During a storm in the North Pacific in 1992, twelve 40-foot containers were washed off of a Chinese cargo ship. One of them was filled with 29,000 plastic bath toys, or “Friendly Floatees”, which were released into the Pacific Ocean. Two oceanographers tracked the toys and accurately predicted where and when they would begin washing ashore.
(via Strange Maps)
We are so fucked. Submitted without further comment:
Despite a court-ordered ban on the teaching of creationism in US schools, about one in eight high-school biology teachers still teach it as valid science, a survey reveals. . . . US courts have repeatedly decreed that creationism and intelligent design are religion, not science, and have no place in school science classrooms. . . . ”It seems a bit high, but I am not shocked by it,” says Linda Froschauer, past president of the National Science Teachers Association based in Arlington, Virginia. “We do know there’s a problem out there, and this gives more credibility to the issue.”
(via New Scientist [there's more on the original study at Pharyngula])
Chad Orzel gives a neat description of relativity via a conversation with his pup. Time dilates when you’re chasing bunnies:
“That’s a long time.” She thinks for a minute. “I don’t think I can walk that long.”
(via Uncertain Principles)
[and speaking of bunnies and time dilation...]
Gothic illuminated sketchbook, from 1494. Makes your Moleskine doodlings look rather simple, no?
(via BibliOdyssey)
