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January 30, 2007
Girlfights. Farting Admirals. Cylon Tomfoolery. BSG Gag Reel has it All.
Glorious even in their fuckups..ahem frakups... this season 3 BSG gag reel will save all of us during this inexplicable 2 weeks hiatus.
WTF ScFi Channel?
13 minutes long, NSFW(potty mouths, they are) and frakking funny. Especially James Callis. Who knew?
(via televisionary , all the fraks at BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and gaseous googlevideo)
Posted by Groonk at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Video
Hobbit Critter, Now a New Species. Everything Else, Debatable
That tiny 2-legged species is up for debate again.
While the new technique suggests LB1 was not a microcephalic, it does not rule out that it was not a Homo sapiens. As evidence of that, Falk points to what she says are several advanced features of LB1's brain that are unlike those of modern humans or any other known hominid species.
"What we have is a little tiny brain that has four features that you can see with your eyes that are advanced and distributed from front to middle to back," Falk said. "In other words, this thing appears to be globally rewired. Those are really advanced features. They're not like humans, they're not like anything."Robert Martin, curator of Biological Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago, is not convinced by the new evidence.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
January 29, 2007
Phonogram #1 is FREE to Read
Thanks to Newsarama. They've had the complete first issue up for weeks and I still haven't read it.
Damn time.
PHONOGRAM #1 story by KEIRON GILLEN art & cover by JAMIE McKELVIE August 2 • 32 pg • BW • $3.50
Phonomancer David Kohl goes hunting for new flames at a feminist festival, only to get burnt by a very old one. A Goddess scorned returns to collect her pound of flesh and demand reparations.
Phonogram: a world where music is magic, where a song can save your life… or end it.
(via newsarama)
Posted by Groonk at 07:11 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Digital Decompression
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie has Burning Chickens
(via iwatchstuff and #1 in da hood, g, youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 07:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Trailers
Dead Soldier Fathers Child with Unknown Woman
JERUSALEM (AP) -- In a precedent-setting decision, an Israeli court has ruled that a dead soldier's family can have his sperm impregnated into the body of a woman he never met.Keivan Cohen, 20, was shot dead in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper in the Gaza Strip. He was single and left no will. But at the urging of his parents, a sample of his sperm was taken two hours after his death and has been stored in a hospital since.
When the family tried to gain access to the sperm, however, the hospital refused, on the ground that only a spouse could make such a request.
Arguing that their son yearned to raise a family, his parents challenged that decision in court. On January 15, after a four-year legal battle, a Tel Aviv court granted the family's wish and ruled the sperm could be injected into a woman selected by Cohen's family.
(via cnn.com)
Posted by Groonk at 04:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science, War
1984: The Comic
The adaptaion is free and ready to be read.
(via 1984comic.com and boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Digital Decompression
Surreal Documentary on Power, Control, CIA Brothels and LSD
The doc talks about the CIA hosting brothels in San Fran and secretly dosing "johns" with LSD just to see what happens.
There are 4 parts to this documentary at Realitysurfer on youtube.. Part 1 includes Groucho Marx on LSD, and a CIA Brothel. The Documentary is by Aron Ranen. He currently teaches at DVworkshops.com.
Posted by Groonk at 08:59 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Research, Video, Weird
Christian Web Site Lists Dead Rockstars
(view the list without the propaganda at ONTD. list with propaganda here)
Posted by Groonk at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died, Religion
The Brain's "Default Network" Supports Mind Wandering
The scientists carried out their research with the help of volunteers whose brains were scanned as they performed simple memory tasks.The results revealed that when participants performed practised tasks with which they were familiar, activity in regions of the default network was associated with episodes of mind wandering, a finding that underscores the importance of this system in guiding the stream of consciousness.
[...]
Quite why the mind wanders at all however remains open to debate.
(via physorg.com)
Posted by Groonk at 08:33 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Lauren Martin Read My Freakin' Mind
It's that fucking time of year again.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 08:27 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Holiday
Gay Sheep Research got Bad Publicity
Charles Roselli set out to discover what makes some sheep gay. Then the news media and the blogosphere got hold of the story.Dr. Roselli, a researcher at the Oregon Health and Science University, has searched for the past five years for physiological factors that might explain why about 8 percent of rams seek sex exclusively with other rams instead of ewes. The goal, he says, is to understand the fundamental mechanisms of sexual orientation in sheep. Other researchers might some day build on his findings to seek ways to determine which rams are likeliest to breed, he said.
[...]
The controversy spilled into the blog world, with attacks on Dr. Roselli, his university and Oregon State University, which is also involved in the research. PETA began an e-mail campaign that the universities say resulted in 20,000 protests, some with language like "you are a worthless animal killer and you should be shot," "I hope you burn in hell" and "please, die."
PETA is such a bastion of sane conversation.
(New York Times link via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 08:19 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Missile Silo Luxury Home... with Runway
Because nothing says luxury like the remnants of the Cold War with a dash of paranoia
All you need is $2.3 million:
(via Missile Silo the 20th century castles)
Posted by Groonk at 07:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research
January 26, 2007
TO: All Sexy Hollywood Ladies-- Scott Baio Probably Fucked You
The thought of Scott Baio being a rampant poon hound is not as bewildering as the Screech sex tape, but it's just as disturbing.
What's a guy to do when he's "dated and made love to some of the most desirable, beautiful starlets in Hollywood" but still can't find love? If you're Scott Baio, you find two co-writers to package up your pinhead thoughts and try to sell a book.[...]
Hey Baio, here's a thought: kissing and telling about those kisses in a book might not be the best way to fix you're "alone problem."
You're excerpts are fuuny though:
On being a teen heartthrob:"I got tight with Charles Laufer, the owner and publisher of Tiger Beat, which became an effective promotional tool.... One girl sent me her underwear that she'd peed and menstruated in, didn't wipe and ran a mile in, so I could have her natural body fluids and odors.
[...]
On his attempt to pick up Beverly D'Angelo (the Vacation movies, Entourage):
"Beverly was standing there at Liza's party. I didn't even introduce myself. I walked right over to her and confessed, "You know, you have one of the sexiest qualities a woman can ever have.
'Oh yeah? What's that?' she asked. 'You have an overbite.'
'I don't have an overbite, dear,' she said. 'I have a cocksucker's mouth.'"
Ms D'Angelo, I may have fallen in love with you a little bit.
Is that strange?
Posted by Groonk at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Marketing, Sex
January 25, 2007
Paul Davidson Made Up Some New Internet Slang
I'm sure it'll catch on nicely:
- RRA: Really, really amused.
- LOTI: Laughing on the inside.
- SHRN: So hysterical right now.
- LLL: Living, laughing, loving.
- TTTT (OL): Too tired to type, or laugh.
- CCN: Commence chortle, now.
- WAGNGFL: We are go, no go, for laughter.
- RHIPWMES: Really, honestly — I’m pleased with my emotional state.
- IYWHRNYSML: If you were here right now, you’d see me laughing.
- LIDLIJDNEOTIIMBDTTFTAACIHAPWSOBTLOOMALTTRITIDL: Look, I don’t laugh. I just don’t. Not even on the inside. It might be due to the fact that as a child, I had abusive parents who sort of beat the laughter out of me. At least that’s the reason I think I don’t laugh.
Davidson also does an awesome job of posting some kind of new wordage every day of the week. If only I had that kind of committment,
(via words for my enjoyment)
Posted by Groonk at 01:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar
January 24, 2007
Andy Griffith is More Patriotic Than You
And by "you" I mean the Patriot Act.
(via patriotic youtube, boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 01:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA, Video
RFID Tatoos for Cattle and People
Life has become like a Jessica Alba-less DARK ANGEL:
Somark Innovations announced this week that it successfully tested biocompatible RFID ink, which can be read through animal hairs. The passive RFID technology could be used to identify and track cows to reduce financial losses from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) scares. Somark, which formed in 2005, is located at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis. The company is raising Series A equity financing and plans to license the technology to secondary markets, which could include laboratory animals, dogs, cats, prime cuts of meat, and military personnel.Chief scientist Ramos Mays said the tests provide a true proof-of-principle and mitigate most of the technological risks in terms of the product's performance. "This proves the ability to create a synthetic biometric or fake fingerprint with biocompatible, chipless RFID ink and read it through hair," he said.
Co-founder Mark Pydynowski said during an interview Wednesday that the ink doesn't contain any metals and can be either invisible or colored. He declined to say what is in the ink, but said he's certain that it is 100% biocompatible and chemically inert. He also said it is safe for people and animals.
(via information week, warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
Apocalypse Scale, Great Fun at Parties
Jamais Cascio decides to bum out everybody and make a framable eschatalogical taxonomy:
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 01:27 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research
Drug Resistant Supergerm Affecting Soldiers in Iraq
Not to belittle this, but disease attacking wartime soldiers is not new. In the Civil War more soldiers died from their wounds and disease than from actual war.
Behind the scenes, the spread of a pathogen that targets wounded GIs has triggered broad reforms in both combat medical care and the Pentagon's networks for tracking bacterial threats within the ranks. Interviews with current and former military physicians, recent articles in medical journals, and internal reports reveal that the Department of Defense has been waging a secret war within the larger mission in Iraq and Afghanistan - a war against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of War
Railguns for the Navy or Railguns for Space
Where they see uses for blowing shit up. I see it used to fire people and things into space cheaply.
What's with that?
The weapon, which was successfully tested in October at the King George County base, fires nonexplosive projectiles at incredible speeds, using electricity rather than gun powder.The technology could increase the striking range of U.S. Navy ships more than tenfold by the year 2020.
"It's pretty amazing capability, and it went off without a hitch," said Capt. Joseph McGettigan, commander of NSWC Dahlgren Division.
"The biggest thing is it's real--not just something on the drawing board," he said.
Because the gun uses electricity and not gunpowder to fire projectiles, it's safer, eliminating the possibility of explosions on ships and vehicles equipped with it.
(via fredericksburg.com)
Posted by Groonk at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Someone Put on the Apocalypse Cloak Last Week
Iran announced new tests of short-range missiles Sunday.
U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran’s nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.
Poland said on Sunday it was still in talks with the United States about the possibility of allowing it to base an anti-missile system on its soil. Moscow has warned it will take unspecified measures against Poland if it accepts the defense system.
China Blows Shit Up in Space
Jan. 18, 2007 — China last week successfully tested a system that can destroy spacecraft, sending notice to the United States that it will not be the only country to be able to protect its satellites and spacecraft in orbit.The Chinese test, which will be reported in next week's issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology, is believed to have occurred on Jan. 11. The magazine will report that a ballistic missile was fired from or near China's Xichang Space Center and that it successfully destroyed an old Chinese weather satellite as it flew about 530 miles above the planet.
U.S. officials have expressed concern over the test.
(via discovery news and warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research
Redheads: Gone by 2100?
I heard this same thing about blondes for years now. Snopes called that story bollocks.
Guess the legend shifted:
If predictions by the Oxford Hair Foundation come to pass, the number of natural redheads everywhere will continue to dwindle until there are none left by the year 2100.The reason, according to scientists at the independent institute in England, which studies all sorts of hair problems, is that just 4 percent of the world's population carries the red-hair gene. The gene is recessive and therefore diluted when carriers produce children with people who have the dominant brown-hair gene.
(via the seattle times)
Posted by Groonk at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research
January 23, 2007
The Grand Canyon is Still Pretty Old
Although I make no claim to be an official source of news and the like. I merely catalog bits of ideas and media that may be useful for my research later. I can't say I was pleased to learn that I was duped by fucko manic Environmental Activist Group PEER.
A Grand Canyon park interpreter wrote:[This is incorrect. I have NEVER been told to present non-science based programs. In fact, I received “talking points” demanding that Grand Canyon employees present programs BASED ON SCIENCE and that we must use the scientific version supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. As an interpreter I have shared the “creation” story of the Hopi people and the Paiute people because it is culturally relative. I used these stories as a tool to introduce the scientific story. Be confident there are good people running government, too.]
Know this: I'm not against environmentalist causes. People who rally behind green trees, fresh air, and un-kicked puppies are definite "good people" in my book. What I can't stand are insane zealots that lie in order to get points across. They're not helping any damn body.
Then why did PEER issue that statement in the first place? In my opinion, this is why:PEER is an anti-Bush, anti-religion liberal activist watchdog group in search of demons to exorcise and dragons to slay. On one level, that’s how the system works in a free society, and there are plenty of pro-Bush, pro-religion conservative activist watchdog groups who do the same thing on the other side. Maybe in a Hegelian process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis we find truth that way; at least at the level of talk radio. But journalistic standards and scholarly ethics still hold sway at all levels of discourse that matter, and to that end I believe we were duped by an activist group who at the very least exaggerated a claim and published it in order to gain notoriety for itself, or worse, simply made it up.
To that end I apologize to all of our readers for not fact checking this story before publishing it on eSkeptic and www.skeptic.com. Shame on us. But shame on you too, Mr. Ruch, and shame on PEER, for this egregious display of poor judgment and unethical behavior.
Given some of the bullshit that comes out of the current administration's offices daily, I know why I was easily taken by this press release. New Scientist, though, is supposed to be a formal type news source for people keeping up on the science world. Why they didn't check their facts before printing is beyond me.
Be assured that the newly found eSkeptic magazine is nowoin my folder hot list.
(my original post, gaiman's outrage, skeptic.com)
Posted by Groonk at 02:57 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Science, eMag
Meet Jose: The Living Capacitor
I muted the volume on this one. That bastard narrator gets on my nerves.
(via electric youtube, warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research, Video
Amateur archaeologist Uncovers Earliest Evidence of New World Heavy Industry
RICHMOND, Va. - The ruins of a 17th century iron blast furnace found in Chesterfield County is believed to be the first ironworks in English North America and the earliest known evidence of heavy industry in the New World, county officials said Friday. County public utilities employee Ralph Lovern, an amateur archaeologist who often searches the area for Indian artifacts, uncovered the furnace along the banks of Falling Creek.Historians say the furnace was built around 1619 by the Virginia Company of England.
Archaeologists and historians have known for years that an ironworks operated in the area. Heavy rains late last year caused flooding that cut a new channel along the creek's banks that exposed the ruins.
(via yahoo news, timesdispatch.com)
Posted by Groonk at 10:48 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, USA
Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Hilary Clinton Working on their PECs*
The political world looks to take advantage of viral marketing. Rocketboom Exploratory Committee analyzes several of the vids presentation techniques. I chose the three I was most familiar with.
Feel it:
Clinton's(Hilary, that is): full of video tricks.
Edwards had no edits to speak of. Also, RB didn't analyze his video that closely. Hmmm.
Obama's: full of video artistic style but generally natural in delivery.
(PECs = Presidential Exploratory Committees.)
(via rocketboom and other news places like andy plesser on election video)
Posted by Groonk at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, USA, Video
January 19, 2007
In from the Forest, Not Out of the Rain
Ro Cham H'pnhieng went missing in the Cambodian jungle 18 years ago. Now she's back and all is not right in the world.
"She prefers to crawl rather than walk like a human," said Mao Sun, a district police chief in the jungle-clad northeastern province of Rattanakiri where the girl's family live.[...]
After 18 years in the wilderness, police said she was able to say only three words: father, mother and stomach ache.
Villagers from the Phnong ethnic hilltribe minority believe the girl is still possessed by evil spirits of the forest. They have brought in Buddhist monks to bless her and set up a round-the-clock watch on the family hut.
Question: Why would she point at her mouth for a drink of water? Pointing at your mouth in the wilds of the jungle gets you nothing but an invite for random critters to fly in and lay buggy larvae on your uvula.
(via yahoonews)
Posted by Groonk at 04:12 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research, World
January 18, 2007
Boyle's SUNSHINE is on the Horizon
I never plan to have these video posts. They just freakin' happen.
As for SUNSHINE, it looks like more good stuff from Danny Boyle.
(via fox searchlight, iwatchstuff, and SUNSHINE official)
Posted by Groonk at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Trailers
R2D2 TV Projector is a Feisty One
Know this: I understand how unforgivingly geeky this R2D2 TV projector looks to the rest of the world. I get that. But you should also know that the damn thing would look best in my sweet home entertainment room. The one that lives in my head. The R2 projector only has an 800x600 wide screen. What's with that? Bump up that res, Master Geeks and I'll happily give you my booze money for the next decade.
The Millenium Falcon remote is a bit much, though. I've lost countless get-laid points by wanting the TV droid. I don't need to fall into monkhood by owning a remote that can do the kessel run in record time.
Ah, hell.
(via scifi tech and switched-on google video)
Posted by Groonk at 02:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Marketing, Technology, Video
Unnecessary Censorship is F@#ing Funny A$$ S&#@t
Kudos to you, Jimmy Kimmel. You're not quite my hero, merely a sidekick, but you're one plucky ass sidekick.
(link via sent me some funny at just the right moment Dirt)
Posted by Groonk at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video
January 17, 2007
The Midnight Hour is Close at Hand
If The PTBs won't listen to burlyman Hawking, they'll surely listen to a clock...right?
Right?!?
LONDON (AP) - The world is nudging closer to nuclear or environmental apocalypse, a group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday as it pushed the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
The clock, which was set two minutes forward to 11:55, represents the likelihood of a global cataclysm. Its ticks have given the clock's keepers a chance to speak out on the dangers they see threatening Earth.
It was the fourth time since the Soviet collapse in 1991 that the clock ticked forward amid fears over what the scientists describe as "a second nuclear age" prompted largely by standoffs with Iran and North Korea. But urgent warnings of climate change also played a role.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which sets the clock, was founded in 1945 as a newsletter distributed among nuclear physicists concerned about nuclear war, and midnight originally symbolized a widespread nuclear conflict. The bulletin has grown into an organization focused more generally on manmade threats to human civilization.
"The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons," said Kennette Benedict, director of the bulletin.
Stephen W. Hawking, the renowned cosmologist and mathematician, told The Associated Press that global warming has eclipsed other threats to the planet, such as terrorism.
And there's a chart. A lovely chart of death in which to track the human extinction agenda.
(death link via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 08:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research, Science, World
Real Life Ronin Saves Police in England
As one of them stabbed at a Policeman with his knife, a mysterious do-gooder appeared from nowhere and attacked him with a samurai sword.Two of the criminals were arrested, but in true hero style the samurai disappeared before police could speak to him.
(link via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 09:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Martial Arts, Research, Weird
"Fantastika" will Shag Your Wife Rotten
Today's word is russian.
* In clicking around, I discover a word. Fantastika. Fantastika appears to be the Russian word for speculative, slipstream or science fiction. Isn't that a gorgeous word? Fantastika. Much better than fantastique. Fantastique is arch. Fantastika is spiky.* "What do you write?" "I write FANTASTIKA. And I just shagged your wife until she saw God. Get away from me now, shitbreath."
--Warren Ellis
(via another Bad Signal "Brain Dump 3", the internet jesus amuses me no end)
Posted by Groonk at 08:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar, Just Freaking Neat, Quotables, Research
Futurologist Robert Anton Wilson Defies Medical Experts, Leaves Body Jan 11, 2007
I hate that I discovered him on his Death Day.
Robert Anton Wilson or RAW (January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was a prolific American novelist, essayist, philosopher, psychologist, futurologist, anarchist, and conspiracy theory researcher.His writing, which often shows a sense of humor and optimism, is described by him as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations--to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models (maps) and no one model elevated to the Truth."[1] And: "My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything."
(via ontd and boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, People Who Died
Stone Henge was Not Alone
I'm gathering a decent bit of Stone Henge news over the years.
Recent excavations of Salisbury Plain in southern England have revealed at least two other large stone formations close by the world-famous prehistoric monument.One of the megalithic finds is a sandstone formation that marked a ritual burial mound; the other, a group of stones at the site of an ancient timber circle.
(via national geographic)
Posted by Groonk at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Research
Scientists Go on Limb, Label New Arctic Ocean Critter "Bizarre"
An entirely new group of tiny and bizarre marine algae has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean.A team of European researchers found the new organisms while analyzing DNA sequences in samples of seawater. (Related: "Extreme New Species Discovered by Sea-Life Survey" [December 11, 2006].)
Genetic evidence pointed to the presence of an unknown type of microalgae, which the researchers named picobiliphytes ("pico" means "a trillionth of a part of") because of their miniscule size.
But the discovery may be huge—scientifically speaking.
"These organisms represent a new evolutionary lineage," said team member Fabrice Not. Not is a marine biologist at the Institut de Ciències del Mar, a part of Spain's National Research Council.
"The discovery didn't provide any sister relationship to any other groups of organisms known to date. It means that this new group is probably a high-rank taxon [group] in terms of classification," Not added—hinting at the huge amount of diversity in sea life.
"In fact, the divergence of this group from known organisms is as great as the difference between land plants and animals," Connie Lovejoy, a biologist at Universit Laval in Canada and another member of the research team, said in a statement.
(via national geographic)
Posted by Groonk at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
January 16, 2007
Anime Innovation Tokyo Entices Indie Animators and Small Studios
Because animation should be mind blowingly awesome:
(via CENCOROLL, jean snow, and warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Anime, Only in Japan, Video
January 15, 2007
Iwao Takamoto 1925 - 2006
LOS ANGELES - Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the beloved Scooby-Doo and directed the cartoon classic “Charlotte’s Web,” has died. He was 81.
Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said.
In a career that spanned more than six decades, Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and television shows for Disney and the Hanna-Barbera animation team. They included “Cinderella,” “Peter Pan,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “101 Dalmatians,” “The Jetsons” and “The Flintstones.”
But it was his creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.
Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder and named him after Frank Sinatra’s final phrase in “Strangers in the Night.”
The breeder “showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such,” Takamoto said in a recent talk at Cartoon Network Studios.
“I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong.”
Takamoto also created other famous cartoon dogs such as Astro from “The Jetsons” and Muttley, the mixed-breed that appeared in several Hanna-Barbera animations. He also directed the 1973 feature “Charlotte’s Web.”
(via ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died
Kung Fu Monkey Learns You about the TV Biz
John Rogers of the Kung Fu Monkey blog, and directing the most famous none aired pilot ever(Global Frequency), talks a bit about the business of TV, the troubles with the 22 episode season, why some of your shows get cancelled and supposition on where TV may go in the future.
This is actually a good moment to break down how television actually works, as Dan's completely understandable misconception is quite common. Networks don't make shows. Networks buy shows. And they don't even buy the whole goddam thing. Studios make shows. They usually, as I've noted before, deficit finance a show, where they pay the bulk of the production costs and the network pays a fraction of the per-episode expense. It is a symbiotic relationship -- the studio retains ownership, and so can reap the benefits of a popular show through (not so much now) syndication and (the only thing keeping Hollywood alive) DVD sales. The network got the advertising revenue, and could jack up those prices if a show was popular.[...]
When your nominal buyer becomes your employee, things gets weird. We've already seen situations where a network's continued a doomed show up through 13 episodes so that the box set will recoup some expenses for the studio. Whedon's Angel very much died because the WB realized they were just advertising for 20th Century Fox's box sets. Although the network in theory has final say on what shows they pick up, there are stories in recent years about one network where the network execs weren't even allowed in the room while the studio suits did the fall schedule.
(read full article: "Nobody gets Rich, Everybody Gets Paid ")
Posted by Groonk at 11:36 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Tutorials, USA
'To Kill a Mockingbird' Still Bringing People Together
She shunned the press yet spoke to the performers. Her book is still a best-seller since its publication in 1960.
Nice.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Reclusive author Harper Lee attended a high school play based on her book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," on Wednesday, then met with students who appeared in the production.The production brought together about 60 students from nearly all-white Mountain Brook High and all-black Fairfield High Preparatory School.
The 80-year-old Lee was invited as a special guest to be honored by education and arts officials. Famous for prizing her privacy, she rarely speaks to reporters, though she does occasionally meet with students.
(via 7d and mywaynews and ontd)
Posted by Groonk at 11:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Alabama, Books, Just Freaking Neat
Caprica 6 Displays Her Naughty Bits in Playboy
I'm going back on not posting any more sexy links. Why? Cause I saw this noise and can I say, "Goddamn!"
Tricia Helfer threw modesty to the wind and gave a half million geeks and nerds a collective stiffy by showing her stuff in February 2007's Playboy.
God bless her.
(via ontd)
UPDATE: Looks like Blogger got wise to that guy's naked Helfer page and shut him down. Pity.
Posted by Groonk at 10:49 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Sex
"If you think of sheriffs, you think of horses"
A better picture could not be found.
The swearing in ceremony looked more like a scene from an old western movie.
From his palomino, Lightning, to his cowboy boots, DeKalb County's new Sheriff Jimmy Harris fits the part.
"I rode my horse up the courthouse steps," said Harris.
It's something Harris calls a dream come true.
"Growing up as a child, if you think of sheriffs, you think of horses. And it's just part of me. I've wanted to be sheriff all my life and started dreaming about it since about 1963. And you know, fooling with horses like I have all my life, I just, I wanted to come in on a horse," said Harris.
(via waff news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:50 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Alabama, Research
January 12, 2007
NOT THE BEES!
Things I learned from this "Best Scenes from THE WICKER MAN":
1) Nicholas Cage likes hitting women.
2) Nicholas Cage likes hitting women while dressed in a bear suit.
3) Bees do not tolerate Nicholas Cage. Period.
a) We can learn much from bee sensibilities.
"Oh god. My eyes. My eyes! Arrrrgggh!!!"
My acting skills are better than yours.
(via livejournal ellis and how DID it get burned youtube")
Posted by Groonk at 08:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Movies, Video
First Female Beefeater at the Tower of London
Obvious jokes aside, congrats to you Moira Cameron.
LONDON (AFP) - The first female beefeater at the Tower of London, whose appointment overturned more than 500 years of tradition, smiled broadly as she met her new colleagues.Moira Cameron, 42, beat five men to the prestigious position and became the first female ever appointed to the famous ceremonial guard.
Yeomen warders, or beefeaters, are a familiar sight to tourists in their red and gold uniforms. They guard the landmark tower and the British crown jewels within, but also act as tour guides and are an attraction in their own right.
[...]
The beefeater nickname is thought to date back to the days when the yeoman warders were given a daily ration of meat.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 05:24 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
January 11, 2007
RoboPanda Likes the Good Touch
(via chip chick and non-video sharing engadget)
Posted by Groonk at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Robots, Video
And a Thousand Birds Fell From the Sky
THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why. Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery.All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.
The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.
Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.
On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.
[...]
Michelle Crisp was one of the first to contact the DEC after finding dozens of dead birds on her property one morning.
She told The Australian she normally had hundreds of birds in her yard, but that she and a neighbour counted 80 dead birds in one day. "It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," she said. "It was like a moonscape, just horrible.
(via the australian)
Posted by Groonk at 04:02 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, Weird, World
January 10, 2007
80s Endings Fill Your Cup with Awesome
I can't tell you the memories of John Hughes films that washed over my Members Only brain.
(via ponzu and the long missed atomfilms)
Posted by Groonk at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Video
Wherein You Find Links that May be of Great Use
And all of them regarding Neil Gaiman. Imagine that.
The Quotable Neil
"Well, yes, you'd ask my permission first. And then I'd say no, but I'd add that if you want to do a web page of quotes that you've collected that you like, I'd be fine with that and happily link to it. --Neil Gaiman 11/29/05"
Read Yourself Raw's: RECOMMENDED BY... NEIL GAIMAN
Neil Gaiman is one of the top writers in modern comics. He is the creator/writer of the award-winning horror-weird series Sandman, and the graphic novel's Mr Punch, Violent Cases and Signal To Noise. He is also a best-selling novelist with American Gods and his children's novel Coraline both enjoying enormous critical success.
This pleasant bit of nostalgia from this fellow at COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD(which includes reference to a Riddler story that was written by Gaiman.
Then, two years ago, my parents drove out to Arizona for Christmas and brought some more. Now, the last two long boxes have arrived, and I'm in nerd heaven. These are comics I loved back in the day, mind you, but I haven't read them in 12 long years. Some of them suck, obviously, because I'm not perfect, but it's still nice to see them. I can't wait to dig into them when I have a chance. Here are the highlights of the two lost long boxes, exiled for so long in a closet in Plumstead Township, PA
(via neil gaiman journal)
Posted by Groonk at 11:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Books, Just Freaking Neat, Quotables
Albert Goodyear will Challenge all You Believe True
This land WAS their land.
Archaeologist Albert Goodyear is working on the find of his life.Not everyone is convinced, but Goodyear believes further excavation and testing at the South Carolina location, known as the Topper site, will confirm his findings.
(via warren ellis and neighborhoodtimes)
Posted by Groonk at 09:06 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Science
Stephen Hawking has The Right Stuff
This new dangerboy Stephen Hawking is a burly man and he's ready to punch your teeth in.
"This year I'm planning a zero-gravity flight and to go into space in 2009," the scientist, who is most famous for his 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time", told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.A "zero-gravity flight" is one in which an aeroplane flies in such a way as to render its passengers temporarily weightless, mimicking the conditions in space.
Hawking's trip outside the earth's atmosphere depends on the progress of British tycoon Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism programme, which aims to carry passengers into low-Earth orbit from next year.
The Daily Telegraph said Sir Richard will sponsor Hawking's mission, waiving the estimated flight cost of 100,000 pounds (148,000 euros, 193,000 dollars).
(via warren ellis and physorg)
Posted by Groonk at 08:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Space Marines would Excel at "Bug Hunts"
The proposal, part of the Corps’s push toward greater speed and flexibility, is called Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion, or Sustain. Using a suborbital transport—that is, a vehicle that flies into space to achieve high travel speeds but doesn’t actually enter orbit—the Corps will be able, in effect, to instantaneously deliver Marine squads anywhere on Earth. The effort is led by Roosevelt Lafontant, a former Marine lieutenant colonel now employed by the Schafer Corporation, a military-technology consulting firm working with the Marines. Insertion from space, Lafontant explains, makes it possible for the Marines—typically the first military branch called on for emergency missions—to avoid all the usual complications that can delay or end key missions. No waiting for permission from an allied nation, no dangerous rendezvous in the desert, no slow helicopter flights over mountainous terrain. Instead, Marines could someday have an unmatched element of surprise, allowing them to do everything from reinforce Special Forces to rescue hostages thousands of miles away.
(via popular science)
Posted by Groonk at 08:48 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology, War
Second Life Enjoys the Attention of Writers
Warren Ellis will be writing a weekly column on SL for Reuters.
“Second Life is not only the biggest digital art installation in the world, but potentially the most radical shift yet in the way communities are formed online, and possibly also the germ of the next great operating system,” Ellis said. “It’s not only a place where people get as strange as they can, but an incubator for the future.”“As a writer who deals with both the strangeness of people and the state of the future, Second Life is like a lab for me,” he added.
That shot through the internet back in Dec 2006. Ellis' first column is up and waiting to be read.
Another Second Life column by Joel Stein talks about meeting people and getting a free penis. I suppose that makes more sense to Second Lifers. But it is weird no matter how you think on it.
(via second life, bad signal, and time online)
Posted by Groonk at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Digital Decompression, Quotables
People Love to Hide Stuff
A sidenote to the Hidden Passageways site mentioned earlier.
TV Coverups hides your plasma screen from looky loos while, simultaneously, making you look super cool and ultra pretensious.
(via tv coverups)
Posted by Groonk at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Research, Technology
Jinn: Born from the Smokeless Fire
Gaiman linked to this quite nice article talking about the Jinn's(or genie's for the western layperson) place in history and contemporary times. The whole article is worth reading and knowing.
The Bible holds that God created angels and then made man in his own image. The Koran states that Allah fashioned angels from light and then made jinn from smokeless fire. Man was formed later, out of clay. Jinn disappointed Allah, not least by climbing to the highest vaults of the sky and eavesdropping on the angels. Yet Allah did not annihilate them. No flood closed over their heads. Jinn were willed into existence, like man, to worship Allah and were preserved on earth for that purpose, living in a parallel world, set at such an angle that jinn can see men, but men cannot see jinn.[...]
In Somalia and Afghanistan clerics matter-of-factly described to your correspondent the range of jinn they had encountered, from the saintly to the demonic; those that can fly, those that crawl, plodding jinn, invisible jinn, gul with vampiric tendencies (from which the English word ghoul is taken), and shape-shifters recognisable in human form because their feet are turned backwards. Occasionally the clerics fell into a trance. Afterwards they claimed their apparently bare rooms had filled with jinn seeking favours or release from amulet charms.
[...]
But to more scholarly clerics jinn are little more than an energy, a pulse form of quantum physics perhaps, alive at the margins of sleep or madness, and more often in the whispering of a single unwelcome thought. An extension of this electric description of jinn is that they are not beings at all but thoughts that were in the world before the existence of man. Jinn reflect the sensibilities of those imagining them, just as in Assyrian times they were taken to be the spirits responsible for manias, who melted into the light at dawn.
(via neil gaiman and economist.com)
Posted by Groonk at 07:31 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Myth, Religion, Research
The Pillars of Creation are Nothing but Ghosts
A new picture of the Eagle Nebula shot by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, presented here at the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, show the intact pillars next to a giant cloud of glowing dust scorched by the heat of a massive stellar explosion known as a supernova [image].
"The pillars have already been destroyed by the shockwave," said study leader Nicolas Flagey of The Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in France.
Astronomers think the supernova's shock wave knocked the pillars down about 6,000 years ago. But because the Eagle Nebula is located some 7,000 light years away, the majestic pillars will appear intact to observers on Earth for another 1,000 years or so.
The supernova blast is thought to have occurred between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, so what astronomers see now is evidence of the blast just before its destructive shock wave reached the pillars.
[...]
"We have checked with historical records, and there might be some candidates," in Chinese history, Flagey said. It's also possible that the supernova was hidden behind huge amounts of interstellar dust that muffled the explosion, he added.
(via yahoo news and superscience)
Posted by Groonk at 07:08 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
January 09, 2007
"It Won't Bite, but it Might Scratch"
My box in a box. The lite pop answer to Dick in a Box.
(via myboxinabox and package free youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 11:56 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Music, Video
January 08, 2007
The Stranger Makes Hilarious Mistakes
The Stranger is an entertainment rag(see: magazine) local to Seattle. I read it off and on when I had glancing contact with Portland radio's Daria O'Neil, Gustav and Bill Prescott's Morning Radio Shows. We're talking late 90s early 00s, kids.
Unfortunatley I forgot about The Stranger and its strangeness. That is until I caught up on my Regret the Error. As they explain it, no one does corrections like The Stranger.
For example, when its theatre editor confused two playwrights, the paper made him complete a quiz. That earned praise from us in our round-up of the year in media errors and corrections. Now the paper has published its own round-up of corrections.
Some examples follow:
- Bradley Steinbacher, the managing editor of The Stranger, regrets sharing an office with Dan Savage, editor of The Stranger, especially since Mr. Savage often changes clothes in said office, during which Mr. Savage routinely threatens to place his scrotal sack on the back of Mr. Steinbacher's neck. Sometimes this threat is sung to the tune of Frère Jacques. Both the threat and the state of Savage's scrotal sack are regrettable.
- Stranger news writer Sarah Mirk regrets not double-checking the visiting hours for Yakima County Jail on November 5, resulting in a very, very disappointing end to a six-hour drive through a blinding rainstorm
- Stranger associate editor David Schmader regrets not buying more of that mushroom fudge from that lovely woman at Hempfest.
- Christopher Frizzelle, the arts editor of The Stranger, regrets being so stoned the month of August that he let associate editor Charles Mudede write a review of a book that was published 140 years ago.
- With regard to Ms. Mirk, Stranger news editor Josh Feit regrets not getting the young, impressionable Ms. Mirk hooked on crack and/or knocked up, which might have compelled her to drop out of college and stay on The Stranger's staff.
Damn. The Stranger makes me laugh.
(via regret the error)
Posted by Groonk at 08:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Linkable, eMag
January 07, 2007
Man Survives 24 Days in 10C Temperature by Hibernating Naturally
Well, damn!
Mitsutaka Uchikoshi went missing on Mt Rokko in western Japan on October 7 after a barbecue with colleagues. Rather than joining them for the return trip by cable car, the 35-year-old decided to walk down the mountain, but lost his way, slipped in a stream and broke his pelvis."On the second day, the sun was out, I was in a field, and I felt very comfortable. That's my last memory," he said, shortly before being discharged from Kobe city general hospital on Tuesday. "I must have fallen asleep after that."
When a passing climber found him 24 days later, Mr Uchikoshi's body temperature had fallen to just 22C (72F), he had a barely discernable pulse and he was suffering from multiple organ failure and blood loss.
"He fell into a state similar to hibernation and many of his organs slowed, but his brain was protected," Dr Shinichi Sato, head of the hospital's emergency unit, told reporters. "I believe his brain capacity has recovered 100%."
(via neilgaiman and guardian unlimited)
Posted by Groonk at 04:17 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Health, Just Freaking Neat, Research, Science
Tree Goats are So Ridiculous They're True
Geekologie tells me this image is not the least bit photoshopped. The Flickr link backs up their claim a bit more. I've never seen more bizarre goat action in my life. Goats climbing the argan tree to get at its hard to reach tasty fruit?
"Get outta here!" is what I'd say.
And what I'd say would be probably wrong.
(via geekologie and flickr and flickr's sanj b)
Posted by Groonk at 01:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Weird
F-15 Pilot Lands on One Wing
And here is the third.
(via militarized youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video, War
January 06, 2007
You Can't Handle THE TRUTH IN AD SALES
These bits of cool/awesome video posts seem to come in threes. I'm unsure who made these THE TRUTH IN AD SALES videos but may waves of awesome forever crash on their shores.
(youtube's strategic branded inflated ROIs via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 06:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Just Freaking Neat, Marketing, Video
The Dog Who was a Cat Who was a Dog
Gloriously Freudian, but who really believes anything he said during one of his blind cocaine rushes anyways?
The Dog Who was a Cat Inside explains a lot about why some animals make strange friends. It also calls up ideas of anima/animus archetypes.
Feel that English degree learning in your brains.
FEEL IT!
(via yahoo! movies)
Posted by Groonk at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Video
James Gunn Rules over the Dead
This is not really Myth and not exactly Grammar. I'm just covering my bases so I'm sure to run into it in later searches. Ever since my History of English Language class my fascination with the etymology of names shot up 200%:
1.Is your last name really Gunn? Cuz that's freakin' cool. 2. Were you buds with Rooker prior to Slither? – MikeYes, that's really my last name. My original family name (in Ireland) was MacGilGunn. My relatives there now are all named GilGunn. My grandparents shortened it to Gunn when they came over, to avoid anti-Irish bias (there was such a thing back then).
But even cooler is the origin of the name. MacGilGunn means Sons to the Servants of the God of the Dead. Gunn means "God of the Dead." I shit you not.
And, no, I wasn't friends with Rooker prior to SLiTHER, but I was a big, big fan.
That comes from James Gunn's first blog of the year 007. He did SLiTHER and DAWN OF THE DEAD and SCOOBY DOO and lots of other things. ANGEL fans make a note. The character of Charles Gunn was named after James and Sean Gunn(brothers ya know.
There are lots of other writing and screenwriting questions answered in this particular blog, too.
(via james gunn and possibly james gunn's god)
Posted by Groonk at 04:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Grammar, Myth, Tutorials
January 05, 2007
Celebrities Like to Make Shit Up
The only thing weirder than realizing the famous fancy themselves master inventors is trying to figure out how to categorize that weirdness. Then it gets even stranger. A click to the source of these curiosities reveals it's the result of Google's new Patent Search feature.
- Eddie Van Halen, Musician. Patent #4,656,917 — Musical instrument support
- Zeppo Marx, Actor/Comedian. Patent #3,473,526 — Cardiac pulse rate monitor
- Harry Connick, Jr., Musician/Actor. Patent #6,348,648 — System and method for coordinating music display among players in an orchestra
- Penn Jillette, Magician. Patent #5,920,923 — Hydro-therapeutic stimulator (for, um, sexual stimulation)
- Michael Jackson, Singer. Patent #5,255,452 — Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion
- Julie Newmar, Actress (“Batman” TV Show). Patent #3,914,799 — Pantyhose with shaping band for cheeky derriere relief
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Actress. Patent #4,753,647 — Infant garment
The above image is from the Penn Jillette idea. Heh, a bathtub vibrator. I thought they already invented that one and called it a jacuzzi.
(via ontd and ironicsans)
Posted by Groonk at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Google-fied, Technology
Beware the Carusobot's "Sunglasses of Justice"
This is a dinosaur by the internets POV. But it seemed the thing to do since CSI MIAMI returns this Monday to terrorize pets, small children, and anyone with a sense of good taste.
You hear what I'm saying? It just felt right.
YEAH!
(via cheeselicious YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video
January 04, 2007
The HAL5 is a Walking Mac Powersuit
I said powerSUIT.
It's the selective glowy bits that give this contraption its Mac-ness. There would be viewable video but the sucker's embed function is disabled at the source. You can still look at the thing. Just not on my noise.
(via rocketboom and cyborg enhanced youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Only in Japan, Robots
VILLAIN Dupe OF THE WEEK: Me Grand Canyon National Park Service*
Hero of the Week began here. it's only fitting that Villain of the Week does the same. For what are Heroes without Villains?
Strangers running about in tights enforcing their facist regimes, is what.
Take for instance the Grand Canyon's Park Service:
HOW OLD IS THE GRAND CANYON? PARK SERVICE WON’T SAY — Orders to Cater to Creationists Makes National Park Agnostic on GeologyWashington, DC — Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”
In a letter released today, PEER urged the new Director of the National Park Service (NPS), Mary Bomar, to end the stalling tactics, remove the book from sale at the park and allow park interpretive rangers to honestly answer questions from the public about the geologic age of the Grand Canyon. PEER is also asking Director Bomar to approve a pamphlet, suppressed since 2002 by Bush appointees, providing guidance for rangers and other interpretive staff in making distinctions between science and religion when speaking to park visitors about geologic issues.
Again with the silly...no... incredibly ignorant shit from The PTBs. No worries, I'm not going into some pointless internet rant on the stupidity of those who can't separate life enriching faith from boneheaded theological totalitarianism.I mean, what would be the point in that?
I prefer to think of the Grand canyon as a sophisticated lady hiding her age from gentlemen callers. Hey Lady Canyon, you're gonna have to reveal yourself under that 1000 watt one day. You can't hide behind lies forever.
Just sayin.
UPDATE: It seems that all this noise was bullshit printed by overzealous environmentalist fuckos PEER. Thanks to Gaiman for pointing it out. And instead of ignoring my dupability, I'm just striking through the bad bits. Next time I'll do some small research on my own.
(link via 7d and PEER)
(*Technically, the current regime is the true villain but their plate is so full of badness that everyone has to share.)
Posted by Groonk at 12:40 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Religion
January 03, 2007
Mathematics is the Key to Invisibility
The gist of the article is, while looking to imporve the mathematics behind tumor detection they found out how to make things invisible.
Maxwell's equations said that a simple copper disk like the one Smith used could be cloaked without a problem, but anything that emitted electromagnetic waves--a cell phone, a digital watch, or even a simple electric device like a flashlight--caused the behavior of the cloaking device to go seriously awry. The mathematics predicts that the size of the electromagnetic fields go to infinity at the surface of the cloaked region, possibly wrecking the invisibility.Their analysis also revealed another surprise: a person trying to look out of the cloak would effectively be faced with a mirror in every direction. If you can imagine Harry Potter's own invisibility cloak working this way, and Harry turning on his flashlight to see, its light would shine right back at him, no matter where he pointed it.
Greenleaf's team determined that a more complicated phenomenon arises when using Maxwell's equations, leading to a "blow up" (an unexpected infinite behavior) of the electromagnetic fields. They determined that by inserting conductive linings, whose properties depend on the specific geometry of the cloak, this problem can be resolved. Alternatively, covering both the inside and outside surfaces of the cloaked region with carefully matched materials can also be used to bypass this problem.
"We should also keep in mind that, given the current technology, when we talk about invisibility, we're talking only about being invisible at just a narrow range of wavelengths," says Greenleaf. "For example, an object could be rendered invisible at just a specific wavelength of red; it would be visible in nearly every other col