Why Are Termites So Rich in Protein?

If you are familiar with body-builders or just meat-heads in general, then you know that they are obsessed with protein (and probably human growth hormone and anabolic steroids and a bunch of other supplements). But if these folks are really serious about efficiency, then maybe they ought to consider what might be perhaps the best source of protein anywhere: termites :)

But why are they so rich in protein if their diet consists of woody material that has barely any nutritional value at all? The answer, as you are about to find out, is fascinating:

So at least two things are amazing about this video. First, the fact that these mechanisms have evolved. Second, the fact that scientists have figured them out :)

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If Fifty Shades of Grey Is Not Dirty Enough for Your Taste, Try The Bible, But Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

When I was a little boy, the Bible was one of my favorite books. No, it's not because I was a goodie-two-shoes... it was because I loved the story of Sampson and how he would kick major ass and cause havoc wherever he went. I also liked the apocalyptic stuff... now I'm starting to wonder how I ended up so well-adjusted :)

And now that psychopathic and experienced men taking advantage of, abusing and humiliating inexperienced young girls are all the rage, well, Fifty Shades of Grey is just not extreme enough. For sadomasochistic and bondage connoisseurs, almost nothing gets filthier than the Bible...

The Colbert Report
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Earth Time Lapse from the International Space Station

Over the past few years, we have featured some incredible time lapse photography on this blog, and it truly has been phenomenal. Technology continues to get ever more awesome, and people find more and new creative ways to fill us with awe and inspiration.

But regular individuals don't have access to certain viewpoints from where to shoot their incredible videos, like out space, for instance... but the International Space Station does:

And if you thought that was great, just watch what happens when they start adding effects and taking a few creative risks:

May your day be blessed with inspiration :)

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According to conservatives, the aftermath of a massive shooting spree is NOT the time to talk about guns?

I get that we in America have a constitutional right to bear arms and own weapons, but since we also love our Declaration of Independence, we also believe that we have a right to life. Now, these don't have to be mutually exclusive, so you'd think that adult conservatives would be willing to try to enter the discussion regarding how to adequately balance individual rights with a collective interest in societal peace and safety.

Gun fundamentalists, however, bifurcate the issue into a black and white dichotomy that's just not appropriate for adults: gun control does not have to mean that our weapons are going to be banned, taken away and burnt or given to our sworn enemies. It just means that, as reasonable adults, we believe that while our right to own arms is important and should be respected, maybe it's a good idea to draw some sort of line about just how far we can take that right. Should we be allowed to own atomic bombs? Probably not. What about fully loaded fighter jets? How about rocket launchers?  Fully automated rifles? We don't have to agree about where the line should be drawn to be able to see that a line somewhere does make sense, and that it does not amount to a full-on ban on weapons.

After Travon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman, Fox News thought that maybe we ought to ban those dangerous hoodies because guns don't kill people, hoodies kill people. And now that we are experiencing the aftermath of that horrible "Batman" shooting last week, and thinking about the impact of giving people unfettered access to weapons of mass destruction that they can unleash on unsuspecting populations, the folks at Fox News think that this is not the time to talk about guns... but it is time to ask whether we ought to ban costumes from movie theatres...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Sometimes I wonder if this is just a horrible dream...

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Long-lost Moon landing tape: We are on the fucking moon!

If your life has consisted of anything other than just being a vegetable since 1969, then you know that, notwithstanding what conspiracy theorists might say, and regardless of the plausibility of their denials (this one almost convinces me, for instance), we have made it to the moon!

Countless future generations will be familiar with Neil Armstrong's famous first words upon touching down on the moon and being the first human being ever to set foot on our natural satellite: "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

But of course, that's just the family-friendly version that was officially broadcast all over the world, and the transmission contained more communication between the Apollo 11 astronauts and ground control in Houston that was never released to the public... until now! And as it turns out, it's not quite as apple-pie American as you might have expected, but it is full of awesome :)

Ok, so the question to ask at this point is how long it took you to suspect that this might not be real, if the question even came up at all? Regardless, I would have preferred this to be the real version of events... Leave it to the good folks at The Onion to turn fake news into a more believable version of what really happened :)

And for the true story of the Apollo program, you might be interested in watching the documentary film For All Mankind.

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Three Minute Philosophy - Empedocles

The pre-Socratic philosophers are a strange bunch. On the one hand, their ideas about the nature of reality must strike most of us as just plain weird. Everything is made of air or water? The fundamental constituents of the universe are love and strife? No, it's number? What?

On the other hand, what else can you expect from really smart people who didn't have the benefit of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of almost three millennia that they were the first to contribute to?

But there are a few cases, like Empedocles, in which, while he was still wrong, he came so tantalizingly close to the right answer (or to what the right answer would sort of look like), that even though he threw himself into a scorching volcano to prove he was a god, I can't help but take off my hat to him and introduce you to his thinking in a fun little three minute philosophy episode:

If you want to learn a bit more about the pre-socratic philosophers, maybe you'd be okay with Carl Sagan giving you a short history lesson? I'm sure you wouldn't mind that, right? :)

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Philosophy of Time

Sorry about the sparse entries lately. My mind has been busy with a bunch of personal stuff.

So today is the release of the last installment of The Dark Knight series, so I figured you're probably looking for some sort of light-minded stimulation to deal with the inevitable boredom, and I thought to myself, why not have a little introduction to the philosophy of time? It's precisely the kind of subject that makes a summer Friday go by all the more quickly :p

Obviously, this is a bit old, and just barely scratches the surface of this topic, but I hope you can see that time presents all sorts of interesting and paradoxical questions for which we don't yet have a fully satisfactory understanding. That opens up the possibility that maybe you'll be the person to figure it all out one day, so get to work! :)

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