Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Apparently today is the Neutron's 80th birthday.

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:42:26 +0100

It’s also Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin’s birthday (Kaylee and Inara from Firefly). It’d be really awesome to share your birthday with something that’s all around the universe.

schizboot: videogamenostalgia: 72pins: “Many of our previously...

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:41:12 +0100

schizboot:

videogamenostalgia:

72pins: “Many of our previously sold out designs are currently available though in limited numbers (1-3 of each). Grab them while you can!”

;___; It’s so beautiful…

The Physicist's Bill of Rights

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:28:08 +0100

The Physicist's Bill of Rights:

We hold these postulates to be intuitively obvious, that all physicists are born equal, to a first approximation, and are endowed by their creator with certain discrete privileges, among them a mean rest life, n degrees of freedom, and the following rights which are invariant under all linear transformations:

To approximate all problems to ideal cases.

To use order of magnitude calculations whenever deemed necessary (i.e. whenever one can get away with it).

To use the rigorous method of “squinting” for solving problems more complex than the addition of positive real integers.

To dismiss all functions which diverge as “nasty” and “unphysical.”

To invoke the uncertainty principle when confronted by confused mathematicians, chemists, engineers, psychologists, dramatists, und andere schweinhund.

When pressed by non-physicists for an explanation of (4) to mumble in a sneering tone of voice something about physically naive mathematicians.

To equate two sides of an equation which are dimensionally inconsistent, with a suitable comment to the effect of, “Well, we are interested in the order of magnitude anyway.”

To invent fictitious forces to delude the general public.

To justify shaky reasoning on the basis that it gives the right answer.

To cleverly choose convenient initial conditions, using the principle of general triviality.

To use plausible arguments in place of proofs, and thenceforth refer to these arguments as proofs.

To take on faith any principle which seems right but cannot be proved.

Number 2 is my favourite of these 1.2 x 10² rules.

Over the last 5 hours I've gone from:

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:58:00 +0100

“Laptop’s running hot, let’s clean it.”

“Laptop’s broken, panic!”

“Laptop’s working again. The computer gods have smiled upon me”.

So there’s that.

peetas: imagine if there was a chemistry fandom and people shipped elements with other elements and...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:30:21 +0100

peetas:

imagine if there was a chemistry fandom and people shipped elements with other elements and then other people were like NO THAT ONLY FORMS A COVALENT BOND IONIC BONDS ARE BETTER and they have ship wars over sodium chloride and sodium carbonate

barackfuckingobama: dead-logic: I just read this very...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:22:56 +0100

barackfuckingobama:

dead-logic:

I just read this very interesting article:

Why Loki Won in the Avengers.

Warning: spoilers. Make sure you’ve seen the movie first before you read this.

I THOUGHT ALL OF THIS BUT DIDNT KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT

Bowtie Friday? Bowtie Friday. Also just finished my M2 exam,...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:13:00 +0100

Bowtie Friday? Bowtie Friday. Also just finished my M2 exam, which went well.

…I am 18 years old. I should not have bags under my eyes.

Photo

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:19:47 +0100

i’m sorry but can we please just appreciate this?

Thu, 31 May 2012 13:41:18 +0100

i’m sorry but can we please just appreciate this?

tacgnol: avatargrimes: shesmelledlikecherries: YOU DON’T...

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:52:57 +0100

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

tacgnol:

avatargrimes:

shesmelledlikecherries:

YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW BAD I WANT THIS!

oh god.

I want this.

Very clever. :D

sciencecenter: New study is a further testament to the...

Tue, 29 May 2012 21:16:22 +0100

sciencecenter:

New study is a further testament to the hardiness of the water bear

The water bear is the cockroach of microbes; they nearly always pull through when researchers throw them into Armageddon-like conditions. Now it seems that even their unborn young have unprecedented endurance.

The microscopic animals called water bears already have quite a number of accomplishments under their belts. In experiments, they’ve survived the vacuum of space, large doses of radiation, extreme heat, extreme cold, and extreme pressure, giving scientists cause to believe that the little guys could potentially live on other planets and weather long journeys across space…

But to pull this off, they’d have to reproduce. Scientists have now exposed water bear eggs to three of these stressors—extreme temperature, vacuum, and a dose of radiation so strong that exposure to even a fraction of it would kill a human in days. They found that provided the eggs are given a chance to dehydrate themselves and go dormant, surprising numbers that survive: more than 70% of eggs for the temperature test, and more than 50% for the radiation test, while vacuum-exposed eggs hatched at similar rates as control eggs.

(Image credit)

Photo

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:45:04 +0100

contemplatingstardust: er day. Every day is a fine day for...

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:43:37 +0100

contemplatingstardust:

er day.

Every day is a fine day for science.

Photo

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:41:45 +0100

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:41:06 +0100

Just realised that Sarah Bellum (the mayor's assistant in Powerpuff Girls) is a play on the word Cerebellum.

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:40:01 +0100

If only I was as motivated to do revision as I am to watch old cartoons.

e-myself-and-pi: temporallyfixed: Pokemon Ruby &...

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:56:32 +0100

e-myself-and-pi:

temporallyfixed:

Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire; Released November 21, 2002 in Japan.

Fuck. I’m so old.

DA FUQ

witvisor: Worth the risks Those highly intelligent,...

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:02:38 +0100

witvisor:

Worth the risks

Those highly intelligent, imaginative students are the worst.

Photo

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:15:58 +0100

moves-like-jaeger: rainbowsaola: I WANT TO PLAY I WANT TO...

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:23:37 +0100

moves-like-jaeger:

rainbowsaola:

I WANT TO PLAY

I WANT TO PLAY THIS.