Gravity Suspended

Physicists the world over have been scratching their heads this Fall, as our current understanding of gravity has been shattered. The most famous of the fundamental forces, gravity has long been a source of curiosity for the eager young scientist. Newton took the first successful crack at it with his infamous apple and Einstein came along to sure up the theory for later generations. All was going well until recently.

A month or so ago, an extremely focused disruption in the gravity field allowed blogger and student, Tony Lucchese, to literally fall off of the face of the Earth. It is unclear as to what caused the disturbance, but what is clear is that Lucchese has been MIA for several weeks. Scientists from CalTech to CERN are working around the clock to rectify the problem. Until then, we can only wait.

Uhhh....What?

Good thing she's pretty.


Nod to IB a Math Teacher.

I'm Talkin' Bout the Funk

Redundancy?

This was staring me in the face at the grocery store check-out yesterday.

The jokes just write themselves.

Look Before You Leak

Proving once again that mathematical thinking may be employed in the most surprising of places, a statistically minded blogger at Guns Guns Guns Bikes Bikes (seriously, that's the name,) has worked out exactly where each gender stands (or sits) in the age-old toilet seat debate. I wouldn't recommend citing this source during an argument with your significant other, but it sure is good for a laugh.

A Brief History of Luddism

Pre-History: "Boy lazy. He no wait sky fire. He rub sticks. Make flame."

Stone Age: "Man-child is lazy. He uses bow-drill to start fire. He is losing the old ways."

Medieval Era: "Methinks yonder child dost laze about. He summons flame with flint and steel."

Age of Enlightenment: "My son has grown complacent from the new technology of sulfur matches."

Victorian Era: "The kid can't even be bothered to strike a match. He just flicks his lighter."

Modern Era: "Kids today are dependent on calculators. The can't do math the old-fashioned way."

Like Warm Apple Pi

This one came to me via one of my tutoring students. Robots, wizards, rugby shirts, and one kick-ass transcendental number.

Angel of Death...Or Serial Killer?

For those of you who aren't familiar with this story and are therefore both confused and disturbed, let me explain. A cat in Rhode Island is making news with his alleged ability to predict the exact time that human beings will visit the litter box in the sky. Doctors feel confident enough about his track record that they are writing him up in the New England Journal of Medicine. But it seems to me that they are putting the rosiest spin on the facts. Here is what we know.

Oscar came to live at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a kitten two years ago. Since then, he has been spotted making rounds each day, sniffing and nuzzling patients of the third floor dementia unit. At some point, caregivers noticed that he had an apparent tendency to curl up on the bed of the soon-to-be deceased. The correlation has reached a point where hospital staff begin phoning family members as soon as he lays down. What does that conversation sound like, I wonder?

"Mr. Smith, this is Dr. Green calling from the Steere House. You'd better get over here. No, the doctor hasn't seen your father yet today. No, his vitals appear normal. Well, you see, it's Oscar. No, not the Grouch. The Cat. Yes, I said the cat. He's sleeping with your father as we speak. Yes, that is serious. We'll do everything we can until you arrive. Please hurry, and you're welcome."

I'd just like to say, first of all, that if Oscar really is a kitty clairvoyant, then he is certainly hedging his bets. It isn't like he goes to health clubs or figure skating competitions to be Nostradamus. He's predicting death in a dementia unit of a nursing home! I'd say his odds are better than average. But I don't think that's what's actually happening. No, I want to be the first to come right out and say what everyone else is only thinking. Oscar has been the last visitor of some 25 patients in the last two years. Some say that makes him and angel; I say it makes him a suspect. I wonder if anyone has tried removing him from the unit and seeing what happens to the mortality rate? There are many well documented cases of medical serial killers. Involuntary euthanasia, they call it, and Oscar fits the profile to a tee.

So before we go nominating this feline for sainthood, I think we ought to bring in the forensics team. I'll bet we find more than trace elements of deadly dander in the victim's lungs.

911

I know I've been posting a lot of videos lately, but I just couldn't resist adding one more. Listen as a toddler gets help with his math from an unlikely source.