25 Unusual Batman Sculptures From Holytaco.
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My name is Jeff, and I write this blog. I work as an interface designer in Denver, CO. I am also an amateur musician and an atheist.
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Yearly Archives: 2010
We’re 98.6 degrees for a reason
Why is the human body 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit? Some scientists have an idea:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers previously showed that every one degree Celsius rise in body temperature wards off about 6 percent more fungal species. So tens of thousands of fungi can infect reptiles and amphibians, but we can only be invaded by a few hundred fungi.
In the new work, the researchers created a mathematical model that weighed the fungal protection benefits versus the metabolic cost of high body temperature. And the optimal temperature was 98.1, quite close to what evolution figured out. The research was published in the open-access journal mBio. [Aviv Bergman and Arturo Casadevall, “Mammalian Endothermy Optimally Restricts Fungi and Metabolic Costs”]
Tagged biology, fungi, humans, science, temperature Leave a comment
Bieber gets boycotted for a fictional interview
There is no better way to describe it than how Gawker‘s Jim Newell does:
A fameball contractor who’s leading an effort to boycott construction of the “Ground Zero Mosque” is also participating in a Facebook campaign to boycott Justin Bieber for supporting Park51 in a Tigerbeat interview that was actually a hoax, the end.
Photo of Moon and ISS
On the same day we all enjoyed the lunar eclipse, Thierry Legault took this picture of the moon from Normandy. Do you see what makes it amazing? Legault timed his photo perfectly within a 0.55 second window to capture the International Space Station going by.
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Mexico has one gun store
There is only one legal gun store in Mexico. It’s in Mexico city and is operated by the military.
To go shopping for a gun in Mexico, customers must come to Mexico City – even if they live 1,300 miles away in Ciudad Juarez. To gain entry to the store, which is on a secure military base, customers must present valid identification, pass through a metal detector, yield to the security wand and surrender cellphones and cameras.
To buy a gun, clients must submit references and prove that their income is honestly earned, that their record is free of criminal charges and that their military obligations, if any, have been fulfilled with honor. They are fingerprinted and photographed. Finally, if judged worthy of owning a small-caliber weapon to protect home and hearth, they are allowed to buy just one. And a box of bullets.
Of course, there are tons of illegally-gotten guns in Mexico, probably mostly smuggled from the US.
Tagged crime, guns, mexico Leave a comment
The USS Pueblo gives North Korea the finger
Only one US vessel is in captivity. It’s the USS Pueblo, and it’s still being held in North Korea, where it was captured in 1968.
The North Koreans kept the crew as prisoners and sent out regular photos of the men along with testimonials from them about how fantastic North Korea was. Of course, the Americans were being put up to it, and they made this clear to the folks back home by giving the North Korean photographers the finger, which the captors didn’t understand.
Tagged finger, north korea, uss pueblo Leave a comment
Jabba The Snowman
In Spokane, from Nerd Approved.
Tagged jabba the hutt, snowmen, star wars Leave a comment
