had a patent for a wristwatch with a heart monitor.
BBC Wildlife Magazine and London's Natural History Museum's wildlife photography contest, now in its 21st year, judged 18,500 entries, from over 50 countries this year. These were the winners.
Thursday Oct 21, 2004
Homing pigeons use roads where possible to help find their way home. In fact, some pigeons followed roads so closely that they actually flew around traffic circles before choosing the exit that led them home.
Mustard Gas Party is a collection of photo essays with "modern ruins" as the topic. Some really amazing stuff in B&W, color, and infrared. Unfortunately the collections are all lower resolution, but it seems to add to the mystery.
I couldn't figure out who these guy(s) are. Going to the parent domain didn't reveal much, but I would guess they're somewhere in the state of New York based on the whois record.
Inspiring stuff...
Wednesday Oct 20, 2004
The Eiffel Tower shrinks 6 inches in winter.
Nice writeup on how to build a smoker from a trash can. After seeing the Alton Brown episode refered, I seriously intended to do this when wild salmon was in season a month ago- but never got around to it.
Alton used a cardboard box which made construction easier and would take less space (just recycle the box when you're done), but obviously durability wouldn't be the same- and moisture rentention would be adversly affected. The garbage can would be the way to do if you have the space and interest.
Time to smoke me up some guinea pig.
Tuesday Oct 19, 2004
There are 40,000 New York City cab drivers, who collectively drive more than a million miles each day.
Peruvians develop a new guinea pig intended to have more and tastier flesh per animal. My favorite line: It took 30 years to develop and the team behind the advance reckons that it might sell the consumption of the animal to westerners who are traditionally averse to eating household pets.
Monday Oct 18, 2004
Each year, more people are killed by teddy bears than by grizzly bears.
Crazy half underwater bridge between Sweden and Denmark. I suppose some really tall ships must pass those waters, which would make a above-water bridge prohibitively tall?
