“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it” – William Pitt the Elder, British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768. Our nations’ leaders are supposed to be paragons of virtue and strength, ever striving to better the populace’s lot in life and aid their country’s economic and social progress. The […]
Continue readingAustralia is a land of deadly creatures that seem to take obscene joy in killing you — and not just Queenslanders hunting down anyone who’s brown. No, the entire ecosystem seems specifically designed to kill, what with the horrible desert, deadly animals, annoying insects, and constant worry of drop bear attack. These 13 animals are […]
Continue readingThe life of an author — particularly an author of fiction – is necessarily connected to that which is most dangerous: our consciousness. It is often through the exploratory process of creative literature that we touch the exciting possibilities and subversive consequences of our capacities as a species. Yet for all of the grandiose ways […]
Continue readingPirates! They weren’t all Johnny Depp-swaying, dainty and witty denizens of the sea. Though they’ve been with us from the ancient world to the present wave of Somalian ship hijackings, most pirates were a 17th-century phenomenon whose short careers ended bloodily, leaving behind rumors of their fearsome beards as much as of their actual material […]
Continue readingSleeping At Last is an Indie rock band from Wheaton, Illinois, formed during 1998. Sleeping At Last was founded by Ryan O’Neal, Chad O’Neal, and Dan Perdue, with Ryan on lead vocals, guitar, and piano, Chad on drums, and Perdue on bass and keyboards. The band originated a strong, Wheaton area following as the opening […]
Continue readingThe cliché goes that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but some photographs eschew any such numeric limitation and go on talking to us forever; certain photo portraits have that rare power. Far more than pictorial representations of celebrated or instantly recognizable figures, they capture so much more, seeming to encapsulate not simply the […]
Continue readingPaul of Tarsus Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. Paul the Apostle, Paul of Tarsus [?-65 c.e.] was a Hellenistic Jew and student of Gamaliel the Elder who served as enforcer for the Pharisaic Sanhedrin against the apostate Christian sect following the crucifixion of Jesus. Around 33 c.e. he experienced a dramatic conversion experience while on the […]
Continue readingThe world is out to get you. That’s how I ended up feeling after compiling this list of horrifying, permanently scarring, eternally terrifying rare diseases. Genetic, infectious, parasitic and everything in-between, these 15 diseases scar their victims for life and scar us mentally having looked at them. 15. Blaschko’s Lines So, it turns out we […]
Continue readingGenetic Algorithm: A heuristic search technique used in computing and Artificial Intelligence to find optimized solutions to search problems using techniques inspired by evolutionary biology: mutation, selection, reproduction [inheritance] and recombination. 1. Automotive Design Using Genetic Algorithms [GAs] to both design composite materials and aerodynamic shapes for race cars and regular means of transportation (including […]
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…For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is a question of cubic capacity, " said he; "a man with so large a brain must have something in it. " … Sherlock Holmes – The Adventure of the Blue […]
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