More Love for Clare & The Reasons...on WNYC

Earlier in the week, Brian Lehrer had Neil deGrasse Tyson on for a discussion of Pluto, our dubious celestial neighbor. The segment ended with Clare's song "Pluto". Brian had Clare on yesterday to discuss the song, however briefly.

The Large Hadron Collider Has Been Activated!!!

Shazam!

Personally, while I sweat with excitement at the notion of a black hole opening up and swallowing the universe in upon itself, I am obviously much more hopeful about the particle collider being the conduit for the Infinite Improbability Drive leading to a whale and a geranium being called into existence, with the geranium observing "Oh no, not again."

Of Time Locks, Tetra Cities, and Dymaxion Automobiles: Buckminster Fuller and the Whitney Exhibit

I recently went to the exhibit at the Whitney Museum showcasing the ideas, designs, and intentions of one R. Buckminster Fuller, who, besides having one tremendous name, was a sort of mad scientist for the forces of Good. He was a true visionary, and the kind of bold thinker who not only thought up new methods of solving just about every hiccup in the facets of human existence, he completely rethought the very nature of human existence in and of itself. In some ways, it seems that Mr. Fuller was not of this dimension. He seems to be a visitor from another Earth in the realm of the multiverse, who somehow escaped through a multi-dimensional wormhole and wound up here for a little while.

Besides the practical applications of his designs, structures, devices, and maps, he had a knack for names and logos. "Time Lock" and "Dymaxion" are my personal favorites, and the look of his Dymaxion Car is my kind of ride:

A dirigible on wheels!

WNYC recently had the curators of the exhibit on the Lopate show and This Recording's Molly Young visited the exhibit and had her own take on it.

Speaking of This Recording, in non-Dymaxion Time Lock Thermomovementation Device News, they've had some other recent articles of note:
Fungi
The Deliciousness (or lack there of) of Disgusting Food
Another Chapter In Their Continuing Valid Obsession With Redheads
(See Previously: In Praise of Jews)

Clear Channel Type Inter-Galatic Radio Station Explodes

Hmm...not quite.

Manimals!

It's finally happened. British scientists are mixing the DNA of humans and animals. Me, I'm picking the DNA of a bat to put into me. So I can become a vampire. Not because I'm into goth or anything like that - there's just a lot of people out there that need some biting.

The Symmetry of Life: 1 Billion and a Half Heartbeats

If you think this gives some credence to the idea of an intelligent designer go right ahead. It does remind one of Einstein's belief in "God" as the natural beauty of the order of all things.

Look! Up in the sky!

First off, they've discovered kryptonite and now a day later they've discovered an Earth-like planet 20 light years away. If anyone knows of a mild-mannered reporter working for their local metropolitan newspaper, check to see if he disappears at moments of danger just as some guy in a red cape and blue pajamas comes to save the day. Actually, check to see if there is a guy in a red cape and blue pajamas flying around first.