Fireworks For the Fourth
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Wes Phillips
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A Catalan Treat for Your Barbecue
Yeah, yeah, we all know that you grill burgers'n'brats on the Fourth, but that only takes a few minutes and then yo have all those coals going great. What to do with that lovely fire? Here's a non-intuitive dish that will excite absolutely no one—until they taste it! Then you won't have made enough.
Beer Here!
What's the Fourth without beer? Here's a gallery of microphotographs of the world's most famous beers. I think they're beeyootiful.
The Declaration of Independence
I grew up in Charlottesville, VA, in the shadow of Monticello and a few blocks from UVA, Mr.Jefferson's university, so I always felt a tad proprietary about the Fourth of July. Schoolchildren in Charlottesville were pretty much taught that the Revolution was Thomas Jefferson and some other guys against King George.
FOIA Turns 40
Jimmy Carter says happy birthday FOIA and tells us why we need less secrecy, not more.
Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers
So that's why my apartment is always a mess when I get home!
You Had Better Stop and Think Before You Think, Think!
While we're thinking about thinking, think about this: Recent research confirms that animals have language, experience complex emotions, and can apply abstract reasoning—including the assimilation of previously acquired information—to problem solving. So why do we think we're so special?
Confirmation Bias
My buddy John Atkinson likes to say that what makes science work is not simply the measurement of observed phenomena, but the scientist's refusal to believe those measurements. I once asked him if he'd teach me to do audio measurements and he said no, "because you'd believe the measurements—a good scientist knows the measurements are trying to lie to him."
Who Will Watch Watchmen?
Well, I would—if Hollywood could get it as right as these amateurs. But then, Amateur means doing it out of love and that's where Hollywood falls down when it makes movies out of comic books, um, I mean graphic novels.
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It's a Matter of Perspective
I've seen lots of links to the article on LiveScience about ants counting their steps in navigating the shortest route between two points. Ho hum, I thought, I had a cow-orker who did the same thing when deciding which route to take to the bathroom at work—and he was way dumber than an ant.