Archive for December, 2007
The Year of the Social Network
Friday, December 28th, 20072007 was The Year of the Social Network. It might as well be a new marker somewhere on an astrological calendar.
Every year Google & other search engines publish a report of the most searched-for terms over the previous 365 days. These terms constitute the “buzz”–what’s really hot on cyberspace and therefore in the real world. […]
Anniversaries Approach for Doomed Eastern Flight 401
Thursday, December 27th, 2007December 29th will mark the 35th anniversary of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 in the Florida Everglades. The accident was considered the first accident involving a “jumbo jet”–a Lockheed L-1011. Of 176 on board, 101 were killed.
The accident was caused by pilot distraction. Pilot Robert Loft and copilot Bert Stockstill were circling […]
Aslan the Miracle Christmas Kitten
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007Aslan, age 4 weeks.
Found stiff and barely breathing.
A few prayers later (and some antibotics) Aslan is back to life, Christmas Eve 2007
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Haitian UFOs Back with a Bang
Thursday, December 20th, 2007They’re baaaack…
Suddenly the now-infamous Haitian UFOs that skyrocketed (no pun intended) on YouTube in August are in the public eye once more, with Yahoo reporting keywords relating to the Haitian and Dominican Republic videos are experiencing breakout popularity in their search engine.
Will this once again ignite the debate: are these a really good animation, some […]
Nano-Bible or Tribbles? You Decide.
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007Let’s examine this story about Israeli scientists who’ve just managed to fit the entire Hebrew Bible on a surface smaller than a pinhead.
I have nothing against the Bible, in any of its incarnations. But this entire idea presents a cornucopia of puzzling questions. Did you find yourself asking the following as you read those […]
Turning the Holidays Upside Down
Monday, December 17th, 2007Photograph by Mary Howell, winner of our Best Christmas Tree contest.
This unusual upside-down tree is unusual, but historically accurate! Before we adopted the tradition of decorating upright trees, upside-down trees hung from ceilings were the standard Christmas tree style. You can learn more about it at this piece on Step in the Ring.
From all of […]
A Mask of Flesh: Face Transplants a Reality
Saturday, December 15th, 2007A new era of plastic surgery begins: the world’s first face transplant has been officially declared successful.
Granted, Isabelle Dinoire (who received the partial face transplant after having her nose, cheeks, and mouth mauled by her dog) had a good reason to play guinea pig. Doctors in France performed the operation 18 months ago and now […]