According to a recent study by the Dutch Center for Insurance Statistics, traffic accidents and incidents such as fire and theft actually occur slightly less on Friday the 13th (in the Netherlands).
Ironically, there are also less incidents of killing sprees involving the undead in hockey masks.
Pongzho, Sichuan Provence, China.
May 12, 2008.
Wedding photos.
Then the earthquake hit.
Humans are resilient.
(via Gorilla Sushi, per Fuzztime, de la China Review News)
(photo: AP)
Though technically they aren’t “lost” – they know exactly where they are – this population near the Peruvian/Brazilian border has had no known contact with the “outside world” until last month. Recent aerial photos taken in May 2008 offer the first proof of their existence and provide some clues to their way of life.
Some new facts about this recently discovered tribe:
• They don’t like airplanes.
• They aren’t very good at hitting airplanes with spears or arrows.
• They aren’t interested in maintaining front or back lawns.
• They believe that orange bodypaint is “the new black.”
(via Neatorama)
So far, most of the photos sent by the Phoenix Lander (on Mars) are black and white (or bad false-color images). So . . . here are some good false color images from the Phoenix Lander, colorized and processed by me at Timbotron Heavy Industries Imaging Laboratories:
The barren circumpolar plains – the landing site of the Phoenix Lander.
A vertical cross-section of the horizon and terrain around the lander; a solar panel of the lander fully deployed.
An image of the Phoenix Lander sailing downward through Mars’s atmosphere (you can see the parachute), photo taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; an image of the Lander’s footpad in Martian soil.
Bonus Round: Cool animation of the Phoenix Lander’s descent.
Less than an hour ago, the NASA/JPL Phoenix Lander touched down near the northern polar cap of our planetary neighbor, Mars.
Currently, the only information offered on the NASA and University of Arizona sites is that the craft has sent a radio transmission reporting that it safely landed.
Keep your eyes peeled on these sites tonight for the first glimpse of the Martian polar region (perhaps ice or glaciers will be visible):
Charles Babbage designed computers in the mid-1800’s – though operating with gears, many were effectively digital. He designed (yet never successfully completed building) the “Difference Engine no. 2″ – designed to do complex polynomial equations (necessary at the time for navigation reference tables, etc.).
In 2002, the “Babbage Engine no. 2″ was finally built (London Science Museum), and in March 2008 a second one was built, and as of today the second one is on display at the Computer History Museum (Mountain View, CA) for the next year. Went to the opening event today.
Bonus Round: Babbage Groupies
(photo courtesy of Dana Chrisler)
This is an actual Ada Lovelace tattoo (a mathematician and colleague of Charles Babbage) – perhaps the only one of its kind in existence. Its owner was at the exhibit opening today.
