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Friday 24 February 2012
Cat-sized horses
More than 50 million years ago, the Earth was a hotter place than it is today and horses the size of pet cats roamed the forests of North America, US scientists said on Thursday.
These earliest known horses, known as Sifrhippus, actually grew smaller over tens of thousands of years in order to adapt to the higher temperatures of a period when methane emissions spiked, possibly due to major volcanic eruptions.
The research could have implications for how the planet's modern animals may adapt to a warming planet due to climate change and higher carbon emissions, scientists said.
Researchers made the discovery after analyzing horse tooth fossils uncovered in the western US state of Wyoming that showed the older ones were larger, and that the species had shrunk over time.
LINK
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These earliest known horses, known as Sifrhippus, actually grew smaller over tens of thousands of years in order to adapt to the higher temperatures of a period when methane emissions spiked, possibly due to major volcanic eruptions.
The research could have implications for how the planet's modern animals may adapt to a warming planet due to climate change and higher carbon emissions, scientists said.
Researchers made the discovery after analyzing horse tooth fossils uncovered in the western US state of Wyoming that showed the older ones were larger, and that the species had shrunk over time.
LINK
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Wednesday 22 February 2012
Monday 20 February 2012
Sunday 19 February 2012
Is this true?
You may need to click on the image to enlarge it.
So, are the squares marked "A" and "B" the same colour? Not bloody likely, eh? Actually, they are. Okay, look again. Still not convinced? Neither was I, so here's what I did. I right-clicked on the image on the website where I had found it and selected "Copy Image". Then, I launched Paint.Net (you can use any graphics program (such as MS-Paint) that has a "colour picker" tool) and pasted the image.
Next, I used the colour picker to select the colour of the square marked "A". I selected the paintbrush tool (any function that will "write" will do) and made a swatch on the white area of the image.
I repeated the above for the square marked "B" and lo and behold, the two swatches are exactly the same colour.
The reason for this optical illusion is the shadow cast by the cylindrical figure in the image. Even knowing this, our eyes are so completely fooled that the squares still appear to be very different colours. This is one of the best illusions I've "never" seen.
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So, are the squares marked "A" and "B" the same colour? Not bloody likely, eh? Actually, they are. Okay, look again. Still not convinced? Neither was I, so here's what I did. I right-clicked on the image on the website where I had found it and selected "Copy Image". Then, I launched Paint.Net (you can use any graphics program (such as MS-Paint) that has a "colour picker" tool) and pasted the image.
Next, I used the colour picker to select the colour of the square marked "A". I selected the paintbrush tool (any function that will "write" will do) and made a swatch on the white area of the image.
I repeated the above for the square marked "B" and lo and behold, the two swatches are exactly the same colour.
The reason for this optical illusion is the shadow cast by the cylindrical figure in the image. Even knowing this, our eyes are so completely fooled that the squares still appear to be very different colours. This is one of the best illusions I've "never" seen.
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Saturday 18 February 2012
Saturday 11 February 2012
My gal said this to me...
...about an hour ago, but I thought it sounded more appropriate in this context:
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Serious comments only, please
One is an alien-looking creature that would eat her mate in a second and the other is a praying mantis.
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Wednesday 8 February 2012
Friday 3 February 2012
Who's paying the taxes?
From Wall Street Journal:
U.S. companies are booking higher profits than ever. But the number crunchers in Washington are puzzling over a phenomenon that has just come into view: Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.
Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.
LINK
And the fat cats keep wondering what all the excitement is about. Occupy this!
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U.S. companies are booking higher profits than ever. But the number crunchers in Washington are puzzling over a phenomenon that has just come into view: Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years.
Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.
LINK
And the fat cats keep wondering what all the excitement is about. Occupy this!
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Thursday 2 February 2012
Hate Facebook? Let's try something else.
Join me at Zurker, a serious competitor to Facebook, and be an owner instead of a product.This social network is in Beta, but already makes FB look like a rat's nest. Earn shares in the company while doing what you normally would do on Facebook instead of making Zuckerberg and his minions ever richer.
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Flowers are blooming!
Being from Toronto, I am not at all used to seeing this in February...
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