Things left behind

Since leaving university, each time I've moved into a new house there has been a greater or lesser amount of stuff I've had to leave behind. But there's also been a greater or lesser amount of stuff left in the places I've moved into by the former occupants. Among other things abandoned in my then-new lodgings, I've found cinder blocks, unopened roach traps, stacks of scrap lumber, wicker ornaments, eyeglasses, Canadian pornography, healthy houseplants, frozen breast milk, mildewed futon cushions, dying houseplants, spy novels, dead houseplants and a 5 gallon (22 liter) glass water cooler bottle. Why would people take some things and leave others? What is judged as being valuable?

Did I tell you about the time I was forced to exchange my first driver's license for one from California? As the guy behind the counter took my old license, I asked him if it would be possible to mark it void or clip the corner or punch a hole in it or something so I could keep it as a memento. Without even looking up he jammed it into a shredder and said, "You got to let go of the past, baby."

I am so sick of lazy hamsters

Seriously, is there anything worse than a hamster just ignoring its potential and not providing anything worthwhile? No, nothing. But at long last, those fuzzy little wastes of space can finally start giving something back: very small amounts of electricity.

No, they're not hooking the treadmills up to little generators. Someone has developed a collection of "nanowires" that can be woven into a hamster-jacket, and the wires collect energy from their movements.

Sometimes I can't decide whether to be amazed or baffled by this modern world.

Photo by Zhong Lin Wang, shown on Discovery Channel.com

Coming attractions

I must see this.
End of story.

Science marches onward!

What has Discovery Channel news got for us today?

...One such researcher is Hans Laarson of McGill University in Montreal. Laarson and his team are analyzing the genes involved in tail development and researching ways of manipulating chicken embryos in order to "awaken the dinosaur within."

I see. Altering the development of chicken embryos to re-activate genes that express dinosaur-like characteristics. Like tails. Or hands. Or teeth.

How exactly does one spell, "AUUGGGH"?

Disturbing video interview here. What disturbs me most is the idea that the Discovery Channel's reporter is quite literally sitting slack-jawed in the dirt as he's told that the saying "rare as hen's teeth" is a suitable proof that chickens once had teeth.