"Fur Elise," not "Moonlight" Sonata. What the guy did was learned to play "Fur Elise" in reverse, and also say his dialogue in reverse (probably by spelling it out phonetically). The result, when the video & audio is run backward, is strange-sounding speech, "Fur Elise" going forward but sounding almost as though it's played on a harmonium (a sort of pump-organ) --- and of course all kinds of backward action from his friend. Interesting experiment! One person who posted a response on Flickr even supplied their "re-reversed" recording of the piece. "Fur Elise" is still pretty recognizable backward.
I read about this being in the development phases some time ago. I think it detects if the car is drifting or weaving, or it might even incorporate an "electronic eye" that "locks onto" the driver's pupils. If the pupils vanish for longer than the duration of a blink, or seem to roll up or toward/away from each other, it triggers the alarm.
Once I became throroughly exhausted while driving. As I approached the next rest area, I suddenly saw the cars ahead of me on the road appear to shift places abruptly, as though were watching a movie from which several consecutive frames of film had been edited out at random intervals. Later, I recall awaking safely in a parking-space at the rest area, but unable to recall entering the area or parking. Scary!
My work schedule is still overtaxing. But since I've lost weight, I find it easier to stay alert while driving.
I applaud his spirit, and his heroic efforts. It's sad that he has to live in such destitution. One thing really troubles me, though: He's considering driving a motorcycle out of the back of his truck while the truck is moving? As in the opposite direction of the one in which the truck is moving? I haven't seen this trick actually performed, so I could be wrong in my assumption, but wouldn't this turn into the last thing he ever did? Say the truck's traveling forward at a modest 40mph when he decides to deploy. Even if he could manage to accelerate the bike to 40mph before hitting the asphalt (highly unlikely), he's being carried backward already by the truck, so once he hit the ground it would be like involuntarily reaching a full stop even as he raced forward. If he were going below 40mph, he'd be flung backward; above 40mph, he'd go forward, but at his intended speed minus 40mph. In any event, I see him flying over the handlebars and wiping out, thus ending the Legend of Master Legend. Or at least costing him a leg and also paralyzing him for life.
Anyone out there with a better grasp on Newtonian physics or an appreciation for monster truck rallies who can set me straight on this?
Clever! I believe that the "oil lenses" in binoculars mentioned (briefly) in Frank Herbert's "Dune" were meant to work in a similar fashion --- perhaps the technology already existed in some form. But to bring it down to eyeglass-size at a reasonable cost is the real trick. Will they come with a second set of dials to adjust for astygmatism?
I think surrogates are making the best of a bad situation. There's nothing wrong with adoption/surrogacy (is that a word?); but I've seen a sharp decline in the number of women who see marriage as desirable. For some of us, parenthood is a desirable condition, just as for some it is something to avoid. Hopefully some sort of social change will occur that will cause people to be more open & honest with themselves (and thus make it easier for marriage-minded people to find each other instead of wasting time); until then, this may be the most effective means for some people to raise a family.
Wow! That's a lot of "unanswered" questions. Haven't these guys ever heard of David Feldman, and his series of "Imponderables" books? I know he answered the "dead cockroach" one.
I wish they'd numbered these. I know the answers, or at least prevailing theories, to quite a few. Here goes:
Squirrels - They're very light, have sharp, curved claws, flexible spines, nearly 360-degree vision and lightning reflexes. You'd be able to do stuff like that if you were built like a squirrel, too.
National anthems - The concept of national anthems is a European one. European rulers often "imposed" anthems on their colonies in other continents. I'm pretty sure that participation in international ceremonies (such as Olympic Games) may have put some pressure on other countries to come up with anthems; some directly recycled pre-existing music, others imitated it. In the effort to give it that "anthem" sound, much originality or cultural flavor was lost. Example: listen to Roumanian composer Georges Enesco's "Poeme Roumaine." Even before I read the liner notes, I could tell that it ended with the national anthem (no longer in use). Sometimes more "ethnic" tunes become "unofficial" national anthems, considered too "ethnic" for "mixed company."
Human mating season - As far as I know, only the females don't have a mating season. Sigh... But seriously, it may have to do with the way our brains develop; we function better when raised by Mom & Dad. Several other animals go into heat all year 'round, although it tends to be subdued in the wintertime. The animals' social structure has nothing to do with this, though, so it may just be the luck of the draw.
Peking to Beijing - "Chinese" is not a spoken language. China is divided into provinces, each with its own language. A common writing system was imposed on all the provinces long ago, along with the various family names; but the languages remain distinct. Mandarin is the most widely spoken one today. Beijing was always Beijing in Mandarin. "Peking" might have been a Cantonese, Szechuan, or even Japanese name for the city. As China opened up to the West in recent decades, the government found the American names for Chinese proper nouns terribly confusing or even insulting, and developed a system of transliterating Chinese into Roman characters called "Pinyin." The Pinyin spellings remain the same from province to province, but the pronunciation rules change depending on the province. So "Beijing" is pretty close to the way it's spoken in Mandarin. But if, for example, "Peking" comes from Hunan province, then "Beijing" would be pronounced more like "Peking" to someone from Hunan. Understand? I thought so.
Indoor tanning - I'd ask a cosmetic surgeon about the effects of UV rays on silicone. Your skin can't absorb all that radiation, and silicone doesn't last forever, either.
Sharks - Well-fed sharks will usually not attack. However, in the wild, the prey escapes about 9 times out of 10. Always assume that sharks near your boat are looking for something to eat, and stay out of the water unless you have a shark cage and really know what you're doing.
Early man's nails - As with most animals that sport claws, they'd get worn down just from frequent use. They also tended to be pretty long and thick. The presence of oils also strengthened them. (If you rub olive oil into your nails, they'll get very shiny and very strong!) They probably also got broken at times, and nail-biting was more a grooming technique than a nervous habit. No doubt some people figured out how to smooth those ends down by filing them on a smooth stone or clamshell.
Stone Age DNA - Define "normal!" Seriously, though. They would look like a Stone Age person. They probably looked a lot like us, though, because the Stone Age isn't as far back as you might think. You're probably thinking of a Neanderthal, which may have been a different hominid species. We can't tell yet if Neanderthals COULD have mated with Cro-Magnons ("modern" humans). Chances are, though, neither hominid species would have found the other attractive enough to give it a shot. DNA mutates over time, so a person with DNA identical to a Stone Age person's would have those physiological characteristics. However, if this was Cro-Magnon DNA, then the person would probably not have a hard time fitting in today. (We're not sure how Neanderthals thought, but they were certainly not stupid. However, their brains were different from ours.) A Stone Age Cro-Magnon would be just as capable as a modern human, and could learn to surf the web, surf the waves or shoot a bow-&-arrow just as we all can.
Assault in Ohio - Insufficient data. If the woman fell by accident, then it sounds like your brother jumped to the wrong conclusion. But if you omitted to tell us you pushed the woman, then... There's also the possibility that the woman fell on her own, but out of malice decided to accuse you. I hate when people do that. If that's the case, you need a very good detective on the case.
Burma's dictator - It's not just his medals that are full of B.S. He's a dictator, and as such is self-aggrandizing. (By the way, people like that turn up anywhere in the world.)
Middle East oil - Not all oil reserves are connected, and you need oxygen to fuel combustion anyway. You weren't planning on doing something rash, were you? But, no, you needn't worry about an errant missile blowing country-sized chunks off the map.
Personal coaches - A friend of mine coaches, and he was once a pro athlete until an injury ended that career. Most good coaches, too, can continue to coach an athlete with greater ability than they themselves ever had, since they can recognize that ability and direct their student accordingly. (I guess you could think of it almost as a jockey getting the best performance out of a race-horse.)
Presidential pardon - President Abraham Lincoln wrote official pardons for officers and enlisted men during the Civil War. However, the military is an extension of the executive branch of the Federal government. While I'm sure that a president can give a public gesture of pardon to a convicted civilian, I'm pretty sure that an official pardon would have to come from the governor of the state. Then again, the Federal government may intervene on a number of cases. If your case were to gain the interest of the president, I'm sure he or she could issue a pardon that could supersede what the governor might have to say.
Stomach - The stomach walls are pretty thick relative to its size, and it tends to retain its shape regardless of how full it is. Organs may press on it, but not very much (abnormal growths notwithstanding). Stomachs can become over-full, though, and can shrink if one cuts back on eating for long enough. The same applies to the lungs, which look more like sponges on the inside than bags.
Black holes in Bermuda Triangle - Black holes form when a super-massive star (bigger than our own sun) collapses at the end of its life. The resulting object is called a "singularity" and is incredibly dense. This density creates a gravitational field so powerful that light can't even reflect off of its surface. It can't swallow EVERYTHING around it, but it would be inescapable. (It even distorts time!) The Bermuda Triangle seems to be the site of some unusual geological activity that affects magnetism, climate, weather and ocean currents in that region. In the past, some ships and planes were lost there (and in plenty of other spots in the world). But it's not a black hole. Besides, even small airplanes routinely fly through it without incident. If you take a commercial flight through the Triangle, and the plane seems to hit unusual turbulence, it's usually the pilots havin' some fun with you.
Shirt - Someone in the garment industry.
Panda names - In China, to double a person's name is a sign of affection. It's sort of the diminutive form. Ling the woman was probably Ling-Ling when she was a cute little girl. Pandas are always regarded as children, so their names remain doubled and therefore "cute."
Human on fire - Yikes! Most people on fire go into shock or suffocate within about 10 seconds if they're conscious. Chances are if they were in a car that crashed badly enough to become ENGULFED in flames, they were knocked (mercifully) unconscious. As for burning to death, that can take much longer --- perhaps a minute or so. One can be fatally burned in less time, but could linger for days before succumbing. One man aboard the Hindenburg when it burned up actually walked away from the wreckage and asked for help. All his clothes and skin were burned away, and he was all exposed, roasted muscle! Apparently, once his nerve endings were gone, it didn't hurt so much. He died an hour or so later.
Anna, I hope you've learned by now that the Large Hadron Collider isn't going to destroy the Earth. (Besides, since black holes also distort time, if we were to be swallowed by one, we'd not even notice.) I also hope that by now you've learned to not never use no double-negatives.
Wow! A lot o' rushing to judgement here, and where it wasn't called for.
As a Latin scholar, I'm well aware that "foetus" is Latin for "baby." As one who is an armchair scientist, I accept that the term "foetus" is currently used to refer to babies that have passed the embryonic stage and achieved the basic shape they'll have upon birth, but haven't been born yet. Whether a person refers to a "pre-born" baby as a "foetus" or not does not reflect ignorance of the term's etymological roots, nor does it mean the person sees said foetus as somehow less of a person.
Foetuses are cute & precious, but, like internal organs, are ordinarily hidden out-of-sight. Despite my own scientific curiosity and fascination with the workings of the body, if I were to see a real foetus out-of-context, it would be as unsettling as finding a lung on the living-room floor. There's something surreal about using a plastic foetus as a Christmas tree ornament. I can appreciate it if the decorator is an artist doing a sort-of Dada-ist take on Christmas trees; from anyone else, though, it comes across as a didactic political agenda, and would seem in poor taste even if I agree with the person's stand on the issue.
Whew! Anyway, I found a few of these little plastic foetoids while helping clean up my ex-fiancee's house after her parents passed away. Nobody seems to know where her Mom had acquired them.
Ironically, at 16 2/3 rpm the sound quality becomes so poor that it could hardly be called "hi-fi"! My Mom had a phonograph with an 8 rpm setting on it; this was limited to Talking Book records (Free Matter for the Blind & Handicapped) and not used for music. I guess the fact that the music recordings sounded not very good was harder to notice over the noise of the car as one drove.
Oh, and everyone wore "driving gloves" if they were in a car ad in those days.
$15 billion for Bank of America? Those crooks raised our interest rate and the minimum payment due so we couldn't pay it, turning a $7,000 outstanding debt from business start-up costs (Which we were paying back at the rate of $1,000 a month already) into a $39,000 "debt" that cost us our credit cards, destroyed our credit ratings and crippled our business! BoA must die.
Of course he'll be the only kid stuck with that name. No sane person would give their child that name. On top of that, they're still promoting the divisive (and scientifically groundless) concept of "race" and making it a part of their children's upbringing. Yeah, they may find some like-minded people, but, boy are they all going to be viewed as bigoted relics of an embarrassing chapter of human history in a couple of decades. (Well, I already see them as such. I'm sure more people will do so in time.)
I love how it appears to be emerging from a ruffly white lace sleeve. Very Victorian, as if it were the zombiefied remains of a frail young girl who wasted away from consumption.
About time! I loved the computer animation of the Antikythera Mechanism that was posted here (or on BoingBoing) a few months back, and thought it would be great if someone actually were to build a working replica. Are there any plans to release a model kit? Or even schematics for the DIY-types?
Once I became throroughly exhausted while driving. As I approached the next rest area, I suddenly saw the cars ahead of me on the road appear to shift places abruptly, as though were watching a movie from which several consecutive frames of film had been edited out at random intervals. Later, I recall awaking safely in a parking-space at the rest area, but unable to recall entering the area or parking. Scary!
My work schedule is still overtaxing. But since I've lost weight, I find it easier to stay alert while driving.
Anyone out there with a better grasp on Newtonian physics or an appreciation for monster truck rallies who can set me straight on this?
I wish they'd numbered these. I know the answers, or at least prevailing theories, to quite a few. Here goes:
Squirrels - They're very light, have sharp, curved claws, flexible spines, nearly 360-degree vision and lightning reflexes. You'd be able to do stuff like that if you were built like a squirrel, too.
National anthems - The concept of national anthems is a European one. European rulers often "imposed" anthems on their colonies in other continents. I'm pretty sure that participation in international ceremonies (such as Olympic Games) may have put some pressure on other countries to come up with anthems; some directly recycled pre-existing music, others imitated it. In the effort to give it that "anthem" sound, much originality or cultural flavor was lost. Example: listen to Roumanian composer Georges Enesco's "Poeme Roumaine." Even before I read the liner notes, I could tell that it ended with the national anthem (no longer in use). Sometimes more "ethnic" tunes become "unofficial" national anthems, considered too "ethnic" for "mixed company."
Human mating season - As far as I know, only the females don't have a mating season. Sigh... But seriously, it may have to do with the way our brains develop; we function better when raised by Mom & Dad. Several other animals go into heat all year 'round, although it tends to be subdued in the wintertime. The animals' social structure has nothing to do with this, though, so it may just be the luck of the draw.
Peking to Beijing - "Chinese" is not a spoken language. China is divided into provinces, each with its own language. A common writing system was imposed on all the provinces long ago, along with the various family names; but the languages remain distinct. Mandarin is the most widely spoken one today. Beijing was always Beijing in Mandarin. "Peking" might have been a Cantonese, Szechuan, or even Japanese name for the city. As China opened up to the West in recent decades, the government found the American names for Chinese proper nouns terribly confusing or even insulting, and developed a system of transliterating Chinese into Roman characters called "Pinyin." The Pinyin spellings remain the same from province to province, but the pronunciation rules change depending on the province. So "Beijing" is pretty close to the way it's spoken in Mandarin. But if, for example, "Peking" comes from Hunan province, then "Beijing" would be pronounced more like "Peking" to someone from Hunan. Understand? I thought so.
Indoor tanning - I'd ask a cosmetic surgeon about the effects of UV rays on silicone. Your skin can't absorb all that radiation, and silicone doesn't last forever, either.
Sharks - Well-fed sharks will usually not attack. However, in the wild, the prey escapes about 9 times out of 10. Always assume that sharks near your boat are looking for something to eat, and stay out of the water unless you have a shark cage and really know what you're doing.
Early man's nails - As with most animals that sport claws, they'd get worn down just from frequent use. They also tended to be pretty long and thick. The presence of oils also strengthened them. (If you rub olive oil into your nails, they'll get very shiny and very strong!) They probably also got broken at times, and nail-biting was more a grooming technique than a nervous habit. No doubt some people figured out how to smooth those ends down by filing them on a smooth stone or clamshell.
Stone Age DNA - Define "normal!" Seriously, though. They would look like a Stone Age person. They probably looked a lot like us, though, because the Stone Age isn't as far back as you might think. You're probably thinking of a Neanderthal, which may have been a different hominid species. We can't tell yet if Neanderthals COULD have mated with Cro-Magnons ("modern" humans). Chances are, though, neither hominid species would have found the other attractive enough to give it a shot. DNA mutates over time, so a person with DNA identical to a Stone Age person's would have those physiological characteristics. However, if this was Cro-Magnon DNA, then the person would probably not have a hard time fitting in today. (We're not sure how Neanderthals thought, but they were certainly not stupid. However, their brains were different from ours.) A Stone Age Cro-Magnon would be just as capable as a modern human, and could learn to surf the web, surf the waves or shoot a bow-&-arrow just as we all can.
Assault in Ohio - Insufficient data. If the woman fell by accident, then it sounds like your brother jumped to the wrong conclusion. But if you omitted to tell us you pushed the woman, then... There's also the possibility that the woman fell on her own, but out of malice decided to accuse you. I hate when people do that. If that's the case, you need a very good detective on the case.
Burma's dictator - It's not just his medals that are full of B.S. He's a dictator, and as such is self-aggrandizing. (By the way, people like that turn up anywhere in the world.)
Middle East oil - Not all oil reserves are connected, and you need oxygen to fuel combustion anyway. You weren't planning on doing something rash, were you? But, no, you needn't worry about an errant missile blowing country-sized chunks off the map.
Personal coaches - A friend of mine coaches, and he was once a pro athlete until an injury ended that career. Most good coaches, too, can continue to coach an athlete with greater ability than they themselves ever had, since they can recognize that ability and direct their student accordingly. (I guess you could think of it almost as a jockey getting the best performance out of a race-horse.)
Presidential pardon - President Abraham Lincoln wrote official pardons for officers and enlisted men during the Civil War. However, the military is an extension of the executive branch of the Federal government. While I'm sure that a president can give a public gesture of pardon to a convicted civilian, I'm pretty sure that an official pardon would have to come from the governor of the state. Then again, the Federal government may intervene on a number of cases. If your case were to gain the interest of the president, I'm sure he or she could issue a pardon that could supersede what the governor might have to say.
Stomach - The stomach walls are pretty thick relative to its size, and it tends to retain its shape regardless of how full it is. Organs may press on it, but not very much (abnormal growths notwithstanding). Stomachs can become over-full, though, and can shrink if one cuts back on eating for long enough. The same applies to the lungs, which look more like sponges on the inside than bags.
Black holes in Bermuda Triangle - Black holes form when a super-massive star (bigger than our own sun) collapses at the end of its life. The resulting object is called a "singularity" and is incredibly dense. This density creates a gravitational field so powerful that light can't even reflect off of its surface. It can't swallow EVERYTHING around it, but it would be inescapable. (It even distorts time!) The Bermuda Triangle seems to be the site of some unusual geological activity that affects magnetism, climate, weather and ocean currents in that region. In the past, some ships and planes were lost there (and in plenty of other spots in the world). But it's not a black hole. Besides, even small airplanes routinely fly through it without incident. If you take a commercial flight through the Triangle, and the plane seems to hit unusual turbulence, it's usually the pilots havin' some fun with you.
Shirt - Someone in the garment industry.
Panda names - In China, to double a person's name is a sign of affection. It's sort of the diminutive form. Ling the woman was probably Ling-Ling when she was a cute little girl. Pandas are always regarded as children, so their names remain doubled and therefore "cute."
Human on fire - Yikes! Most people on fire go into shock or suffocate within about 10 seconds if they're conscious. Chances are if they were in a car that crashed badly enough to become ENGULFED in flames, they were knocked (mercifully) unconscious. As for burning to death, that can take much longer --- perhaps a minute or so. One can be fatally burned in less time, but could linger for days before succumbing. One man aboard the Hindenburg when it burned up actually walked away from the wreckage and asked for help. All his clothes and skin were burned away, and he was all exposed, roasted muscle! Apparently, once his nerve endings were gone, it didn't hurt so much. He died an hour or so later.
Anna, I hope you've learned by now that the Large Hadron Collider isn't going to destroy the Earth. (Besides, since black holes also distort time, if we were to be swallowed by one, we'd not even notice.) I also hope that by now you've learned to not never use no double-negatives.
As a Latin scholar, I'm well aware that "foetus" is Latin for "baby." As one who is an armchair scientist, I accept that the term "foetus" is currently used to refer to babies that have passed the embryonic stage and achieved the basic shape they'll have upon birth, but haven't been born yet. Whether a person refers to a "pre-born" baby as a "foetus" or not does not reflect ignorance of the term's etymological roots, nor does it mean the person sees said foetus as somehow less of a person.
Foetuses are cute & precious, but, like internal organs, are ordinarily hidden out-of-sight. Despite my own scientific curiosity and fascination with the workings of the body, if I were to see a real foetus out-of-context, it would be as unsettling as finding a lung on the living-room floor. There's something surreal about using a plastic foetus as a Christmas tree ornament. I can appreciate it if the decorator is an artist doing a sort-of Dada-ist take on Christmas trees; from anyone else, though, it comes across as a didactic political agenda, and would seem in poor taste even if I agree with the person's stand on the issue.
Whew! Anyway, I found a few of these little plastic foetoids while helping clean up my ex-fiancee's house after her parents passed away. Nobody seems to know where her Mom had acquired them.
Oh, and everyone wore "driving gloves" if they were in a car ad in those days.
Even Hitler's own children changed their names.