h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Keep coming across things on the web which I think others here would enjoy/be interested in but that don;t really fit conversations or the like. So I'm gonna post there here as and when I find them.

To start with, made me laugh:

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080528

got any spare cash? A trip over to NY might be in order:

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=21644#intSaleID=21644

ooh, there's some books in there that would look good on my shelf. Unfortunately I don;t think i have temperature and humidity controlled bookcases. Oh well. Saves me £100k+ then !

and this is pretty cool too:
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

""It's the most profound change we have seen during the experiment. This was clearly something quite different for them, and it's outside what was normally considered the bounds of E. coli as a species, which makes it especially interesting," says Lenski"
does that make this observed speciation?

What can anyone tell me about 'Directed Evolution'?

not sure what you mean Ed? I mean I can tell you what it is, but then the name kinda gives the game away!

this makes you small
http://iacs5.ucsd.edu/~pbang/tpv.swf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Perspective_Vortex

spare cash!? pull the other one If i had money i'd want to know where it came from...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/16/religion.civilliberties

interesting, a priest having a bit of a go at the 'no religous overtones' rule for english civil partnership ceremonies, and then finding out that this ruling was at the request of the churches who basically want to keep god forthemselves. Didn't realise they'd done that when the rules came in.

Again, another shot in the foot for them I feel. Looking from the Church pov it could all be considered part of 'getting the message out' and quite a useful way of reaching non-believers. But no, their far more concerned over possible dilution of their powerbase.

>does that make this observed speciation?<

MMmm, not really.
What defines different species of bacteria is entirely different to what defines different species in complex multicellular lifeforms. It's speciation in the latter that is currently still unobserved.
I doubt this even is a case of speciation in bacterial terms either although I could be wrong.

ta Orcus!

on another note:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/20/transport.religion

blog bit about Jesus ads on the side of buses. I just like the bit

'it's possible that we can fund a much-needed atheist London bus ad with the slogan: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and get on with your life."'

almost worth doing Just to see how much squeeling occurred.

http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/exploration/phoenix_weather1.asp

weather reports from Mars. How many variations of 'Sunny', 'Dusty' and 'Sunny with Dust' can you get? (yes, I know, 6)

remember the Eskimos have a lot of words for snow...

Ha, that was just a weather report for Winnipeg, last December rebranded

just seen some bloke wandering round the uni with this t-shirt and though "gotta get one of them!"

http://www.carbolicsmokeball.com/catalog/516/Hated_by_the_Daily_Mail_t-shirt_(M)/

what about this one
http://www.carbolicsmokeball.com/catalog/526/Neighbourhood_Witch_t-shirt_(M)/

cool:

http://www.brainmysteries.com/Research/New_map_IDs_the_core_of_the_human_brain.asp

map of how your neurons connect in your brain - and identifies a network hub in the brain. (although haven't read the actual paper yet so may not live up to its billing!)

what does the handwriting of typographers look like?
http://www.themaninblue.com/articles/handwritten_typographers/

interesting in and of itself (well, *I* thought so!) but even more so as I now know there is a typeface called 'navelfluff'!

Feijoa looks pretty cool.

Marian Bantjes bit is interesting. Must look up more of her work. But I was interested in her 'multiple' handwriting styles. Hmm, might start a thread on that!

wonders what handwriting experts analyse the writings...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7512072.stm

"A hidden hoard of recordings made by the electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme has been revealed - including a dance track 20 years ahead of its time."

not that I'm really a major dance music fan or anything, but ideas ahead of their time and visionaries in all fields fascinate me.

Fascinating stuff! I listened to it all twice through.