science

38 posts

Song Lyrics that Are Factually Incorrect

factsSometimes you’re sitting there singing along with that song you’ve had a million times and then you stop and say to yourself, “hey, wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense and is actually wrong.” Well those lyricists out there sometimes just jam words together, don’t actually know what they’re talking about or change reality to fit their rhymes.

Here are just a few songs that have lyrics that are factually incorrect. Continue reading

We Don’t Believe in Science: Republicans Block Science Laureate Positions

ScientistsConservative interest groups strike again against climate change awareness. This time, it was to help withdraw a bill to create an honorary Science Laureate position.

The House bill, HR 1891, would have created up to three unpaid laureate positions. These positions would be the scientific equivalent of the US Poet Laureate – to honor an accomplished scientist and to raise awareness on and encourage science education, particularly for girls and minorities. It originally had bipartisan support and was even co-sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), which is unusual given the current political climate. Continue reading

Alan Turing Denied Official Pardon for Being Gay

The British government rejected a request today to pardon renowned English mathematician, codebreaker, and computing innovator Alan Turing, who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952. The request for a pardon was initiated by scientists and mathematicians around the world as well as a publicly circulated petition to the government in London.

The online government petition, which was started last year, asked for a pardon that “may act as an apology to many of the other gay men, not as well known as Alan Turing, who were subjected to these laws.” It currently has close to 24,000 signatures. An earlier petition calling for a formal apology prompted then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to write such an apology on behalf of the British government in 2009. Continue reading

Smoking Your Prescribed Medicinal Herbs Not Harmful to Lungs

In a study released by the University of California, San Francisco and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that marijuana users did not suffer any detrimental effects to lung capacity with occasional use. This is contradictory to the established notion that any smoke is going to have a negative impact.

The study notes that more frequent use does have a negative impact and made a somewhat dubious claim that smoking 20 joints a month is considered a lot and would be unusual. Anecdotal evidence suggests this amount is not as unusual as the study authors might believe based on what those surveyed reported. Continue reading

V-12 Engine in the Palm of Your Hand

Alright guys, I know this is long, but check it out.  It is one of the smallest working engines I’ve seen completely built from scratch in this guy’s time off from work.

I swear to you that when it starts running off of the compressed air towards the end I squealed like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Beiber concert.  Maybe not a first, or even an insane breakthrough, but the fact that someone put this much time and effort into precision machining and designing this thing deserves some serious props. Continue reading