Yesterday as I was about to cross the street a guy with a big cardboard box asked me, “Would you like a free book?” I hesitated because I wasn’t sure what it would be, then said, “Sure.” And he handed me a copy of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. I looked at it and [...]
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Nov
10
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
November 10, 2009 | 2 Comments
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As a kid I had a chemistry set. I started out with it doing some of the more “educational” experiments, trying to learn serious stuff about chemistry, but then I realized I was only interested in making cool looking crystals or colors or blowing stuff up–which is why I added potassium permanganate and glycerin to [...]
About once a month my wife buys eighty pounds of raw chicken necks which I then run through a meat grinder, pack into containers, and freeze. Now I know what you’re thinking: Hey, call me the next time because I’d like to get in on that! Seriously, you’re probably wondering why anyone in their right [...]
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Oct
2
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
October 2, 2009 | 1 Comment
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I’ve always been fascinated by both cephalopods and creatures of the abyss, and at this time of year when there seem to be so more vampires around than usual, I can’t help thinking of the abyssal cephalopod scientists have lovingly named Vampyroteuthis infernalis, which translates as “vampire squid from Hell”. And yet, as you can [...]
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Sep
15
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
September 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
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“I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.”-Carl Sagan
A little over a hundred and fifty years ago, on September 2nd, 1859, to be precise, a massive solar storm allowed telegraph lines to keep running even though they weren’t [...]
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Sep
14
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
September 14, 2009 | 1 Comment
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Finding the Bathysphere in an outdoor scrap yard under the Cyclone in Coney Island was like coming across a Mercury space capsule among rusting tools and nicked furniture at a flea market.
-from Descent by Brad Matsen
It’s been said that we know more about the depths of space than we do about the depths of Earth’s [...]
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Aug
3
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
August 3, 2009 | 2 Comments
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Often when I sit down to read a scientific book I’m initially fascinated, and my fascination just keeps growing as I keep reading and letting the author unfold new information, but there’s almost always a point of critical mass at which I feel my head just can’t take any more. It’s like I hit an [...]
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Feb
28
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
February 28, 2009 | 2 Comments
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Until I was in fifth or sixth grade I thought I knew all the colors of the rainbow. Then one day at school the teacher was bored and tired and decided to show us a film about colors, and for the first time I heard the mnemonic ROY G. BIV for remembering the colors of the rainbow. And again, [...]
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Feb
11
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
February 11, 2009 | 4 Comments
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There’s been a series of articles in Slate on revolting creatures, written by Constance Casey who worked as a New York City Department of Parks gardener for five years, where she doubtless came across a number of revolting creatures. I just discovered the series with its third and most recent installment on vultures. The previous [...]
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Jan
8
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Posted by Christopher Waldrop
January 8, 2009 | 2 Comments
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If you’re wondering what the title of my last post meant, I apologize for confusing you. On the other hand if you recognized the reference to James Thurber’s essay, What Do You Mean It Was Brillig? from his book My World And Welcome To It, then give yourself five extra credit points.
Sometimes when the word [...]
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