What a shame!

"VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has long championed organ transplants, but don't expect an organ donation from him. The Vatican says his body belongs to the whole church."

That is so sad. I was hoping they'd put the popey's blackened, dried-up little pit of a heart into Dick Cheney's foul chest. It was the only suitable transplant I could dream up for the former VP.
 
But this puts the kibosh on that. Damn! Oh no, wait -- maybe they could give him Condoleeza's heart. She never had any use for it.

Can you tell I've finished editing and have too much time on my hands today? K

Put that cup down, pardner

I think the results of a new study from the UK are funny. They tested male and female reactions to caffeine. The results? It turns out the men can't handle it but the women thrive. Apparently the men's fight-or-flight reactions are triggered when they drink coffee. It actually lessens their effectiveness! I'm not sure why I this so funny but I do.

Here are a couple of take-out paragraphs from the above-linked article:

The results, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology showed that pairs of women drinking caffeinated coffee completed puzzles 100 seconds faster than those on decaffeinated coffee, while men on caffeine completed the puzzles 20 seconds slower than those on the decaffeinated. Men drinking caffeinated coffee were “greatly impaired” in the memory tasks.

The researchers pointed out that many high-level meetings are male-dominated and concluded that unlimited supplies of coffee at such meetings might not be a good idea, at least for the men attending them. They said men might even “unintentionally sabotage the partnerships forged to solve stressful issues.”

Your chance to talk to aliens

There's an interesting article on physorg.com today. It's about the way we've been talking to aliens, and the way we should talk to them. "Scientists Suggest Protocol for Messaging to Aliens" is an article about the best methods for communicating with beings we know nothing about.

If you're interested, click on the article title in the previous paragraph. The best part is that we can play a role in devising the message that goes out to aliens. Here's a quote from the article:

“In the next few weeks, we will be collaborating with mathematicians and radio astronomers to come up with both the content and mode of communication of the message,” Atri said. “As suggested in the paper, it will not be anthropocentric like previous attempts. Once our collaboration comes up with a protocol, we will create an interactive website to test it globally. Anyone with internet access will be able to suggest his/her own message within the protocol guidelines based on scientific principles. We are also open to suggestions from both the scientific community and the general public for improvements in the protocol. It will be a community effort.”

What a holy guy our president is

I'm so happy that President Obama was able to go to the National Prayer Breakfast this morning and take out all his crucifixes and rosaries and rabbit's feet and everything, and show them off. When he showed his favorite crucifix, he said, "Ooooh, shiny!"

I bet our holy president will have a great day today after acting so brave this morning, and all. I know I'm impressed. You?

Cop talk: it's a special language

I happened to catch the following on TV and through the miracle of TiVo, was able to play it back to ensure that I recorded the words faithfully. 

At a press conference, a police spokesperson was answering questions about an elderly couple who had been brutally murdered.

The reporter asked, "Were they killed with a hammer?"

And the police spokesperson replied:

"A hammer was, in fact, an instrumentality causing blunt trauma injuries to both of the deceaseds."

I love this stuff. They have their very own language. I get a kick out of hearing the self-conscious, tortured phrasing they come up with. Their words are an attempt to put a police shroud over everything, to claim the death as their own. So they make things as opaque as possible and sound ridiculous doing so. Still, it's kinda cute.

Xmas Carol is done!

Xmas Carol, my horror novel, is done. Phew. I just did a spell check on it and I'm going to print it and read it, though I may put that off for a few days. In the meanwhile, I'm going to give it to my cousin to read.

One of the odd things about having test readers is that they all read different versions of the book. You give it to one or two readers, get their comments and make appropriate changes. Then you give it to the next reader, and so on. Cousin Carmine is at the end of the line, so he'll have the best read of anyone.

Sigh. What a long job that was. But it's over!

NOVA ScienceNOW episode on the brain

Did you watch last night's episode of NOVA ScienceNOW? It was about the brain and I was really looking forward to seeing it. The promos implied that the show would focus on how the brain creates the illusion of consciousness. So I was amped when I tuned in. Unfortunately, it was a complete bust.

One thing I have to say at the outset is that I love Neil deGrasse Tyson. He can do no wrong and since he hosted the show, that was a big plus. Tyson is comfortable being a scientist, a showman, a funnyman -- whatever it takes. Science is lucky to have him in its ranks.

But the show focused on old research. I was shocked, really. They showed data that's been out there for a long time. Plus there were silly excursions to magic shows, and the episode relied on cartoons and other useless rot. I didn't learn one new thing. Neurological research is uncovering secrets every day, but the show missed them all.

And I see that next week's show, on animal intelligence, is a rehash of an old PBS show featuring Alan Alda. I don't get it. Why show old stuff and make believe it's new? NOVA ScienceNOW? Meh.