The country around was beset by a frightful monster, the Sphinx, a creature shaped like a winged lion, but with the breast and face of a woman. She lay in wait for the wayfarers along the roads to the city and whomever she seized she put a riddle to, telling him if he could answer it, she would let him go. No one could, and the horrible creature devoured man after man until the city was in a state of siege. — Edith Hamilton, from her book Mythology – – – This “frightful monster” appeared in the famous Greek tale…
The Science Creative Quarterly
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) is not a quarterly, but instead publishes new material at a non-linear rate. Currently, it is sleeping and in a sort of stasis (turpor?) It used to seek science writing of any genre, and your contribution would have involved checking out our submissions guidelines.
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) has a single print edition so far (half SCQ pieces, and half fake science journal – see here for more details). Also, badges?
Stay safe everyone!
NEURAL THEORY OF FEAR OF COMMITMENT – AN ABSTRACT
Fear of Commitment (FoC) is a normal relationship-induced phenomenon that has plagued scientists for years. FoC is characterized by intense avoidance of, and discomfort caused by, all activities which imply commitment within a relationship, such as the co-carrying of shopping bags (usually coupled with the co-pushing of shopping carts) at grocery stores, the unsolicited giving of flowers and chocolates, the lending and borrowing of car keys, the leaving of toothbrushes in the other party’s living quarters, and most significantly, the request to move in with the other party and/or to relocate with the other party. These commitment-implying activities, broadly categorized…
THE UNIVERSE OF IPOD CONTESTS: A SUMMARY AND CASE FOR OURS
Data obtained November 13, 2007 It seems obvious to most people that iPods are a ubiquitous part of culture. But for folks like myself who also look after a website, the notion of an iPod contest is just as pervasive. A good indicator of this is to simply google a few pertinent terms. In fact, when I did that with the phrase “Win an iPod” (in quotes) I was actually returned with an astounding 2,000,000 hits. More enlightening, is if you narrow down the search to limit the term mentioned within the last week (2570 results), or even the last…
BO’
“Bo’.” Everyone in the car turned. “Double bo’.” A team member aimed an instrument, calibrated and took a reading. “Three point…one…four…one…five.” “Pi bo’.” “Pi bo’.” “Pi bo’.” The driver turned and stopped. The team got out and set their instruments in the gravel and alongside the grass waterway. “Boss, how should I zero the TRIR?” “Twenty millis.” “Let’s try eight.” “Eight?” “Eight?” “Eight?” “The faster pump probe emission might get us more structural information on the excited state kinetics of the dark and emissive states…boss.” Everyone was quiet. “Do it.” The team finished calibrating the instruments and returned to the…
JEEZ, THESE THINGS COULD COMPUTE! (A PRIMER ON DNA COMPUTERS)
In 1947, three physicists and electrical engineers named William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, employed at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, crudely fashioned a clunky device using paper clips and razor blades, which could control the flow of electric current between two pieces of gold by adjusting the current in a third piece of germanium. This invention, which is now known as a transistor, constituted the world’s first purely electronic switch and is now considered the basic building block for the construction of all machines that process data using electricity. For their pioneering work, Shockley (whose name, by the…
OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING: A LITERATURE REVIEW
Critics of pollution/industrial by-product origins for Global Warming most often cite two major alternative causes for the effect: 1) the sun; and 2) volcanoes. A comprehensive examination of the scientific literature, however, reveals a number of less frequently cited alternative models for the origins of Global Warming. Herein is a list of these often over-looked, but potentially important alternative causation theories. – – – 1. Mrs. Edwina Price (582 West Paramus Street, Apartment 2D, Cleveland, Ohio). Although there is some conflicting evidence, many studies have documented the fact that Mrs. Edwina Price has left her oven on continuously since 1942.…
ORIENTAL POPPY II: A FLOWER MANDALA
– FROM THE ARCHIVE – Copyright 2005, David J. Bookbinder I work as a psychotherapist, often with artists, and display some of these images in my treatment room. From time to time my clients mention them and they become part of the discussion. This occurs usually when artists are talking about difficulties they are having with their creative process, sometimes even in a spiritual context. The combination of natural elements (the photographs of flowers, sky, wood, stone, or metal that these images are based on) and digital manipulation into the mandala form seems both to stimulate and to relax. My…
“I’M THE BIGGEST THING IN THE OCEAN!” ANOTHER BOOK CONTEST
O.K. so we’re waaay behind on sorting out the Bill Hick, Science Prick contest, but figure that the best way to deal with that is to simply host another writing contest. This time, the book on the line is “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean!” by Kevin Sherry. This book is great by the way, and this appears regardless of the fondness many people have for squids. This time we’ll take any kind of submission. Just send some stuff in – because essentially the thing we like the best, is the thing that will make us send this book…
A UNIVERSITY JOB POSTING (OR BECOMING A PROFESSOR IS HARD THESE DAYS)
This is a call for outstanding candidates to apply for a tenure track assistant professor position within the context of the Department of [subject name] at the [institution name]. The successful applicant is expected to work in areas of interest to current faculty members, to interact with related groups within our network and to have demonstrated ability in producing research material of excellent quality and interest. Due to the competitive nature of this process, we ask that all candidates at the very least meet the following criteria: The candidate’s current area of specialty must contain at least fourteen syllables. The…