A good example of why speed limits are ridiculous.

A Meditation On the Speed Limit - Google Video

Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported here on Thursday. The findings add yet another factor to the long-running debate over the effect of climate change on the world's ice sheets and sea levels.

Some of you have heard me reference this phenomenon a few times lately. There was an episode of NOVA Science Now on PBS which highlighted these findings and how the melted water is actually pushing the glacier up and away from the polar cap, exacerbating the melting.

Greenland's glaciers losing ice at faster rate

The Trader, realizing he would have another valuable trading tool if hypothesis held true, graciously funded my research into this theory. For a month I did nothing but read back issues of fashion rags and the Wall Street Journal. I developed what I call a flesh gradient; it’s a measure of the amount of skin showing in proportion to the woman’s torso. I charted both the historical measures of the flesh gradient (as determined by back issues of Vogue, Elle, In Style, Cosmopolitan, and other fashion magazines) and the corresponding historical measures of market strength (as determined by the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and the NASDAQ 100).

Long or Short Capital » The Down Low on Low Cut: Cleavage Hypothesis

This is the awesomest thing ever.

At the scripps aquarium near San Diego, they devote half the space to teaching kids about science. In a wing devoted to explaining gene expression they had some stuff about DNA and the coolest thing was this video game that taught you about building blocks of life, then proceeded to a real DDR game where you have to step to the DNA parts being shown on screen.

The best part was when one of the 20 amino acids were built, it would say the name. So you'd see A T T G C and so on... and then it would shout "Cysteine!"

Kick ass!

Dance Dance DNA Revolution on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

In this book, Somit and Peterson argue that humans are social primates with an innate tendency for hierarchical and authoritarian social and political structures, and that democracy requires very special "enabling conditions" before it can be supported by a state, conditions that require decades to evolve. As a result, attempts to export democracy through nation-building to states without these enabling conditions are doomed to failure.

This echoes your comment the other day at lunch about how there's an eco-system necessary to support the society we have which is missing in other places (middle east, China, India, etc).

The Failure of Democratic Nation Building

First, technology adoption has continued at a torrid pace (and even accelerated at times) despite the bust. The dotcom business models of the 1990s may have been based on wild projections of broadband, advertising, and ecommerce trends. But the funny thing is, even after the bubble burst, those trends continued. These days, it's hard to find a technology-adoption projection from 1999 that hasn't come true. Meanwhile, the digital-media boom sparked by the iPod and iTunes has blown through even the most aggressive forecasts.

Amen. Despite the fact that it's in Wired's best interest to proclaim that we're entering (in?) a new boom, I have to agree that they are right.

The New Boom

Irish scientists have discovered that three million men worldwide share a common ancestor - allegedly a fifth century Irish warlord rather splendidly called Niall of the Nine Hostages.

The revelation, Reuters reports, comes after a team from Trinity College Dublin tested the Y chromosome in 800 males across Ireland. The results showed that up to one in twelve Irish men has the same Y chromosome, with the highest concentration being in northwest Ireland, where an impressive one in five males boasts the same chromosome.

Irishman has three million kids

Calling all fans of Spam, dead parrots, upper-class twits and lumberjacks! MONTY PYTHON'S PERSONAL BEST, six one-hour specials airing on PBS February 22-March 8, 2006, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET., showcases the all-time favorites of the groundbreaking masters of sketch comedy: Monty Python.

Each episode will include members of the original Monty Python troupe performing in favorite clips from their unorthodox television series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus," repurposed with exclusive new material. Each of the five living Pythons - John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin - produced and wrote his own episode, and collaborated to create the sixth special in honor of deceased member Graham Chapman. The episodes will air over a three week period in two-hour blocks on PBS on February 22, March 1 and March 8.

"As the network that originally introduced the fresh and unconventional comedy of Monty Python to America, PBS is proud to present these new specials," said John F. Wilson, PBS senior vice president and co-chief programming executive. "These specials will allow Monty Python fans to learn more about the men who have made them laugh for decades, while introducing a whole new generation to these world-renowned comedians."

Viewers familiar with the Pythons or new to their zany brand of chaos will be treated to the troupe's favorites, including:

* "Michael Palin's Personal Best"--Michael Palin takes a look at one of Britain's most popular leisure pursuits: fish slapping. In possibly the first in-depth documentary on this piscine subject, he examines method, technique and equipment. In between are some of his favorite sketches from "Monty Python's Flying Circus," including the Cheese Shop, Blackmail and, appropriately, the Piranha Brothers.

* "Eric Idle's Personal Best"--Eric Idle returns to the Hollywood Bowl to introduce his favorite skits from "Monty Python's Flying Circus." Idle has been described by some as the third-tallest member of the Monty Python team and this is reflected in his selections, which include the Silly Olympics, Bruces, Lumberjacks and the Hairdressers' Expedition to Mount Everest.

* "Terry Jones' Personal Best"--Terry Jones reveals for the first time that he was the true creative genius behind Monty Python and in fact wrote all the shows himself. This makes the job of selecting his favorites all the harder, but he manages to produce an hour that features The Bishop, News for Parrots, Bicycle Repair Man and the Spanish Inquisition.

* "John Cleese's Personal Best"--John Cleese chooses instructive selections as his favorite sketches from "Monty Python's Flying Circus." Viewers learn how to defend themselves against fresh fruit, perform brain surgery Gumby-style and fly. For music lovers, there's the exploding version of the Blue Danube.

* "Terry Gilliam's Personal Best"--Terry Gilliam is animated about animation as he presents his cartoon favorites f... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

What's NOT airing on WNPT: Monty Python's Personal Best

A fairly serous reading list - directed more at the corporate revolutionary than at the corporate drone...If you find the range too broad and the selection on other pages too eclectic to be believeable...chances are you took the blue pill.

Business Books - for the corporate revolutionary

What can you do in one second? Listening to the musical/sonic concoctions of sound designers, composers, musicians, piano tuners, and the odd stand-up comic faced with the time restriction, a lot. Asked to "create digital music" in honor of the leap second added to correct atomic clocks New Year's Eve, you responded with an astounding array of miniature compositions. They're a reminder that in an age of sprawling evening-length music and all-night DJs, a tiny musical morsel can be just as pleasurable. They also prove that the 23 seconds added to our clocks since the early 70s to account for slowing Earth rotation are no small matter.

Leap Sounds: 1-Second Music for the Leap Second