Image from Wired Science
Computing has come a long way since the days of computers with 128 mB of RAM. Recently, the Department of Energy announced that in 2010, 1.3 billion processor hours will be allotted for use by scientists of various fields. This will allow computer simulations like never seen before, possibly including entire galaxies. (link)
I know this is somewhat old, but zombies have invaded Austin! Well, at least that’s what this roadside sign says:
(Image credit:Chris Nakashima-Brown, nofearofthefuture.blogspot.com)
Anonymous hackers gained entry to the computers programming the signs early on the morning of January 26, giving commuters several amusing messages about zombies. Read more at All Ablog Austin and the Dallas Morning News.
Image credit: King Abdulaziz Medical City for National Guard, via CNN
Earlier today, a pair of Egyptian boys born as conjoined twins were separated in Saudi Arabia. According to CNN, these surgeries are provided free of charge to families by Saudi King Abdullah’s philanthropic initiatives. This is the 21st such surgery to be performed through this program; the Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, commented that “We have treated twins from different religions, from different nations 13 countries, four continents … And we don’t look at the color or the ethnic group or the nationality or the religion.” (Read more at CNN.com.)
No, silly, not the song, the emotion! Wondering why people sometimes faint while listening to their candidate of choice deliver an inspiring speech? The answer lies in a nerve called the vagus nerve, which is stimulated during times of elevation. A scientist from the University of California at Berkeley has been studying the emotion of uplift by using president-elect Barack Obama’s election-night speech to inspire this elusive emotion. Read more in Slate magazine. (link)
Google Czech Republic has posted a most amusing website where you can click on employees’ heads to make them sing in harmony. Even if you don’t understand Czech, it’s still funny! (link, via The Presurfer)
Snowzilla was an annual fixture in a suburb of Anchorage, Alaska since 2005. Unfortunately, its reign as the resident giant snowman of Airport Heights came to an end recently, when city officials, peeved about the increased traffic in Snowzilla’s neighborhood, left its creator a cease-and-desist order. Thanks to some local pranksters, though, Snowzilla was reincarnated yesterday bigger (25 feet tall) and better than ever.
(link, link, via MetaFilter. image: Jim Lavrakas, Anchorage Daily News)
A woman from Urbana, Maryland was noted in the Maryland Gazette for repainting her car entirely with nail polish. Writes Chris Brown,
“When Jill Bell noticed a dent on the hood of her car two winters ago, she thought it would be appropriate to paint a Band-Aid on the scrape.
After the painted bandage survived the ice and snow of winter, Bell decided that she wanted to repaint her car entirely – in nail polish.
Over the next 13 months, from September 2007 to this past October, she completely covered her car in a quilt-like pattern – as a quilter, she found the multi-pattern paint job fitting, she said.”
From Joshuah Bearman’s blog, photos of poodles groomed to the extreme, featuring poodles groomed to look like chickens, camels, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (link, via BoingBoing)
This just in from the Daily Telegraph: a purple (!) squirrel has been found wandering the grounds of an English school. The cause of its…unusual fur color is likely due to paint, printer ink, or dye. Read more at The Daily Telegraph. (Image credit : Solent News and Photo Agency)
Have you classified a galaxy today? Well, you can satisfy that craving to label galaxies as elliptical or spiral now at Galaxy Zoo. The team behind it is calling on layman astronomers everywhere to take a look at hundreds of thousands of images and classify them; according to a scientist with the project, “The human brain is actually better than a computer at pattern recognition tasks like this. Whether you spend five minutes, 15 minutes or five hours using the site, your contribution will be invaluable.” Before you start, Galaxy Zoo puts you through a short tutorial on the differences between galaxies – even if you’re a complete novice you can participate. So what are you waiting for? Go forth and classify! (link, via Neatorama)
