Party Like It's 2012

Photos of New Year's Eve celebrations around the world: http://www.life.com/gallery/53581/new-years-around-the-world?iid=home|themanyfacesof#index/0

Moon Shot

NASA's twin spacecraft, launched in September, should be in position around the moon by New Year's Day, ready to give us the most detailed information we'll have about any celestial object, including our own planet: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20898-probes-launch-to-study-moons-interior.html

Standing the World on Its Head

How to create your own camera obscura (video): http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/camera-obscura/camera-obscura-video?source=fophotoleft1

What's Your EQ? ... What IS EQ?

A quiz that might help you determine whether you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur ~ and shares some interesting statistics and facts along the way (from Northwestern Mutual Life). N.B., Don't click where it says to. The quiz is just below that, on the same page: http://diydollars.com/self-employment-news/whats-your-eq-determine-your-entrepreneurial-quotient/

Remember Your Omega 3s

U.S. researchers have found preliminary but compelling evidence that diet can influence one's chances of developing Alzheimer's. Among those studied, people with high levels of vitamins ~ specifically B, C, D, and E ~ and omega 3 in their blood had a larger brain volume than those with high levels of trans fat: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16344228

Knitly News

Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy

A woman in France knits scenes from the news for her website, Delit Maille (slideshow): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15874250

Good and Clean

A list of some of the most interesting ~ and promising ~ clean-technology developments of the last year (story and videos): http://www.care2.com/causes/top-6-clean-tech-innovations-of-2011-slideshow.html

Switching Gears

Not only does the Prius X Parlee bike, or PXP, read your mind (with the help of a special helmet and app), but it remembers where on your route you shifted gears: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2011/1101/The-Prius-of-bicycles-switches-gears-by-reading-your-mind

Hot Foods

Even though it's sponsored by (*shiver*) Monsanto, this column predicting the top food trends of 2012 is interesting and probably pretty right-on: http://www.foodnutritionscience.com/

Fashemon

We should be together/Like the walls and ceiling/Like a door and doorknob/Like the hat on your nob ~ so sang the charming little Shirley Temple many moons ago. While those pairings seem fairly obvious, here's one that doesn't but still makes sense, in a useless-and-yet-vaguely-entertaining kind of way: http://pokexfashion.tumblr.com/

An A for IQ

Between 1955 and 1972, Norway increased the amount of time its children spent in school from seven to nine years. This coincided with an increase in their average IQ. Coincidence?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16320306

Meet Anthony Knivet

English sailor, pirate, shipwreck victim, slave, slave trader, tribal guest, and autobiographer, Anthony Knivet (1591-1649) was among the first to describe pre-colonial Brazil: http://www.economist.com/node/21541711

Listen to Your Mütter

Welcome to Philadelphia's Mütter Museum, home to preserved fetuses, dried skin, and other fascinations, including part of Einstein's brain. Be sure to check out the "Guess What's on the Curator's Desk" and "Mütter Minute" videos (plus, at the online store, you can get an umlaut button and a replica of Dr. Koop's bow tie)!: http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/

Beethoven's ear

Ludwig van Beethoven's compositions have always been divided into three periods. Now researchers at the University of Amsterdam have shown that those periods coincide with the deterioration of his hearing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16283109

Next Wave in Christmas Cards

British marine scientist Dr. Richard Kirby used his photos of plankton, starfish larva, and other oceanic creatures to create a unique and beautiful Christmas card: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2077363/Christmas-card-tiny-sea-creatures.html

Less Water, Water All Around

New satellite data show just how much less groundwater there is in many areas around the world, especially California, India, the Middle East, and China: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/337097/title/Groundwater_dropping_globally

Deus as Machina

The illustrations of Gvozdariki (what would Gregor Samsa think?): http://gvozdariki.ru/gvzd/mech.htm

Just the Facts

Another rant against standardized testing ~ valid, but the real issue (IMHO) is the "teaching to the test" it engenders: http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Graduating-From-Standardized-Tests-Secondary-Education-Reform.aspx

Crop Tops

California Academy of Sciences

 ©Tim Griffith

Grassy roofs and the ground-breaking buildings that sport them: http://www.archdaily.com/193552/green-roofs/#more-193552

The Ones to Watch

Forbes's list of "30 Under 30" includes Ronan Farrow, the only biological child of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, now a humanitarian activist: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2011/12/19/the-30-under-30/

It's a Stalled World After All

David Gray, Reuters

Ten years ago, a Thai company started building WonderLand, a kind of Disneyland, in a village about 20 miles from Beijing. The deal fell apart, and the hulls of the buildings were left to rust and decay ~ and provide photographers with bizarre, ghostly images: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/travelnews/2011/12/pictures/111222-china-fake-disneyland-disney-world-travel/

Like a Rolling Stone

One question answered begets another, just as puzzling. Some of Stonehenge's stones, weighing 3 to 5 tons, came from 160 miles (257 kilometers) away: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/111222-stonehenge-bluestones-wales-match-glacier-ixer-ancient-science/

Light Up the Holidays

A tram in Milan

Photos of holiday dazzle around the world: http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20111205-holiday-lights-across-the-globe

Macy's

Also, check out New York's window displays!: http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20111220-holiday-shopping-windows-of-new-york

The 99%'s (average) 2.5%

Hey! Here's a holiday gift idea! Let the folks over at 23andMe (https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/ ) test your DNA for the Neanderthal gene. FYI, the average carried by modern humans is 2.5%: http://io9.com/5869800/new-dna-test-will-reveal-if-youre-part-neanderthal

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

NASA scientists are looking at a galaxy as it was 12.9 billion light years ago, almost at what we think was the beginning of time. Even though it's 100 times less massive than our Milky Way, it's creating about 30 times as many stars every year: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-392&cid=release_2010-392&msource=11392&tr=y&auid=10061865

Superb Secret Santas

Some true Samaritans have been going into stores like Kmart and paying off the layaway bills of total strangers. To borrow a line from Tiny Tim, God bless them, every one: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LAYAWAY_SANTAS?SITE=MIBAX&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Stress? What Stress? :P

A few ideas/reminders that may help make the season calmer and more enjoyable for everyone: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlotte-reznick-phd/7-holiday-stress-busters-_b_1136420.html

Dear Country

A few years ago, VICE founder Shane Smith managed to get into North Korea and even film bits of it. Herewith, The VICE Guide to North Korea (video): http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3

Cloud vs. Black Hole

A distant battle with a predetermined end will take place, probably in the year 2013, when a giant gas cloud spirals ever closer to the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy ~ and we'll be there to watch the decimation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16178112

Stealing Banksy

Yes, it's true!: A hotel group in Australia is putting up a $15,000 Banksy somewhere in its hotels and challenging guests to steal it. Whoever succeeds in snatching it without getting caught gets to keep it: http://www.artserieshotels.com.au/stealbanksy/

Trashy Cruise

What could be more exciting, more adventurous, more romantic than a cruise to the lovely, the fascinating, the inspirational ocean garbage patch, now featuring debris from Japan's tsunami?: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/travelnews/2011/12/111215-tsunami-debris-field-travel-science/

Occupy Dickens

The Occupy movement is alive, to begin with, and its message has been melded with Charles Dickens's in a new Christmas Carol. Makes absolute sense, when you think about it: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-occupy-christmas-carol-20111217,0,2712360.story

Angel in Disguise

A profile of Paris's Shakespeare and Company, a bookstore in the truest sense of the concept, where writers hung out, composed, and palavered, written in the wake of its owner's recent passing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16200094

Imagine Peace

Harvard professor Steven Pinker has written a new book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, in which he argues that, far from what we may believe after viewing the evening news, we are actually living in a very peaceful era (video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HYATuH18iA

Influential as the Dickens

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.   ~ from A Tale of Two Cities
A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, Bleak House. Was there ever an author more prolific, more influential, more esteemed than Charles Dickens? With his 200th birthday in plain sight (Feb. 7, 2012), the BBC lists "Six Things He Gave the Modern World": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16184487

The More Things Change ...

Predicted percentage of ecological landscape being driven
toward changes in plant species by 2100. NASA/JPL-Caltech

... the more they force other things to change. A new report out from NASA and Caltech, based on computer modeling, predicts the biome and species shifts that will take place in the next centuries as a result of climate change.
"Our study introduces a new view of climate change, exploring the ecological implications of a few degrees of global warming," said study leader Jon Bergengren. "While warnings of melting glaciers, rising sea levels and other environmental changes are illustrative and important, ultimately, it's the ecological consequences that matter most." http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-387&cid=release_2011-387&msource=11387&tr=y&auid=10010673

Before Steve Jobs ...

... before Bill Gates, there was Robert Noyce, who turned 84 on Dec. 12. Who is he? Just the co-inventor of the humble microchip, among other things, and mentor to many of Silicon Valley's finest (ignore the typos and grammatical errors): http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2011/1212/Robert-Noyce-Why-Steve-Jobs-idolized-Noyce

How To Pack a ひるごはん

In the competitive world that is Japan, moms are taking classes on how to pack an artistic lunch for their progeny. Be the first on your block to construct stars' faces out of rice and seaweed (it only takes two hours): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16069217

'You're a Rat.' 'Why, thank you!'

And we thought we were the only ones with empathy and a moral code. Rats will free a trapped rat and even leave food for him/her: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/336819/title/He%E2%80%99s_no_rat%2C_he%E2%80%99s_my_brother

Time for Bed

Envious of those who can get by on four hours' sleep? Just tinker with your ABCC9 gene, and you can join that vivacious group (but seriously now, do you really want to?): http://www.hindustantimes.com/Lifestyle/Wellness/Why-even-4-hours-of-sleep-is-enough/Article1-774229.aspx

No Longer Left Behind

More research has been done recently on left-handedness, and the results are fascinating. New theories as to why 10% of the population is left-handed and 1% is mixed-handed confirm some traditional theories but dispel others. One interesting fact ~ Six of our last twelve presidents, including Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush, have been lefties: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204083204577080562692452538-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwNzEwNDcyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

And Justice for All

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Young Talent

Meet the winners of this year's Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, headed by 17-year-old Angela Zhang, who came up with a nanosystem for the treatment of cancer stem cells: http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition/2011_winners.htm#2

App, App, Baby!

BBC's review of some great websites and apps (video): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9658183.stm

Sugar ... Ah, Honey, Honey

One cup of Honey Smacks, Golden Crisp, or Wheaties Fuel has more sugar in it than a Twinkie, according to a list by the Environmental Working Group. Check out the rest of the tested cereals: http://breakingnews.ewg.org/report/sugar_in_childrens_cereals/more_sugar/

Total Lunar Eclipse Dec. 10

... and we on the West Coast will get the best view! It all starts at 4:45 a.m. and ends at around 8 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 10: http://www.space.com/13874-total-lunar-eclipse-dec-10-preview.html

FWIW: Pun of the Day

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Beijing is No. 1

And you thought L.A. was bad: Beijing is suffering through its third day of some of the worst smog ever (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15549889

Last Supper, New Threat

Da Vinci's masterpiece is well protected from theft and outdoor air pollution, but a new threat has surfaced, and it has to do with you and me: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/336675/title/Saving_the_Last_Supper

The Hottest Hot Chocolate

It IS that season! The results of a taste test of 15 hot chocolate brands reveal the very best: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/the-best-hot-chocolate_n_1126386.html

Beneath the Ice

It took ships, planes, satellites, and dog-drawn sleds, but scientists have put together an updated, very detailed map of the rock bed under all that ice and snow in the Antarctic (story, video, and animation):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15735625

A Model Model Train

The Miniatur Wunderland, in Hamburg, Germany, has more than 800 trains crossing countries like Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, the United States, and of course Germany, for the edification of the Wunderland's over 200,000 inhabitants (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpI_wNTRqV0

Remember the Music

Scientists are trying to find out why an individual who loses his/her memory can still remember music: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15791973

Not Just Another Brick in the Wall

Sawaya's Melting Man

Meet Nathan Sawaya, owner of 1.5 million Lego bricks, creator of amazing, ingenious, beautiful sculptures: http://www.brickartist.com/

The Annotated OWS

From Matt Taibbi, this is what it's all about: http://m.rollingstone.com/entry/view/id/19309/pn/all/p/0/?KSID=8c704e1e42d81f193c475e2526ebbbe3&ints_viewed=1

The Cars

The best of the L.A. Auto Show, which saw the world debut of more than 20 cars: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/11/top-10-cars-of-the-2011-la-auto-show.html


The Subaru BRZ STI Concept is said to have the lowest center of gravity of any production car.

Slinkies, Lawn Darts, and Barbies, Oh, My

What you've always wanted to know about five classic toys: http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/five-facts-classic-toys-194215581.html

No Can Do

The Breast Cancer Fund's list of seven common Thanksgiving staples to avoid if you want to minimize your BPA intake (and who doesn't): http://www.breastcancerfund.org/big-picture-solutions/make-our-products-safe/cans-not-cancer/bpa-thanksgiving-food.html

Amazing Arachnid

Darwin's bark spider has the toughest silk of all and is therefore capable of creating the biggest webs in the world, including some that span rivers (story and video): http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21124-zoologger-the-biggest-spider-web-in-the-world.html

A Tangled Web

What happens when scientists apply the math used to model natural systems to the global economy? We find out that Occupy Wall Street has been right all along: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html

Cold Enough fer Ya?

Sixteen-year-old Amelia Hempleman-Adams (whose dad has summited the seven highest peaks) prepares to ski the South Pole by camping in a freezer (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-15705910

Do You Believe in Magic?

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting techno-illusionist Marco Tempest and his magic iPods! (video): http://www.tedxzurich.com/2011/09/marco-tempest/

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Cicada magazine for children ages 14 and up is taking submissions of stories, poetry, or artwork on the topic Change: http://www.cicadamag.com/submitwork . The winners will be published in upcoming issues!

See the Tree!

The nation's Christmas tree is stopping in L.A. on its way to Washington. The Autry museum gets the honors and has planned a lovely family event around it: http://theautry.org/programs/family-activities/us-capitol-christmas-tree-at-the-autry

Yeah, and How Many Did They Consume?

The making of the "In Your Arms" music video ~ two years, 288,000 jelly beans, and a WHOLE lot of ingenuity (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIH4MJAC2Tg&feature=player_embedded#!

Squash History

No, not "squash," the verb, but "squash," the noun! Seeds from 12,000 years ago were found in caves in Equador, and the Iroquois planted them next to two other crops that, together, they called the "Three Sisters": http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/11/from-the-victory-garden-american-history-told-through-squash.html

Forever No More

female Black Western Rhino Hubert Planton

The Western Black Rhinoceros has been declared extinct. Here's the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, a work in progress (story and video): http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/?8548/Another-leap-towards-the-Barometer-of-Life

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Primordial Stars

It turns out that the first stars were only tens of times the mass of our sun, not hundreds of times, as we had previously thought (duh): http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-348&cid=release_2011-348&msource=11348&tr=y&auid=9845190

Things To Do ~ Nov. 11 & Beyond

Nov. 11 ~ Veterans' Day Malibu Ceremony, Malibu Legacy Park, Malibu: http://www.malibucity.org/news/index.cfm/fuseaction/story/ID/1241/

Nov. 11 ~ Celebrate Veterans' Day, Nixon Library, Yorba Linda: http://events.nixonfoundation.org/2011/07/12/celebrate-veterans-day/

Nov. 11-13 ~ Free Entrance Day at the National Parks: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

Nov. 11-Jan 16 ~ ICE outdoor skating rink, Santa Monica: http://www.iceatsantamonica.com/

Through Nov. 12 ~ LA5: Sculpture That Shaped the City, PYO Gallery, downtown: http://www.pyogalleryla.com/html/exhibition_current.asp

Nov. 12 ~ Dragonflies That Dazzle, King Gillette Ranch, Calabasas: http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=670

Nov. 12 ~ Target Free Family Saturdays: "Planet Power," Japanese American National Museum, downtown: http://www.janm.org/events/2011/target/

Nov. 12 ~ Safari As a Way of Life Launch Party,  Dan Eldon Center for Creative Activism, Malibu: http://www.creativevisions.org/2011/10/safari-as-a-way-of-life-launch-party-saturaday-november-12-2011/

Nov. 12 ~ Carl Stone: Sonic Excursions From Al-Noor to Zang, Getty Center, Los Angeles: http://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/performances/gordon_getty.html?utm_source=egetty121&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=egetty121

Nov. 12, 13, 14 ~ Residency: Diavolo Dance Theater open rehearsals, the Plaza, Music Center, downtown: http://www.musiccenter.org/events/dance_1112_diavolo.html

Liliput, Here We Come

The world's smallest car, made of a single molecule: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228384.800-single-molecule-nanocar-takes-its-first-spin.html

All Fall Down

The Penn Museum in Philadelphia hosted "the ultimate domino show," featuring 10,000 dominoes that it took 15 hours to set up. How long did it take to knock them down? Time it! (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoRF9LFKfzM&feature=player_embedded

0-0 !!

Finis

Go there.
http://www.schaft.com/endofit.html

Happy Birthday!!

Researchers have stopped signs of aging in mice. Are humans next?: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15552964

Things To Do ~ Nov. 4 & Beyond

Nov. 4 ~ The Music of Dirk Fischer, Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita: http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/PIO/CanyonsPAC/falljazz.html

Nov. 5 ~ L.A. Opera Open House, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center, downtown: http://www.laopera.com/support/openhouse.aspx

Nov. 5 ~ Peace and Rhythm, Promenade Park, Long Beach: http://www.visitlongbeach.com/calendar/index.cfm?eventid=5280

Nov. 5 ~ 15th Annual Long Beach Veterans' Day Parade, Atlantic Boulevard and Harding Street, Long Beach: http://www.lbveteransdayparade.com/ParadeInformation.php

Nov. 5 ~ Art Exhibit in Celebration of Will Rogers's Birthday, Will Rogers State Historic Park, Pacific Palisades: http://www.parks.ca.gov/Events/EventDetail.aspx?id=3500

Nov. 5 ~ Andrew & Polly Mini-Concert, Children's Book World, Los Angeles: http://www.childrensbookworld.com/Storytelling/storytelling.htm#celeste

Nov. 5 ~ Theodore Boone and the Thrill of Rights, Geffen Playhouse, Westwood: http://www.geffenplayhouse.com/more_info.php?show_id=149

Nov. 5-6 ~ Japanese Garden Festival, Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge: http://descansogardens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=443:japanese-fest-110411&catid=48:events&Itemid=73

Through Nov. 6 ~ Spider Pavilion, Natural History Museum, Los Angeles: http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/special-exhibits/spider-pavilion

Nov. 6 ~ Daylight Saving Time ends ~ time to fall back!: http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/

Nov. 6 ~ 11th Annual Día de los Muertos Festival, Canoga Park: http://mainstreetcanogapark.org/index.php

Baby Berg

Scientists are excited about the upcoming birth of a new iceberg, this one approximately the size of New York City or Berlin: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15580679

A Poem As Lovely As a 朳

American and Chinese poems are being translated in the latest exercise in cultural exchange and understanding (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15585002

The Bus Stops Here

Christopher Herwig

Photographs of bus stops all over the former Soviet Union depict the diversity of that empire: http://www.laboiteverte.fr/arrets-de-bus-sovietiques/

Better Beans

In which Uncle Samuel (of no less than the Smithsonian Institution, circa late 1800s) lays down the law for obtaining the perfect cup o' joe: http://blog.nasm.si.edu/2011/10/25/secretary-langley-on-a-really-good-cup-of-coffee/

Awesome by Degrees

A couple of former Apple execs started a new company, Nest, last year: http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE79P4SW20111026 . Now, they're ready to unveil their first creation, a thermostat, and it's hot (video): http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html#videotour

It's the Teenage Mutant Brain!

A new study suggests there is more plasticity in the human brain ~ and for longer in life ~ than previously thought. IQ can go up (or down) by as many as 20 points: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10514.html

Things To Do ~ Oct. 28 & Beyond

Oct. 28-Dec. 4 ~ Moonlight and Magnolias, Theatre Palisades, Pacific Palisades: http://www.theatrepalisades.org/

Oct. 29 ~ Halloween Haunt, Rustic Canyon Recreation Center, Santa Monica: www.laparks.com/dos/reccenter/pdf/rustic/brochure.pdf

Oct. 29 ~ 6th Annual Dusk-to-Dawn Horrorthon at Aero Theatre, Santa Monica: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/6th-annual-dusk-to-dawn-horrorthon

California's No. 2!

Right behind Massachusetts and ahead of New York, Oregon, and Washington State ~ in energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: http://aceee.org/sector/state-policy/scorecard

But Is it Art?

Does a good back story turn an interesting creation into "art"? What IS art? The British founder and curator of the Museum of Everything has staged a retrospective of the works of an American who died in 2005 at the age of 61. While her story may not turn her creations into art (and maybe they already are), it certainly makes a difference in how we view them: http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2011/10/outsider-art

About Face

Scientists have found distinct facial characteristics among autistic children that could help them pinpoint the cause(s) of the syndrome: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020105914.htm

Stone Mountain King

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C., is the only one on the Mall dedicated to a non-president, the only one to an African American. It was carved by Chinese artist Lei Yixin and inspired by a line from King's 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech: “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

Background info (video): http://www.news-press.com/videonetwork/1129195271001?odyssey=mod|tvideo|article

A Very Cool Concert

Norwegian Terje Isungset plays instruments he carved from ice (audio slideshow): http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/03/05/norway.ice.music.isungset/index.html
(video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5jRHjYgrY&feature=player_embedded

FWIW: Escargots à la Face

Watch as young Tom Vincent of the U.K. sets a world's record for the most snails on a human face (bet you can't look away!) (video): http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/

Note the Quote

“Why can we remember the tiniest detail that has happened to us and not remember how many times we have told it to the same person?”                               ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

The Fine Print

Steve Jobs obit as only The New York Times can write it: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?pagewanted=all

The Webs They Weave

Malaysian Orange Huntsman; photo by Rebecca Jackrel

Just in time for Halloween, a slide show of Awesome Arachnids: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/slideshows/travel-outdoors/awesome-arachnids.html

Sky's the Limit

An interview with the CEO of Datawind, maker of the Aakash ("sky" in Hindi), the world's least-expensive tablet computer: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-10-06/news/30250549_1_cheapest-tablet-ipad-gprs-module

Living in Trees

Andrea Noti

Superb, outrageously inspired and inspirational tree houses (some with plans and instructions!):
http://dornob.com/design/architecture/tree-houses/



This treehouse, at Beach Rock Village in Okinawa, Japan, is inspired by UFOs and has a transparent floor.

Art & the Brain

Some brain damage can have unexpected effects, like revealing ~ or perhaps creating ~ hidden artistic talent: http://weburbanist.com/2009/07/12/stroke-of-genius-abilities-borne-of-brain-damage/

It's a Gas

 There's photosynthesis, and there's the methane-based food chain, which may extend farther up than previously thought: http://www.economist.com/node/21531418

CRAZY GOOD

Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace) narrates the best commercial not aired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8rwsuXHA7RA

This Is Your Money on Hormones

What makes Wall Street traders go crazy? Why, raging hormones, of course (and, yes, we're talking male traders here, which most are): http://www.economist.com/node/21530111

New Gene Baby

Harvard genetics professor George Church on reading and writing our own DNA (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14919539

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!

Physicist Brian Cox on Cern's finding of a subatomic particle that might have traveled faster than light (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15034852

Look! Skywalker!

What? An X-Wing Fighter on the USS Long Island? An AT-ST at the landing at Normandy? A Battle Droid fought alongside Pancho Villa? Apparently so!: http://www.laboiteverte.fr/star-wars-integre-a-des-photos-anciennes/

The New Incredible Journey

Five years after she disappeared from her home in Boulder, Colorado, Willow the calico cat is found ... in Manhattan (and, yes, it really is she)!: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/nyregion/willow-lost-cat-from-colorado-resurfaces-in-manhattan.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=cat%20colorado&st=cse

Hard Rock

Images of Vesta, the second-most-massive object in the asteroid belt: (video): http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1020

Sunrise/Sunrise, Sunset/Sunset

There really IS a planet that gets a double sunrise and sunset, and NASA just found it: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-292&cid=release_2010-292&msource=11292&tr=y&auid=9506424

Water, Water Everywhere

Let your pen be a water molecule traveling through this maze we call life!: http://www.jabebo.com/WaterCycleset.htm

Things to Do ~ Sept. 24

A list of the California museums participating in Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day, Sept. 24 (free admission): http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/museum-search/?state=California
N.B., You'll need a special ticket, which you can download from that page (it's on the right side). One ticket per household, and each is good for two free admissions.

Danger: Hospital Ahead

To Infinity and Beyond!

NASA has put together an amazing, interactive, 3D environment called "Eyes on the Universe" ~ better than Xbox and Nintendo DS!: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/index.html

SOMEone Will Want It

The answer to an overly consumerist society (we knew there had to be one): http://www.utne.com/The-Sweet-Pursuit/The-100-Percent-Off-Store.aspx

7 Billion on Halloween

Here's a scary story for Halloween! United Nations demographers have pinpointed October 31 as the date on which we will be welcoming the 7 billionth person to this planet: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article2412108.ece

We ♡ N-M-Ls!

 Why do we love animals so much? It's all in our heads: http://www.npr.org/2011/09/01/140116969/human-brain-responds-to-animals-cute-or-creepy

The Good Virus

Scientists have modified a virus that, injected into the bloodstream, attacks only cancer cells: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14730608

Mother and Child

A poignant story, beautifully told in pictures and captions, of a mother whale and her calf on the Klamath River: http://www.sierraclub.org/portfolio/whales/

Thinking About the Box

The Life Cube starts out as a box 5 feet square and sets up in 3 minutes into a 10' by 12' structure. It comes complete with a solar panel, stereo with DVD player, stove, toilet, cell phone charger, lighting, and solid plastic floor, among other things (video): http://vimeo.com/16982124

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

There are now more than 1 billion vehicles on the roads of the world (not including off-road, heavy-duty vehicles): http://wardsauto.com/ar/world_vehicle_population_110815/

Harry Potter and the Remote Control

Who wants to use a boring old remote control when you can change channels with a flick of your very own wand (13 and 3/4s, faux walnut, triple-A core ...)?: http://beta.hammacher.com/Product/78951?promo=search

It's New to US!

Ornithologists have discovered the first new species of bird in the U.S. in almost 40 years: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/new-shearwater-species/

Art for Obsessive-Compulsives

Swiss artist Ursus Wehrli "tidies up art" (photos and video): http://www.laboiteverte.fr/lart-du-rangement-dursus-wehrli/#more-12025

'Neanderthal? Me? Why, Thank You!'

It seems we may have underestimated the Neanderthal (for one, their brains were larger than ours): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14677434

Nature vs. Nurture vs. Steve Jobs

An excellent piece on 10 things you (probably) didn't know about Steve Jobs: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-altucher/steve-jobs-resigns_b_935874.html

Brave New World

For the college class of 2015,  Frank Zappa has always been dead, "PC" has always meant just "personal computer," the Communist Party has never been the official party of Russia, and music has always been available as free downloads. Discover more eye-opening frames of reference at Beloit College's Mindset List: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/

It's More Their Type

A Dutch company has come up with a typeface to help dyslexics: http://www.studiostudio.nl/lettertype-dyslexie/
(video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLtYFcHx7ec&feature=player_embedded

A Picture Lives Forever ...

Some beautiful portraits of animals on the edge of extinction: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201109/endangered-species/default.aspx

Do Unto Your Neighbor

According to statistics from the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteers served almost 8.1 billion hours in 2010. The breakdown (especially the one by state, which shows the center of the country leading the coasts by a very wide margin) is interesting: http://visual.ly/volunteering-america-2011

The People's Poet

Meet Philip Levine, our new poet laureate: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/14/139576125/new-poet-laureate-philip-levines-absolute-truth

Alohomora!

A glimpse into the ~ as it turns out, not surprisingly ~ amazing world of Pottermore by one of the first people allowed in: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-young/inside-pottermore_b_927673.html

Very Fine Art

Jason Padgett hand draws fractals!: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jason-padgett.html

Fill 'Er Up With Greenhouse Gas

Is it possible to turn the carbon dioxide that would otherwise be sullying our atmosphere into fuel to power our vehicles? Some think it is, with the help of new technology, and they're working on it: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110811-turning-carbon-emissions-into-fuel/

Will It Blow?

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has rated the Cleveland volcano Orange, which means "Volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption, timeframe uncertain, OR eruption is underway with no or minor volcanic-ash emissions": http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php

Thin Skin

Scientists have invented an ultra-thin electronic skin patch that stretches, bends, and can include things like "sensors, LEDs, transistors, radio frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, and conductive coils and solar cells for power": http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110811142809.htm

J'avoue

Why would people confess to doing things they hadn't? And yet, disturbingly, many do: http://www.economist.com/node/21525840

A Tale of Two Cities

On August 13, 1961, East German soldiers began building the wall that would divide Berlin for almost 30 years. A brief overview of its history (video): http://www.history.com/topics/berlin-wall/videos#berlin-wall-deconstructed

Moon Units

NASA's getting ready to launch its twin lunar probes, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-251&cid=release_2011-251&msource=11251&tr=y&auid=8805642

What a Doll(house)

Barbie's new abode is very modern and very green: http://inhabitat.com/architect-barbie-dream-house-winning-design-unveiled-and-it-has-a-green-roof/barbie-dream-house-winner-1/

The winner, by Ting Li and Maja Paklar

Wild Child

In 1725, a child was found, alone and naked, in a forest in Germany and was brought to the court of King George I of England. His inability to speak, walk upright, and learn manners led to much speculation about the nature of being human. Now, analysis of a portrait made of him at the time is leading people to speculate that he may have had a rare genetic disorder known as Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14215171

What's the Matter?

There is apparently a layer of antimatter around Earth, trapped by magnetism between the Van Allen belts, and it could potentially be used to power rockets: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128245.500-antiproton-ring-found-around-earth.html

Islam 101

In this month of Ramadan, a blogger suggests 15 books that explain Islam: http://www.care2.com/causes/learning-about-islam-15-books-to-get-you-started.html

Hot Enough Fer Ya?

The Natural Resources Defense Council's maps showing change in average number of days of heat, flooding, and other climate-related issues: http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/

Things to Do ~ August 4 & Beyond

Aug. 4, Twilight Dance Series, "Cirque du Soleil Presents Rock of the Bay," Santa Monica Pier: http://brightbulbideas.com/santamonicapier/twilight/lineup/

Aug. 6, Kinetic Theory Theater, Skirball Cultural Center: http://www.kinetictheorytheatre.com/gallery.html

Aug. 6, B Movies and Bad Science: The Valley of Gwangi, Page Museum, La Brea Tar Pits: http://www.kinetictheorytheatre.com/gallery.html

Aug. 6-7, Garden Concerts for Kids: Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Getty Center: http://www.getty.edu/education/kids_families/programs/garden_concerts.html

Aug. 7, Children's Concerts: HOLA, Levitt Pavilion, MacArthur Park, Los Angeles: http://levittla.org/en/calendar.html

Aug. 7, American Indian Culture Day, the Autry, Griffith Park, Los Angeles: http://theautry.org/programs/family-activities/american-indian-culture-day-the-game-of-shinny

Aug. 7, Cool Your Heels in the Shade concert, California African American Museum, Exposition Park, Los Angeles: http://www.caamuseum.org/pp.htm#

Aug. 7, Family Flicks: Toby Tyler, Hammer Museum, Westwood: http://hammer.ucla.edu/calendar/detail/type/program/id/943

Aug. 7, International Family Festival, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana: http://www.bowers.org/index.php/learn/events_details/1204

Aug. 7, Living History Tour, Rancho Los Cerritos, Long Beach: http://www.rancholoscerritos.org/calendar.html#August

Aug. 8, Special, "kid-friendly" Joint Meeting of Optical Society of America and Los Angeles Astronomical Society, Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater, Griffith Observatory: http://www.ossc.org/

Aug. 8, Free Movie Mondays: The King and I, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa: http://scfta.org/home/Events/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1232

Aug. 10: Museum Munchies, Heritage Museum of Orange Country, Santa Ana: http://heritagemuseumoc.org/events/museum-munchies/

Aug. 11, Thursday Summer Fun: "Exciting India: Dancing Ganesh," Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena: http://www.nortonsimon.org/events/index.php?span=month&caldate=08/01/2011&type=Family%20Program&who=&loc=

Aug. 11, LAPL Kids: International Dances, Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library: http://www.lapl.org/kidspath/events/event_detail.php?eventid=65315

Aug. 11, the Beatles tribute band 4 Lads from Liverpool, Culver City City Hall courtyard: http://www.culvercity.org/Culture/ConcertsEvents/musicfestival

Aug. 11, Twilight Dance Series, "La Monica Ballroom Then and Now," Santa Monica Pier: http://brightbulbideas.com/santamonicapier/twilight/lineup/

Tough Choice

Vote for the Humane Society's American Hero Dog: http://site.americanhumane.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=36586.0&dlv_id=28602

Hang Eight

Surf, snow, and skate. This dog has a better sense of balance than most people I know (video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqxTUxzOceE&feature=player_embedded
(Oh, and thanks, Tanya!)

FWIW ~ Happiest Students

The Princeton Review has ranked the colleges and universities with the happiest students: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/02/happiest-students_n_915868.html#s320143&title=Rice_University

The Air Up There

—Image courtesy A. Dupree (CfA), R. Gilliland (STScI), NASA

After decades of looking (and one brief glimpse), scientists have seen oxygen molecules in space, in a star-forming area in Orion: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14372708

Dancing on the Ceiling

A brief history and explanation of the U.S. debt ceiling (video): http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/26/business/100000000967340/the-history-of-the-debt-limit.html
The ceiling hit a trillion in September 1981, under Ronald Reagan (1981-1989). How the federal debt limit has grown from its inception in 1917, by the numbers: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/federalbudgetprocess/a/US-Debt-Ceiling-History.htm

Street Walking ~ August 2

August 2nd is National Night Out: http://www.nationalnightout.org/nno/about.html

Toxic Meltdown

Findings by Canadian scientists are confirming what Swiss scientists reported in 2008, that melting glaciers are releasing toxins, including PCBs and others used decades ago but banned since: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Toxins+locked+Arctic+deep+freeze+released+melting/5153621/story.html

The Chimp and the Cubs

A chimp in a Thai zoo is taking care of orphaned tiger cubs (video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qSaFZqTHp64

A Thousand Voices

The amazing voice impressionist Jim Meskimen will be at The Acting Center July 29, 30, 31. Here he is performing a speech from Shakespeare's Richard III using celebrity voices (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PGBnNmPgk&feature=related

New Faces, Same Problems

from The Grapes of Wrath

British journalist Paul Mason traces the journey made in The Grapes of Wrath and finds that the more things change, the more they stay the same (video): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9551281.stm

"Life in a Day"

Almost 900 submissions and 4,500 hours of footage later, Life in a Day ("the day" being July 24, 2010 ~ what were you doing that day?), a compilation of YouTube videos from around the world, is now in theaters (video): http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday

By Any Other Name

I don't know if this is true, but I remember once hearing that someone in the Lear family named a daughter Chanda. And of course, there are the famous Ima Hogg and Ima Pigg (apparently, the rumor that there was also a Ura Hogg is just that, a rumor). Here are some more (shall we say?) unusual baby names: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article2130988.ece

Home At Last

Six young Grauer's gorillas, orphaned by poachers, are home at a rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the story, "catching a ride on a helicopter is not a gorilla’s idea of a good time." http://blog.ifaw.org/2011/07/25/celebration-as-the-kinigi-six-gorillas-land-in-congo/

All Hail Londinium!

Time to go back to London ~ or go back IN London ~ with an iPhone/iPad app that lets you see and hear what would have been going on around you in any given location around the middle of the first century C.E. It's an update of an older app: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/29/roman.london.app/index.html?hpt=te_bn4

Speed Show on the Menu

An artist takes over an internet cafe for a speed show (added bonus: Now you know why your seat on the plane won't recline!) (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14336082

That's Odd

Mass mud bath, longest table (seating 550), air guitar championships, a 200-year-old "petite folie," and bell-ringing in a garage: A rundown of the week's bizarre stories from around the world, as only the BBC can do it (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/14335424

Sunny at Chincoteague

The 86th Annual Chincoteague Pony Swim (video; not much to see after about minute 5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ocq-V9btcfU

A New Leaf

Amazing! How does Spanish artist Lorenzo Duran cut these beautiful, intricate scenes out of leaves? (credit where credit is due: this came from PCCL science/math/art teacher Erin): http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2011/07/17/beautiful-leaf-art/

Tragedy in the Making

Archive photos chronicling the building of the Titanic: http://www.laboiteverte.fr/construction-du-titanic/#more-11178

Otterly Entertaining

Mazu, a Congo clawless otter who was rescued after his mother was shot by a hunter, shows off his otterly ways ~ and in the process inspires a village to place a ban on otter hunting (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01tWeESp_-M&feature=player_embedded

In Our Prime

The significant, fascinating, and consequential mystery of prime numbers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14305667

A Hairy Journey

Starting out clean-shaven, a young man walks across China and chronicles his trip in a unique way. Credit where credit is due: This came to me via my amazing bro, Mark (video): http://matadornetwork.com/tv/the-longest-way/

Up in the Sky! Part Deux ~ July 29/Aug. 12

Double whammy! Look for the Delta Aquarid meteor shower, which is at its peak on Friday, July 29, and the Perseid shower, which will peak on Friday, August 12: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/07/110725-double-meteor-shower-sky-show-space-science-perseid-aquarid/

Look! Up in the Sky!

The world's most amazing ceilings, as adjudged by the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20110719-worlds-coolest-ceilings





 

Dome of the Imam Mosque, Esfahan, Iran, early 1600s; iStockphoto.com/zanskar

Ship Shape ~ July 25-31

Tour an aircraft carrier, cruiser, destroyer, and mine countermeasure ship at the Port of Los Angeles!: http://www.portoflosangeles.org/pdf/Navy_Week_LA-Flier_Final.pdf

It's About Time, It's About Space ...

So it seems that time travel, at least in the way we've been looking at it so far, is not possible: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14289114

The Water Next Time

In a quasar far, far away ~ 12 billion light years away, to be (more or less) exact ~ lies a mass of water vapor 140 trillion times the size of all of Earth's oceans put together: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/black-hole-holds-universes-biggest-water-supply/

Possibly Maybe

Researchers at Chicago's Tevatron think they saw glimpses of what they hope is the elusive Higgs boson particle: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14266358

Women of War

A female historian dresses up like a woman who dressed up like a man so that she could fight in the Civil War (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14283527

Nom de Moon

Pluto's newly discovered moon needs a name. Learn how Pluto and its other moons got their names and be inspired: http://hotword.dictionary.com/pluto-moon/?__utma=1.864700297.1311614749.1311614749.1311614749.1&__utmb=1.4.9.1311614760577&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1311614749.1.1.utmcsr=%28direct%29|utmccn=%28direct%29|utmcmd=%28none%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=231179807

Six Degrees of Education

Why, in many cases, a bachelor's degree just isn't enough anymore ~ or is it?: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/education/edlife/edl-24masters-t.html?_r=1&ref=education&pagewanted=all

Rochambeau

Play rock-paper-scissors against a computer (either novice or veteran) that analyzes your moves to win: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/science/rock-paper-scissors.html?ref=science

The Last Starfighter?

A Q&A with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, who in May officially retired from his government duties despite pleas from the Tibetan people: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-conversation-with-the-dalai-lama-20110721?page=1

Recycling 101

Death of a Buddha, Revisited

photo from filmapia.com

It was 10 years ago that, in a startling display of chauvinism, ignorance, and philistinism, the Taliban systematically destroyed the extraordinary and beautiful Buddhas that had been carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan 1,400 years ago: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576345613083296654.html?mod=WSJ_article_onespot

A Right Proper Argy-Bargy

A list of Americanisms that have the Brits' knickers in a twist: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
... and, as turnabout is fair play: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/6076887/Top_10_most_annoying_Britishisms/

Climb Everest Mountain

Apparently, there's still some debate over exactly how tall Mount Everest really is and how it should be measured, but fear not. We are expecting the definitive answer shortly: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14213137
Watch climber and World Tri founder Charlie Wittmack solve a Rubik's Cube on the summit of Mount Everest for Save the Children (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eFEv-bQDIQ&feature=player_embedded

FWIW ~ xkcd

xkcd.com

Revelation

Fantastic time-lapse video of the work that was done on Mulholland Bridge, start to early finish, while the rest of us reveled in the empty streets of Carmageddon: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/mulholland-bridge-time-lapse-video_n_901570.html

Dang! Caught in the Act!

Hahahaha ~ what? This cat is actually barking out the window at something or someone, then turns around, sees it's being watched, and changes its tune (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP3gzee1cps&feature=player_embedded

Beatles for Sale

A video collage of some of the newly released photos of the Beatles' first two U.S. visits, which are being put up for auction at Christie's: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14184012

this isn't one of the pictures being auctioned off, and apologies to whoever took it ~ I looked for a photo credit but couldn't find one

Dinosaur Death

A fossil find is evidence that the theory that a meteor wiped out the dinosaurs may be correct: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712211016.htm

One Very Hot 'Summer'

David Garrett and his violin. Need I say more? (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEpd2DYzvVw

Doing One's Doggie Duty

Seattle's latest, musical attempt to get residents to clean up after their dogs (I would add only that compostable bags are a good idea) (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDh12w-jcfs&feature=player_embedded

Shell's 600,000-ton 'facility'

Shell plans to build the first floating natural liquefied gas platform, to work off the coast of Australia: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13709293

Main Drag

Time-Warner Cable's doing its part this weekend with a 24-hour channel, 101, dedicated to information about L.A. traffic during the closure. So is our metro service, such as it is. Go to metro.net for all sorts of information and news about discounts and free rides.
If all else fails, here's one idea for an alternate route: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSetEzs9QeE&feature=player_embedded

National Parenting Gifted Children Week ~ July 17-23

http://www.sengifted.org/articles_directorscorner/webb_july11.shtml

Early Talker

After a patient, 123-year wait for new technology to be invented, Thomas Edison's talking doll has found her voice: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/123_years_later_voice_of_thoma.html
The poem whose first verse she recites was written in 1806 by English poet, engraver, and novelist Jane Taylor (apparently with her sister Ann). Here's the full version:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Then the traveler in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark;
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

In the dark blue sky you keep,
While you thro' my window peep,
And you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Personally, I like this version best:

Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific
Oft have I pondered your substance specific
Loftily poised in the ether capacious
Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous!

Summer Privation

Need to go to the hospital but have a choice in the scheduling? A new study confirms what many have known all along: Avoid July: http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/12/the-july-effect-why-summer-is-the-most-dangerous-time-to-go-to-the-hospital/

The Preservation of the World

Henry David Thoreau once said, "In wildness is the preservation of the world." Some of the most beautiful wild places are in remote regions of some of our most war-torn countries, like Afghanistan. But wildness there, according to an article in the journal Oryx, seems to be doing surprisingly well: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8269544&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0030605310000517
More good news: The Wildlife Conservation Society has found signs that the endangered snow leopard population in Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor may be on the rise: http://www.wcs.org/press/press-releases/camera-traps-capture-afghanistan-snow-leopards.aspx
One of the world's most spectacular wild areas is Band-e Amir National Park, in Central Afghanistan (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gAyzEYNMTCU

Wish We Were There

No time/$ to go to London ~ or anywhere else, for that matter? Be an armchair tourist and explore for free, via 80 gigapixels: http://www.360cities.net/london-photo-en.html#tab1

The Air We Breathe

What grade did the air around your child's school get?: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index

People Playing

Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Ojai World Music Festival: http://ojaiworldmusic.org/

This Is Your Brain on Stress

A Q&A with psychologist Sian Beilock about her research on what happens in our brains when we're under pressure and why being smart might not help: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128200.200-psychologist-why-we-screw-up-when-the-heat-is-on.html?page=1