Stilgherrian » new scientist

Published twice in one day

Stilgherrian — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:54:42 +0000

I’m happy. I’ve been published twice today, thrice this week.

As I mentioned before, Crikey was happy for me to cover today’s panel discussion with IT minister Senator Helen Coonan and her Labor opponent Senator Stephen Conroy. They were joined this morning by Democrats leader, Senator Lyn Allison.

My Crikey story points out that Coonan scored at least three own goals. I’m chuffed that it was selected as a “top story” for subscribers.

My other Crikey story was about Australia’s contribution to the Space Age, published on Wednesday and including my comments about the spaceport we never seem to get.

I’ll do a public version of both those stories tomorrow.

And the third piece was a little snippet for New Scientist, which I sent them on 24 June. There’s a picture (right), but here are the words for search engines to find.

The label on reader Stilgherrian’s Australian-made Starmaid ice-cube trays reassures him that they are “freezer safe” — which he says is “handy”.

But right now it’s Red Wine Time…

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Oh, in New Scientist again

Stilgherrian — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:39:46 +0000

I actually told New Scientist about this back in April, but they finally ran it in the 18 November edition — which I’m just getting around to reading now.

It seems a curious claim to allow on your website for several months, but if it is true then BoardTracker.com’s “advanced search” is very advanced indeed. Since April, when reader Stilgherrian first told us about it, it has offered to search back through the last 6142 years of internet forum postings.

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Two Favourite Satires

Stilgherrian — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 19:42:21 +0000

OK, it’s been ages since I posted something, so to remind everyone that I still exist, here’s two of my current favourite satires.

h3. Panexa: Wonder Drug

Thanks to “_New Scientist_ magazine”:http://www.newscientist.com for news of this “important new wonder-drug”:http://www.panexa.com/:

bq. “PANEXA”:http://www.panexa.com/ is a prescription drug that should only be taken by patients experiencing one of the following disorders: metabolism, binocular vision, digestion (solid and liquid), circulation, menstruation, cognition, osculation, extremes of emotion.

h3. Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO)

The “Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division”:http://www.dhmo.org/ (DMRD) of Newark, Delaware warns us of “the controvery surrounding this dangerous chemical”:http://www.dhmo.org/.

bq. DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful…

bq. Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide.

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

Beer is Healthy

Stilgherrian — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:01:24 +0000

On a Sunday morning, I’m especially pleased to discover that beer is good for you.

According to New Scientist magazine (so it must be true), beer may be as good for your health as red wine and green tea. Apparently it dampens down arterial inflammation that leads to heart disease.

But even better!

The researchers at Innsbruck Medical University in Austria reckon beer might make people happier by blocking the depletion of tryptophan, from which the “happy” neurotransmitter serotonin is made. Bee contains tryptophan too.

Although the active compounds in beer are unknown, the researchers think that humulone, the substance from hops that makes beer taste bitter, may be involved.

Or not.