Los Alamos, NM. Biologists today report the discovery of another spirit with authority over reproduction. "We call him the Breeder’s Bane," said laboratory spokesman George Frederick. "He is another assistant of Ceres, the accepted subdeity of species propagation."
The Bane was presumably given his position to prevent humans from excessive meddling with allele frequency, to which early twenty-first century geneticists were prone, rather than stewardship, to which we were called. The Breeder’s Bane has power to strike with barrenness. He does this only when variation within a kind has been pushed to its limit.
Secretaries at the Panangelon plan to have the Bane entered into the official lists early next month. Researchers are investigating possible ancient knowledge of the Bane. Should they discover any alternate names, they also will be included in the lists.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Books, Bealls, and intelligent design
Thank you, everyone who's been praying for the reading group. :-) The meeting Wednesday went well. I'd made up a lot of trivia questions and we divided into teams. It was actually kind of fun. In addition to the question (worth one to seven points), you also got a point each for knowing the book it was from, the chapter number, and the chapter title. This led to some impressive (accurate) deductive reasoning. "Well, that happened before this but after that, and it was pretty close to the end..."
Next, I did get the Bealls job after all. :-) I spent all day today watching training videos. The most interesting one was "how to fit a tux"; the most entertaining ones were with this one guy who--well, his photographers got creative. We spent much of one video watching things from the perspective of his pocket.
I have been made happy because I went to the library over my lunch break and checked out the new Amelia book, which came out last April or so and I haven't gotten to read it yet. :-)
And then tonight Daddy began his "Darwin or Design" seminar. The first hour was putting the creation controversy into the perspective of why it's important relating to apologetics. I liked the way Dad did it; he made it clear that creation is not the most important thing to defend in the faith; the Resurrection is that. After that we watched and discussed the first half of the movie "Icons of Evolution." Tomorrow the seminar resumes.
But Bealls wants me to work this Sunday. :-(
Next, I did get the Bealls job after all. :-) I spent all day today watching training videos. The most interesting one was "how to fit a tux"; the most entertaining ones were with this one guy who--well, his photographers got creative. We spent much of one video watching things from the perspective of his pocket.
I have been made happy because I went to the library over my lunch break and checked out the new Amelia book, which came out last April or so and I haven't gotten to read it yet. :-)
And then tonight Daddy began his "Darwin or Design" seminar. The first hour was putting the creation controversy into the perspective of why it's important relating to apologetics. I liked the way Dad did it; he made it clear that creation is not the most important thing to defend in the faith; the Resurrection is that. After that we watched and discussed the first half of the movie "Icons of Evolution." Tomorrow the seminar resumes.
But Bealls wants me to work this Sunday. :-(
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Overheard in a doctor's office
Old man 1: Hi! How ya doin’? Still workin’ on those crazy isotopes?
Old man 2: Not really. We’ve branched out.
Old man 1: Oh? What are you doin’?
Old man 2: Counterfeiting.
Old man 1: Really? Money or somethin’ else?
Old man 2: Money. And golf clubs. Whatever.
Old man 1: Where do you do this?
Old man 2: Industrial park across from Otowi.
Old man 1: Nice that you branched out. Glad I ran into you—I was just tellin’ my wife I hadn’t seen you for a long time.
Old man 2: Not really. We’ve branched out.
Old man 1: Oh? What are you doin’?
Old man 2: Counterfeiting.
Old man 1: Really? Money or somethin’ else?
Old man 2: Money. And golf clubs. Whatever.
Old man 1: Where do you do this?
Old man 2: Industrial park across from Otowi.
Old man 1: Nice that you branched out. Glad I ran into you—I was just tellin’ my wife I hadn’t seen you for a long time.
In honor of the longest day
Ring ye the bels, ye yong men of the towne,
And leave your wonted labors for this day:
This day is holy; doe ye write it downe,
That ye for ever it remember may.
This day the sunne is in his chiefest hight,
With Barnaby the bright,
From whence declining daily by degrees,
He somewhat loseth of his heat and light,
When once the Crab behind his back he sees.
But for this time it ill ordainèd was,
To chose the longest day in all the yeare,
The shortest night, when longest fitter weare:
Yet never day so long, but late would passe.
Ring ye the bels, to make it weare away,
And bonefiers make all day;
And daunce about them, and about them sing,
That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.
From Edmund Spenser's Epithalamion
And leave your wonted labors for this day:
This day is holy; doe ye write it downe,
That ye for ever it remember may.
This day the sunne is in his chiefest hight,
With Barnaby the bright,
From whence declining daily by degrees,
He somewhat loseth of his heat and light,
When once the Crab behind his back he sees.
But for this time it ill ordainèd was,
To chose the longest day in all the yeare,
The shortest night, when longest fitter weare:
Yet never day so long, but late would passe.
Ring ye the bels, to make it weare away,
And bonefiers make all day;
And daunce about them, and about them sing,
That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.
From Edmund Spenser's Epithalamion
Monday, June 20, 2005
Fair and perilous
But Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow. "Is there no other way?" he said.
"What fairer way would you desire?" said Aragorn.
"A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords," said Boromir. "By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few none have escaped unscathed."
"Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you speak truth," said Aragorn. "But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlorien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us--unless you would go back to Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone."
"Then lead on!" said Boromir. "But it is perilous."
"Perilous indeed," said Aragorn, "fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!"
...
Gimli said, "But you speak of him as if he was a friend. I thought Fangorn was dangerous."
"Dangerous!" cried Gandalf. "And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Gimli son of Gloin; for you are dangerous yourself, in your fashion."
"What fairer way would you desire?" said Aragorn.
"A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords," said Boromir. "By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few none have escaped unscathed."
"Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you speak truth," said Aragorn. "But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlorien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us--unless you would go back to Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone."
"Then lead on!" said Boromir. "But it is perilous."
"Perilous indeed," said Aragorn, "fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!"
...
Gimli said, "But you speak of him as if he was a friend. I thought Fangorn was dangerous."
"Dangerous!" cried Gandalf. "And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Gimli son of Gloin; for you are dangerous yourself, in your fashion."
PHC in the New Yorker
The New Yorker has an article about us. The girl they spend most of their time on, Elisa, was my roommate freshman year. Hanna Rosin did a quite tolerable job overall, though there are some interesting bits.
--She quoted an email of Ben's (on the subject of modesty, which I gather is a foreign concept) rather out of context, and juxtaposed him with Farahn, a trifle unfairly. If you want the full email, I think I have a copy saved. It was much more humble and even-handed than the quote sounds.
--Actually, "the fishbowl" has never been Lake Bob. It refers either to the conference room upstairs or to PHC itself, being, as we generally are, surrounded by media video cameras.
--We manage to have a lot of fun, despite not getting drunk or sleeping around. We certainly have more fun the morning after. :-D
--She didn't mention Liberty Ball, even though she was there and I believe some of the guys asked her to dance. :-)
--She quoted an email of Ben's (on the subject of modesty, which I gather is a foreign concept) rather out of context, and juxtaposed him with Farahn, a trifle unfairly. If you want the full email, I think I have a copy saved. It was much more humble and even-handed than the quote sounds.
--Actually, "the fishbowl" has never been Lake Bob. It refers either to the conference room upstairs or to PHC itself, being, as we generally are, surrounded by media video cameras.
--We manage to have a lot of fun, despite not getting drunk or sleeping around. We certainly have more fun the morning after. :-D
--She didn't mention Liberty Ball, even though she was there and I believe some of the guys asked her to dance. :-)
Father's Day Weekend
We just went up to Colorado!
We set off about 10:15 and drove up past Espanola through Abiquiu, past the old little zoo that the environmentalists closed down because it wasn't run by experts, past the Reservoir we went rafting on once, that day we prayed and God made a hole in the cloud so it wouldn't rain on us (we checked the Weather Channel maps when we got home), past the bright pasty and orange and red layers, and past the big hole chipped out of the orange layers that echoes so beautifully. We had a leisurely lunch and shopping at Chama, NM (the train lives there, you see, the narrow-gauge something or other that greatly excites the people who like trains), and headed up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Dad and I checked us into the hotel; or tried to. It was only three, and the room wasn't ready till four. So we went across the street and hung out at the Visitor's Center for an hour. It was on the banks of the San Juan River, which was overflowing itself and being generally busy. We took pictures. We also took pictures of "The Springs," which is a quasi-spa built on the very Springs Pagosa is named after. Beautiful place.
So then we checked in properly, checked out the pool, and had dinner. It had a back balcony that overlooked the River and the Springs. The food was tolerable, but the view was priceless...we watched a girl and her brother at the Springs. It was hilarious. They took turns, one holding the another's ankles while they leaned over and stuck their head in the river. I don't know WHAT they were doing, but it was awfully funny. And the girl had a stick almost twice as long as she was, and she'd toss it in the river and catch it just a bit downstream. Eventually her dad tossed it in with great vigor. No more stick.
Dad, Emily, and I went to the Springs ourselves after dinner; it was great. We spent most of our time in one particular pool. I read "The Two Towers" and they talked to an old gentleman who teaches school on a Navajo reservations during the winter and camps out with his horse all summer. He had a lot of great stories. There was a gazebo there with snow-cone and popcorn machines, so we got some of both and listened to a couple tell stories, about their daughter and son-in-law, who work in Hollywood and know all these celebrities I've never heard of. I am dreadfully out of the loop. Well...we started it, because we were talking amongst ourselves about how Torrey and Katie Jackson's little sister were getting married, and they thought we said "Kate Jackson." After dark, the Springs had an inflatable movie screen, a projector, and a highly effective sound system, and played Lilo and Stitch and A New Hope. But we left before that.
And then today we went swimming, had lunch and shopping at a Victorian tea house, went to Best Buy and Old Navy in Santa Fe, and came home. I amused myself this evening by editing "The Quartz" (I think it's done now) and starting an epic in limericks about the Normouse. His name is Striking, so presumably in the past he had an ancestor named Strike. Oh, and I've been doing reading for the reading group, which meets Wednesday. If anyone comes up with good DQs for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Book II of "The Two Towers," or "The Horse and His Boy," I'm open for suggestions. :-)
Happy Father's Day, y'all!
We set off about 10:15 and drove up past Espanola through Abiquiu, past the old little zoo that the environmentalists closed down because it wasn't run by experts, past the Reservoir we went rafting on once, that day we prayed and God made a hole in the cloud so it wouldn't rain on us (we checked the Weather Channel maps when we got home), past the bright pasty and orange and red layers, and past the big hole chipped out of the orange layers that echoes so beautifully. We had a leisurely lunch and shopping at Chama, NM (the train lives there, you see, the narrow-gauge something or other that greatly excites the people who like trains), and headed up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Dad and I checked us into the hotel; or tried to. It was only three, and the room wasn't ready till four. So we went across the street and hung out at the Visitor's Center for an hour. It was on the banks of the San Juan River, which was overflowing itself and being generally busy. We took pictures. We also took pictures of "The Springs," which is a quasi-spa built on the very Springs Pagosa is named after. Beautiful place.
So then we checked in properly, checked out the pool, and had dinner. It had a back balcony that overlooked the River and the Springs. The food was tolerable, but the view was priceless...we watched a girl and her brother at the Springs. It was hilarious. They took turns, one holding the another's ankles while they leaned over and stuck their head in the river. I don't know WHAT they were doing, but it was awfully funny. And the girl had a stick almost twice as long as she was, and she'd toss it in the river and catch it just a bit downstream. Eventually her dad tossed it in with great vigor. No more stick.
Dad, Emily, and I went to the Springs ourselves after dinner; it was great. We spent most of our time in one particular pool. I read "The Two Towers" and they talked to an old gentleman who teaches school on a Navajo reservations during the winter and camps out with his horse all summer. He had a lot of great stories. There was a gazebo there with snow-cone and popcorn machines, so we got some of both and listened to a couple tell stories, about their daughter and son-in-law, who work in Hollywood and know all these celebrities I've never heard of. I am dreadfully out of the loop. Well...we started it, because we were talking amongst ourselves about how Torrey and Katie Jackson's little sister were getting married, and they thought we said "Kate Jackson." After dark, the Springs had an inflatable movie screen, a projector, and a highly effective sound system, and played Lilo and Stitch and A New Hope. But we left before that.
And then today we went swimming, had lunch and shopping at a Victorian tea house, went to Best Buy and Old Navy in Santa Fe, and came home. I amused myself this evening by editing "The Quartz" (I think it's done now) and starting an epic in limericks about the Normouse. His name is Striking, so presumably in the past he had an ancestor named Strike. Oh, and I've been doing reading for the reading group, which meets Wednesday. If anyone comes up with good DQs for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Book II of "The Two Towers," or "The Horse and His Boy," I'm open for suggestions. :-)
Happy Father's Day, y'all!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Stray bits of sciency things
The lab has developed a multi-color LED. This is moderately cool.
The lab has also been cryogenically manipulating spin on electrons. The atmosphere got a little cold when the idea came up, but everybody's happy now.
Stanford is making a serious effort to measure how much Earth is dragging its inertial frame along with it in space. The goal is to test Einstein's general relativity. If spacetime is a cube of jello, the earth is a spinning ball inside that cube, and the jello will be dragged along with the ball. That's what Gravity Probe B is interested in.
The current theory is that the universe is up to 90% dark matter, named so because we don't know where or what it is. However, it has to be there because otherwise the universe couldn't have held together properly since the big bang. Second reason: there's a project in the works (entitled, regretfully, OGLE) to use it as a sort of gravitational magnifying glass to see more distant stars than they otherwise could. The only creationist position I could find was skeptical of dark matter. Personally, I don't have any deep objection to dark matter (more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy), but I would rather have a sounder basis to assume it. Does anyone know more than I do?
Incidentally...David Weinberg's "Dark Matter Rap" is pretty funny. The lyrics, I mean. Haven't watched the video, so do so at your own risk. :-)
The lab has also been cryogenically manipulating spin on electrons. The atmosphere got a little cold when the idea came up, but everybody's happy now.
Stanford is making a serious effort to measure how much Earth is dragging its inertial frame along with it in space. The goal is to test Einstein's general relativity. If spacetime is a cube of jello, the earth is a spinning ball inside that cube, and the jello will be dragged along with the ball. That's what Gravity Probe B is interested in.
The current theory is that the universe is up to 90% dark matter, named so because we don't know where or what it is. However, it has to be there because otherwise the universe couldn't have held together properly since the big bang. Second reason: there's a project in the works (entitled, regretfully, OGLE) to use it as a sort of gravitational magnifying glass to see more distant stars than they otherwise could. The only creationist position I could find was skeptical of dark matter. Personally, I don't have any deep objection to dark matter (more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy), but I would rather have a sounder basis to assume it. Does anyone know more than I do?
Incidentally...David Weinberg's "Dark Matter Rap" is pretty funny. The lyrics, I mean. Haven't watched the video, so do so at your own risk. :-)
More on the mighty huntress
That would be the sweet little Lilly-cat. She has been...ah...affectionate lately.
As I was setting the table, the Lillianalithian was coiled up on my dining room chair. In general (I don't know if you're familiar with this thermometer, but it's rather accurate) one can tell the warmth of the room by the cat's sleeping position. Stretched at full length indicates 90 degrees or above, a tight ball with all paws and tails and ears tucked in around the edges indicates fifty degrees, and so on. Today the cat failed us. It was about seventy, which would call for flopping on one's side with paws splayed, but she more closely resembled a snail shell. Astonishing. And very cute.
Anyway, the time came for dinner and I didn't have the heart to rout her out. So I sat on the edge of the chair. (This usually convinces them to leave and has the added advantage of making them think it's their own idea.) She endured my company for a good five minutes, but then she made her fatal move. She twitched. I tentatively scooted back a bit. She sat up. I took full advantage of the newly freed seating. She stretched a bit and vacated it entirely. Happies!
After we had all eaten, Dad spoke to the floor. "What do you want?"
In response, a cat magically appeared on his lap. She nosed up toward him, and he resignedly began the full-body massage. Mom explained how the soror scratches her--the cat--behind the ears, and her eyes go closed in an ecstasy of petting. Dad patted her behind the ears. Wasn't right. I tried to show him how to do it. Lilly quite clearly gave me the, "boy was that that sub-par" look. I stopped.
And now she is draped upon Mom's lap, in quite a standard 70-degree position, cuddly and soft as all-get-out.
That cat really needs to learn to relax...
As I was setting the table, the Lillianalithian was coiled up on my dining room chair. In general (I don't know if you're familiar with this thermometer, but it's rather accurate) one can tell the warmth of the room by the cat's sleeping position. Stretched at full length indicates 90 degrees or above, a tight ball with all paws and tails and ears tucked in around the edges indicates fifty degrees, and so on. Today the cat failed us. It was about seventy, which would call for flopping on one's side with paws splayed, but she more closely resembled a snail shell. Astonishing. And very cute.
Anyway, the time came for dinner and I didn't have the heart to rout her out. So I sat on the edge of the chair. (This usually convinces them to leave and has the added advantage of making them think it's their own idea.) She endured my company for a good five minutes, but then she made her fatal move. She twitched. I tentatively scooted back a bit. She sat up. I took full advantage of the newly freed seating. She stretched a bit and vacated it entirely. Happies!
After we had all eaten, Dad spoke to the floor. "What do you want?"
In response, a cat magically appeared on his lap. She nosed up toward him, and he resignedly began the full-body massage. Mom explained how the soror scratches her--the cat--behind the ears, and her eyes go closed in an ecstasy of petting. Dad patted her behind the ears. Wasn't right. I tried to show him how to do it. Lilly quite clearly gave me the, "boy was that that sub-par" look. I stopped.
And now she is draped upon Mom's lap, in quite a standard 70-degree position, cuddly and soft as all-get-out.
That cat really needs to learn to relax...
Who'd have thought?
Dad: Last night, I saw Lilly up on the table eating apple pie.
Mom: !!!
Dad: Off of someone's plate. Who'd have thought that a cat would like apple pie?
Mom: That'll teach us to clear off the table.
Dad: Probably not.
Mom: Be nice!
Dad: I certainly have no intention of learning from it. Have you?
Mom (clearing off the table): Probably not.
Mom: !!!
Dad: Off of someone's plate. Who'd have thought that a cat would like apple pie?
Mom: That'll teach us to clear off the table.
Dad: Probably not.
Mom: Be nice!
Dad: I certainly have no intention of learning from it. Have you?
Mom (clearing off the table): Probably not.
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