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2013-05-17 20:11:27 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

Maryland ranked worst in cursing, next only to Ohio, but also ranked at the top of the 'courteous' list. Ohio was the only state to find itself in the “Sailor” and “Least Courteous” categories. Ohioans curse more than twice the rate of Washingtonians, according to the data. Washingtonians curse about every 300 conversations. Ohioans, on the other hand, swore about every 150 conversations.

Ranking behind Ohio in the “Sailors” category – states where people are most likely to curse – were: Maryland (2nd place), New Jersey (3rd place), Louisiana (4th place), Illinois (5th place).

The Top 5 “Most Courteous” states, who says “please” and “thank you” the most, were: South Carolina (1st place), North Carolina (2nd place), Maryland (3rd place), Louisiana (4th place), and Georgia (5th place).

(Anyone else sense a Southern hospitality themehere?)

The data ... more »

2013-05-17 16:30:35 (12 comments, 23 reshares, 49 +1s)

Sam Harris takes something that most of us take for granted and which brings us comfort -- burning wood in a fireplace or backyard party fire -- and shows us how psychologically resistant we are, and what rationalizations we make, when we are emotionally staked on something that is irrational. The article isn't about not burning wood; it's about how we cling to irrational habits and beliefs, and how much resistance we create to avoid cognitive dissonance and discount or avoid unpleasant facts about them. It's a rather brilliant, compelling essay.

From: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fireplace-delusion

It seems to me that many nonbelievers have forgotten—or never knew—what it is like to suffer an unhappy collision with scientific rationality. We are open to good evidence and sound argument as a matter of principle, and are generally willing to follow whereverthe... more »

2013-05-17 14:32:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

NASA ScienceCasts: Bright Explosion on the Moon!

NASA researchers who monitor the Moon for meteoroid impacts have detected the brightest explosion in the history of their program.

2013-05-17 05:47:10 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Research published online May 14 in Social Psychological and Personality Science has uncovered that marijuana buffers people from experiencing social pain.

“Prior work has shown that the analgesic acetaminophen, which acts indirectly through CB1 receptors, reduces the pain of social exclusion. The current research provides the first evidence that marijuana also dampens the negative emotional consequences of social exclusion on negative emotional outcomes,” Timothy Deckman of the University of Kentucky and his colleagues wrote in the study.

The four-part study, which included a total of 7040 participants and three methodologies, was based on previous research that found an overlap between physical and social pain. Acetaminophen, which is used in over-the-counter medications like Tylenol, has been found to reduce physical and social pain.

Aceteminophen and marijuana bothaff... more »

2013-05-16 21:18:50 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Well, I really enjoyed Star Trek II: Into Darkness, and we're back to the old formula that every other Trek film (the even ones) tend to be the good ones. That said, there's still a lot of silly nonsense science stuff going on. Here's a decent article by +Philip Plait on what Trek gets wrong, and what it surprisingly gets right.

As a scientist, I can’t help but notice that every now and again, just sometimes, maybe, Trek ventures into some pretty dicey science territory. Let me be clear: I have no problem with faster-than-light travel, time travel, teleporters, the Universal Translator, or anything like that. Every genre has a conceit, a gimme, and in scifi that means advanced tech that we can’t necessarily explain today. That’s fine, and as long as it’s internally consistent in the story I’m happy. My beef is usually when the plot relies on some error in science, orwhen the ... more »

2013-05-16 17:10:21 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Rip Esselstyn, the former firefighter featured in Forks Over Knives and bestselling author of The Engine 2 Diet, has written a new book, My Beef with Meat. The book arrives in stores on May 14. We had a chance to catch up with Rip to discuss his new book and more.  

Why did you choose the title “My Beef with Meat”? 

I wanted a title that would shake things up a bit, didn’t take itself too seriously, and was representative of the ethos of the book. I could have easily made the title Engine 2.0, Plant-Strong Nation, or Why Plants Rule, but I wanted the book to have a larger reach than vegetarians and vegans.

Why did you write this book?

I’ve discovered that there is a huge disconnect between what people think is healthy and what medical science knows to be healthy. For example, people have been bamboozled into thinkingolive oil... more »

2013-05-16 16:15:40 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This looks like a good idea. No doubt guys outnumber girls by at least 10 to 1 on these things, but at least you know that if you are a sci-fi loving geek, the women who sign up on these sites may actually appreciate you and your quirks.

Compare this to the story written by the evil bee-otch from hell:
( http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/08/my-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player/ )

We met for a drink later that week. I told him my brother was a gamer. And then he casually mentioned that he played Magic: The Gathering when he was younger. “Actually,” he paused. “I’m the world champion.” The next day I Googled my date and a wealth of information flowed into my browser. A Wikipedia page! Competition videos! Fanboy forums! This guy isn’t just some professional who dabbled in card games at a tender age. He’s widely revered in the game of Magicthat he’s bee... more »

2013-05-16 15:44:31 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Michael Pollan is the Knight professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. From his latest piece in the NYTimes:

Justin Sonnenburg, a microbiologist at Stanford, suggests that we would do well to begin regarding the human body as “an elaborate vessel optimized for the growth and spread of our microbial inhabitants.” This humbling new way of thinking about the self has large implications for human and microbial health, which turn out to be inextricably linked.

Our resident microbes also appear to play a critical role in training and modulating our immune system, helping it to accurately distinguish between friend and foe and not go nuts on, well, nuts and all sorts of other potential allergens. Some researchers believe that the alarming increase in autoimmune diseases in theWest ... more »

2013-05-16 09:23:47 (0 comments, 7 reshares, 11 +1s)

PLANET HUNTERS! How do you detect planets that are hundreds of light years away? Professor John Johnson and his team of scientists explains.

#scienceeveryday #sciencesunday   

2013-05-16 04:19:36 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Psychologists Tehila Kogut and Ilana Ritov asked some subjects how much money they would give to help develop a drug that would save the life of one child, and asked others how much they would give to save eight children. The answers were about the same. But when Kogut and Ritov told a third group a child’s name and age, and showed her picture, the donations shot up—now there were far more to the one than to the eight.

The number of victims hardly matters—there is little psychological difference between hearing about the suffering of five thousand and that of five hundred thousand. Imagine reading that two thousand people just died in an earthquake in a remote country, and then discovering that the actual number of deaths was twenty thousand. Do you now feel ten times worse? To the extent that we can recognize the numbers as significant, it’s because of reason, not empathy.

Inthe bro... more »

2013-05-16 03:47:42 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Science Post of the Day
Today's Theme: Video Games!

These kickass video games let you do real-life science.

Most of us would probably like to be citizen scientists, but we're too busy — and yet we sink billions of hours into social gaming. So some savvy researchers are harnessing our love of gaming, to help advance the goals of science, using thousands of brains to sort through data. Here are eight games you can play... for science.

The idea of using games to conduct research is not new. One of the oldest research-oriented games, Foldit, has been online since 2008 — and has generated real, tangible results in the field of protein folding that could have applications in creating treatments for AIDS, cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease. The success of Foldit has spurred the development of a handful of other research-driven games.

It'sactua... more »

2013-05-15 11:58:58 (8 comments, 3 reshares, 15 +1s)

Neil deGrasse Tyson ‏@neiltyson 
Odd that for many people, the less data that support their beliefs the more ardently they'll defend them, even w/ their lives
https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/334499998551130112

Photo: http://ramblingsdc.net/RamRelig.html

2013-05-15 11:46:44 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Here's the trailer: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Trailer 1 (Official)

#scifi #whedon  

2013-05-16 04:46:41 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

New link for the trailer: Almost Human FOX - Official Trailer (HD)

Wow. This looks like it could have a lot of potential, and I'm excited because it's from the "Fringe" team. From the trailer, we have a cop 35 years in the future who has been in a coma for a couple of years and is now depressed and disoriented and crippled but fitted with a new cyborg leg; and he has one of those stereotypical lone wolf cop who doesn't follow orders personalities. Cops are teamed up with emotionless android helpers, but to help this cop, he's teamed up with a mutant android who is sentient, and can feel emotions like humans, but is more unpredictable as well. It's about the adventures of this unique team. Looks really cool from this one trailer.

#scifi #fringe #startrek    

2013-05-14 17:53:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

2013-05-14 17:25:35 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

The word miracle is much used--and abused. It comes from the Latin miraculum, meaning "wonder." It is usually defined as an event that is inexplicable by natural laws, and is therefore attributed to the supernatural, usually to divine intervention. But the definition depends on negative rather than positive evidence, and represents a logical fallacy called arguing from ignorance (that is, from a lack of knowledge).

Here are examples of this fallacy: "We don't know why this statue is weeping; therefore, it is a sign from God." Or, "Her doctor can't explain why her condition suddenly improved, so it is surely a miracle." Or yet again, "The stigmata of this person are inexplicable and can only represent a true miracle."

I use some basic principles. One is the old maxim that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof"--that... more »

2013-05-14 14:04:56 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

The ecosystem inside you:

Over the past decade, researchers have discovered that the human body hosts 100 trillion mostly benign bacteria, which help digest food, program the immune system, prevent infection, and even influence mood and behavior.

The bacteria living on and in us make up our "*microbiome*": an ecosystem that plays a role, scientists believe, in many conditions that genes and environmental factors alone can't explain, including obesity, autism, depression, asthma, and even cancer..

Read more: http://goo.gl/iEfjY

[Article via: +The Week / +UCSF | Photo via: AP Photo/NIAID, Agriculture Department]

2013-05-13 21:59:33 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

Don't miss Hadfield's version of Bowie's Space Oddity, which he recorded on board the ISS: Space Oddity

#scienceeveryday  

2013-05-13 19:40:13 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 6 +1s)

In Firefly: The Game, players captain their own Firefly-class transport ship, traveling the ‘Verse with a handpicked crew of fighters, mechanics and other travelers. As a captain desperate for work, players are compelled to take on any job -- so long as it pays. Double-dealing employers, heavy-handed Alliance patrols and marauding Reavers are all in a day’s work for a ship’s captain at the edge of the ‘Verse. Firefly: The Game is a high-end thematic tabletop boardgame from Gale Force Nine (GF9). It will be the first in a series of tabletop hobby boardgames and miniatures games from GF9 set in the Firefly Universe.

“Building on the success of Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, we're thrilled to be making a game that evokes the heart and themes of Firefly - the best ‘gorram’ show in the 'Verse.” said John Kovaleski, CEO of Gale Force Nine, “With challenging gameplay, fantastic p... more »

2013-05-13 17:58:35 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

#scienceeveryday  

2013-05-13 17:57:52 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

#scienceeveryday  

2013-05-13 17:57:10 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

Here's the original entire quote, plus more:
Feynman on Scientific Method.

#scienceeveryday  

2013-05-13 01:57:55 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

The Doctor and Clara reflect on how little they know about each other. Prequel (without spoilers) to the season finale next week.

#doctorwho #whovians   

2013-05-12 21:47:41 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World. Space Oddity

2013-05-12 18:15:32 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

Quick knowledge

An Interesting History of 1752.
Here is an interesting historical fact. Just have a look at the calendar for the month of September 1752.
Go to Google type "September 1752 calendar" & see for yourself.
You will notice, 11 days are simply missing from the month.
Here's the explanation: This was the month during which England shifted from the Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar.
A Julian year was 11 days longer than a Gregorian year. So, the King of England ordered 11 days to be wiped off the face of that particular month.
So, the workers worked for 11 days less that month, but got paid for the whole month. That's how the concept of "paid leave" was born. Hail the King!!!
In the Roman Julian Calendar, April used to be the first month of the year; but the Gregorian Calendar observed January... more »

2013-05-12 18:13:44 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Quick knowledge

An Interesting History of 1752.
Here is an interesting historical fact. Just have a look at the calendar for the month of September 1752.
Go to Google type "September 1752 calendar" & see for yourself.
You will notice, 11 days are simply missing from the month.
Here's the explanation: This was the month during which England shifted from the Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar.
A Julian year was 11 days longer than a Gregorian year. So, the King of England ordered 11 days to be wiped off the face of that particular month.
So, the workers worked for 11 days less that month, but got paid for the whole month. That's how the concept of "paid leave" was born. Hail the King!!!
In the Roman Julian Calendar, April used to be the first month of the year; but the Gregorian Calendar observed January... more »

2013-05-12 16:59:46 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 4 +1s)

Happy Right Triangle Day! Today we celebrate a favorite geometric object: the 5-12-13 right triangle. The sides of this triangle satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem. But this particular right triangle, the 5-12-13 triangle, fits together perfectly with the 9-12-15 right triangle to make the 13-14-15 triangle! And the 13-14-15 triangle is special in its own right: it is a Heronian triangle, a triangle with rational side lengths and rational area. In fact, this triangle has integer side lengths and integer area, making it especially awesome!

source: http://mrhonner.com/2013/05/12/51213-happy-right-triangle-day/

#geekhumor #math #mathematics    

2013-05-13 01:49:17 (1 comments, 7 reshares, 6 +1s)

Happy Right Triangle Day! Today we celebrate a favorite geometric object: the 5-12-13 right triangle. The sides of this triangle satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem. But this particular right triangle, the 5-12-13 triangle, fits together perfectly with the 9-12-15 right triangle to make the 13-14-15 triangle! And the 13-14-15 triangle is special in its own right: it is a Heronian triangle, a triangle with rational side lengths and rational area. In fact, this triangle has integer side lengths and integer area, making it especially awesome!

Oh and that Heronian triangle is also an equable triangle as well, as the perimeter of 13,14,15 adds up to its area of 42.

source: http://mrhonner.com/2013/05/12/51213-happy-right-triangle-day/

#geekhumor #math #mathematics    

2013-05-10 17:42:55 (3 comments, 5 reshares, 14 +1s)

This week is actually the official "Clitoris Awareness Week", and here's the perfect post to bring this beautiful week to a wonderful climax!

In his latest project, Hysterical Literature, photographer Clayton Cubitt takes a beautiful woman, places her at a table in front of a black backdrop and gets her to read from her favorite book while an unseen accomplice below the table attempts to bring the woman to orgasm with a vibrator. The results are an intimate, sexy experience that captures a beauty rarely found in most modern pornography.

This is a collection of the first five videos. Two more have since been released:
Hysterical Literature: Session Seven: Amanda (Official)
Hysterical Literature: Session Six: Solé (Official)

This is a serious attempt at art, but also has to fall under #geekhumor  

2013-05-10 08:06:10 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Squishy eclipse!

This is quite simply one of the coolest and weirdest eclipse pix I've ever seen: today's annular eclipse at sunset, with atmospheric distortion squashing the Sun!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/05/09/setting_eclipse_annular_eclipse_at_sunset_squashes_the_sun.html

Pic by Geoff Sims: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondBeneath/posts/136825526506532

#SolarEclipse  

2013-05-10 07:31:02 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about Pascal's Triangle, here comes another fascinating factoid!

As you know, if you take the sum of each row of Pascal's Triangle, the ratio of successive sums is always 2.

But if you take the product of each row of Pascal's Triangle instead of the sum, then the ratio of successive products grows each time by a factor approaching e, in the limit.  Here's the proof:

cut-the-knot.org/arithmetic/algebra/HarlanBrothers.shtml

2013-05-09 18:53:15 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 13 +1s)

Great article with references to several other good articles on the subject.

A recent New Yorker piece describes a followup to Brochet's 2001 study, wherein he served wine experts a run-of-the-mill Bordeaux in two different bottles: 

One bottle bore the label of a fancy grand cru, the other of an ordinary vin de table. Although they were being served the exact same wine, the experts gave the bottles nearly opposite descriptions. The grand cru was summarized as being “agreeable,” “woody,” “complex,” “balanced,” and “rounded,” while the most popular adjectives for the vin de table included “weak,” “short,” “light,” “flat,” and “faulty.”

Here's Joe Power, editor of the popular Another Wine Blog, in a post titled "Wine Reviews are Bullshit!":

Today, with apologies to messieurs Penn and Teller, I amgoing to stand up and shout, “Wine revie... more »

2013-05-09 01:19:16 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

A spectacular "ring of fire" solar eclipse will be visible from northern Australia Friday morning local time (May 10), the second to grace the region in less than six months. http://bit.ly/18u07bf

This image depicts the annular eclipse as it will appear from Cooktown, Queensland, Australia on the morning of May 10, 2013 at 8:49 a.m. local time.

2013-05-09 01:09:43 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

Good heavens. Two of my favorite foods of all time, chocolate and avocado, and I've never thought of combining them before. A friend of mine just posted this on Facebook and said she tried it and it was delicious. I'll have to experiment myself.

Ingredients (1 cup)
1 ripe avocado
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt
¼ cup water (or more if needed)

Instructions:
Process everything in a food processor or blender. Add water as needed until smooth.

Variations:
If you don’t like the cinnamon taste do not add it. Or, instead of cinnamon add a drop of mint extract. Or add a pinch of cayenne for some heat! Add fruit to make a delicious parfait.

#vegan #vegetarian   

2013-05-08 21:22:29 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Happy Fibonacci Day!

Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [1 of 3]
Doodling in Math Class: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [2 of 3]
Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [Part 3 of 3]

2013-05-08 21:19:54 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Happy Fibonacci Day!

2013-05-08 21:17:51 (2 comments, 35 reshares, 22 +1s)

Happy Fibonacci Day!

2013-05-08 21:16:51 (1 comments, 7 reshares, 18 +1s)

#geekhumor  

2013-05-08 14:47:20 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Best. Car. Ad. Ever. Ok, it didn't make me want to own the car, but it definitely made me want to see the new Star Trek film....

What happens when old school goes head to head with new school in a battle of speed and wits? Leonard Nimoy takes on newbie Zachary Quinto and his all-new hi-tech shuttlecraft.

Oh, and in case you missed the Kirk & the Gorn ad, here it is too:
https://plus.google.com/104408971224491390678/posts/fwt1Gz8AhLH

#geekhumor #startrek   

2013-05-08 14:46:18 (6 comments, 30 reshares, 68 +1s)

With Star Trek Into Darkness coming out next week, we thought we'd lay Into JJ Abrams' Original... So put your phasers on laugh and boldly go to where no Trekkie has gone before: a cool Star Trek movie.

#startrek #geekhumor  

2013-05-07 21:31:58 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 3 +1s)

#geekhumor

2013-05-07 21:18:29 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

I loved this novel, and we've been waiting years for it to come out as a film. And Harrison Ford is in it. Awesome.

See also this video on how the film differs from the book:
Ender's Game Trailer Spoilers and Story Preview!

#scifi  

2013-05-07 20:35:57 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Once you send in two photos, fill out the specifics and pay the (admittedly somewhat steep) $70, someone at one of 3D Systems' fulfillment centers will convert your image into a 3D model, import it into the company's software and then print it.

#startrek #geekhumor   

2013-05-07 20:14:32 (0 comments, 8 reshares, 7 +1s)

Best. Car. Ad. Ever. Ok, it didn't make me want to own the car, but it definitely made me want to see the new Star Trek film....

What happens when old school goes head to head with new school in a battle of speed and wits? Leonard Nimoy takes on newbie Zachary Quinto and his all-new hi-tech shuttlecraft.

Oh, and in case you missed the Kirk & the Gorn ad, here it is too:
https://plus.google.com/104408971224491390678/posts/fwt1Gz8AhLH

#geekhumor #startrek   

2013-05-06 20:11:57 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

This problem was shared in a math community here on Google+, and it was fun to solve. It took me about 10 minutes with a pencil and paper and only uses simple algebra. The problem is to state all possible pairs of solutions which are whole numbers for m and n. and yield an integer solution. See if you can figure it out. I'll post my proof later. It's easy to find a few trivial solutions right off the bat, but see if you can find every possible solution and explain why they are all the solutions.

#scienceeveryday #math #mathematics   

2013-05-06 18:34:37 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

#scienceeveryday #math #mathematics #geekhumor     

2013-05-06 06:55:34 (5 comments, 21 reshares, 33 +1s)

2013-05-05 20:16:17 (1 comments, 11 reshares, 32 +1s)

#geekhumor #whovians   

2013-05-05 20:02:24 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Popular this week in the Science on G+ Community
Here are the posts which got the most engagement over the last week in our ever-growing Science community. gplus.to/sciences

The Rose: Sunlit views of Saturn's north pole.
bit.ly/saturnrose via +annarita ruberto 

The youngest person in history to build a fusion reactor.
bit.ly/fusionkid via +Ben McGraw 

Hedy Lamarr, unrecognized female scientist.
bit.ly/femalescience via +Knut Torgersen 

Why is Facebook blue? The science of colors in Marketing.
bit.ly/logocolors

The best time to see Saturn in 2013.
bit.ly/saturnviews

When a volcano erupts underwater.
bit.ly/underwatervolcano via +Andrij Harasewych 

#ScienceSunday  

2013-05-05 20:01:26 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

This is just so infuriating.