Tag Archive for "interesting"
Geez! three TED posts in a row, gotta tell you about other stuff, but sorry got one more for now.
I got the chance to catch up on a few TED episodes. Couple of them were okay but eh, not exciting or anything. The one that did get in my head today was the one with Rick Smolan. Rick tells us about a very interesting story about a kid he befriends while working on a photography self-assigned project. I got hooked onto the story quickly and listened as the drama unfolded. The grandmother dies and Mr Smolan is “willed” this child.
Imagine getting a call saying that you have a person that has been “willed” to you. It was a great story to listen and watch. Natasha’s story is great to listen to and she even comes up to the stage at the end. At the end of the story, I thought of my own life and how it could have been different with just a few seemingly unimportant differences early on. It also reminds me of the DMB song, Dancing Nancies “Could I Have Been Anyone Other Than Me... ” Its a cool story; as far as I am concerned, two thumbs up. More TED comments.
This is pretty cool, and takes us one step closer to solving the puzzle of evolution, creation and otherwise the origin of everything we know as we know it.
Although it’s only one part of the answer, we have come another step closer to solving the question of how life originated. Two necessary molecular ingredients of DNA and RNA have been confirmed to have originated from outer space. They join the handful of amino acids we have discovered to have been delivered to Earth on the backs of asteroids and comets. Publishing in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the team of research scientists from the US and Europe have demonstrated that uracil and xanthine are present in fragments of the Murchison meteorite and are not terrestrial in origin. Studies of the Murchison meteorite, which crashed in Australia in 1969, are routinely criticized over concerns of Earthly contamination.
If the cost savings listed in the article are accurate then this is awesome. I mean, milk jugs are one of those things you would imagine it does not need to be redesigned.
A simple change to the design of the gallon milk jug, adopted by Wal-Mart and Costco, seems made for the times. The jugs are cheaper to ship and better for the environment, the milk is fresher when it arrives in stores, and it costs less.The new jugs have many advantages from their point of view, and Sam’s Club intends to roll them out broadly, making them more prevalent.
Continue Reading “The new milk jugs, saving the environment” »
Does this sounds like “open source” dining? I had this link and wanted to post it but for some reason I never actually did until now. I thought it would be interesting to visit one of these places.
At Terra Bite Lounge in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, most diners slip cash into a donation slot by the barista, while others just walk away without bothering to pay. “If I forget to bring enough money, I can just give more next time,” says real-estate consultant Tina Cooper, who stops at Terra Bite most mornings for what she claims is the best soy latte in the neighborhood.
So is this the first lawsuit to be brought to Google over Street View?
When Street View first came on the scene, the first thing I thought was: Who is going to be the first person to sue Google over a picture of their house. I thought that maybe Streetview would catch a revealing picture. Like if you hang your clothes out to dry and the Google guys caught a snapshot of your tidy whities. This case is not quite like this, I think the scenario I mention would be more entertaining than the actual case brought on. The couple suing Google, claims that the Google van drove into a “private” road and then took pictures of their house. This is the reason why they’re suing.
Continue Reading “Pittsburgh couple sues Google over Street View” »
In my last trip to Mexico, I thought this was very interesting. They have drive through pharmacies and stores, but not like you know them here in the US. When you’re down there, you don’t pull up to a window and order a few things and wait. They have drive through pharmacies where you actually drive into a small building and people assist you from both sides of the car. You tell them what you want and as you drive through it, they put it in bags then tally it up. You pay at the end and then your bags are delivered to your windows and you’re on your way
Continue Reading “Serious drive thru pharmacy.” »
After the other day when I found this beatboxing video, I looked up more info on Rahzel. And I found this odd video. It obviously is not just him beat boxing on the song, instead he’s just rapping. I think that some of his sound effects were also mixed in. I don’t really know what this video is all about. But anyway, as I was watching it, I saw a few scenes that were. . . how can describe it? Lets just say I was distracted by the video so much that I missed the whole point of the song. Or does it even have one? who knows. Continue Reading “Rahzel video bizarre” »
I thought this was kind of cool. It gets interesting about 1/2 way through. But you should watch the whole thing.
Wait, what?
I had to read the actual title twice because I immediately thought this was a mistake or something, I guess subconsciously I thought something was wrong with it. The real title of the article is “Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones” and It seems to me that there is something odd with it grammatically. But anyway, it got my attention which was good because this article reveals some interesting facts. I also wonder, how can it be, if we have that many more, wouldn’t we see them physically? It turns out, the answer is no because they are much smaller than our own cells.
So here’s some of the highlights.
- There are 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells.
- Babies ingest mouthfuls of bacteria during birthing and pick up plenty more from their mother’s skin and milk
- There are estimated to be more than 500 species living at any one time in an adult intestine
- Bacteria produce chemicals that help us harness energy and nutrients from our food
- Intestinal bacteria appear to keep our immune systems healthy
And these got me wondering other stuff about bacteria so here’s other tidbits I found.
- Bacteria grow anywhere on Earth.
- Bacteriology is the study of bacteria, which is itself a branch of microbiology.
- Example of bacteria caused diseases: cholera, syphilis, anthrax, leprosy, tuberculosis.
- Antibiotics fight against bacterial diseases.
- Consumables made with bacteria in the process: cheese, yogurt, beer amongst others.
- Research suggests that spices were used as anti-bacterial ingredients, and that their flavor-enhancing properties are more of a secondary benefit.
- These spices, to name a few and some of the most popular, are considered anti-bacterial; garlic, onion, allspice, hot peppers, ginger etc.
- The same research suggests why food in hot-climates is significantly richer in flavor than food from cold-climates. Think Thai vs Swedish. The connection comes as this: In warmer temperatures, people knew to use more spices to keep their food edible for longer periods of time. While in colder weather, this might not have been such a problem thus the need for spices was significantly less.
- This also suggests that spices were probably not used to “cover up” spoiled food, but to prevent it from becoming spoiled in the first place.
- This research I guess is known part of the antimicrobial hypothesis of the origin of spices.
- The top 30 anti-bacterial spices:
- Garlic, Onion, Allspice, Oregano, Thyme, Cinnamon,
- Tarragon, Cumin, Cloves, Lemon grass, Bay leaf
- Capsicums (peppers), Rosemary, Marjoram, Mustard
- Caraway, Mint, Sage, Fennel, Coriander, Dill, Nutmeg
- Basil, Parsley, Cardamom, Pepper, Ginger, Anise seed
- Celery seed and lemon/lime
- There are good germs and bad germs.
References:
- Bacteria, Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria
- December 6, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/1998/03/980305053307.htm
pretty damn cool IMO. slowly 3rd world countries are starting to get into technology. It is interesting to see what new uses, current or “old” technology serves when it reaches people that are generally not exposed to high-tech stuff.