Nicķ › Comments

"The Congressional Research Service has withdrawn an economic report that found no correlation between top tax rates and economic growth, a central tenet of conservative economic theory, after Senate Republicans raised concerns about the paper’s findings and wording." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"The scans showed that when meditating on compassion, Ricard's brain produces a level of gamma waves -- those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory -- "never reported before in the neuroscience literature", Davidson said." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"The reason is the "castle doctrine", newly added to Montana law. If someone has merely "reasonable belief" that he will be assaulted, even by an unarmed assailant, in his home, he may use deadly force in response." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

uuuuuuuuh that in barrel shit is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawsome!! - ryan

no doubt! never before seen perspective, inside the top lip. - Nicķ

"Sleeping Beauty was inexplicably depressed and spent the entire day checking her email. But then she somehow ended up watching YouTube videos of regular people covering Mumford & Sons songs, and, okay, that Taylor Swift song “Begin Again,” and something about it was really beautiful and made her feel like she’d connected with someone and someone understood how she felt and she wasn’t alone." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

This is the god damn greatest thing I've read on the internet in a while! - Nicķ

"While the newly discovered planet circles Alpha Centauri B, it's part of a system of three stars: Alpha Centauri A, B and the slightly more distant Proxima Centauri. Systems with two or more stars are more common than single stars like our sun, astronomers say." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her vice presidential running mate Cheri Honkala were arrested at the Hofstra University debate site today as they protested their exclusion from the second presidential debate." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Mitt Romney called the controversial Arizona illegal immigration law a model for the country, and blasted the Obama administration for challenging it in court. "I will drop those lawsuits on Day One," Romney said in response to a question on illegal immigration during a GOP candidate debate in Mesa, Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill, was in the audience." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

I remember that clown car primary debate all too well. - Steven Perez

Ted Koppel!! - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"This week, California set a new solar record. During the afternoon on Tuesday, 1,029 megawatts of clean, cost-effective solar power pumped through the California grid -- enough to power around 150,000 homes. Week by week, the record keeps inching upwards as more solar comes on line and the summer moves along." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Michael Schofield thought his young daughter, Janni, was a genius, until he realised her bright mind masked an inner darkness." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

I saw a documentary about this family several months ago. It was fascinating. - Rochelle

"Antarctica's Ross Sea is often described as the most isolated and pristine ocean on Earth, a place where seals and penguins still rule the waves and humans are about as far away as they could be. But even there it has proven difficult, and maybe impossible, for nations to agree on how strongly to protect the environment." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Every age has its deities. The medieval mindset placed its blind faith in God. The Enlightenment anointed reason and science. Our own age has indulged a pseudoscientific cult of willpower: the deification of determination. At its best, it is a questionable creed. At its worst, it suggests that all losers must also be weaklings." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Scientists have discovered well-preserved frozen woolly mammoth fragments deep in Siberia that may contain living cells, edging a tad closer to the "Jurassic Park" possibility of cloning a prehistoric animal, the mission's organizer said Tuesday." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"A shibboleth is a word, sound, or custom that a person is unable to pronounce or perform correctly. It is used to identify foreigners or those who do not belong to a particular class or group of people. It also refers to features of language, and particularly to a word or phrase whose pronunciation identifies a speaker as belonging to a particular group." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

Watch the video, clearly not a 2/3rds majority. They vote three times and then decide to pass it anyway. Ah, failed democracy.... - Nicķ

"...planners and government officials say millions of mollusks planted in waters off New York and other cities could go a long way toward cleaning up America's polluted urban environment. The oyster and other shellfish can slurp up toxins and eliminate decades of dirt." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

Wait, what happens when they die? - Andrew C (✓) from Android

Good question. Fertilize the bottom I guess? It sounds like they break down toxins, not simply store them, if that's what you're thinking. - Nicķ

"A five-year research programme, called Project Indect, aims to develop computer programmes which act as "agents" to monitor and process information from web sites, discussion forums, file servers, peer-to-peer networks and even individual computers." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"Rinehart made her money the old-fashioned way: She inherited it. Her family iron ore prospecting fortune of $30.1 billion makes her Australia's wealthiest person and the richest woman on the planet." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has set off from its landing vicinity on a trek to a science destination about a quarter mile (400 meters) away, where it may begin using its drill." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

was about ready for a new background - ryan

thought you'd like that one - Nicķ

rad but what is up with the angle/perspective? - ryan

southern polar for some reason. it is interesting to see it that way... - Nicķ

Ah, that's classic. - Nicķ

"Would you break your own toe to win a Paralympic medal? Would you sit on a sharp object or strangulate your testicles? It's cheating, but a scientist who will be monitoring athletes at the Paralympic Games says a third of competitors with spinal injuries may be harming themselves to boost their performance. The practice, called "boosting", is designed to increase blood pressure and enhance performance." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"The six-wheel NASA rover did not stray far from the spot where it landed more than two weeks ago. It rolled forward about 15 feet, rotated to a right angle and reversed a short distance, leaving track marks on the ancient soil." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"In the photo above, photographer Connie Tran captured an image of a humpback whale with a California brown pelican looking startled and awkward in its mouth." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

I'd be startled and awkward in its mouth, too. - Eivind

Hahaha, perfectly timed :D - esther

"Ryan has previously cited Rage Against the Machine as one of his favorite bands. Rage guitarist Tom Morello responds in this exclusive op-ed." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

Wow. - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"For the first four decades of competition, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions. From 1912 to 1952, juries awarded a total of 151 medals to original works in the fine arts inspired by athletic endeavors." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet

"It is not true that my book “Guns, Germs and Steel,” as Mr. Romney described it in a speech in Jerusalem, “basically says the physical characteristics of the land account for the differences in the success of the people that live there. There is iron ore on the land and so forth.” That is so different from what my book actually says that I have to doubt whether Mr. Romney read it." - Nicķ from Bookmarklet