tingilinde

the golden goose award

'about time!

snip

...

The private sector is averse to such high-risk basic research where the outcome is uncertain and the applications are unknown, Tsien explained. Historically, such research has fallen to the federal government—to taxpayers.

“Basic research is the foundation, and we never know when it’s going to come to fruition,” said Chalfie. “So it’s a long-term investment. It’s not a short-term investment. If we curtail funding for the development of the next generation of scientists... if the research stops, it has a negative ripple effect of preventing the breakthroughs in the future.”

The Golden Goose Award was originally Representative Cooper’s idea, and was created and jointly launched by a coalition of organizations which believe that federally funded basic scientific research is the cornerstone of American innovation and essential to our economic growth, health, global competitiveness, and national security. The award recipients were selected by a panel of respected scientists and university research leaders.

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syrian brown bears and rosh hasanah

It turns out they like the celebration

the aging biker population

Bikers age  and turn into trikers via the NY Times ... 

snip

...

Mr. Howard is one of a legion of aging bikers — suffering from aching joints and slowing reflexes — who have abandoned their traditional two-wheel motorcycles in favor of three-wheelers, the super-steady and seemingly safer machines commonly known as trikes. Equal parts “Easy Rider” and easy chair, the trikes have grown in popularity in recent years, expanding from a do-it-yourself niche to a potentially lucrative market for major manufacturers.

Industry experts say the sale of tens of thousands of trikes, whose sticker prices can rival an upscale sedan’s — a new three-wheeled Harley starts at $30,999 — has helped buoy a slumping industry and kept a generation of born-to-run riders on the roads.

“The baby boomers are getting older, man,” said Steve Stirewalt, a lifelong rider and motorcycle dealer known as Fat Daddy by his friends. “People riding all their lives don’t want to stop just because of bad knees, or bad eyes, or diabetes or something. They want to keep rocking.”

Mr. Stirewalt, who is 63 and helped along by a hearing aid, was polishing his three-wheeler — a chrome-on-chrome chopper with a fake alligator skin seat — at the National East Coast Trike-In, which drew hundreds of trike owners and enthusiasts to Mount Airy, N.C., over Labor Day weekend.

Alex Ross, aka Iceman, chief executive of the nonprofit trike group Brothers of the Third Wheel, said three-wheelers offered all sorts of advantages, including the comfort and padding to allow drivers to go longer distances without stiffening up.

“My wife goes to sleep as soon as we start traveling,” he said.

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political ads you pay for...

If you buy fossil fuel or products that were made and transported with them, you're paying for these political ads.  (via the NY Times)

 

mapping san francisco and nyc

very cute...  

(hat tip to sam)

 

interesting paper by danah

An interesting paper by danah boyd and Nancy Baum on socially mediated publicness..

 

 

using a baking steel to make home pizza

Something that just works - you can get a sheet at a local metal supply or through this project.  Not particularly inexpensive - but nicely finished and perhaps worth it.  But if you want really authentic Neopolitan pizza you need a much higher temperature than a conventional oven can supply...  perhaps you can get close enough though.

a really early color movie

A discovery from 1902 - taken through three filters as was the technique for color stills of the day.

wearable bionic suit/skeletons

The future is coming at us...  via the NY TImes

 

the pre-history of 911

It will be interesting to see if the CIA and other spooks were really right and the administration just considered them noise. History is rarely accurate close up in time...

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