In theory, zebras use their stripes in combination with their herding and flight behavior to confuse predators. The confusion probably makes it harder for the predator (e.g., a lion) to be able to avoid a damaging kick because the stripes make it difficult to tell where one zebra starts and the other ends.
Here is a dramatization of how this might work. Or not.
Continue reading One Zebra or two?
… lunatics like Sharron Angle, Timothy McVeigh, Michele Bachmann and Rush Limbaugh think it’s there to facilitate their idiotic temper tantrums. And a certain percentage of these horrible people carry out their violent fantasies.
Sorry, folks, but calling for a “second amendment remedy IS calling for someone’s death by assassination. This woman should be locked up now.
Despite protestations to the contrary, The Vatican, the Church, and various and sundry governments and prosecutors and state attorneys, with the press watching and rarely complaining, continuously believe and occasionally assert, and always, always act as thought it is true, that the church has a special status that allows it to circumvent the law, and where necessary, blame victims.
From a BBC piece in reference to charges being brought against yet another Catholic priest:
The Roman Catholic Church in Italy has admitted that about 100 cases of paedophile priests have been reported to church authorities during the past 10 years.
But it is not known how many priests in the country have subsequently been defrocked under canon law – or how many have been prosecuted by police.
….. as requested:
Continue reading Lily pads
Background, more details, here.
… that this cat can actually channel a mouse.
Truer words have never been spoken. In an effort to improve, I’ve taken a few sample photos, including some of the same plant that got me in trouble the first time. They are below the fold, because some will load slowly:
Continue reading I have been accused of being a lousy photographer
And not everyone lived through it. Here’s my weather blog entry, for what it’s worth.
We skirted behind the front, and arrived at the intact cabin (as far as we can tell, it’s dark out!) safe and sound.
Wadena was flattened, and two people were killed at two other locations in the state.
Who said: ‘Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I’ll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems.’
Click here to find out and read a whole bunch of other famous programming quotes.
While you’re geeking out, have a look at The Top 10 Ways to get screwed by the “C” programming language
… and finally, A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages
Somewhere in Minnesota:
Did you know that YouTube has a video editor? It’s new. Click here.
And finally, a solar airplane exists. I still want my jet pack.
Amazon now owns the patent on social networking. Here. When is this insanity going to stop?
Apple admits mistake over “Ulysses” app.
In a moment of astonishing stupidity, Italian prosecutors are taking up a case against geologists who failed to predict a somewhat severe earthquake.
The scientists had investigated a series of low magnitude quakes, and indicated that these quakes did not mean that a larger quake was coming. Then, a few weeks later, the 6.3 mag L’Aquilla quake occurred, killing 308 people.
See: Hazardous Living: Geologists to be charged for not predicting earthquake?
Paula Begoun is the bestselling author of “The Beauty Bible” and “Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me.” We’ll examine the science behind some popular beauty products, and find out what real research says about makeup myths.
Submit a question for Paula to live@skepticallyspeaking.com for a chance to win a copy of “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me.”