Witches Brouhaha

Witches’ Brouhaha

In a grove near you, pagans are gathering to celebrate Samhain, the night when the veil between the living and the dead, between this world and others, is thin. We will wear cloaks and have ritual daggers, called athemes, at our waists. The prerequisite silver jewelry will gleam in the firelight. Natural fabrics flow as freely as the mead. There will be an unfortunate excess of tie-dyed material. In other words, we will look most like your picture of witches.

This picture leaves out an important detail, and I don’t mean the whole human-sacrifice-and-stealing-Christian-babies thing. Planning a ritual, whether it’s for Halloween or any other holiday, is a conflict-filled battle. It’s like trying to herd jack rabbits on horseback. Those who practice witchcraft tend to be strident nonconformists, and the very nature of paganism, which has no unifying body or text, means that we have no obligation to believe the same thing or listen to anything beyond the dictates of our own consciences to unite in perfect accord. Often we flow together, achieving unity in which we are transported beyond ourselves, connected with the earth we love and the energy we feel from it.

Polar bear Knut celebrates 1st birthday

Polar bear Knut celebrates 1st birthday

\"\"

Celebrity polar bear Knut — who won the hearts of millions around the globe as a roly-poly orphan cub — celebrated his first birthday Wednesday with a cake made from 300 eggs and 20 pounds of marzipan.

The Berlin Zoo pulled out all the stops to fete its star attraction, who has gone from a fluffy white powderpuff of a cub to a full-grown polar bear with a cheeky curiosity and a penchant for muddying his coat by rolling in the dirt.

His giant birthday cake was made from 300 eggs, more than 30 pounds each of flour and sugar, and 22 pounds of marzipan. Children were given free entry to the zoo to help celebrate Knut\’s birthday, and proceeds from sales of slices of the cake will go toward the zoo\’s foundation, officials said.

Why Science Fiction Still Hates Itself

Why Science Fiction Still Hates Itself

If geek stuff is so hip, then why are two of the season’s biggest scifi hits, CBS show Eleventh Hour and bestselling Neal Stephenson novel Anathem, adamantly classified as Not Scifi? Because nerd culture will never be pop culture. That’s why Borders slashed its scifi section. And it’s why JJ Abrams, director of the new Star Trek movie, denied that it’s for fans of the scifi franchise, instead telling Entertainment Weekly that “it’s for fans of movies.” Successful science fiction, in other words, is still stealth. To get your spaceships and freaky science into the mainstream, you have to hate yourself just enough to shove your inner dork into a gym locker and keep her there.

Neal Stephenson’s new novel Anathem, which shot right to the top of bestseller lists when it hit bookstores in September, is an epic tale of alien life on a very Earth-like planet. Though Stephenson has written other science fiction like The Diamond Age and Snow Crash, you wouldn’t know it from looking at Anathem. Even though it’s a novel about aliens and spaceships, the book isn’t marketed as scifi. William Morrow called Anathem “an adventure,” and the book jacket makes no mention of Stephenson’s scifi novels. Only one of the blurbs included on the novel’s dust jacket even makes reference to his scifi work, and that’s a Salon.com review that refers to “speculative fiction.” Even the marketing campaign for Anathem reflected the “deny scifi” strategy.

Leaning Tower of Pisa\’s saviours predict 300 years’ stability

Leaning Tower of Pisa\’s saviors predict 300 years’ stability

\"\"

It is a national icon, one of the world’s greatest tourist attractions – and an appalling advertisement for Italian builders. But now, 18 years after it was closed to the public for fears that it might topple over, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been stabilised and has been declared safe for at least another three centuries.

“All of our best expectations have been confirmed,” said Michele Jamiolkowski, emeritus professor of geotechnical engineering at Turin Polytechnic, who led the project to safeguard the tower. “Now we can say that the tower can rest easy for at least 300 years.”

If Professor Jamiolkowski is right – and William Hill yesterday was giving odds of 4-6 that he is – the Committee to Safeguard the Tower of Pisa will have succeeded where many others have failed. Its medieval architects had got only as far as the third floor when the structure, built on unstable clay, began to lean in 1178. Benito Mussolini ordered it to be returned to a vertical position in the 1930s, with concrete poured into its foundations, but the result was that the tower sank further.

Forget voting, settle election on the court!

Forget voting, settle election on the court!

\"\"

Either the Democrats win the election and Barack Obama, the 6-1 one-time combo guard for Hawaii\’s Punahou High School 1979 state basketball champions, becomes president. Or the Republicans win and Sarah Palin, the 5-5 point guard for Alaska\’s Wasilla High School 1982 state basketball champions, becomes vice president.

Though when I was a kid Hawaii and Alaska weren\’t even states.

Chinese Company Unveils Solar-Powered Car for $5,560

Chinese Company Unveils Solar-Powered Car for $5,560

The panels can charge the battery enough for a 3-mile trip in just one hour. After a full charge of 30 hours in the sun, the car can travel up to 90 miles.

The vehicle was debuted at the 29th Zhejiang International Bicycles and Electric-powered Cars Exhibition last week. The panels are not integrated into the car’s design, but rather stand above the car much like a typical roof-rack attachment.

Internet use ‘good for the brain’

Internet use ‘good for the brain’

For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power, research suggests.

A University of California Los Angeles team found searching the web stimulated centres in the brain that controlled decision-making and complex reasoning.

The researchers say this might even help to counteract the age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down.

Dogs ate my car

‘Dogs ate my car’

Clayton Dwyer, 47, of Millner, thought his girlfriend was kidding when she woke him up and told him his work ute had been gnawed by a pack of savage dogs. But when he walked outside his Beetson Place home he discovered this was no joke.

His front bumper had been ripped from the car and chewed to bits by the dogs. They had even tried to munch on the front panels.

“You can see the teeth marks,” he said.

Old people Facebook disasters

Old people Facebook disasters

The day that Kim Bowen accidentally sent a video of a woman shitting in a hot tub to 200 of her co-workers was the day she knew her relationship with Facebook would never be the same.

“It was horrible,” says Bowen, a 30-something filmmaker, in the tremulous tones of a former bank hostage. “I’m a pretty wild person. I like a laugh. But not like that.”

What happened was this: A friend (now former) posted a video on Bowen’s Facebook wall. It depicts a bikini-clad woman sliding into a hot tub occupied by two other women and a man. Seconds later, she is overcome by a gastrointestinal issue that sends her tub mates scrambling for refuge. (The video, which originally appeared on the purported humor site ebaumsworld.com and today persists on YouTube, has been largely debunked as fake.)

‘Gladiator’ tomb is found in Rome

‘Gladiator’ tomb is found in Rome

The tomb of a general thought to have been an inspiration for the main character in the Oscar-winning film Gladiator has been unearthed in Rome.

The tomb of Marcus Nonius Macrinus is one of a number of recent archaeological discoveries in the city.

Marcus Nonius Macrinus was a favourite of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, helping him achieve major victories in Europe. He is believed to have in part inspired the character Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by Russell Crowe in Gladiator.

— Next Page →