2002.10.17
WSJ (subscription):
British
Taps Run Hot Or Cold -- Rarely Both.
"Most bathroom sinks in Britain still have separate hot and cold taps today,
... decades after nearly all dual taps were scrapped in the U.S. and most
vanished from continental Europe. For reasons of thrift, regulations and a
stubborn attachment to tradition, the British have resisted the tide of
plumbing history."
CNN:
Star
in galactic heart confirms central black hole.
"The star passes within 17 light-hours of a compact radio source known
as Sagittarius A[*], pegged as the galactic center, and completes an
oval orbit around the super hot spot every 15.2 years. The orbital
perimeter means that the entire mass of the interior object, between 2.6
million and 3.7 million times more massive than the sun, lurks inside an
area three times the size of our solar system."
2002.10.13
Science News:
Hefty Discovery:
Finding a Kuiper belt king.
"A newly discovered celestial body appears to be the largest object
that scientists have found in the solar system since their detection
of Pluto in 1930.... With several large objects now known to belong to
the Kuiper belt, Pluto's size no longer makes the body an oddity in the
belt."
Associated Press:
Horace
Lee Logan dies at 86.
"When Presley debuted in 1954, Logan [told the audience] ...
`Ladies and gentlemen, you've never heard of this young man before,
but one day you'll be able to tell your children and grandchildren
you heard musical history made tonight.'...
Two years later, trying to quiet a frenzied audience after another
Presley performance, Logan announced, `Elvis has left the building.'"
2002.10.11
WSJ (subscription):
Parts
of the Brain Used Most Expand, Rewire on Demand.
"The existence, and importance, of brain plasticity are no longer in
doubt. The brain is dynamic, and the life we lead leaves its mark in
the complex circuitry of the brain.... The brain allocates neural real
estate depending on what we use most: the thumb of a videogame addict,
the index finger of a Braille reader, the analytic ability of a chess
player, the language skills of a linguist.
"But the brain also remakes itself based on something much more ephemeral
than what we do: It rewires itself based on what we think."
> Positive thoughts for the weekend.
