Because my brain is too small to rememeber all these junks…
… of all the space probes sent to Mars, only the two Viking craft in 1976 were adequately heat sterilised. The procedures used for all missions since then, including NASA’s twin rovers and Europe’s Beagle 2, would have left some microbes aboard.
After testing whether terrestrial organisms can survive simulated Martian conditions and the procedures used to sterilise spacecraft, he reckons there is a good chance some made it to Mars and might still be living there….
Yikes!
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How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d;
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Eloisa to Abelard - Alexander Pope
I really really enjoyed watching this movie!! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written by none other than Charlie Kaufman (who also wrote Adaptation, Human Nature, and Being John Malkovich) is a romantic drama/comedy about a couple who choose to get their memories erased to forget about their troubled relationship. It has a touch of Memento but without the disturbing ending :) It’s truly original.. and so far the best movie I’ve seen this year.
Some Links:
The Science of Eternal Sunshine: Slate
Lacuna Inc.
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Chimping: v. a series of photographers all looking at their screens like monkeys!
Cross-chimping: v. comparing your shot to the others
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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | UFO streaks through Martian sky
“The US Spirit rover on Mars has seen a UFO streak across the Red Planet sky.”
Cool~ :)
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Economist.com | Small-scale physics
Story of scientists who measured attometer (that’s 1-billionth of nanometer or 1/100,000,000,000,000,000 meter) and attogram when trying to measure the energy of an electron and weight of virus.
“By refining the system further, he expects to be able to weigh a zeptogram—a thousandth of an attogram. Move over nanotech, it seems that zeptotechnology is just around the corner.”
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Letter From Asia: Japan and China: National Character Writ Large (free reg. req.)
Some interesting facts:
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Korean Romanization demystified
Check out this interesting article… or just skip to the new revised standard
I’ve always thought that Kim, Lee, and Park last names were romanized that way so that it sounds more “western”…
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Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can’t put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don’t you ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?
Why is “abbreviated” such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
(Thanks to Jihongman from SD)
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CARGO - a “comprehensive buyers’ guide for men covering everything from clothes and tech to cars and culture to grooming and gifts,”
It’s one of new breed of magazines geared towards the “metrosexuals” (er…), and guys who enjoys shopping. “Sync” from Ziff-Davis is said to come out in June, which is more about gadgets..
Cool~ :D
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Op-Ed Columnist: Peter, Paul, Mary . . . and God by Nicholas Kristof (free registration required)
Click below for full-text
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I got semi-peer-pressured into watching The Passion of the Christ over the weekend. Semi-pressured becase.. initially, I had no desire to watch the film; not so much because of all the bad bad reviews it received, but more importantly I feared that watching it will forever change my personal belief (or lack there of -_- ) on the subject. Yet, all my friends who had seen the film was saying how deeply moving it is (yes, they are all Christians)… which got me curious. Curious enough for me to shell out $10 for the Saturday late night showing..
In short, overdone or excessive would be the words I’d use to describe the film. Too much violence, too much blood and gore, too much emotions, too much of everything.. The flogging scene is 10 minutes too long! As in typical Holywood style movies, almost everything about the film is overly done to stimulate the senses as much as possible. Too much slow motions.. too much fancy Matrix-like editing…
Some of the things that I liked are the flashback scenes that cut in between all the blood and gore.. which are very stylish and deeply emotional. I also like how they depicted His constant struggles with the Devil, and how they portrayed the Devil.
That said.. I believe this film had huge potential to become one of the most influential film of our generation. But as for me, the violence far overshadowed any spiritual messages that it tried to deliver.
Some interesting clippings:
Why is it called the Passion?
Who killed Jesus?
Last Temptation of Christ - same story, but from a different, more controversial angle.
(out of 5)
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