On the show this week:
- Front Page
- BigNewsFoot
- Hearts and Minds
- Future Artificial Intelligence Life (FAIL)
- Extras
CQ: Should we avoid tragedy and large impacting events at all costs, or should we accept the changing nature of the universe, and let some things be beyond our control?
Sadly, we bid goodbye to the voicemail this month. It wasn’t called in a while, and had really been just me calling it every month. I may get another one, but for now, we’ll rely on other methods (like email).
Full list of 42 articles after the jump!
- Front Page:
- Good to have these things clarified..: Canadian Press – Zombies not welcome in Canada: John Baird
- It’s 30 seconds of pure WTF.: Orange – Dance craze is the new Gangnam Style
- Those who live in glass planets shouldn’t throw stones!: BBC – Russian meteorite strike highlights asteroid danger
- Finally: a sky boom phenomenon that we actually can see (and hear)!: BBC – Meteor strike injures hundreds in central Russia
- Short answer: no. Long answer? Hell no!: BBC – Asteroid, Russian meteor: Can we know about every space rock?
- Thankfully, there are still aliens with bad aim..: BBC – Asteroid 2012 DA14 in record-breaking Earth pass
- BigNewsFoot:
- The long-awaited publication for which we should probably have been waited a little longer..: Bigfoot Evidence – Breaking: Ketchum Bigfoot DNA Paper Previewed in DeNovo Scientific Journal, Embargoed Til 2/13 (Updated #3: full text available again)
- Some people consider this to be a phenomenal discovery. Don’t be fooled by the positive article title: these guys *aren’t* among them!: Ars Technica – Bigfoot genome paper “conclusively proves” that Sasquatch is real
- More criticism of the the paper..: Doubtful News – Ketchum Bigfoot DNA paper released: Problems with questionable publication (Updated)
- (EXTRA) We have a strange tendancy to either villify or celebrate those who are different — sometimes both during a lifetime (and after).: The Guardian – Mexican ‘ape woman’ buried 150 years after her death
- If you are a fan of cryptids, you might just want these on your mantelpiece..: Kickstarter – LEGENDARY MONSTERS: Toys of Urban Legend and Folklore
- When does this transform from consumer protection to the curtailing of human rights?: The UK Telegraph/AP – Sorcery crackdown: Chechnya leader orders hard line on wizards
- (EXTRA) Imagine the surprise for the first sea slug to do this!: BBC – Sea slug’s ‘disposable penis’ surprises
- “Message for you sir!”: The UK Mirror – A sign from above? Lightning strikes Vatican hours after Pope’s shock resignation
- (EXTRA) The pope steps down, and people go a bit crazy..: Perth Now/AAP – Ear-biting priest Henry Byrne, 81, has dementia – fined $1000
- Scary: raining spiders. Scarier: they are ” known for congregating in massive colonies”. Scariest: “these arachnids work in groups”.: Metro – Is it raining spiders? Brazilian town gets creepy shock
- (EXTRA) Let the robotic turtle overlords begin the takeover!: The UK Telegraph – Turtle gets artificial legs
- Hearts and Minds:
- The problem with placing so much emphasis on what a historical figure did or did not say is: we can probably say something more profound now anyway (and we generally interpret it that way anyway..).: Boing Boing – What Ockham really said
- The greatest flaw of the scientific method is “where do hypothesis come from?”. Or: “where do I look now?”.: io9 – How the Streetlight Effect keeps scientists in the dark
- Lousy lights, or overly simplistic explanation?: io9 – The people who can turn streetlights off just by walking by
- Is this a dark side to extreme rationality? Or is it rational?: The Daily Grail – James Randi: Let Survival of the Fittest “Act Itself Out” On Those With Low IQ and “Mental Aberrations”
- Not a challenge; after all, Einstein couldn’t text.: The UK Telegraph – Essex teenager has higher IQ than Einstein
- This sounds a lot like another question people keep asking: “Are there any new original songs out there?” (Hint: yes!): Ars Technica – Is scientific genius a thing of the past?
- And what about the men who end up with psycho dates?: Metro – Women do not need to fear bad first dates anymore thanks to new insurance plan
- It used to be hard enough to divide your friends..: New Scientist – How Facebook makes breaking up hard to do
- (EXTRA) Love is forever. Kissing, however, has a time limit..: Orange – Pensioners’ bid for world’s longest snog
- (EXTRA) Because everyone likes to laugh at awful, incompetent servuce — at least if they knew it was *supposed* to be that way..: Metro – Fawlty Towers experience at Dorset B&B proving a surprise hit
- (EXTRA) Something tells me the discount isn’t going to be enough of an incentive.: Metro – Restaurant gives family discount for ‘well behaved kids’
- (EXTRA) Essentially: it’s like going to an outdoor hockey game, but there’s no game. And it lasts for a day.: Metro – Frozen bums and minds in bizarre pole-sitting challenge in Sweden
- Future Artificial Intelligence Life (FAIL):
- (EXTRA) It won’t “crash”, it will simply “refuse to comply”..: New Scientist – The computer that never crashes
- (EXTRA) I just hope it doesn’t run Vista..: New Scientist – Microsoft brings solar Wi-Fi to rural Kenya
- UFOs are easy to fake, because we don’t even know what they are.: Wired – The UFO Is Fake in Animator’s YouTube Prank – But So Is Everything Else
- (EXTRA) As I said before: space is big, and what we can look at all at once is small.: Phenomenica/ANI – No aliens found in SETI’s search
- (EXTRA) So the aliens might first encounter humanity as the combination of good humour, haggis, deep-fried Mars bars and bagpipes? Well, if they stick around, they’ll be ready for anything!: STV – Aliens would receive a ‘warm and peaceful’ welcome from Glasgow
- (EXTRA) A new entry in the Kickstarter war of the Force!: Kickstarter – X-Wing Clone
- (EXTRA) Update: it’s stalling! Way to go, Bothans!: Kickstarter – Kickstarter Open Source Death Star
- (EXTRA) Update: they must be going underground..: Kickstarter – Crowdfunding Rebel Alliance X-Wing Squadron
- Extras:
- (EXTRA) Coming next: the White Collar Swindler set!: Orange – Toy makers defend bank robbery game
- (EXTRA) It’s rather subjectively rude, too.: Orange – The atlas of ‘vaguely rude place names’
- (EXTRA) Just about anything in excess will kill you, by the way..: Sydney Morning Herald – Too much Coca-Cola killed mother: coroner
- (EXTRA) And by “proof”, they mean.. not much at all.: The UK Daily Mail – Ghostbusters say decommissioned U.S. Navy ship is haunted… and they have ‘proof’
- (EXTRA) By “demon”, they probably mean “creepy prankster”. (I hope.): The Jamaica Star – Demon attacks school – Prayer team called in for possessed student
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