Category Archives: Science

one more reason to drink gin

Posted on by

St. Mary MartiniAll the Polonium 210 in tea.

”This is all lies, provocation and government propaganda by the United Kingdom,” he said. ”They are trying to make up for their weak hand…”

Investigators have identified the teapot believed to have contained the radioactive tea, which eventually killed Litvinenko in November, Sky News said, citing unnamed Scotland Yard officials. ABC News had a similar report, citing an unidentified official…

ABC News said the teapot, found at the Millennium Hotel, remained in use for several weeks after the poisoning, adding that its radiation readings were extremely high.

Of the 13 people who tested positive for contamination with Polonium-210 since Litvinenko was poisoned, eight worked at the hotel. Two others who tested positive for the rare radioactive material also visited the hotel’s bar.

Litvinenko, 43, died on Nov. 23. The former KGB agent fled to Britain after leaving Russia and was granted asylum. In exile, he became a vocal opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him in a deathbed statement of masterminding his death…

del.icio.us: One more reason to drink gin
blinklist: One more reason to drink gin
furl: One more reason to drink gin
Digg it: One more reason to drink gin
ma.gnolia: One more reason to drink gin
Stumble it: One more reason to drink gin
simpy: One more reason to drink gin
newsvine: One more reason to drink gin
reddit: One more reason to drink gin
fark: One more reason to drink gin
Technorati Favorite me!

I have no idea who this is

Posted on by

None. I stole the quiz from Pharyngula, though, so I’m not ruling out the possibility that he is a marine biologist and athiest missionary to the People’s Republic of Washington DC.

I am:

Samuel R. “Chip” Delany

Few have had such broad commercial success with aggressively experimental prose techniques.

Which science fiction writer are you?

del.icio.us: I have no idea who this is
blinklist: I have no idea who this is
furl: I have no idea who this is
Digg it: I have no idea who this is
ma.gnolia: I have no idea who this is
Stumble it: I have no idea who this is
simpy: I have no idea who this is
newsvine: I have no idea who this is
reddit: I have no idea who this is
fark: I have no idea who this is
Technorati Favorite me!

quotes o’ the day

Posted on by

Let no man accuse me of being narrow. Check out this microroundup:

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
Galileo

“No one suspects the butterfly.”
Bart Simpson

albino octo

Posted on by

Vent Octopus. Don't giggle; it doesn't mean what you think it means

This weird critter is a vent octopus, ie one that hangs around geothermal vents in the seabed, looking for tasty crustaceans upon which to nosh. It’s true what the prosthesis designer on POTC2 believed: pale tentacles totally outclass mottled purple on the Ick Scale.

Pharyngula has some nifty images and explanation of an albino octo feeding frenzy at the local All You Can Eat in the Marianas Trench. Tube Worms on special!

del.icio.us: albino octo
blinklist: albino octo
furl: albino octo
Digg it: albino octo
ma.gnolia: albino octo
Stumble it: albino octo
simpy: albino octo
newsvine: albino octo
reddit: albino octo
fark: albino octo
Technorati me!

10 uses for a microwave oven

Posted on by

Microwave Cooking...rumaki, pigs in curiously pale blankets, even how to do your turkey...ALBINO!Well you wouldn’t want to put your food in it; that would be hilariously retro! You might as well serve rumaki and Betty Crocker’s Bean and Frank Fiesta Casserole. If you do, give me a call: I love that shit.

In any case, here, straight from the Guardian, your quality source for breaking news and the last home of real free-range journalism, the heir to all our hopes and dreams and foggy memories of Cronkite and Murrow comes a list of ten useful but non-foodie things to do with your microwave.

“Throw it out” is not on the list.

Sponge, yo. Apparently, the British like to eat it!And by the way, before trying the sponge trick, do make sure the sponge is soaked in water and contains no metal bits. Since the story broke quite a number of people have managed to set sponges on fire, which is a neat trick if you’re a ten year old in the backyard and not so neat if you’re a fortysomething neurasthenic housewife in your $20,000 custom kitchen.

To the list!

Environmental engineers at the University of Florida report in a new study that zapping damp sponges and dishcloths for two minutes on full power in a microwave kills more than 99% of harmful bacteria. We asked the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute to come up with 10 further novel uses for your oven.

1 Get more juice out of lemons and limes, by softening them on high for 15-20 seconds…

4 Dye up to 225g of material. Wearing rubber gloves, stir a packet of Dylon natural fabric dye with 200ml cold water in a bowl, add 400ml more water and immerse the fabric. Put the bowl inside a plastic bag in the microwave on high for four minutes. Remove, tip away the dye, and rinse the fabric in cold water. Wash in hot water, then dry away from direct heat or sunlight…

6 Melt wax for removing leg hair, on 80% power for 10 seconds, assuming it’s a full pot. Beware: it doesn’t need to boil!

del.icio.us: 10 uses for a microwave oven
blinklist: 10 uses for a microwave oven
furl: 10 uses for a microwave oven
Digg it: 10 uses for a microwave oven
ma.gnolia: 10 uses for a microwave oven
Stumble it: 10 uses for a microwave oven
simpy: 10 uses for a microwave oven
newsvine: 10 uses for a microwave oven
reddit: 10 uses for a microwave oven
fark: 10 uses for a microwave oven
Technorati me!