The Pale Blue Dot
Leave it to Carl Sagan to illuminate the optimistic side of the argument I made a couple posts ago, regarding our species. There is always hope — even if it lies beyond the horizons of our imagination.
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Space Chimp
I half expected this short film to turn into a bizarro version of Planet of the Apes. I wanted this aged space chimp to land on an irradiated Earth, thousands of years after his departure (due to the temporal demands of general relativity) and scream to the heavens in chimp language, “You blew it all up, you bastards!”
Peruvians Build Pretend Glaciers
In what sounds like a scheme concocted by an ambitious 5-year old, a group in Peru has begun painting all of the nearby mountain ranges white in the hopes of re-spawning glaciers.
The Tea Baggers Riseth (Mep Report #121)
The Greatest American Five Fingers, The Teabag Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree for Rand Paul, We Like Ice Cream Because It’s ICE CREAM!, What if We Just Lightly Sear Them?, Lakers Fail at Immigration, Invading Arizona for Fun, Profit, and Golf Courses, Greg Roots For the Insurance Company to Win the Bet, and the BuddhaFather.
The Sun Grows Angry
I’m tired of all these man-made disasters. Can’t we endure some kind of catastrophe that isn’t of our own creation? Nothing brings human beings together like some good old nature’s wrath. Fortunately, the sun has been preparing for such an event for eleven years now, and is about to unleash hell on all of our iPhones and Twitter account-carrying servers.
Toxoplasmosis Saps Free Will
Fascinating video in which Neurobiologist Dr. Robert Sapolsky explains the origins and effects of the parasite which causes Toxoplasmosis. Formerly discussed in Mep Report 62, Toxoplasmosis is the highly common stomach parasite that was believed to be asymptomatic in humans until it was discovered that it subtly changes people’s behavior, especially towards their willingness to put themselves at risk.
The Call to Mars
While I’m always susceptible to any video that has been auto-tuned, this one, in particular, strikes a chord.
It seems inevitable that our species’ faculties of curiosity and a sense of manifest destiny will lead us to settle off of Earth eventually. However, the longer we wait to plant the seed of humanity elsewhere, the longer we will have all of our eggs in one basket. And that basket is an increasingly dangerous one to linger in…
The Tiger
Yesterday I posted an infantile dancing man/tiger hybrid that was immediately redacted from the internet. In its place I give you an incredibly vivid, tiger-themed sci-fi music video. Ah, the Yin and Yang of the Internets.
Loving the Stick and Ignoring the Carrot
Pardon the lack of activity recently. I’m currently adjusting to a sub-human sleep schedule as I try to adjust to the demands of “new media.” Speaking of how we prioritize things and motivate ourselves, here’s a neat piece on some old economist-derived misconceptions.
The Shape of Sound
Looking at this video, I feel like Richarrd Dreyfus from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I feel the need to poke this video with a salad fork and say, “This means something. This is important.”