Gigantic Apes Coexisted with Early Humans, Study Finds.

Thanks to recent discoveries using multispectral imaging, you can now take a trip to the black hole at the center of our galaxy, courtesy of Andrew J. Hanson of the University of Indiana. It’s one of several examples of virtual astronomy on his website. (Via The Corner).

Maybe we actually have a taste sensor for fat.

This ought to be interesting: Almost four decades ago, Stanley Kubrick gathered the world’s scientific minds and asked them to predict the future. Their thoughts would then form the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, his epic about a mission to Jupiter which becomes a life or death battle between the space crew and …

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Active volcanoes have been ruled out as the source of Mars’s atmospheric methane, increasing the (still considered slight) chance that the gas comes from living organisms.

Does this snow shovel on a wheel work? I have my doubts. I do know you’ll look unbearably geeky using one. But then, in January in Saskatchewan, no one looks suave while shoveling snow. Personally, I think I’m holding out for a snowblower. (Via Gizmodo.)

The Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota claims the technical hurdles are behind us and “it is just a matter of time” before the system economically becomes reality. Great news!

I may be a prairie boy now, but I didn’t start out that way. I was born in Silver City, New Mexico, and as a small child, whenever we went back to New Mexico, I always said we were going to “my mountains.” These days, of course, the mountains I go to are typically the …

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“Canadians Drafting Plans to Build the World’s Largest Telescope” says the headline to this story. In Hawaii, possibly. Or Mexico. Or other warm climes. Definitely not in Saskatchewan. Because Canadians aren’t, you know, like, stupid.

Well, not exactly. But pretty darn close for human languages. From the press release: An increasingly globalized world became even smaller on Thursday when Carnegie Mellon University and German scientists unveiled technology that makes it possible to speak one language, yet be understood in another. Wow.

At least, if you’re a male mouse. It works for humans, too, you know.

Why, yes, now that you mention it, this blog has been silent for the last week or so. Thanks for noticing! The reason: a fabulous few days at the Banff Springs Hotel, centred around the International Wine and Food Festival. More later (there’ll be an extensive report at some point over at Willetts on Wine), …

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