Asides

Not to be missed: The LHC Rap. I wish all physics was taught like that. Ed: Oh wait, here’s some more =) Don’t miss the Mythbusters video, and the Ruben’s Tube (‘sound on fire’!)

Charlie Wilson’s War: Amusingly told story of how Charlie Wilson, a smokin’, drinkin’, womanising politician from Texas got the Afghan war of the 80s off the ground. A bit too light-hearted given the relevance of the subject matter today, and unrepentent - the argument being that “it would have been alright if we allocated more money to follow through after the war had been won,” which looks a lot like retroactive re-writing of facts to my cynical nature. ★★☆ ...

The terrifying cost of feeling safer: “Transnational terrorism across the world leads to an average of 420 deaths a year. With a global population of 6.6 billion, that’s not a big risk. The chance of being killed in a road accident is very much higher… Even the chance of contracting HIV/AIDS would be much higher.” Ross Gittins points out how much we’re spending to “combat” the emepheral threat of terrorism, and the missed opportunity cost of spending this money on something useful instead. ...

I probably link to the The Big Picture blog once a week, but the photos are spectacular - this week, it’s the Large Hadron Collider construction reaching its final stages. If there was ever something that screamed “mad scientists at work”, it’s the LHC. Speaking of which, you have 5 days (and counting) to say your prayers that it’s not going to generate a supermassive black hole. Enjoy! :)

There’s a way to go yet before computers can replace all humans, and not least of all translators. (hattip: Regan)