St. Steven’s Day! At Last!

Wait, I said RENT-boys, not wren-boys! Oh, well, just have to go with it I guess.

Some epic science stock photo fails. I mean, it’s like print models have never done science!

Ho-ho-ho! Bloomberg anchor gets Bitcoin on live TV and is promptly robbed by a viewer, who scanned the QR code in HD. The hack was “So freaking classic but also a GREAT lesson in bitcoin security!”, well worth the $20 bux.

Why did Hitler crave the missing panel in the famous Ghent Altarpiece? Maybe because the Nazi’s paranormal research group thought the masterpiece contained a map to the Holy Grail.

Speaking of Holy Grails: Israeli discovery matches right antidepressant for each patient with a simple blood-test, maybe. Genetic study suggest that depression may be caused not by lack of serotonin, but because of damage to the brain synapses.

An open letter to Dennis Rodman from Shin Dong-Hyuk, born in 1982 in Camp 14, a political prison in the mountains of North Korea- Dear Dennis Rodman: consider a few facts of life.

Presidential Study Directive 10 (PSD-10) came into being in 2011, declaring for the first time that “preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States.” It just helped stop a genocide in the Central African Republic.

Elliot Ackerman makes the case for female SEALS.

Getaround Strikes Deal To Offer Discounted Leases For Smart Cars Listed On Its Rental Platform. Interesting integrated marketing going on here.

I’ve got both killer apnea and an aversion to CPAP masks (alien face-huggers, yaaaa!).  I did apnea surgery a decade or two ago. It was the most inconvenient recovery I’ve ever had, and it didn’t work for me. At all.  I’m still rattling the hardware on the dresser loose.  That’s bad, so alternatives always interested me. This abstract cites long term relief for 8/20 in a preliminary study exploring the effects of botox injection. Results are encouraging. Anyone heard anything about this?

I see we’ve all survived the holidays with family? Oh, good. Some holiday cheer from The Chieftains w/Elvis!

From “Know-How” to “No-How!”

In a 1969 letter, Asimov wrote in exasperation: “The people of the United States spend exactly as much money on booze alone as on the space program.” {Americans actually spent lots more on booze}. In 1983, three decades before the precarious state of space exploration we face today, Isaac Asimov was interviewed for Muppet Magazine on the enormous cultural benefits of space exploration.

One of the world’s largest aquifers has been discovered from orbit under the northern Kenyan desert.

How’s that sequester working out for you? New study shows close to 1 in 5 U.S. scientists has considered moving their research overseas in search of better funding.

Home on Lagrange: how NASA will grow salad in space.

Reflect on the 47th anniversary of “Star Trek”, and how old that makes you. Don’t worry about William Shatner, though. He’s jamming with Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye of YES fame.

A new study suggests possibility of selectively erasing unwanted memories. Okay, there was most of the third season….

Chris Carter talks about the 20th anniversary of “The X-Files”. It racked up quite a few now-familiar guest stars over its 9 year run.

“The Truth is out there” quote of the day:

We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects and it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity….. anything you can imagine we already know how to do.

~ Ben Rich, former Head of the Lockheed Skunk Works

bioMASON, a start-up that harnesses ‘microbial induced carbonate precipitation’ to make bricks from sand without a kiln, just got a $500K prize for being aswesome.

John Robb has some thoughts on “How to deal with Countries that Use Chemical Weapons? Make it Personal”. Think of it as ‘piercing the corporate veil’ for despots.

The NYPD announced today that it busted a group of drug dealers that strictly observed Shabbat.

Suck it, Prius! The new 887-horsepower Porsche 918 Spyder gets up to 94 miles per gallon with a top speed of over 200MPH.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as marketed today: