Whacky Japanese Soaking in Ramen

"A Japanese spa on Saturday opened special baths meant to resemble ramen, complete with bath salt shaped like the dangling delicacy, a giant pair of chopsticks overhead and water the aroma of pepper."

More here. *LOL* :D

Egypt's Oldest Known Art Identified, Is 15,000 Years Old

"The rediscovered artwork—similar in look and age to iconic paintings in Spain and France—pushes "Egyptian art, religion, and culture back to a much earlier time," archaeologists say...

... There is "little doubt" the engravings are 15,000-years-old, Huyge said. They depict a now extinct species of wild cow whose horns have been recovered from Paleolithic settlements nearby.

The drawings would be examined for lichens and organic grime called "varnish rind" that could be carbon dated or subjected to another process known as uranium series dating, Huyge added. Because the rocks are inorganic, they cannot be dated directly using these methods.

In the meantime, the finding has raised a big question: How were people in Western Europe and southern Egypt producing almost identical artwork at the same time?"

Full article here.

See related book on a lost civilisation in Earth's history: Fingerprints of the Gods

Fond Sesame Street Childhood Memories

I've just found one of my favourite Sesame Street segments of all time on YouTube! Many years ago, not long after we had found each other, Scooterboy, for some reason that I can no longer recall, broke out in "yip yip yip yip yip" sesame-street-alien-style. I beamed a 1000watt smile at him. I knew I had found my soulmate :D

But Madam Butterfly, Where Are All the Males?

"In one of the swiftest examples of evolutionary adaptation ever observed, scientists have discovered that male Blue Moon butterflies (Hypolimnas bolina) on the Samoan island of Savaii developed resistance to the selectively male-killing bacteria Wolbachia within 10 generations that spanned less than a year."

Full article here.

"Beautiful Breakage"

Brilliant shots by Steve Strawn courtesy of Gizmodo.

Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised

No surprises here but it's still scary as hell.

"The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm."

Full NYTimes article here.

See also extract from Letter to a Christian Nation.

Extract from Letter to a Christian Nation

(excerpt from Pg 43)

"While you believe that bringing an end to religion is an impossible goal, it is important to realize that much of the developed world has nearly accomplished it. Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on earth. According to the United Nations’ Human Development Report (2005) they are also the healthiest, as indicated by life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality, homicide rate, and infant mortality. Insofar as there is a crime problem in Western Europe, it is largely the product of immigration. Seventy percent of inmates of France’s jails, for instance, are Muslim. The Muslims of Western Europe are generally not atheists. Conversely, the fifty nations now ranked lowest in terms of the United Nations’ human development index are unwaveringly religious.

Other analyses paint the same picture: the United States is unique among wealthy democracies in its level of religious adherence; it is also uniquely beleaguered by high rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and infant mortality. The same comparison holds true within the United States itself: Southern and Midwestern states, characterized by the highest levels of religious literalism, are especially plagued by the above indicators of societal dysfunction, while the comparatively secular states of the Northeast conform to European norms.

While political party affiliation in the United States is not a perfect indicator of religiosity, it is no secret that the “red states” are primarily red because of the overwhelming political influence of conservative Christians. If there were a strong correlation between Christian conservatism and societal health, we might expect to see some sign of it in red-state America. We don’t. Of the twenty-five cities with the lowest rates of violent crime, 62 percent are in “blue” states and 38 percent are in “red” states. Of the twenty-five most dangerous cities, 76 percent are in red states, 24 percent in blue states. In fact, three of the five most dangerous cities in the United States are in the pious state of Texas. The twelve states with the highest rate of burglary are red. Twenty-four of the twenty-nine states with the highest rate of theft are red. Of the twenty-two states with the highest rates of murder, seventeen are red.

Of course, correlational data of this sort do not resolve questions of causality – belief in God may lead to societal dysfunction; societal dysfunction may foster a belief in God; each factor may enable the other; or both may spring from some deeper source of mischief. Leaving aside the issue of cause and effect, however, these statistics prove that atheism is compatible with the basic aspirations of a civil society; they also prove, conclusively, that widespread belief in God does not ensure a society’s health."

More details on Amazon.

Uh oh! Australia's Google Gaffe?

"The ACCC is alleging that Google, by failing to adequately distinguish sponsored links from 'organic' search results, has engaged in and continues to engage in misleading and deceptive conduct," the regulator said in a statement.

It said it was seeking declarations from the Federal Court that Google and Trading Post had breached trade practices legislation, as well as injunctions preventing Google from publishing results that did not distinguish adverts."

I would dearly love to see screenshots of the alleged infringment. I hope my 'sinking feeling' will not be justified. I hope this won't be yet another instance of the powers that be molly-coddling the more IQ-challenged in society. In my experience, sponsored links in Google search results have always been clearly identified. Oh well, let's see what evidence they present.

Article here.

QUICK UPDATE: See excellent commentary here (Courtesy of commentor on this TechCrunch post)

An Unbreakable Code

Ok. I must confess. I am not nearly smart enough to know exactly what it is these guys have done so, I am absolutely dependent on the scientists/reporters telling me that they really have done what they appear to have done: create an unbreakable code. If they really have achieved this... fantastic!

Summary and transcript of Catalyst program featuring this achievement available here.

Book Happiness: Leonardo's Notebooks

Picked up this GEM of a book today. A collection of Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings and notes. Absolutely amazing. A must-own! Thanks for the recommendation T!!

More details on Amazon.

Chuckler: Why Nerds are Unpopular

*lol* :D

"...Why is the real world more hospitable to nerds? It might seem that the answer is simply that it's populated by adults, who are too mature to pick on one another. But I don't think this is true. Adults in prison certainly pick on one another. And so, apparently, do society wives; in some parts of Manhattan, life for women sounds like a continuation of high school, with all the same petty intrigues.

I think the important thing about the real world is not that it's populated by adults, but that it's very large, and the things you do have real effects. That's what school, prison, and ladies-who-lunch all lack. The inhabitants of all those worlds are trapped in little bubbles where nothing they do can have more than a local effect. Naturally these societies degenerate into savagery. They have no function for their form to follow.

When the things you do have real effects, it's no longer enough just to be pleasing. It starts to be important to get the right answers, and that's where nerds show to advantage. Bill Gates will of course come to mind. Though notoriously lacking in social skills, he gets the right answers, at least as measured in revenue."

...

"Life in this twisted world is stressful for the kids. And not just for the nerds. Like any war, it's damaging even to the winners.

Adults can't avoid seeing that teenage kids are tormented. So why don't they do something about it? Because they blame it on puberty. The reason kids are so unhappy, adults tell themselves, is that monstrous new chemicals, hormones, are now coursing through their bloodstream and messing up everything. There's nothing wrong with the system; it's just inevitable that kids will be miserable at that age.

This idea is so pervasive that even the kids believe it, which probably doesn't help. Someone who thinks his feet naturally hurt is not going to stop to consider the possibility that he is wearing the wrong size shoes.

I'm suspicious of this theory that thirteen-year-old kids are intrinsically messed up. If it's physiological, it should be universal. Are Mongol nomads all nihilists at thirteen? I've read a lot of history, and I have not seen a single reference to this supposedly universal fact before the twentieth century. Teenage apprentices in the Renaissance seem to have been cheerful and eager. They got in fights and played tricks on one another of course (Michelangelo had his nose broken by a bully), but they weren't crazy.

As far as I can tell, the concept of the hormone-crazed teenager is coeval with suburbia. I don't think this is a coincidence. I think teenagers are driven crazy by the life they're made to lead. Teenage apprentices in the Renaissance were working dogs. Teenagers now are neurotic lapdogs. Their craziness is the craziness of the idle everywhere."

Paul Graham on Why Nerds are Unpopular

China Shenanigans: Chinese Air Pollution Deadliest in World, Report Says

"The total number of Chinese whose lives are cut short by pollution-triggered diseases aligns closely with the figures that were reportedly left out of a recent World Bank study.

China's State Environmental Protection Agency engineered the removal of the statistics, the Financial Times reported, because the government feared the figures could trigger social unrest.

The World Bank is perceived as a staunch ally to China. The organization has committed roughly 40 billion U.S. dollars, along with expert advice, to projects ranging from rural poverty alleviation to promoting sustainable development.

Yet Internet access to certain World Bank reports on China is now being blocked in Beijing.

An official at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C.—speaking anonymously for fear of worsening the controversy—said the World Bank is still holding talks with the Chinese government on the final version of the pollution risk report, which is set to be published soon.

"After the [state environmental protection] agency raised questions about our methodology in calculating them, figures on the likely number of deaths per year related to air and water pollution were not included in the draft report—but remain under discussion for the final report," the bank official said. "

Full article here.

So, how does one get the likes of Carnegie Corporation to establish their technology in the PRC?

Human Tetris

Oarsome *LMAO*

Event in Sydney: Separation of Church and State, 12th July

Thursday 12th July 2007 at 6pm
Separation of Church and State?

Venue : Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts,
280 Pitt Street Sydney
Cost : Free

See www.sydneymsa.com.au

Should there be a clear separation of church and state? Are implied or actual threats of formal church disapproval or even exclusion going too far?

Speakers: Max Wallace (NSW Humanists, former A.N.U academic, whose book,
The Purple Economy, supernatural charities, tax and the State is forthcoming) and Reverend Nigel Fortescue (Assistant Minister, Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church, a dynamic and growing Anglican Church on Sydney's North Shore)

Political and policy debates on stem cell research, terminating pregnancies, same sex relationships, capital punishment and euthanasia are often the subject of 'conscience votes' ie when the discipline of party politics is relaxed and members of parliament are allowed to vote according to their 'consciences'. What these issues have in common is that they often relate to particular sets of religious beliefs about the sanctity of life, when life begins and other such issues.

This connection encourages lobby groups including the churches to intervene to persuade individual politicians to take up particular lines, as is a legitimate part of the democratic process.

But how far should these powerful institutions go to pressure their members to do their bidding? What is the role of Churches, Temples, Synagogues and Mosques and other religious institutions vis a vis government? Should church leaders publicly pressure their presumed members to comply with their policies?

There are interesting issues on how far the individual 'conscience' votes of politicians should reflect their personal views, those of their constituencies, scientific evidence or the influence of particular religious institutions.

The recent bill on stem cell research, in the NSW Upper house, has stirred up wide debate as various Church leaders sought to influence votes on what is fair and unfair influence and we wish to explore these questions in our July Controversies debate.

John August, convenor The Sydney Shove - www.sydneyshove.org

China Shenanigans

NYT Reporter held hostage in Thomas the Tank factory in China.

"AS an American journalist based in China, I knew there was a good chance that at some point I’d be detained for pursuing a story. I just never thought I’d be held hostage by a toy factory.

That’s what happened last Monday, when for nine hours I was held, along with a translator and a photographer, by the suppliers of the popular Thomas & Friends toy rail sets."

Full story here.

Transformer in Oz

This ship has been stuck on a beach in Newcastle for around a week: Whacky Theories on Moving the Pasha Left High and Dry

Heroes

Rest in peace, Hero: Brendan Keilar

and another hero, Paul de Waard, recovering in hospital.

Gimme Gadget: iPhone!

Watch these

and

Read this: iPhone Will Broker World Peace

Guild Wars vs WOW

BWAHAHAHAhahaha!

WOW Too Sexy

This has probably done the rounds in the blogosphere and mailosphere but I've only just discovered it. LARVE IT! :D

Make sure you watch the credits!