Science News: Science News of the Year 2003.
NPR: Scientists Grapple with 'Dark Energy' Theory.
"In recent years, scientists have theorized that as much as two-thirds of the universe may be made up of a mysterious substance called ‘dark energy.’ As new observations continue to support the existence of dark energy, scientists struggle to understand what it portends for the fate of the universe."
My brother in South Louisiana is really proud of this big fish:
I hope your holidays are working out better than this --
Associated Press: Nude Man Pulled From Chimney on Christmas.
"‘He was lucky,’ said police Lt. Mike Sauro.... ‘He doesn't appear to be a hard-core criminal, just stupid.’"
Associated Press:
Getting polemical over PowerPoint. David Byrne provokes dispute through artwork.
"[Peter Norvig, 46, engineering director at Google:] ‘My belief is that PowerPoint doesn't kill meetings. People kill meetings. But using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table: You can do very bad things with it.’"
Merry Xmas, Everyone!
"... the perfect North American holiday story: a Muslim giving his Jewish neighbours a bottle of whiskey ... for Christmas."
Houston Chronicle: NASA's new Space Infrared Telescope puts on dazzling show.
"The telescope is the last of NASA's four great observatories, a wildly successful project designed to paint a more comprehensive picture of the cosmos by probing with telescopes that use visible light, gamma rays, X-rays and infrared."
WSJ (subscription): Friend Frenzy.
"She joined Friendster as soon as it launched earlier this year and uses it to connect with old friends. Not to mention that she met her current boyfriend -- and her prior two exes -- through online dating."
> I don't "get" this online dating thing. But I never actually understood off-line dating either.
ESPN: Quit Your Whinning -- Why the BSC is Just About Perfect.
"... the only loud complaints are coming from the same columnists who deplore college sports as exploitation: Let's stop exploiting these poor young men! Wait! I want a true national champ, so let's exploit them even more!"
WHOI News Release: Scientists Report New Type of Mid-Ocean Ridge In Remote Parts of the Earth.
"Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have identified a new type of ocean ridge that is spreading so slowly that Earth's mantle is exposed over large regions of the sea floor." ...
"The study means that up to 40% of the ocean floor forms in a different manner than geologists thought, with the mantle being emplaced as blocks over large regions of the seafloor where there is little or no crust."
Arrgh! My seven-year-old just told me, "I don't think being a geophysicist is a very good job, because you're helping find oil, and oil causes pollution."
I asked him whether he'd like to spend his days like the other half of the earth's population, collecting dried cattle dung to burn at night so that he won't freeze in his hut.
