myra_musing, posts by tag: science - LiveJournal

Extreme weather in Europe: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/200706…

I'm glad I have science to explain what is going on here. If I were a primitive, un"civilized" person, I'd probably assume the gods were pissed off and start killing stuff in sacrifice :P

Short and sweet article: a professor is designing a new type of solar collection cell which is more efficient, potentially reducing the costs of moving to solar power: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2006112….

This is sort of creepy. Especially disturbing was this illustration:



Makes those kidney-removal urban legend stories seem more believable, somehow.

The Watercone--this idea is simple, efficient, inexpensive and a real breakthrough for people all over the world. In fact, it's so simple, I wonder what took us so long?

In any case: H20, way to go :)

Updated my layout...this is a lot simpler and nicer, I think. But now I have an urge to change my icons.

In other news, I'm probably the only one who finds this exciting: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2006040…

Q. "Which country, about the size of Switzerland, has the world's highest unclimbed peak, has normally only one airplane in the country at any given time, has a population living in large houses where people eat lots of peppers and some beef and pork - although the religion prohibits killing animals within the country, has thousands of dogs allowed to bark all night so they can scare off evil spirits, has millions of marijuana plants growing wild, has no civil unrest or international enemies, has a national religion, which is a highly sexual form of Buddhism, and is a place where by law, almost everyone wears a robe, the men often adding argyle socks and dress shoes, while many elderly people climb mountains barefoot?"

A. "Bhutan. This remarkable country has been described as Shangri-La. Many who have been there feel that it has just about the most splendid natural environment and precious culture left on the planet."

(from World Trivia section on http://www.livescience.com/)

And also...maybe we should keep an eye out for coelacanth sushi?

While reading the Village Voice, I came across this really unflattering article about the same exhibit (or at least, the same sort of exhibit) I visited a few years ago (2001) in Berlin under the name Körperwelten: Village Voice article.

Maybe I was oblivious, or maybe the exhibit space in Berlin had better ventilation, but I didn't notice any weird smells from the bodies, and I didn't need a bucket to vomit in. In fact, I found the whole thing fascinating, and not at all disrespectful to the people and families of the people whose bodies were on display. This site explains more about the process, as well as provides pictures from the exhibit.

Let me know what you think. Is this gross or disrespectful? Do you think you would go to see it (assume you had the cash or it was free and not too hard to get to)?