sword-billed hummingbird » Rundown

Return of the Rundown

Ben — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:59:15 +0000

Timewaster: Typewar. Think you know fonts? Try this game, which you’ll either find completely boring or riveting.
Best aggregated reference word site: Wordnik. My favorite reference site right now. All about words.
Maps of Disaster: Informative, curious, unnerving. View map (or maps) of the world, with icons of disaster superimposed. For added effect, project image onto your office wall. You’ve got things under control. (This is: a service of the Hungarian Emergency and Disaster Information Service)
Best specialty science-writing blog: Tetrapod Zoology. Fascinating, curious, informative, and detailed without alienating those not totally familiar with the science at hand. Aside: I want this book.
Best easily digestible good news story: “Feeling grumpy is ‘good for you’” (via BoingBoing). Bonus: “File photo” used for BBC article appears to have been taken from One Foot in the Grave.

Hippos

Ben — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:07:29 +0000

Of course there’s always debate about invasive species, but usually… Well, usually you don’t think hippopotamus, not in the same mental grouping as zebra mussel and starling. But apparently we live on a place where that can happen; where Colombian drug lords decide to create a haven (of sorts) for hippos; and where, even today, the problem lingers. (NYT, via MeFi)
But who’d hijack a hippo? Probably no one. But maybe you want precautions in place, just in case:

The crate was hoisted onto the flatbed with a 120-ton construction crane. For security reasons, there were no signs on the truck indicating that the cargo was a hippopotamus, the zoo said.

(WaPo, via Schneier)
But it’s not all fun and games. (Actually, part of #1 is already treading into the not-fun-and-games category, if you read into it.) Sometimes hippos fight sharks. At least in Italian natural history books from the 60s, maybe. (via Tetrapod Zoology)

Cleaning House (Rundown)

Ben — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:58:46 +0000

It turns out computers can figure out what language you’re speaking without actually hearing you. In at least some controlled circumstances, anyway. (NewScientist, via Monochrom)
“Astonishingly”, (1) people forget their passwords all the time, but (2) the ever-helpful “secret” “questions” are not really either — at least, not as far as security is concerned.
If I had a car I needed to get into on a regular basis (as in, for driving), this would be wicked awesome. It’s not everyone who can open a car with his shoes.
And this video montage is just kinda sweet.
This post is a good example of why I’m recently drawn to reading Tetrapod Zoology on a regular basis. The lead-in sentence (I think) sells itself:

I used to receive random unsolicited emails from an individual who strongly promoted the idea that birds could not not not not be dinosaurs, that the entire dinosaur family tree was screwed up beyond belief, that ‘dinosaurs’ had evolved from random assorted diverse archosaurs, that cladistics was rubbish, and that all mainstream palaeontologists were idiots.

Read on.
I am still waiting for these business cards made out of meat to get real. (No, not like that.)
Without having perused it much, Ficly at minimum stands out as an interesting concept — a place for collaborative story-telling (in a time & place where social networks are, weirdly, moving us away from that kind of collaboration). (via SimpleSpark)

Miscellany

Ben — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:46:36 +0000

Enter into thought about all the underplaces of London, in an interesting and highly photo-ridden post titled “London Toplogical.”
Or entertain the thought of what “to call the food blech is an insult to blech” means, exactly. This and other insults that didn’t make the cut when slicing & dicing entries for Zagat guides.
How to talk to a human. More specifically, how to reach a human through the tangle of touch-tone absurdity found w/ most customer support lines.
It’s not just a tusk, oh no; it’s a tusk (tooth) with “hydrodynamic sensor capacities.” The narwhal’s secret powers finally revealed, and by none other than the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Now that summer’s coming around, watch out: that honeybee down the street may actually know more than you think. And no, I’m not using ‘honeybee’ in any sort of allusive manner. (via BoingBoing)

A fast & furious rundown

Ben — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 15:46:44 +0000

Charisma Explained. No, really. A British study lays bare the components of charisma. The BBC News Magazine article gives a few pointers (open body posture, let people know they matter, develop a genuine smile, be forceful and articulate, &c.). (BBC News Magazine)
And lack thereof. Another study shows that people are more likely to make social blunders when they’re tired and/or stressed. Surprise! (EurekAlert!)
How Marshmallows Are Made. How to make your own, anyway. (HowStuffWorks)
One apple a day. To the max! If you’re eating apples for your health, best to chow down on red delicious or northern spry, as they’re the varieties with the most antioxidants. (Which is why you’re eating apples, right?) (EurekAlert!)
Captivating gore. J.G. Ballard, whose books I’m always intrigued by but can never finish, has an interesting analysis of what makes C.S.I. so compelling. (Guardian Unlimited Books)
gCensus = GoogleMaps + US Census.
Musical furry lobster. It sings, but can it dance? This “musical” (it chirps) “furry” (its shell feels velvety to the touch) “lobster” (it’s a lobster) was recently discovered off the coast of Australia. (ABC [Australia] Science)

random crap

Ben — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 15:53:54 +0000

More lies. The BoGlo has a quick & fluffy piece on the relevance of lie detection to modern-day struggles. On the verge of making an interesting statement, the article spends too much time bringing the presumably ignorant reader up to speed on the state of modern lie psychology (or whatever you want to call it). For more on lies, check out an earlier nmb post, Lies, All Lies. (BoGlo: “Liar, Liar,” by Christopher Shea [January 30, 2005])
Are you the lucky 1? According to a recent Pew survey on search engine users, 92% of those who use search engines are confident about their searching abilities, yet only 38% are aware of the distinctions between paid and unpaid results. (via H20boro blog; Pew/Internet: Online Activities and Pursuits – Search Engine Users)
The enigmatic dust mite.

Research suggests that while an unmade bed may look scruffy it is also unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies.

(BBC News: “Untidy beds may keep us healthy” [January 28, 2005])
2004 was Hot. The 4th warmest in recorded history, actually. Want to know what the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd warmest years were? 1998, 2002, and 2003. In unrelated news, Exxon Mobil posted the highest profits in its history, $25 billion. (NYT: “2004 Was Fourth-Warmest Year Ever Recorded,” by Andrew C. Revkin [February 10, 2005]; Guardian: “Exxon makes $25bn profit,” by David Teather [February 1, 2005])

General disorder

Ben — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:00:52 +0000

Nalgene, forever! Or not. Over at Grist, Umbra makes a case against Nalgene bottles. (Although the column is actually a clarification of an earlier column, so if you’re new to the Nalgene question, you may want to do a little reading.)
How about Orangene? A research team at Cornell has apparently discovered a way to make plastics from citrus fruit. (via BoingBoing)
It’s all just numbers. Via Alas (and on the tails of the “Summers controversy” ), here’s a mighty interesting graphic, which shows the percentage of women on physics faculty by country:

(I don’t know much about the context or source of this graphic, so it’s of limited usefulness. But assuming it’s not an outright falsehood–for whatever time period–it at least goes toward debunking some of the arguments being tossed around re: women’s cognitive predispositions, etc. etc. etc.)
Sleep thin. A new study on sleep (yes, another one) seems to indicate that body mass index increases as sleep time decreases. In other words, the thinner sleep longer. As with virtually any sleep study, no one’s sure if there’s actually a cause-effect relationship. But hey, there might be!
Things left behind.

An estimated 11,300 laptop computers, 31,400 handheld computers and 200,000 mobile telephones were left in taxis around the world during the past six months, a survey found Monday.

Taxi drivers in nine cities also said they had found a range of other items left by passengers, including a harp, 37 milk bottles, dentures and artificial limbs. One driver said he even found a baby in his taxi.
No more secrets. Exxonsecrets.org is “the first chapter of a larger Greenpeace project provide a research database of information on the corporate funded anti-environmental movement.” An interactive flash-based tool with lots of information. (via MeFi)
35.

Minimum number of countries with a greater capacity to produce nuclear weapons than Iraq at the time of the U.S. invasion.

(via Harper’s)
Snow.

Rundown, In Brief

Ben — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 23:07:05 +0000

Prisons are America’s “primary supplier of mental-health services.”¹
Make a face. Change it. Craft your new identity. Morphases.²
Dolphins and humans are fairly similar, brain-wise.³
Struwwelpeter/Shockheaded Peter, online.⁴
Tired of original speech? Cliche Finder to the rescue.⁵
“I think that it could be done.”⁶
Send me your brains. Sterling Courier Systems, please.⁷
They have a list. They’re checking it twice.⁸
Woobie: feel the warmth.⁹
This is now. 10×10.¹⁰

* * *

Sources & additional commentary-type crap:

NYT: “A Death in the Box,” by Mary Beth Pfeiffer [October 31, 2004] – Above and beyond this startling factoid, the article is worth a read. While it approaches the subject through the story of one woman, it is by no means a straightforward case-study/human interest type article.
Morphases – Go see it—you get to play with faces; it’s fun. (Though shouldn’t that be Morfaces?)
Science Blog: “Humans and dolphins: If brain size is a measure, we’re not that different” – Human brains are 7 times larger than you’d expect, based on comparisons to similar-sized animals. For dolphins, it’s 5 times.
with pictures, and English translations alongside the original German. Good fun. (link via MeFi)
type in a word, find cliched substitutions.
CalTech News: “The End of the Age of Oil,” by David Goodstein – adapted from talk
Actually, don’t send me your brain. But feel free to check out the New York Brain Bank’s recommended procedure for packing and sending a fresh brain. And yes, the instructions do say “fresh” brain. That’s what the Ziploc bags are for, I guess—keeping the brain(s) fresh. Mmm. Fresh brain. (link via BoingBoing)
NYT: “What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers’ Habits,” by Constance Hays [November 14, 2004] – As a matter-of-fact, it’s a database. And Wal-Mart’s checking it waaay more than twice.
Double-Tongued Word Wrester defines “woobie” as

a security blanket; a blankie; a favorite toy or object. Also wooby.
The pictures that define the times.

Fun, fun, fun. The industrious reporter, the origins of Little Red Riding Hood, & swimming through syrup

Ben — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 01:15:39 +0000

D.C., where art thou? Rick Lyman cobbles together an article that’s surprisingly readable—and interesting—despite the fact that it revolves around his (Mr. Lyman’s) inability to actually connect with his subject, the inscrutable Dick Cheney. “Desperately Seeking Dick Cheney” is, almost astonishingly, hilarious, and you ought to read it. (NYT: “Desperately Seeking Dick Cheney,” [local version] by Rick Lyman [September 19, 2004])
Mae West, Pt. 2. And, because Mae West references are apparently coming back into style (not that they ever went out), there’s no sense in breaking the trend. Thus: Catherine Orenstein at Ms. Magazine starts off (and ends) an article on Little Red Riding Hood with mentions of Mae West. (Ms. Magazine: “Dances with Wolves: Little Red Riding Hood’s Long Walk in the Woods,” by Catherine Orenstein [Summer 2004], via MeFi)
Syrupy Swim. FYI, just in case you were wondering, it’s no more difficult to swim in syrup than it is in water. This is because the drag experienced by swimming through a liquid that’s more viscous than water is essentially cancelled out by the additional force generated with every stroke. According to Edward Cussler of the University of Minnesota, anyway.
Apparently, the most difficult (or “troublesome,” in the article’s words) part of the experiment was obtaining the necessary permits and whatnot in order to fill a swimming pool with syrup.

(news @ nature.com: “Swimming in syrup is as easy as water,” Michael Hopkin [September 20, 2004])

Bye Aliens, Hello World (Aliens, Stains, Books, Chicken Livers, & Atrocious Bad Luck)

Ben — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 15:02:17 +0000

Bye E.T.! Any chances of aliens finding Earth may soon disappear. Which isn’t to say that there ever was a chance, really, but if there was, it’s soon to be gone, mostly thanks to the decrease in signal leakage from the technology around us. Television broadcast antennas—which put out a fairly significant amount of radio-waves—are giving way to less leak-prone technologies, such as cable and satellite TV. What the NewScientist article fails to address, however, is whether any alien civilizations receiving our broadcasts would actually interpret it as evidence of intelligent life; personally, I have my doubts. (NewScientist: “Chances of aliens finding Earth disappearing,” by David L Chandler [August 9, 2004])
Stain remover not required. Fashion Victims is not what it sounds like, probably. (Though this ultimately depends on what it sounds like to you.) It’s an exhibit of clothing and accessories, what C&A interact with cell phones, bleeding in response to the objects’ radiation.

If nothing else, it’s an interesting exercise in rendering the invisible visible.
“When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” You’re in a bookstore, or a library, looking for something to read; what’s the first thing you look at? Openinghooks is a website based on the premise that the first thing you look at—and the most important thing—is the opening hook, that first killer sentence that reels you in (or fails to, as the case may be). The site is a database of the beginnings of books. You can browse by author, genre, title, or ranking. And yes, you can rank already-entered opening hooks and submit more. (via MeFi)
And they’re tasty, too! Apparently chicken liver, of all things, has long been a necessary part of diagnosing particular gastrointestinal disorders, generally following the procedure of: patient has problems, doctor injects chicken liver with radioactive tracer, patient consumes radioactive chicken liver, doctor discovers problem. Needless to say, chicken liver isn’t high on most people’s to-eat list. Now there’s an alternative. Medical students recently discovered that something by the name of “Carborate Pancake Mix,” a soy-based mix, actually works better than chicken liver. (AllHeadlineNews/Medical College Of Georgia: “Medical College Of Georgia Students Discover Medicinal Role For Pancake Mix” [August 10, 2004])
Tough Luck.

A superstitious Romanian, who refused to leave his house throughout Friday the 13th to avoid bad luck, died after he was stung by a wasp in his kitchen, police said.

Florin Carcu, 54, had even taken the precaution of asking his boss for permission not to go to work on the inauspicious Friday, the police in Cluj, central Romania, said in a statement.

“It was the strangest request I’ve ever received but I ended up giving him permission to stay at home because he seemed to be really scared of something bad happening to him on that day,” Carcu’s boss Gheorghe Domsa told the press.

Doctors from the emergency services in Cluj said Carcu had been making coffee when he was stung by a species of wasp nicknamed “the wolf”, which is very rare in Romania and whose sting is very poisonous.

He died on the spot.

(AFP/USA Today: “Avoiding work on Friday the 13th proves deadly for man” [August 18, 2004])