Tiny Island Voters

Excite News - Tiny Island Voters Kick Off French Polls. What is the world coming to. The article is rather uninteresting, but the hyphenation!

This headline should should read "Tiny-Island Voters..." As it reads now, I am picturing a bunch of tiny people voting on some island. What is it about this island that makes them so small?

Report: China Will Pass U.S.

Report: China Will Pass U.S. As Polluter! From the article:

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China will pass the United States as the world's biggest source of greenhouse gasses this year, an official with the International Energy Agency was quoted as saying.

Again, the US is loosing it's status as number 1. What do you make of this?

Celebrities - is there anything they can't do?

Relax folks, the crisis is over. I was worried for a while, but we are OK. The Earth was in mortal peril. But now it is over, Al Gore has mobilized those kings among men (stars) to help out. Just think what can happen when people like Leanardo DiCaprio get behind a cause. Thank you! Here is part of the article:

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Environmental campaigner Al Gore hopes the Live Earth concerts on July 7 will do for climate change awareness what Live Aid did for Africa.

The former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate is spearheading efforts to get the world of pop music to back his crusade to avert what he calls a "planetary emergency," and already has Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on board.

"The Live Earth concerts on July 7 of this year will be the largest musical event in world history and the beginning of the biggest change we've ever had to make," Gore told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the concerts.

I remember Live Aid - it was a bunch of celebrities helping Africa. Here we are more than 20 years later, and look at what a success it has been! Africa is wealthier than ever, poverty and disease have been all but eliminated, and no wars...

I do not like celebrities. They are using this as a tool to promote themselves. That is the only thing they are good at.

Scientists outs himself

Is this guy committing professional suicide? In science there can be very little tolerance for "beliefs." That is why I find this article so interesting. The head of the human genome project "came out" and admitted he is (*gasp*) a Christian.

Editor's note: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Human Genome Project. His most recent book is "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief."

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.

As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.

Whatever your beliefs may be, I hope you have the courage to share them, even if they go against the mainstream.

U of I news

Nobel Laureate Paul C. Lauterbur, developer of MRI, dies at age 77. Some sad news from the U of I.

blades of aluminum

A turbo blew up this weekend. Check out these pics! For those who do not know, this is a pump designed to evacuate a system to very low pressures. It has many blades (like a turbine engine on a plane) that spin at 38 000 rmp (this model). Check out what happens when something fails. Look at all of that shrapnel.
We will have to replace it, of course. And it damaged other parts in the process (very bad), but enjoy these pics.

Pizza in a cup

In the movie "The Jerk" Steve Martin says:

This is the best pizza in a cup ever. This guy is unbelievable. He ran the old Cup 'o Pizza guy out of business. People come from all over to eat this.

He says this as he is on a date while eating "pizza in a cup." I always thought this was funny. It is hilarious because pizza does not belong in a cup. It is one of those things I could laugh at for hours. Looks like some genius stole the idea and put pizza in a cone! No kidding! How gross does that look? But it does not stop there; look at the menu, you can get any food you like in cone form. Even ham and eggs! What idiot would think, hey that looks good? From the Crispy Cones website:

The food you love in a cone.Take your favorite foods: Pizza. Asian Beef. BLT Sandwich. Teriyaki Chicken. Place them inside a tasty spill-free Crispy Cone. What do you have? A healthy, delicious meal on the go. See the cone menu.