vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas...

A government-funded study of more than 9,000 children found 6% had used a sunbed and in some areas of the country 40% of teenagers used them every week.

Goodness, even when I was a teenager (a long, long time ago), we already knew that using sunbeds will surely cause skin cancer. How come those kids don't know that? I'm scared to think that they might know it, but are still going to risk it for a pretty looking "healthy" tanned skin...

What's with this obsession of white people to have more tanned skin and with the people of color to look whiter? We should teach our kids to celebrate diversity and see beauty in every human being.

On a similar note: link

Flying Objects

Yes, I started carrying my small camera around.

too cool not to share it

I posted it already on facebook, but not all of you use it, so here it comes again:
ScienceNOW news about oral sex in fruit bats and the original research article describing the study - do not forget to jump down to supplementary information and watch the attached S1 video.

Sponsored by Chinese tax payers :)

How to deal with unwanted phone calls

Suddenly, my research feels so worthless...

Ig Nobel 2008

As always, pick your favorite from this year's winners. I can not decide if I am more intrigued by the study that showed that Coca-cola negatively affects sperm motility and hence can be used as contraceptive, or by the study that showed that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.

CA driver's license

As a resident of California I am obliged to have a Californian driver's license if I want to drive (legally) cars here. Even though I have my national driver's license for many years now, still I have to take both written test and driving test to get the Californian one. I just started studying for the written exam and I just can not stop myself from sharing with you this very interesting rule that I found in the official CA driver's handbook: "Do not shoot firearms on a highway or at traffic signs". Hmm, does it mean that you can shoot firearms at roads which are not highwyas and at all other things that are not traffic signs?

intelligence vs social skills

More and more often I come to the same conclusion:

Taken from here.

WOW - April Fool's almost got me...

It took me around one minute to understand that the new feature "Custom Time" introduced by gmail.com that would allow you backdate your emails is only April Fool's joke. What a relief. It is scary to think that nowadays' technology would allow things like this to happen and that it is only up to our morality to accept/reject them...

scuba (dooba)

Cats and dogs can do it, so hopefully I should also somehow manage to do it :)

Scuba Cat And you thought cats hated water.

bash on squash

#344030
[amir] It's funny sport, this squash. I noticed that the idea behind this game is to avoid getting hit on the face by your opponent, at the same time trying to hit her/him on the face with your racket. Additionally, there is this little ball which should distract the opponent to allow you to hit her/him more easily.

[amir] Śmieszny sport ten skłosz. Zauważyłem że chodzi w nim o to, żeby nie oberwać po ryju rakietą partnera, i żeby jemu zapakować swoją rakietę w twarz. Jest jeszcze taka mała śmieszna piłeczka, która ma na celu odwrócenie uwagi przeciwnika, co pozwoli na dogodniejsze wyprowadzenie ciosu.

bobaraba craze

While females in Western countries use a variety of treatments to make their bottoms look skinny, women in certain parts of Africa use treatments that are supposed to have an opposite effect. All that thanks to a hit song Bobaraba, which means "big bottom" in the local Djoula language (see BBC story for details).

Of course the song is already on youtube:

Is Europe a country?

This NYT article prompted me to find a youtube video, in which a young, sweet-looking American girl publicly admits that she thought Europe was a country...

You have to watch it, to actually believe it:



According to the same article "nearly two-thirds of Americans want creationism to be taught along with evolution". TWO-THIRDS.

It's really scary that (many) citizens of one of the world's most influential countries playing a leading role in world's politics and economy are so ignorant.

High-heels and sex life

BBC reports this hilarious research study that proves that wearing high-heels can boost your sex life as a result of improving your pelvic floor muscles. How great that I love high-heels.

today I finished my 30th trip around the sun :)

and I plan on many more!

another riddle

It's more powerful than God.
It's more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it.
The rich need it.
If you eat it you will die.
What is the word???

70% of elementary school children can solve this riddle, bu only 17% of college age people figured it out. The answer is in comments.

how does it work???

Follow these instructions, and answer the questions one at a time and as quickly as you can! Again, as quickly as you can but don't advance until you've done each of them.

Now, arrow down (but not too fast, you might miss something).........





What is:










1+5









2+4













3+3













4+2











5+1











Now repeat saying the number 6 to yourself as fast as you can for 15 seconds. Then scroll down.

















QUICK!!! THINK OF A VEGETABLE! !















Then arrow down.












Again arrow down.












You're thinking of a carrot, right?

If not, you're among the 2% of the population whose minds are different enough to think of something else. 98% of people will answer with carrot when given this exercise. Freaky, huh?



I was counting in Polish (szesc, szesc, szesc), but I still thought in English "carrot". But as everybody knows I like carrots and I even felt like eating one just a moment ago. What were you thinking about?

The only other explanation that comes to my mind is that it has to do something with brain conditioning during your childhood - then you were adding small numbers and you were eating mostly carrot...

The Ideology and Religion Shit List

Got reminded recently about this excellent introduction to world's religious, philosophical and political views:

• Agnosticism (1) What is this shit?
  
• Agnosticism (2) Maybe there is shit or maybe it happens; then again, maybe not.
  
• Altruism (1) Want some shit?
  
• Altruism (2) Let me give you my shit.
  
• Americanism Who gives a shit?
  
• Amish Shit dost occur.
  
• Anal Retentivism Keep your shit to yourself.
  
• Anglicanism Our shit doesn't stink.
  
• Apathism I don't give a shit.
  
• Archimedesmism If I had a lever that's long enough, and a place to stand, I can move the earth -- even if it is full of shit.
  
• Aristotlism (1) Once a shit is stretched by an idea, it never again happens in its original shape.
  
• Aristotlism (2) Shit is real.
  
• Neil Armstrong This is one small shit for me, but one giant heap for mankind.
  
• Asatru If shit happens, blame it on Loki.
  
• Atheism (1) I don't believe this shit.
  
• Atheism (2) There is no shit.
  
• Ba'Hai All shit is truly shit.
  
• Baptist You are shitting wrong, therefore you'll be punished.
  
• Baptist Fundamentalism Shit happens because the Bible says so.
  
• Blondism I'm stupid as shit.
  
• Bowdlerism **** happens.
  
• Branch Davidianism Shit burns.
  
• Breathairians We don't have to eat that shit.
  
• Buddhism (1) Shit happens.
  
• Buddhism (2) If shit happens, it really isn't shit.
  
• Bushism (1) What shit?
  
• Bushism (2) Read my lips, no new shit.
  
• Calvinism Man is nothing but shit.
  
• Calvin-and-Hobbesism Man, this shit is fun.
  
• Caninism Shit happens in the neighbor's yard.
  
• Capitalism (1) Do you buy this shit?
  
• Capitalism (2) How much will this shit cost?
  
• Capitalism (3) Shit happens, and it'll cost you!
  
• Carmensandiegism Where in the world is that shit happening?
  
• Cartesianism I shit, therefore I am.
  
• Catholicism (1) If shit happens, you deserved it.
  
• Catholicism (2) Everybody gets shit.
  
• Chauvanism We may be shit, but you can't live without us.
  
• Christian Fundamentalism The belief that Hell is where everyone must mind their own shit.
  
• Communism (1) It's everybody's shit.
  
• Communism (2) Everyone's shit is everyone else's shit.
  
• Computerism Why won't this fucking shit work?
  
• Confucianism Confucius say, "Shit happens."
  
• Creation Science (1) We have proof that God created all the shit that happens.
  
• Creation Science (2) Shit happens all at once.
  
• Creation Science (3) ...And the Lord said "Let there be shit"...
  
• Deja Vu I think this shit happened before, but I'm not sure.
  
• Descartes I shit therefore I am.
  
• Dianetics (1) Even shit can make money.
  
• Dianetics (2) Shit your way to a better life.
  
• Egoism I AM the shit!
  
• Egotism My shit is the only shit that matters.
  
• Empiricism Shit only happens if I see it happen.
  
• Employerism This shit is your fault.
  
• Energizer Rabbit Shit happens... and happens... and happens...
  
• Environmentalism (1) Recycle this shit.
  
• Environmentalism (2) Shit happens, but it's biodegradable.
  
• Euphemism Caca happens.
  
• Evangelism You need our shit.
  
• Evangelicalism (1) I can heal people -- but oooonly with the help of yourrrrr shit.
  
• Evangelicalism (2) God has a wonderful plan for your shit.
  
• Evolution (1) Shit happens gradually.
  
• Evolution (2) Shit is getting better all the time!
  
• Existentialism Shit doesn't happen; shit just is.
  
• Existentialism, General Your shit is what you make of it.
  
• Existentialism, Sartre We are defined by our shit happening.
  
• Felinism Shit happens... bury it.
  
• Feminism Men are shit.
  
• Freudianism Shit happens as a result of repressed sexual urges.
  
• Geocentrism Our shit is the center of the cosmos!
  
• Green Peaceism Save this Shit.
  
• Hare Krishnaism Shit happens shit happens shit happens rama rama.
  
• Hedonism (1) Fuck that shit; let's party!
  
• Hedonism (2) This shit is fun!
  
• Heisenbergism Shit happened, we just don't know where.
  
• Hinduism (1) This shit happened before.
  
• Hinduism (2) This shit is not a religion. It is a Way of Life.
  
• Hippyism Make peace with shit.
  
• Hitchhikerism The answer to all this shit is 42.
  
• Idealism That shit's all in your mind.
  
• Illuminism We make shit happen.
  
• Interrigationism 'Ve have 'vays of making you shit!
  
• Islam If shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
  
• Islam, Shi'ite When Shi'ite happens, kill Salman Rushdie.
  
• Islam, Sunni Why do Shi'ites always happen to us?
  
• Jehovah's Witnesses (1) No shit happens until Armageddon.
  
• Jehovah's Witnesses (2) Let me in your house and I'll tell you why shit happens.
  
• Jehovah's Witnesses (3) Good Morning, I have some shit for you to read.
  
• Judaism Why does this shit always happen to us?
  
• Jungianism All shit that happens is an aspect of the archetypical shit generated consensually by the mass subconscious.
  
• Kennedyism Ask not what your country's shit can do for you, but what your shit can do for your country.
  
• Kierkegaard This shit is highly improbable; therefore, we should believe it happens.
  
• Martin Luther King, Jr. I have a shit...
  
• Libertarianism Keep your hands off of my shit.
  
• Logical Positivism Shit = S+H+I+T.
  
• Lutheranism Catholicism is shit.
  
• Marines It's not just shit, it's an adventure.
  
• Marxism, Classical The workers take all the shit, but they're gonna dish it back out again.
  
• Materialism Whoever dies with the most shit wins.
  
• Mathematicism Necessary and sufficient conditions for shit to occur are: 1) Shit must exist and be continuous in a domain D 2) No shit must exceed SHIT on the boundary of D.
  
• McCarthyism Are you now, or have you ever been, a shit?
  
• Josh McDowell-ism (1) Anyone who investigates the evidence for this shit and doesn't see the truth as plain as day is a nincompoop.
  
• Josh McDowell-ism (2) Anyone who investigates the evidence for this shit and doesn't agree with me must want to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage.
  
• Mennonite None of this modern shit now.
  
• Momism You'll eat this shit and like it!
  
• Moonies Only happy shit really happens.
  
• Mormonism (1) Your shit is shit, but our shit is the ONE TRUE shit.
  
• Mormonism (2) God sent us this shit.
  
• Murphism Shit always happens at the worst possible time and place.
  
• Narcissism My shit don't stink.
  
• Native American This shit is sacred when it happens.
  
• New Age (1) Why did I happen to create this shit?
  
• New Age (2) This isn't shit if I REALLY believe it's chocolate.
  
• Newton's First Law Shit that is happening tends to keep happening.
  
• Newton's Second Law You have to push to make shit happen.
  
• Newton's Third Law Every shit that happens has an equal and opposite shit happening.
  
• Neitzscheism (1) If you're not Ubermenschen, you're not shit.
  
• Neitzscheism (2) A man without a shit is not a man.
  
• Neitzscheism (3) Shit is dead!
  
• Nihilism Everything is shit.
  
• NIMBYism Your shit's not gonna happen here.
  
• Nixonism (1) Shit didn't happen, and if it did, I don't know anything about it.
  
• Nixonism (2) I am not a shit.
  
• Objectivism Shit=Shit
  
• Occultism We eat our shit.
  
• Optimism (1) That shit won't happen to me.
  
• Optimism (2) This shit, too, will pass.
  
• Paganism (1) Shit happens. Accept it.
  
• Paganism (2) Shit is a part of nature and makes things grow.
  
• Panglossism This is the best of all possible shits.
  
• Paranoia Shit happens because it's a plot.
  
• Pascalism We are just shit. But we are thinking shit.
  
• Patriotism (1) My shit, right or wrong.
  
• Patriotism (2) Give me liberty, or give me shit!
  
• Patriotism (3) Give me shit, or give me death!
  
• Pessimism That shit is going to happen.
  
• Platonism There is an ideal shit, of which all the shit that happens is but an imperfect image.
  
• Politically Correctism (1) Don't call it shit. That's not nice. Call it "Nutritionally-Deprived Output."
  
• Politically Correctism (2) Nutritionally Corrected Output happens.
  
• Positive thinking Shit is what you make it.
  
• Pragmaticism It may be shit, but it works.
  
• Protestantism Let shit happen to someone else.
  
• Psychology I can help you deal with the shit that is happening.
  
• Rastafarian (1) Shit happens, but if it's all right with Jah, it's all right with me.
  
• Rastafarian (2) Let's roll that shit up and smoke it.
  
• Reaganism I don't recall if shit happened.
  
• Reaganism, Nancy Just say, `Shit happens.'
  
• Republicanism We earned our shit.
  
• Robinism Holy shit, Batman!
  
• Rousseau Only natural shit is worth shit.
  
• Schroedingerism Shit does not happen until you smell it.
  
• Scooperism If your shit happens here, you gotta pick it up.
  
• Secular Humanism Shit happens, but there's a rational explanation.
  
• Seventh Day Adventist No shit on Saturdays.
  
• Shakespeare To shit or not to shit, that is the question.
  
• Sherlock Holmes I know where this shit came from.
  
• Shinto Shit is everywhere. So as long as you're stepping in it, show it some respect.
  
• Skinnerism If eat then shit.
  
• Socrates I am shit. But I know I am shit.
  
• Solipsism (1) All this shit is a creation of my imagination.
  
• Solipsism (2) The only thing I can be sure of is that my shit happens.
  
• Spockism The shit of the many outweighs the shit of the few... or the one.
  
• Spockism, Reformed The shit of the one outweighs the shit of the many.
  
• Dr. Spockism Encourage your child to make shit happen.
  
• Spoonerism Hit shappens.
  
• Stalinism The state treats you like shit.
  
• Stoicism (1) This shit is good for me.
  
• Stoicism (2) Shit happens -- deal with it.
  
• Sturgeon's Law 90% of everything is shit.
  
• Subgenius Shit happens -- SO WHAT? GIVE ME SOME SLACK!
  
• Surrealism Shit is shiny and shaped like a Buick.
  
• Taoism The shit that happens is not the true shit.
  
• Televangelism Your tax-deductible donation could stop this shit from happening.
  
• Thermodynamics: First Law The shit that happens cannot be created or destroyed.
  
• Thermodynamics: Second Law When shit happens, it happens from a place of more shit to a place of less shit.
  
• Thermodynamics: Third Law Disorder is the inevitable result of shit happening.
  
• Totalitarianism Shit doesn't happen unless we say so.
  
• Trekkism, The Original Series To boldly shit where no shit has happened before.
  
• Trekkism, The Motion Picture(s) This shit is happening again.
  
• Trekkism, The Next Generation This shit happens again every week.
  
• Trekkism, Deep Space 9 Shit happens on the other side of the wormhole.
  
• Trekkism, Voyager Shit happens on the other side of the galaxy.
  
• Twelve-Step Programs God, grant me the serenity to deal with this shit.
  
• Unitarianism There's only one shit, but you can have it happen any way you want.
  
• Unix Shit Happened. Core dumped.
  
• Ursism Shit happens in the woods.
  
• Utilitarianism (1) Do that which generates the greatest shit for the greatest number.
  
• Utilitarianism (2) Let's make the best of this shit.
  
• Vacuum That shit sucks
  
• Vandalism I'm gonna wreck this shit!
  
• VMS Want to make shit happen? No Privilege for Attempted Operation.
  
• Voodooism Shit doesn't just happen -- somebody dumped it on you.
  
• Voyeurism Look at that shit happening.
  
• Waldoism Where *is* that little shit?
  
• Xeno's paradox It's logically impossible for shit to happen.
  
• Yuppieism It's my shit! All mine!
  
• Zen What is the sound of one shit happening? PU!
  
• Zoroastrianism Shit happens half the time.
  

bike, sex, privacy

As everybody knows I am in love with my bike, but still BBC reports a story of somebody who clearly must love his bike even more than I do mine... Read it, it's absolutely hilarious: link

Europe's biggest circus

Najwiekszy cyrk Europy (podobno) wedlug oficjalnej mapy Warszawy:
link