Category Archives: sciences

“geek” tattoos

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 November 04 by Anton

I’m unlikely ever to get a tattoo, but if I did, I incline to the armband type; and I just got an idea for one: a ‘Mercator projection’ of Escher’s hyperbolic fish. Instead of a circle, the horizon would be … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, mathematics | 1 Comment

rabbi rentseeking

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 October 21 by Anton

David Bernstein, of the Volokh Empire, reports on an appalling funeral in Israël mechanically presided over by a mandatory Ortho rabbi. (Title borrowed from Rasmusen.)

Posted in economics, religion | Leave a comment

if it swims like . . .

Posted on Wednesday, 2003 October 15 by Anton

Ducks’ odyssey nears end A consignment of thousands of rubber ducks is expected to wash up any day on the coast of New England – after more than a decade at sea.

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a new kind of fiat currency inflation

Posted on Monday, 2003 October 06 by Anton

The Nigerian jackpot has suddenly grown much bigger. No more chump change like 18 or 21 million dollars; today’s offers are for $55M and $75M.

Posted in economics | Leave a comment

throw a pebble

Posted on Thursday, 2003 September 25 by Anton

I have long taken delight in how the Net lets me rub electrons informally with scholars such as John Conway and Larry Trask. On September 12, I wrote to Eric Weisstein of MathWorld: If the tetrahedral rotation group is isomorphic … Continue reading →

Posted in mathematics, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

the brief fame of 2003 QO104

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 September 09 by Anton

Current asteroid impact risk. These tables interested me less for of the warning they carry than for the way they present data. I had wondered how astronomers reckon impact probabilities, and these tables present it neatly. (Explanations at the foot … Continue reading →