For fun
khannula | October 4, 2009My other half sent me this link on Friday: from Wired, rating weapons used to kill zombies (in Zombieland, and elsewhere). Their number 13:
13. Rock hammers
Not to be confused with tremendous mallets, these things are faster to wield and don't leave you exhausted after two or three swings. Used for busting rocks, they can easily be repurposed to bust zombies.
Advantages: Combines all the best qualities of the 1911A1 and the pump-action shotgun.
Disadvantages: None. Anyone who suggests otherwise eats babies.
The e-mail reminded me about one of the projects from the Geobloggers…
khannula | August 30, 2009I'm already on the record as being highly amused by the use of "set in stone" to imply permanence. I find "tectonic shift" and "glacial pace" equally hilarious, given that glaciers can move faster than plates. (Fast tectonic plates move at cm per year; fast glaciers can move at miles per year.)
In fact, geology terms provide a tsunami of really bad metaphors.
I think it's time to fix that. Let's suggest some geoscience terms that would make for good slang, if nothing else.
For example: Plinian, as in Pliny the Younger, Vesuvius, and Pompeii, to mean any kind of explosion.
Usage:
"My dad'…
khannula | June 21, 2009Two summers ago, the extent of Arctic sea ice reached a historic low. What's it going to do this year?
Chuck at Lounge of the Lab Lemming has opened a betting pool. No money involved; winner gets to make him blog on a topic of the winner's choice. (This is a good prize; Chuck is funny.) Bets are in the form of extent and uncertainty, and Chuck's got a useful graph that illustrates how he plans to judge the winner. (It also includes all the sea-ice minima since 2002 in a handy graphical form, which is useful for those of us who prefer pictures to words and numbers.)
He's also interested in…
khannula | April 13, 2009My reviewers commenters on yesterday's post on chocolate chip cookie deformation had some great points. (Some of them also seem to have been very hungry. For those who want me to experiment more, and to get to analyze the results: looks like I've got something that I can promise once the Donors Choose challenge rolls around.)
Key criticism #1, from DDeden:
First the cookies puffed up, and then they collapsed. While they puffed up, their surface area increased [No, it decreased!], so the cookie crust was pulled apart. When the cookies collapsed, the surface area decreased again [No, it…
khannula | April 12, 2009I probably shouldn't have baked chocolate chip cookies yesterday, what with today being one of the two biggest chocolate-buzz holidays on the American calendar. But I did.
I've had a lot of trouble figuring out the best recipe adjustments for high elevation. My cookies have a tendency to puff up big, and then collapse into goo. The end results look like this:
All wrinkled around the edges, and flat in the middle. In fact, it looks like something I could map:
Those are fold symbols for the wrinkles around the edge, and normal fault symbols for the places where the crust broke open to reveal…
khannula | April 9, 2009The Small Human sometimes insists that I build Something with his legos. So today, in honor of National Poetry Month, I made this:
Can anyone name that poem? (It's about the only poem that I have memorized.)
(This post is brought to you by the encouragement of my English-major husband.)
sciencetolife | February 28, 2008This fun article by Christina Laun at BootStrapper explains 100 weird, wacky, and interesting facts about the human body. Here are a few of my favorites:
1.The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.
2. The brain is much more active at night than during the day.
3. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools.
4. Your nose can remember 50,000 different scents.
5. Women's hearts beat faster than men's.
6. Your eyes are always the same size from birth (but your nose and ears never stop growing).
7. On any given day…
sciencetolife | December 7, 2007
National Geographic's Dino Death Trap is premiering Sunday December 9th at 8:00 pm.
As part of generating publicity for the series they have set up this fun micro site where you can play the game "Dino Central Park"
Dino Death Trap chronicles paleontologists in China's western Gobi desert uncovering what they believe to be the aftermath of this prehistoric cataclysm-pits of dinosaur fossils stacked four and five deep. Nothing like this has ever been seen before-a mass grave site of predatory dinos, including what scientists believe is the precursor to the most "terrible lizard" of them…
sciencetolife | September 30, 2007
Dear Readers,
I will be on vacation in Ghana until October 20th 2007 so my blogging may be quite infrequent. I look forward to blogging more when I get back.
Karen
sciencetolife | July 3, 2007Bora from A Blog Around the Clock tagged me in the Eight Random Facts Meme.
Here are the rules:
1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been
tagged.
I honestly can't think of 8 people to tag but here go my random facts:
1.I've never had a pet
2.As a teenager I wanted to become a nun
3.I'm from Ghana (this is not really random but most people don't know that about me)
4.I love to travel but hate to fly
5.Until last month I had never been to a…
sciencetolife | June 27, 2007A while ago I was very graciously awarded a "thinking blogger award" by the blog Nobody Important.
Here's how it works:
1.If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2.Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3.Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
Here's my list:
1.WorldChanging written by numerous authors
2.Aetiology by Tara C. Smith
3.Global Health Report & The Health Media Watch…
sciencetolife | June 20, 2007You may have noticed that there is no banner for this blog. The reason is that I have no artistic talent whatsoever.
At the suggestion of one of my readers I have decided to host a banner design contest.
So here goes:
The banner must be 756 wide by 93 high.
It must represent the link between science and life or how science affects/shapes life (you get the idea)
You can email them to me or link to them in your comment.
If I get enough submissions I'll have you guys (the readers) vote on your favorite.
Denialism Blog is doing the same thing so you may also want to participate in their…