I wish one of these ideas worked for me, but once I get a song stuck in my head, it’s there for the duration. I can replace it with a different one, but there’s no “off” button on my mental MP3 player.
“What is the opposite of fear?”
Apparently it’s disgust, at least as far as expressions go. Interesting and very plausible note on Darwin at the end.
“Living things glow with visible light”
“First Person Plural”
There’s good evidence that we all have multiple personalities — and that we can use that to understand ourselves and one another better:
We used to think that the hard part of the question “How can I be happy?” had to do with nailing down the definition of happy. But it may have more to do with the definition of I.
Apples, Pears, Grapes, Garlic, and Onions: Asthma Cures?
Yes, the title of this post is a deliberate exaggeration. But the information it’s based on is interesting anyway, and I suggest that if you or someone you know has asthma, it’s worth a read.
Full-Size, Two-Story Lego House
It’s being built right now in Surrey, England.
(Via BoingBoing)
“Results from Slate’s ‘Choose Your Own Apocalypse’ poll”
Oh, come on! None of those are enough to “destroy America,” even combined. Almost all of them are self-correcting problems:
- Loose nukes. A nuclear weapon can only be used once, after which it’s gone. If the supposed terrorists had a large supply, they’d be a problem — but without that, all they can do is cause some damage and fade away.
- Peak oil. “Petroleum production reaches terminal decline. Oil becomes too expensive to extract, and alternative energies can’t maintain our fossil-fuel-dependent lifestyle.” If gas and oil prices get too high, people will use alternate means of getting where they need to go, and getting their food and other necessities to them. If it happened unexpectedly it would cause some chaos, but even then people would adapt.
- Antibiotic resistance. Even assuming that science couldn’t come up with new ways to fight disease (which I wouldn’t bet on), humanity survived for untold centuries without antibiotics, and would again.
- China unloads US treasuries. Again, short-term chaos, but both the people and the country would survive and adapt. Within ten years everything would be stable and growing again.
- Israel-Arab war. Neither of them would want to use nuclear weapons — they’re after the same land, making it unfit for human life would be counterproductive. As such, I can’t see that any war between them would be any different than a war anywhere else, even if the US does get involved, no matter what religious books might say to the contrary.
Each of these would be horrific in its own way, but “apocalyptic”? Sorry, they’re barely in the same category.
“The Myth of Man the Killer”
“Blue M&Ms ‘mend spinal injuries'”
Mom, I just hurt my back! I’ve got to have M&Ms, lots of them. Time is of the essence! 😉
“Cold solitude, filthy sins: not so metaphoric”
I’ve thought this for a long time. Interesting connection to psi research at the end though.