super-structure

Thursday, August 17, 2006

This week, after Sen. George Allen called his opponent’s staffer Macaca, a controversy brewed. What does the word mean? Is it demeaning? Or worse yet — French? But amid the apology and recriminations, a mystery has emerged regarding coiffure. [0 # ]
Having taught the world how to shop online, Amazon.com now finds the world shopping elsewhere on the internet. It is time to become a pioneer again [0 # ]
Oil and water can for the first time be mixed and separated on demand thanks to a new, reversible surfactant. [0 # ]
A single cobalt atom has been made to hop back and forth between two positions in response to an electric current by US researchers. The technique could some day lead to the development of atomic switches for nanoscale devices. [0 # ]
The world of mathematics is in uproar over rumours that its most prestigious prize will be turned down next week by one of its brightest stars. [0 # ]
This fall, 43-year-old long distance runner [Dean Karnazes] will tackle one marathon a day for 50 consecutive days, running a total 1,310 miles (2,108.2 km) in 50 days. And for each 26.2-mile (42.2 km) race, Karnazes and his family of four will travel to a different U.S. state. [0 # ]
Washington lobbying firms, trade associations and corporate offices are moving to hire more well-connected Democrats in response to rising prospects that the opposition party will wrest control of at least one chamber of Congress from Republicans in the November elections. [0 # ]

One of the world’s leading climate modelers, Ben SaSanter has long been a target for cocontrariansnd climate skeptics. [0 # ]
More than 70 people have volunteered to be confined in a mock mission to Mars – for 520 days. It would be the longest simulation of its kind. [0 # ]
The fastest evolving gene in the human genome is one linked to brain development, researchers say. [0 # ]