Here’s a conversation I had with an elderly friend that I thought I’d share.
Friend: When are you going to get vaccine booster?
Me: I’m not sure. Whenever I’m told to. Is there any other way to proceed? I mean, what’s your plan?
Friend: My daughter-in-law, who is a nurse, says I should get it in the about two weeks. (more…)
The Story of Stuff Project is asking Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, to ban the sales of single-use plastics from all U.S. national parks. Click here to add your name to the petition.
It’s hard to argue against the father of our understanding of the atom, Niels Bohr, but I’ve always been taken by what the more recent physicist Richard Feynman said, “If you think you understand quantum mechanics then you don’t understand quantum mechanics.”
What this means, of course, is that there is no way to understand quantum mechanics, which seems correct, doesn’t it? Our minds were not designed to make sense of all this.
Btw, the reason we’ve replaced the word “mechanics” with “physics” is that, between the 1920s and today, we’ve leaned that there are many more aspects to the subject than mechanics, e.g., quantum electrodynamics.
Here’s a Facebook ad “Paid for by EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION” that reads: The oil and gas industry supports millions of jobs across the nation. But unnecessary regulations can stand in the way. Sign the petition and support local jobs!Of course, this is an appeal to the dullards who believe that environmental regulations are anti-capitalist, and may cost them their jobs. But how many such dolts are there?
There is widespread understanding that the consumption of fossil fuels is in the process of destroying our only home.
Exxon is pursuing a lost cause. We understand the choice we’re facing: regulations on Big Oil, or a planet that provides a greatly diminished ability to support life.
This made me smile. Most of the physics that have been developed in the last 120 years is counterintuitive, to put it mildly.
This is a reminder that the human mind did not evolve so as to comprehend the secrets of the universe.
We’re good at things the size of rocks, spears, and woolly mammoths. Things that are many orders of magnitude larger and faster, like light shining through galaxies, are the subjects of special relativity, and are tough for us mortals to understand.
Things that are many orders of magnitude smaller, e.g., subatomic particles coming into and out of existence, are the subject of quantum physics, and that’s even worse. Trust me on this. I got a C+ in the subject in college, and I considered myself lucky.
The Story of Stuff people would have a field day with this “foraging bag“–something that no one could possibly need.
Harvesting your garden vegetables?
Take bags from your “to be re-used” collection.
IMO, progressives have better, more humanitarian values than conservatives generally, but I emphasize the word generally. Colin Powell was certainly a conservative, but had the integrity to leave the GOP when it was clear that the Republican Party was continuing to stand behind Trump, even after it was obvious that the then-president had attempted to overthrow the U.S. government.
How do you make Belgians want to take the bus, vs. driving their own cars?
If you’re a clever ad agency, you make a set of adorably cute cartoons promoting the concept of “safety in numbers.”
Here’s an excerpt from this article on COVID-19 vaccine mandates:
“I love the Aussies. Their history of rugged independence is legendary; I’ve always said Australia is the Texas of the Pacific,” Cruz tweeted alongside a clip of Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner discussing COVID-19 rates and fines for not being vaccinated. He continued: “The Covid tyranny of their current government is disgraceful and sad. Individual liberty matters. I stand with the people of Australia.”
Many readers that have seen bogus examples of perpetual motion machines may recall the device shown at left.
In the video linked above is something that looks similar; masses (of children) slide back and forth, closer to and farther away from the center point of rotation, and the device keeps spinning.
The difference between the two is that the kids shown in this remarkable piece are putting in work against the force of gravity so as to maintain a constant torque.
