Happy Ferris Wheel Day

While most people’s attention is focused on Valentine’s Day, we should be cognizant of the fact that it is also Ferris Wheel Day and properly honor the American Engineer George Ferris who invented the famous ride for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  

After all, it’s fitting that Ferris Wheel Day and Valentine’s Day — both symbols of romance — occur together.

Image from University of Illinois News Bureau

 

Chinese Diplomats

China has used pandas as goodwill ambassadors for centuries. In our modern times, they are offered on an annual lease for a million dollars; and, apparently, it’s worth the investment: in 1985, the Toronto Zoo made an extra six-million dollars in revenue for the one-hundred days that a pair of pandas was on loan.

(image: flikr_mush2274)

China is about to loan a pair of pandas to the Toronto Zoo (Katie Gray, a zoo spokeswoman, all but confirmed the rumor: “Until there is a formal announcement, we have no further comment.”).

But, really: should pandas be used as a diplomatic and economic tool? These are endangered animals. Give them some dignity, and ensure they are protected in their natural habitat: don’t fly them around the world to be gawked at.

 

Robbie Burns Day!

I almost forgot it’s Robbie Burns Day (of course, I did remember that it’s my daughter’s (Brynne’s) birthday)

 A Bard’s Epitaph (Robert Burns  (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796))

Is there a whim-inspired fool,
    Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,
    Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,
                      Let him draw near;
    And owre this grassy heap sing dool,
                      And drap a tear.

    Is there a bard of rustic song,
    Who, noteless, steals the crowds among,
    That weekly this area throng,
                      O, pass not by!
    But with a frater-feeling strong,
                      Here heave a sigh.

    Is there a man, whose judgment clear,
    Can others teach the course to steer,
    Yet runs, himself, life’s mad career,
                      Wild as the wave;
    Here pause–and, through the starting tear,
                      Survey this grave.

    The poor inhabitant below
    Was quick to learn and wise to know,
    And keenly felt the friendly glow,
                      And softer flame,
    But thoughtless follies laid him low,
                      And stain’d his name!

    Reader, attend–whether thy soul
    Soars fancy’s flights beyond the pole,
    Or darkling grubs this earthly hole,
                      In low pursuit;
    Know, prudent, cautious self-control,
                      Is wisdom’s root.

 

Solar Flare

The Earth is being bombarded with the radiation from the largest solar flare since October 2003. If you can see the aurora borealis, tonight is supposed to be a fantastic show.

[Image: NASA/Associated Press]

A solar eruption is followed by three separate waves. First comes electromagnetic radiation, which is followed by radiation in the form of protons (hurtling out of the sun at 150 million km/h), and then a corona mass ejection (plasma from the sun, which, for this eruption, will be traveling at a speed of 6.4 million km/h).

The radiation took about an hour to reach Earth, but the protons are strewn between here and Jupiter and will take a couple of days to dissipate. The plasma coronal mass is, apparently, only moderate, so there is no fear of electrical grid outages.

 

Gung Hei Fat Choy

Happy Chinese New Year 2012! [Image found at Draconika]

Today we pass from the year of the Rabbit to the Year of the Dragon.

It should be a year for great deeds, innovation, and finances. The Year of the Dragon will bring a roller-coaster of peaks and valleys in our daily lives; but, if managed properly, efforts will bear sweet fruit.

The Year of the Dragon brings happiness and success to all good, honest, and talented people. It is considered an auspicious time to establish a family of healthy, intelligent children.

This is a year to be daring, not modest.

 

Penguin Awareness Day

January 20th is Penguin Awareness Day and, at least in my part of the world, it looks like the Antarctica outside this morning (with a few more trees).

So, if you see a Penguin in your travels, give it a hug.

The image of Rockhopper penguins is from National Geographic

 

Rockhopper penguins are one of the smaller species of penguins: they’re about 50 centimeters (20 inches) tall. They are currently on the IUCN vulnerable list. Their population is declining and they could become endangered in the near future.

 

Not Censored (Yet…)

There is a bit of a battle brewing on the internet. And there will be a black-out of some services (and ‘Censored’ messages).

One side says: The USA has drafted legislation (SOPA and PIPA) that would censor creativity. It will damage the free and open internet. The legislation goes further than necessary.

The other side claims that the legislation is not aimed at stifling creativity; rather, it is being put in place to stop the theft of intellectual property (movies, music, etc.). The legislation will put the onus on the providers and not on the individual, and this is why the providers are upset.

I have a feeling that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, as it usually does in disputes.

There is definitely a problem with theft of creative material (e.g.: downloading movies and music for free has become an excepted practice), but we should be careful of censorship of any kind.

I’m curious to see how this plays out…

 

The World’s Smallest Vertebrate

I first saw this picture in the newspaper yesterday (I’m one of the dinosaurs that still gets a hard copy). It’s not only the world’s smallest frog, but the world’s smallest vertebrate (a creature with a spine). In the picture, the frog is resting on a dime [photo credit: Christopher Austin, LSU].

The frogs — named Paedophryne amanuensis — live in damp, fallen leaves on the floors of the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea and were discovered by a team led by Christopher Austin.

They found the frog by focusing on its peculiar “tink-tink-tink” call, which apparently sounded a bit like a cricket. They scooped up a large bundle of leaves — from within which the sound was emanating — and, when the diminutive creature hopped from one of the leaves, they were surprised that it was not an insect.

 

Friday the thirteenth…

It’s Friday the thirteenth, which brings specters of paraskavedekatriaphobia, which trumps triskaidekaphobia.

[Image found at: http://www.hauntingreview.com]

Apparently, since the days of The Canterbury Tales in the 14th century Friday has been considered a bad luck day (and a Black Friday Stock Market plunge doesn’t help), and thirteen has some ominous history (for example, there were thirteen at the Last Supper, and thirteen turns make a traditional hangman’s noose). Friday the thirteenth has some history as well: on a Friday the 13th in October, 1307, the King of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar.

But not all cultures consider thirteen to be unlucky, and many successful sports stars have worn the number 13, so it can’t really be all that cursed a number.

There are also a few interesting mathematical facts about the number 13 (that have nothing to do with luck):

It is the sixth prime number, and the smallest emirp (a prime number which is a different prime when the numbers are reversed).

It is  a Fibonacci number

it is one of only three known Wilson primes.

There are thirteen Archimedean solids

 

And, whatever else is happening in the world today, in Vancouver, B.C., it is a wonderfully clear, mild winter day. And I’d call that lucky.

 

U.S. Marines Urinate on Afghan Bodies

There was a video released recently of American soldiers urinating on dead Afghan bodies . The world is shocked and is calling the soldiers’ behavior disgusting, reprehensible, and inhuman. And, of course, it is. I understand the sentiment; but, seriously, is it okay to kill someone, but urinating on them afterwards is going too far?

What do we expect? It seems to me that de-humanizing the ‘enemy’ is a coping mechanism: a way of rationalizing the act of killing another human being.

We tend to romanticize war, in large part because of the ultimate heroic sacrifices that take place, but I honestly don’t see any respect shown in killing a living, breathing individual. War is not a gentlemanly sport. It’s disgusting, reprehensible, and — I’d like to think — inhuman: yet we’ve been involved in wars since time immemorial.

I’m not surprised at the acts of these soldiers, and I’m sure there is similar disrespect shown on both sides of any such conflict. I just wish we could stop the insanity.