Posted by base10 on July 12, 2010 under Geek Talk | 
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1. Price shocks waiting as US abandons helium business
John Timmer in Ars Technica:
The light weight of a helium atom, which makes it perfect for party balloons and blimps, is also the key to its scarcity. The Earth simply doesn’t exert enough gravitational force to keep it on the planet. Once in the atmosphere, helium will migrate [...]
Posted by 5x5 on July 4, 2010 under Geek Talk | Be the First to Comment
A severed cable may be miles away and still cause symptoms to emerge near your home or place of work. If you have experienced an Internet outage, your family or co-workers might have become affected by Severed Cable Syndrome (SCS). Knowing the signs of SCS may protect you and your family from its drastic effects.
Signs [...]
Posted by 5x5 on June 14, 2010 under Geek Talk, Random Science | Be the First to Comment
Have you heard organic chemistry is hard? It’s not true! Here are a few study guidelines to get you to that “A”.
Read more...Posted by 5x5 on April 9, 2010 under Geek Talk | 2 Comments to Read
After giving up caffeine, migraine headaches became a far and few between part of my life.
Read more...Posted by base10 on April 7, 2010 under Geek Talk | Be the First to Comment
We’re big fans of keeping complexity to a minimum. But not everything can really be simple. Panic designer Neven Mrgan has a good piece on necessary complexity:
[Dilbert creator Scott] Adams lists four examples of simple things that have been made unusable for him by our modern world’s complexity: service fees on his business checking account, [...]
Read more...Posted by 5x5 on March 27, 2010 under Geek Talk | Read the First Comment
For this “experiment” we decided to compare two quality bourbon and then see what kind of foods pair well with them. The bourbons in question, Woodford Reserve and Jefferson’s.
Read more...Posted by 5x5 on March 17, 2010 under Geek Talk | 2 Comments to Read
Ah, migraines. If you get them frequently, you have probably come up with a few tricks to help you stay semi-functional throughout the day; otherwise your life would be spent curled up in the fetal position with a pillow over your head to keep the light out.
Read more...Posted by 5x5 on February 21, 2010 under Geek Talk | Be the First to Comment
There are always chores that need to get done around the house that take away from precious programming time, gaming time, reading time or the time it takes to wear a proper groove in your couch. Some of these chores are annoying and some of these annoyances can be solved by working smarter not harder.
Read more...Posted by base10 on February 7, 2010 under Geek Talk | Be the First to Comment
We occasionally drive up to Pennsylvania to visit Robin’s family. As it happens, our schedule usually puts us near DC and Baltimore at times that seem too close to rush hour to really want to chance driving I-95 straight through to Philadelphia. We’ve also noticed that I-95 from Fredericksburg to Alexandria is frustratingly stop-and-go. So, [...]
Read more...Posted by 5x5 on January 30, 2010 under Geek Talk, Random Science | Read the First Comment
The cold weather started me thinking about all the crazy things we do to keep warm in the Winter and why they work. Here’s a few tips on how to stay warm and the science behind why they work.
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