From the makers of the fantastic "Planet Earth" comes this 7 part series on the Arctic and Antarctic wilderness. It is on the BBC and Discovery channel in March/April 2012, then coming to DVD very soon after that. Here's the description from Amazon: From the Emmy-winning team behind Planet Earth and The Blue Planet comes […]
Top 10 Ways Your Brain Is Sabotaging You
March 12, 2012 by
LifeHacker has a good list of the tricks your brain can play on you that cause you to behave differntly than you would want to normally. Here's the top 2 from the list: 2. You Value New Numbers Based on Other, Unimportant Numbers Why do infomercial hosts insist on telling you what "you'd expect to […]
The Origins of Day Light Savings Time – It Was Ben Franklin
March 10, 2012 by
National Geographic tells the story: Ben Franklin—of "early to bed and early to rise" fame—was apparently the first person to suggest the concept of daylight savings, according to computer scientist David Prerau, author of the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. While serving as U.S. ambassador to […]
The Science of the Curveball
March 8, 2012 by
Discovery has an article explaining the science behind the curveball: The curveball never breaks, but instead follows a gradual and steady parabolic path. Our eyes just have trouble handling it. Batters will use their foveal, or central, vision when the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. About 20 feet in, the batter will switch […]
The Earth is a pale blue dot
March 6, 2012 by
Carl Sagan's soothing, yet energized description of our place in the universe.
Video: Damage to New England From The “Long Island Express” Hurricane of 1938
January 29, 2012 by
The hurricane hits Westport, MA. From UncoveringWestport on Flickr (Map and more pics here) Wikipedia gives some background: The New England Hurricane of 1938 (or Great New England Hurricane, Yankee Clipper, Long Island Express, or simply the Great Hurricane) was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The storm formed near the coast […]