Scale of the Universe

Here is a neat scroller for the whole universe. It sort of combines the content of my cell size and scale post and my star size comparison post. Though the latter two are more polished, I think it is interesting to hold down a direction key and watch everything collapse or emerge from the center.

Life in a Centrifuge

I was on a roller coaster recently and I experienced about 1 G. I was not expecting it at all so I was totally unprepared and almost lost my lunch. This is a video of people being trained in an Air Force centrifuge. It gets entertaining when they start to hit 2 G's. At that point you have to flex you legs and butt in order to keep the blood in the upper part of your body. What a rush! [wired.com]

His Noodly Appendage

I know that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is true and that Mr. Henderson is his prophet. Amen.

Growing Body Parts

Dr. Anthony Atala gave this TED talk about regeneration. There is a short section where they show them growing a finger. Yoink. I don't know where it went! ...I have...always....had this...many...fingers.

Watch for Card Skimmers

This little device will read your bank card and wirelessly send your information to the thief. It also has a camera that can record you entering you pin. Check for them every time use your card.

Economic Perspectives on Porn

I thought that this map was very interesting. Can you guess what is it comparing? This map depicts the number of internet subscriptions to pornographic websites per capita by state. Very interesting. It was published (here) in the Journal of Economic Perspectives 2009, Vol. 23 (1), 209-220 where you can find the numbers that go with it on page 216. I excluded the legend so you would go to the source to find it (which is a practice I highly encourage). There are more interesting statistics like this in the article. And finally some more fun facts.

Source: Online Education

Rise of the Milky Way

This video really helps me realize that the earth is spinning. The birds eye lens enhances that feeling a bit but it is awesome in the literal sense of the word anyway. [Youtube]