13 things that do not make sense

New Scientist ^ | 19 March 2005 | Michael Brooks

[NautiNurse]

we only listen to the "little guy downstairs"

not exactly breaking news...we figured that contributed to the condition.

;o)

[Alter Kaker]

Amazing how something as simple as going fishing makes so much more sense than a bunch of headache-inducing, theoretical, unproveable whizzbang-ology.

Agreed. But then again, if everybody had followed your philosophy, we would never have discovered fire, and sushi gets old after a while.

[PatrickHenry]

Where is the holy grail, the missing link, Atlantis, the 100 mpg carburetor, Noah's Ark, and the real killer of Nichole Simpson? What is the truth about area 51, the face on Mars, crop circles, the fake moon landings, UFOs, the shroud of Turin, bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster? Who wrote Shakespeare, shot Kennedy, built the pyramids?

[bobsatwork]

The MADELEINE Ennis homeopathy thing is bogus. Her homeopathic water did not behave any differenty than control (untreated) water, under controlled conditions. She agreed to a challenge from skeptic and magician James Randi, and, under the terms she agreed to, she flunked.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Remember what happened to the physicist reading the "New Scientist" in the movie, "The Ipcress File"!

[antiRepublicrat]

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

[Don Simmons]

We "discovered" fire? You mean like Columbus "discovered" the New World?

I thought lightning struck a caveman's butt and set his loincloth on fire and he somehow decided it was a good thing. :-)

[rock58seg]

Real men don't need no steenkin directions!

[chaosagent]

bump

[Robert A Cook PE]

Steady theory returns?

Hawkings Radiation (of matter escaping from the center of black holes) "pops" new matter (dark matter) into the regions of mid-space between visible matter.

It would "solve" the rotation problem in part: since the mass increases, and the "where did we come from" question as well.

How much? Steady-staters only need to account for some 1-2 atoms per 10 cubic meters to "come from" black holes.

However, Hawking radiation may not allow travel further than nano-meters, rather than giga-light-years.

......

Heck, I'm still trying to figure out how them ole time, first testament Jews were able to get the exact chronology of creation exactly right!

[Physicist]

Remember what happened to the physicist reading the "New Scientist" in the movie, "The Ipcress File"!

Oh, uh, yeah...yeah. Er...pretend I haven't seen it. Refresh my memory.

[Constantine XIII]

Fyziks N3rd Bump4g3

[cspackler]

Why do they put braille on drive-up ATMs? That one REALLY bugs me. Because it is required by law?

Okay, I'll rephrase..

Why do they put require braille on drive-up ATMs? That one REALLY bugs me.

[RightWhale]

Steady theory returns?

It is, sort of, but on a vastly bigger scale than Hoyle envisioned. Not just one Big Bang, which is all that we are directly concerned with at present, but Big Bangs going on all over the place all the time--multiverses. If there were such a thing as time, which Goedel caused us to doubt.

[Egon]

Where is the holy grail, the missing link, Atlantis, the 100 mpg carburetor, Noah's Ark, and the real killer of Nichole Simpson? What is the truth about area 51, the face on Mars, crop circles, the fake moon landings, UFOs, the shroud of Turin, bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster? Who wrote Shakespeare, shot Kennedy, built the pyramids?

42.

[Slings and Arrows]

Why do 7-11's have locks on their doors?

Because they occasionally have to close for cleaning and maintenance, or in the case of a disaster requiring evacuation.

Yes, I am a party pooper.

[B-Chan]

The reason bank ATMs carry Braille on their input keypads is so that the blind can input their PIN codes. In the case of walk-up ATMs, the blind person approaches the ATM, inserts his/her card, then asks their companion or the next person in line to tell them when the PIN prompt comes on screen. At the prompt, the blind customer can lean close to the machine or otherwise hide the keypad and key in their PIN secretly, then have their companion or fellow customer read the screen to them as necessary, allowing them to complete their transaction. In the case of drive-up ATMs, the blind person would input their code from the back seat of a car driven by another person, who would then assist them with reading the screen.

[B-Chan]

It used to confuse me as well.

The term "Interstate Highway" is a proper noun, not an adjectival noun. The term "Interstate Highway" means "any highway that is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways", not "any highway that connects two states".

[Doctor Stochastic]

Dr Radcliff (he's English, so the Dr doesn't get a period), a meson physicist, enters a train compartment, along with his bodyguard (or assistant.) Radcliff is carrying a copy of the "New Scientist." The bodyguard (or assistant) leaves and notices that Dr Radcliff has left his coat (or camera) in the cab and takes it back to the compartment; the guy there isn't Dr Radcliff, but he is reading the "New Scientist." The bodyguard (or assisstant) is found dead on a pile of junk later. Radcliff is re-purchased from the Albanians and can no longer do physics; sort of like an instant case of ADD or severe hayfever.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Perhaps, so they can use the same ATM faceplate as for walkups, thus not needing separate part numbers.