Clipmarks | invictus's Comments

5000 Clips - We're Family now - Just call me Tommy

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:41:31 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: smg.photobucket.com

Tags: 5000 clips, skwirlinator, welcome to my family, good friends

The Volcano That Changed The World

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:55:13 GMT

clipped by: MorganLvr
clipper's remarks: Rapid climate change possibly caused by massive volcano

Clip Source: www.nature.com

The volcano that changed the world

Eruption in 1600 may have plunged the globe into cold climate chaos.

Alexandra Witze

Did the Huaynaputina volcano, seen here from a satellite, inflict misery on the world?ASTER Volcano Archive

Four centuries ago, a Peruvian volcano blew its top – and the whole world may have felt it, a new study suggests.

The eruption in 1600 of Huaynaputina, a stratovolcano in the Andes mountains, blanketed nearby villages with glowing rock and ash, and killed some 1,500 people. But it may also have had a far wider effect, by injecting sulphur particles high into the atmosphere and disrupting the climate worldwide.

Tags: nature, volcano, climate change, science

North Pole without Ice

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:08:42 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: I look forward to the comforting data from real scientists which will refute such alarmist liberal mischief that has even fooled the CIA. I suspect these silly rumours began oin a bunker in Berlin.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic nations being able to exploit the valuable oil and mineral deposits below these a bed which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.

Tags: squirrels, mischief

The tornado nightmare

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:37:44 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: I wouldn't like to be there to take this photo.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. The Globe Gazette and Mitchell County Press News reported that Lori Mehmen of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. Mehmen said the funnel cloud came near the ground and then went back up into the clouds. Besides tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.

Tags: tornado, photography, disasters, iowa

Yahoo-Microsoft talks fail, Google deal expected

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:37:00 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) have failed to agree on a partnership or merger, the companies said on Thursday, sending Yahoo shares down 13 percent.

Instead, Yahoo is close to a search advertising deal with Google Inc (GOOG.O) and an announcement could come later in the day, sources familiar with the matter said.

Tags: yahoo, google, web, internet

How deregulation destroyed African agriculture

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:48:29 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: And changed Africa into a food importer

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has been a factor in the meteoric rise in food prices, the more basic problem has been the conversion of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into chronic food importers. Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains

African agriculture is a case study of how doctrinaire economics serving corporate interests can destroy a whole continent’s productive base.

in the 1960s, Africa was not just self-sufficient in food but was actually a net food exporter

Today

almost every country

a net food importer

the explanation was the phasing out of government controls

to which most African countries were subjected as the price for getting IMF and World Bank assistance

reality refused to conform to the doctrinal expectation that the withdrawal of the state would pave the way for the market and private sector to dynamize agriculture

Tags: africa, food, farming

The coming famine

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:32:27 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

BARRING NUCLEAR WARS, pandemics and cosmic accidents, there will be about 9.1 billion people living in the world in 2050. Yet they will eat as much food as 13 billion people at today's nutritional levels. So how will we feed them all? The answer to this question could be the greatest scientific challenge of the 21st century – greater even than finding a solution to climate change.

The problem is that humanity is consuming more food, year-on-year, than it produces, especially as demand for high-protein food increases in high population developing countries like China and India.

The world is also moving towards a water crisis: cities are now taking up to half of the water that was once used to grow food, while groundwater levels are declining in every country where it is used for food production.

Tags: food, water, resources, population, economy, production, famine, drought, world

Electric Sheep Revisited (King of Screen Savers)

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:36:52 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: I clipped Electric Sheep back in March 2006. This is a "revisit" after 17 months. There are so many awesome "sheeps" nowadays that I sit back and watch the screensaver for minutes.

Clip Source: www.electricsheep.org

electric sheep

Electric Sheep is a free, open source screen saver run by thousands of people all over the world. It can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep", the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". The result is a collective "android dream", an homage to Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Anyone watching one of these computers may vote for their favorite animations using the keyboard. The more popular sheep live longer and reproduce according to a genetic algorithm with mutation and cross-over. Hence the flock evolves to please its global audience. You can also design your own sheep and submit them to the gene pool.

Kick-start your client
with a sheep pack.

Tags: desktop, screen savers, electric sheep, 3d, fractal, animations

Little arrow that rewrites history books

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:25:15 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.pretorianews.co.za

Two researchers from Wits University believe that what they have discovered is a 60 000-year-old arrow that was fired from the earliest known bow. Their discovery has pushed back the origins of bow-and-arrow technology by 20 000 years.

The bow, probably made of wood and long since decayed, was used at a time when Neanderthals in Europe were using large spears in duels with woolly mammoths and other large prehistoric game.

The bone arrow, just 5cm long, was excavated by Wadley at the Sibudu cave, near the coastal town of Ballito in KwaZulu Natal, two years ago.

It's mystery who the people were who fashioned the arrow.

Also at this time, humankind was leaving an ever-increasing archaeological record of the first inklings of modern human behaviour. They were burying the dead, using coloured pigments and wearing jewellery.

"This at a time a few thousand years before they walked out of Africa, to become the ancestors of all humans," said Backwell.

Tags: archaeology, anthropology, south africa, prehistory, arrow, science

Who found Machu Picchu?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:30:27 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: An interesting "archaeology story" - reminded me C. W. Ceram's "Gods, Tombs and Scholars".

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

When Peruvian locals led Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu in 1911, it was a discovery which would make the Yale professor famous, highly respected and richer.

Bingham went on to become a governor of Connecticut and member of the US senate, and his book on Machu Picchu became a bestseller. Such was his prominence in early 20th century archaeology, that some have speculated that Bingham was the inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones.

But Bingham's claim to be the first to discover Peru's lost city of the Incas is looking more than a little doubtful. Detailed investigations by a US historian have revealed that Machu Picchu was, in fact, discovered over 40 years earlier by a German businessman.

Tags: archaeology, peru, inca, machu picchu, south america, hiram bingham, augusto berns

Owner of headless pyramid found

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:41:25 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Jonathan Wright

Archaeologists have concluded that a badly eroded pyramid south of Cairo was built in the 24th century BC, several hundred years earlier than previously suspected.

Known as the 'Headless Pyramid', archaeologists believe it was constructed during the Fifth Dynasty of Pharaoh Menkauhor, who ruled for eight years more than 4000 years ago.

The identification by Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawas, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, could end the long controversy over the structure first described by the German archaeologist Lepsius in the 19th century.

Some archaeologists have associated the pyramid with the Tenth Dynasty Pharaoh Merykare, who ruled about 400 years later

others with the Twelfth Dynasty

But Hawas, whose teams have excavated the lower levels of the pyramid more thoroughly than any previous expeditions, says he is now convinced that the pyramid was that of Menkauhor, who is known from inscriptions to have built one somewhere.

Obama Wins Democrats Nomination

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:12:27 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Primary race draws to a close in South Dakota and Montana | BRIEFING BOOK (pdf) | AP: Clinton Says She's Open to Being Obama's VP | National Delegate Count Tally | Cardinal Suspends Priest From Parish After Anti-Clinton Rant

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Tags: superdelegates, obama, nomination

Earth's poles long overdue for reversal

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:56:27 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

SYDNEY: A reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles could happen sooner than we think, according to Dutch scientists who report that the planet's magnetic field is becoming gradually less stable.

A reversal could affect everything from navigation and communications equipment to the composition of the atmosphere, say experts.

The story of the Earth's magnetic field is written in rocks over time. Because these rocks become 'magnetised' at the time of their formation, scientists can discover which direction the poles were facing and how strong the Earth's magnetic field was at that time.

Current records suggest that we are long overdue for our next reversal, he said. "On average, there is a reversal around every 400,000 years, but this varies a lot." The geological record suggests that the last reversal was around 800,000 years ago.

Tags: earth, geology, polar shift, reversal, magnetism, physics, science

Paralysed man takes a walk in virtual world

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:21:18 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: It is the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an Internet virtual world, they added.

Researchers are now studying a system that would let patients create text messages by mentally selecting certain letters, said Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio Universty's Faculty of Science and Technology.

"In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves... and click to make a purchase," Ushiba said.

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

A 41-year-old paralysed man uses brain waves to control his character in 'Second Life'.

A paralysed man using only his brain waves has been able to manipulate a virtual Internet character, Japanese researchers said Monday, calling it a world first.

The 41-year-old patient used his imagination to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website.

The patient, who has suffered paralysis for more than 30 years, can barely bend his fingers due to a progressive muscle disease so cannot use a mouse or keyboard in the traditional way.

In the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes monitoring brain waves related to his hands and legs. Even though he cannot move his legs, he imagined that his character was walking.

He was then able to have a conversation with the other character using an attached microphone, said the researchers at Japan's Keio University.

Tags: computers, second life, brain, virtual

Christianity=Good, Everyone Else=Bad?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:32:36 GMT

clipped by: boniface
clipper's remarks: Pain-in-the-ass Christians can't stand it when anyone else follows their traditions. No, only X-tianity should be allowed, according to them.

(I am not referring here to "non-pain-in-the-ass Christians.")

Clip Source: wnd.com

Pagan 'blessing' sought for new building

'Good fortune and fertility' sought from 'the gods on the structure'

A former employee of a Tennessee insurance company is objecting to a "ceremony" held at the construction site of a new building because it called on "the gods on the structure" for "good fortune and fertility."

BCBS then blamed the situation on Skanska, the construction company, saying it was a contractor's tradition.

Jessica Murray, a spokeswoman for the builder, said it's "common practice" for builders to have such a ceremony.

"Centuries ago … when people first started doing it in Scandinavia, there had been some religious connotations. Nowadays all that is doing is signifying the project has been completed to its highest point. Lifting the tree up is symbolizing teamwork … and wishing luck on the building," she said.