Backhanded compliment?
A LIZARD that lived in prehistoric times apparently had a smile very like that of President Barack Obama. How they work these things out is not clear, but a lizard fossil found in eastern Montana has been named Obamadon Gracilis after the US president.
Scientists at Yale combined the Latin "Obamadon" - for Obama's teeth - and "gracilis", meaning slender, to name the toothy lizard.
"The lizard has these very tall, straight teeth and Obama has these tall, straight incisors and a great smile,'' said palaentologist Nick Longrich.
They decided to wait until after the US election to name the dinosaur. "It would look like we were kicking him when he's down if he lost and we then named this extinct lizard after him."
Hmmm. They've still called him a toothy lizard. If I were Obama I'd take a closer look at these Yale palaentologists. They could have been infiltrated by the Tea Party.
Zombie science
WHAT lies behind this obsession with zombies? From the horror comics they have crept into mainline book publishing – children's books especially – to an astonishing degree. Have they become a part of perceived reality?
In Britain a zombie freak has used access to information laws to demand of the local authority information as to what precautions have been taken against invasion by zombies from outer space.
Most of us, I'm sure – unless we believe in voodoo – know there's no such thing as a zombie, the undead corpse. Yet British physicists have secretly made a zombie film in the underground tunnels of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern – beneath the Swiss/French border – where the Higgs Boson, which is thought to give mass to the particles of the universe, was (perhaps) recently found.
The plot of the 80-minute Decay involves a serious mishap at the LHC and the scientists' attempt to escape from zombies created by exposure to the Higgs Boson.
The film was shot on borrowed cameras and edited on laptops. Blood has been simulated with golden syrup. Studio props were scavenged from rubbish bins. Yet it is expected to be a cult/nerd success.
Zombies? You'd expect the world's top scientists to be a little above that. It's probably a spoof though. Time must hang heavy when you're hunting for the Higgs Boson. Or maybe zombies sometimes just seem more real.
Age-old question
IF THOSE physicists at Cern are getting bored counting and measuring particles, why don't they address that age-old question of how many angels can balance on the point of a needle?
Then we might be getting somewhere.
Punchy politics
POLITICS in the Ukraine is robust. Scuffles broke out in parliament the other day as deputies from the different parties struggled to get access to the speaker's rostrum.
One fellow was hoisted shoulder-high by his supporters as they tried to force him onto the rostrum, and at one stage he seemed in danger of being debagged by people pulling at his clothing. It made great TV.
Looking on was world heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, leader of the Udar (Punch) party, recently elected to parliament. But he stayed out of the brawl.
Klitschko is known for his powerful punches and durable chin. With an 87.23 percent knockout rate, he holds the second best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history, after Rocky Marciano's 87.76 percent. He also has a PhD in sports science.
Clearly he has a promising future in Ukrainian democracy.
Fruitcake
AN E-MAIL comes this way:
"Dear Santa,
"I don't want much for Christmas, I just want the person reading this to be happy.
"Friends are the fruitcake of life - some nutty, some soaked in alcohol, some sweet - but mix them together and they're my friends.
"Love ya!
"Send this to all your fruitcakes."
Now why the heck did it come to me?
Silvio to run?
AUSTERITY or bunga-bunga? It seems to be in the balance whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again for prime minister of Italy, in spite of various legal problems including an accusation of having consorted with an under-age prostitute.
Austerity has failed, Berlusconi says. Maybe the Italians do need some more entertainment to cheer them up.
Tailpiece
DID YOU HEAR about the Irish vet? He tried to separate a Siamese cat.
Last word
To be or not to be. That's not really a question. - Jean-Luc Godard
No comments:
Post a Comment