Quote of the day...

Quote of the day...  From a post by Daniel Greenfield, writing at Sultan Knish, on academia:

Academia has become an alternate world where human relations exist in a mechanical universe governed entirely by identity politics, where the world is always on the verge of a Green Apocalypse and the only way to make anything work is to route it through the foundational theories of existence. This magical world continually changes in response to new theories bubbling up from trendy publications. The very laws of the universe can be gendered and every historical event can be rewritten by viewing it through the lens of class.

Academia is a magical world where nothing is truly fixed and everything exists on belief. Change the belief and you change the reality. It's a meta-world that has a certain fanciful appeal for intellectuals, but little relevance to the real world where things do not change because the theory does and where outcomes are hard and real and the consequences of a bad theory can mean lives lost.

We have academics (or academic poseurs) running Washington these days...

Mammatus clouds...

Mammatus clouds...  The nicest image of them I've ever seen.  I've only seen well-defined mammatus clouds once in my life, back in the '70s in the Philippines.  Much more at the photographer's site (Mike Hollingshead, professional storm-chaser).

2013 Young Scientist $25,000 prize winner...

2013 Young Scientist $25,000 prize winner...  Very clever indeed.  If this was all done on his own, it's especially impressive for someone his age.  I particularly like the use of salt to increase the water density.

I suspect his invention will only be useful when small barriers need to be erected (mind you, there's a lot of need for those) – even with the salt, the overall density of his bags will be far less than conventional sandbags, and that will limit the depth of seawater that can be held back.  Also, over time his bags will lose salt (when they're wet), as normal diffusion evens out the salinity of the surrounding water and that inside his bags.  So not a perfect replacement for conventional sandbags, but still a useful and clever way to make a better bag for certain uses...

Healthcare.gov security issues...

Healthcare.gov security issues...  More details, from testimony by security expert David Kennedy.  The conclusion:

Closing the hearing, Rep. Chris Collins (R., N.Y.) asked Kennedy if the site is secure today.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

Makes me want to run right out and start putting my personal information into the site...

What is the laziest thing you've ever done?

What is the laziest thing you've ever done?  One answer submitted to Reddit is epic:

I was once on a US military ship, having breakfast in the wardroom (officers lounge) when the Operations Officer (OPS) walks in. This guy was the definition of NOT a morning person; he's still half asleep, bleary eyed... basically a zombie with a bagel. He sits down across from me to eat his bagel and is just barely conscious. My back is to the outboard side of the ship, and the morning sun is blazing in one of the portholes putting a big bright-ass circle of light right on his barely conscious face. He's squinting and chewing and basically just remembering how to be alive for today. It's painful to watch.

But then zombie-OPS stops chewing, slowly picks up the phone, and dials the bridge. In his well-known I'm-still-totally-asleep voice, he says "heeeey. It's OPS. Could you... shift our barpat... yeah, one six five. Thanks." And puts the phone down. And then he just sits there. Squinting. Waiting.

And then, ever so slowly, I realize that that big blazing spot of sun has begun to slide off the zombie's face and onto the wall behind him. After a moment it clears his face and he blinks slowly a few times and the brilliant beauty of what I've just witnessed begins to overwhelm me. By ordering the bridge to adjust the ship's back-and-forth patrol by about 15 degrees, he's changed our course just enough to reposition the sun off of his face. He's literally just redirected thousands of tons of steel and hundreds of people so that he could get the sun out of his eyes while he eats his bagel. I am in awe.

He slowly picks up his bagel and for a moment I'm terrified at the thought that his own genius may escape him, that he may never appreciate the epic brilliance of his laziness (since he's not going to wake up for another hour). But between his next bites he pauses, looks at me, and gives me the faintest, sly grin, before returning to gnaw slowly on his zombie bagel.

Absolutely awesome. And, speaking as an ex-US Navy sailor: totally plausible...

Colliding spiral galaxies...

Colliding spiral galaxies...  Via APOD, of course.  More info on the two galaxies on Wikipedia.  Full resolution version...

Geek: radians...

Geek: radians...  The concept is completely explained in this 30 second animated GIF.  I remember running into radians for the first time, back in high school, in an incredibly dense paragraph of poorly-written text.  It was years before it dawned on me what a simple concept a radian actually is!  Sure wish I'd had this GIF back then...

Mainstream support for the notion of a donor organ marketplace...

Mainstream support for the notion of a donor organ marketplace...  I'm used to my ideas being considered a bit wacky (ok, very wacky).  I've long believed that a market for donor organs made much more sense (including ethically and morally) than the system we have today, but I know that's a distinctly minority view.  Still, when I see a mainstream intellectual supporting the notion, it cheers me up!

Flying pig moment, warmist edition...

Flying pig moment, warmist edition...  The BBC has been a reliable promoter of AGW (anthropogenic global warming) for years now.  Any skeptical views have simply not appeared there.  So I was absolutely gobsmacked this morning when I read this article, which, amongst other things, says:

During the latter half of the 17th Century, the Sun went through an extremely quiet phase - a period called the Maunder Minimum.

Historical records reveal that sunspots virtually disappeared during this time.
Dr Green says: "There is a very strong hint that the Sun is acting in the same way now as it did in the run-up to the Maunder Minimum."

Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics, from the University of Reading, thinks there is a significant chance that the Sun could become increasingly quiet.

An analysis of ice-cores, which hold a long-term record of solar activity, suggests the decline in activity is the fastest that has been seen in 10,000 years.

"It's an unusually rapid decline," explains Prof Lockwood.

Londoners enjoyed frost fairs on the Thames in the 17th Century

"We estimate that within about 40 years or so there is a 10% to 20% - nearer 20% - probability that we'll be back in Maunder Minimum conditions."

The era of solar inactivity in the 17th Century coincided with a period of bitterly cold winters in Europe.

Londoners enjoyed frost fairs on the Thames after it froze over, snow cover across the continent increased, the Baltic Sea iced over - the conditions were so harsh, some describe it as a mini-Ice Age.

I am astounded that such a story made it onto the BBC's site.  I suspect someone will be losing their job over this...

Wake up, Rosetta!

Wake up, Rosetta!  Tomorrow morning, bright and early, the Rosetta spacecraft should wake up after hibernating for over two years.  Assuming it's in good shape, it should rendezvous with, and orbit the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  You can read all about Rosetta here.  If it's unfamiliar to you, don't feel bad – it was launched almost ten years ago!

Molon labe!

Molon labe!  Reader, friend, former colleague, and mogul-of-everything Doug S. passes along this evidence of 2nd amendment supporters pwning the ATF in their booth at a gun show.  Awesome!

If you're not familiar with the phrase “molon labe”, click the link for the complete story.  It's a famous Greek phrase, now often used by 2nd amendment supporters.  It's a retort to those who would take our weapons, meaning, basically, “Come and take it!”

ATF, of course, is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

In another photo (at the first link above), a chagrined ATF booth-boy is trying to remove the sticker...

North Korea propaganda film...

North Korea propaganda film...  They use the opportunity to destroy the U.S. as motivation when teaching children how to use a protractor.  It's really hard to imagine a society where that sort of thing works, but when you do, it's quite a scary thing...