The Revenge of Schrödinger's Cat

Quantum theory has produced an assortment of results that fly in the face of common sense.  Particles that can be waves, particles that can be in two places at once - or nowhere at all - our being unable to know where something is and also where it's going... even quantum theorists don't understand these ideas except mathematically - if even then.

Roach-Eating Contest

Man dies after winning roach-eating contest in Broward - Broward - MiamiHerald.com:

You know, it's one thing to drop dead after running a marathon.  Even if you didn't finish, if you got close to the end people will generally give you credit for trying.  They figure, "well, he dropped dead, but he was doing something really hard."  At least, that's how I figure it when I read about the annual "people dropping dead during or after marathon" stories.  They always say that the guy was young, in good health, they can't figure out why he dropped dead.  I'll tell you why: running is bad for you.  But I digress...

He Never Said It

This is probably one of the least urgent matters that still manages to trouble me...

There is a quotation attributed to Bill Gates that goes something like, "I can't imagine why anyone would ever need more than 640 k of memory."  I don't know where this quote originated.  I do know that I first saw it in the late 1980's, at a time when 640 k was about all most computers had.

Relativistic Bullshit

There is a quotation that is going around, attributed to physicist Albert Einstein.  It goes:

Everything is energy and that's all there is to it.  Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality.  It can be no other way.  This is not philosophy.  This is physics.

Hero's Welcome

According to this article, a lifeguard was fired for saving someone's life.  Supposedly, by abandoning his post to run to the rescue of a drowning swimmer, Thomas Lopez endangered the lives of the people Lopez was supposed to be watching.

The Higgs Boson

At long last, physicists at CERN in Europe have found something that looks like the elusive Higgs Boson, also called the God Particle.  It seems to me that the physicists themselves are pleased, but not ecstatic.  It seems to be the media who are waxing poetic about this particle.

Richard Wagner

Every so often someone asks me, with awe, "did you know that Wagner never went to music school?"  My response is that it's obvious from his music.  I don't know *why* so many people are amazed that Wagner didn't go to music school.  In fact, I don't even know if it's true.  But every so often someone brings it up again.