Eclectic Perambulations in the Noosphere
by exfordy
777 steps to the shrine at the top of the peak.
"Taung Kalat , located in central Burma, thirty miles or so from the ancient city of Bagan, towers above the earth like some sort of giant’s sand castle. Atop it there is a Buddhist monastery which rests upon the precipitous volcanic plug."
Photo: Caren Alpert
A scanning electron microscope image (500X) of the mold found outside the Hiram Walker Distillery.
The air outside a distillery warehouse smells like witch hazel and spices, with notes of candied fruit and vanilla—warm and tangy- mellow. It’s the aroma of fresh cookies cooling in the kitchen while a fancy cocktail party gets out of hand in the living room.
James Scott encountered that scent for the first time a decade ago in a town called Lakeshore, Ontario. Just across the river from Detroit, Lakeshore is where barrels of Canadian Club whiskey age in blocky, windowless warehouses. Scott, who had recently completed his PhD in mycology at the University of Toronto, had launched a business called Sporometrics. Run out of his apartment, it was a sort of consulting detective agency for companies that needed help dealing with weird fungal infestations. The first call he got after putting up his website was from a director of research at Hiram Walker Distillery named David Doyle.
Could you pass the civics portion of the U.S. citizenship test? Applicants must answer 6 of 10 questions correctly (out of 100 different possible questions). Here are some sample questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official website :
1. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
2. What is the economic system in the United States?
3. Name your U.S. Representative.
4. What are two Cabinet-level positions?
5. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
6. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
7. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name ONE of the writers.
8. What is ONE thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
9. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
Answers :
1. 27; 2. capitalist economy/market economy; 3. answers will vary; 4. Any two: Secretary of Agriculture ▪ Secretary of Commerce ▪ Secretary of Defense ▪ Secretary of Education ▪ Secretary of Energy
▪ Secretary of Health and Human Services ▪ Secretary of Homeland Security ▪ Secretary of Housing and Urban Development ▪ Secretary of the Interior ▪ Secretary of Labor ▪ Secretary of State ▪ Secretary of Transportation ▪ Secretary of the Treasury ▪ Secretary of Veterans Affairs ▪ Attorney General ▪ Vice President; 5. John Roberts; 6. Native Americans/American Indians; 7. James Madison ▪ Alexander Hamilton ▪ John Jay ▪ Publius; 8. U.S. diplomat ▪ oldest member of the Constitutional Convention ▪ first Postmaster General of the United States ▪ writer of “Poor Richard’s Almanac” ▪ started the first free libraries. 9. World War II; 10. fought for women’s rights/fought for civil rights.
Image: NASA/ESA
"I do not think I have ever seen the Aurora from inside the Aurora itself. This images is awesome on so many levels. It reminds me of a laser show by Jean Michel Jarre – secretive and mysterious."
Videographer Jeremiah Warren used an 808 #11 spy camera similar to the one pictured below. Despite its small stature (it’s a mere 2.6 inches long and 1.4 inches wide), the $120 camcorder can shoot and record HD in 720p:"
