Category Nature/Biology

Apr 30 2010

Vatican launches LUCIFER Telescope

https://i0.wp.com/www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/Lucifer1.jpg

A new instrument with an evil-sounding name is helping scientists see how stars are born. Lucifer, which stands for (deep breath) “Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research,” is a chilled instrument attached to a telescope in Arizona. And yes, it’s named for the Devil, whose name itself means “morning star.” But it wasn’t meant to evoke him, according to a spokesman for the University of Arizona, where it is housed.

Lucifer is part of the Large Binocular Telescope, which happens to be right next to the Vatican Observatory on Mt. Graham in Tucson. That’s right, the Vatican has an observatory in Arizona, manned by Jesuit astronomers. Now its next-door neighbor is named for the Devil.

Apr 29 2010

Bare Discrepancies

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Changing the hue of hospital gowns and bed sheets to match a patient’s skin color could greatly enhance a physician’s ability to detect cyanosis and other health-related skin color changes, according to a new study from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Apr 28 2010

Big Brother Bird House

$98   Buy It

Big Brother is nesting. Dennis Nino Clasen has created the Wolfgang S. birdhouse (referring to German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schauble) to look like it’s watching your every move.

VIA: -THE AWESOMER-

Apr 28 2010

Queen Eliza(rd)beth Largest Land-owner in the World

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/16e/400/16e4007a-e70b-48ae-a2c3-7a88f22a24c2

Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom and of 31 other states and territories, is the legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non ocean surface.

She is the only person on earth who owns whole countries, and who owns countries that are not her own domestic territory. This land ownership is separate from her role as head of state and is different from other monarchies where no such claim is made – Norway, Belgium, Denmark etc.

The value of her land holding. £17,600,000,000,000 (approx).

This makes her the richest individual on earth.