Reality in Concept
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Words to Live by...
- The ducks aren't ever going to line up. The ducks are trying to kill you.
- American society is increasingly a conspiracy of the smart against the dumb.
- Stereotypes are, in fact, merely one aspect of the mind's ability to make generalizations, without which science and mathematics, not to mention much of everyday life, would be impossible.
And the best:
- This is life. People stumble and grope blindly hither and thither, wondering if they did the right thing, occasionally knocking something over and hoping no-one noticed, striving for illusory goals, addled with guilt and insecurity.
Scientist Has Nagging Feeling He Left Particle Accelerator On
CHICAGO—University of Chicago particle physicist Matthew Sharp drove halfway home before he was struck with the fear that he'd left the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System running Tuesday night. "I think I powered it down after smashing those 9-GeV electrons into 3.1-GeV positrons, but I don't specifically remember flipping the switch," Sharp said. "Not only does a nine million volt electrostatic tandem Van de Graaff injector accelerator cost a lot to run; it's also a pretty serious fire hazard." Sharp almost turned his car around, but didn't, because the past three times he's gone back to check on the accelerator, he's found it off. - The Onion Reporting
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Equations are Back
(Age2 - Age1) * 0.36 + Age1 = Optimal Marriage Age
Where,
Age1 = age you first started dating
Age2 = the maximum age you see yourself ever getting married
Try it yourself, feel free to use a spreadsheet
AgeMale... AgeFemale
24 ... 19
26 ... 20
28 ... 21
30 ... 22
32 ... 23
34 ... 24
36 ... 25
38 ... 26
40 ... 27
42 ... 28
44 ... 29
46 ... 30
48 ... 31
50 ... 32
Friday, March 19, 2004
More about "End of the World"
An asteroid passed closer to Earth than any previously recorded....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4554664/
Other vaid predictions...
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/endofworld.html
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Seth Shostak of SETI Institute Knows Women
At the High Energy Physics Division Seminar, Seth Shostak taught us a few things. To figure if there is intelligent life out there, we have to answer the question, "why did man become intelligent"? Nature does not care about smarts, only survival and procreation. Theorists say that it was the tight social structure that put smarts at a premium when, like a Peacock, evidence of good genes and no mutations were observed in males telling good stories and making jokes (bar chatter).
The theory is that women will seek out men with superior "game" - evidence of smarts. However Dr. Shostak asked, "why then do women need to be smart?" There were a few female PhD Physicists in the room, (we will call them chicks), so a rhetorical response was not the best course of action. Dr. Shostak answered his question by saying that desired women posses charisma (also evidence of smarts) in order to KEEP the man from becoming distracted by another women (sounds reasonable). He went on to make the observation that at a restaurant you can easily tell whether a couple has just started dating - the man does all the talking in order to impress the female. Or they have been dating for some time - the woman does all the talking to keep the male interested.
Unfortunately, in too many cases, women make the mistake of confusing "charismatic chatter" with plain old "nagging". Without this affect however, we wouldn't have good sitcoms on TV.....
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
ET by 2025
Due to Moore's Law and predictions about the number of intellegent life in the universe, we should find ET by 2025 or so.
How do we define intellegent life? Ask the person sitting next to you if he can build a radio, then for this discussion, you will find out your answer.
Dateline ANL
Long lines at Doobs office door for party treats. Followed by long pause as everyone waits for the other guy to find out if the cupcakes are mind-altering-drug-free.
All regular ANL blog-fans get their just dessert.
Things to do at Argonne
ARGONNE TODAY
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
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SEMINARS
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Accelerator Physics Discussion Group: "Beam-Beam Effects in the Tevatron" by Bela N. Erdelyi, Fermi National Laboratory, Batavia, Ill.
10 a.m., Building 203, Conference Room A114.
High Energy Physics Division Seminar: "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" by Seth Shostak, SETI Institute, Mountain View, Calif. 11 a.m., Building 362, Conference Room F108.
Chemistry Division Seminar: "High Surface-Area TiON Photocatalysts" by Jian-Ku Shang, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 11 a.m., Building 200, Conference Room J183.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Friday, March 12, 2004
