Google is even more anti-Australian than anti-European! You can't even find the Gulf of Carpentaria on a Google Maps search!

It actually turns out that there is a whole naming dispute over the Persian Gulf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_naming_dispute

Google is anti-European! There's no label on the largest lake in Europe, Lake Ladoga!

Or, you know, it could be just a cartographic layout decision, just as the lack of a label on the Persian Gulf is.

You know you're a geek when you get the joke immediately because you recognize the number.

For a couple of days after we change the clocks in the spring and fall, the usual minute-long recorded message at the USNO Master Clock is shortened to thirty seconds, presumably because they are essentially getting slashdotted at those times.

Ugh, I think this is actually off by a factor of 2. Roughly ONE-HALF of every 3.938 * 10^16 potassium-40 atoms decays every second. So figure 5600 potassium-40 atoms are undergoing beta decay inside the average adult body every second. Sorry. I'm clearly not a radiochemist.

A perfectly rational response: you prefer neither pay-for method mentioned, and so neither proposal affects your November vote.

The Republican measure in the House would have paid for the low interest rate on student loans by cutting funding for preventive health care.

The Democratic measure in the Senate would have paid for the low interest rate on student loans by closing a tax loophole for individuals with income exceeding $250,000.

Choose the pay-for method that you prefer, and factor it into your November vote accordingly.

It's not hormesis, per se, but it's clear that humans (and other lifeforms) can endure at least the low levels of radiation coming from their own bodies. Humans are about 0.35% potassium by mass; 0.0117% of potassium is potassium-40; potassium-40, which undergoes beta decay, has a half-life of 1.248 * 10^9 years. Each 1 kg of body mass has about 410 micrograms of potassium-40; that's 6.2 * 10^18 potassium-40 atoms. 1.248 * 10^9 years is 3.938 * 10^16 seconds, so roughly 1 out of every 3.938 * 10^16 potassium-40 atoms decays every second. Out of the 6.2 * 10^18 potassium-40 atoms in each kg of body mass, that's about 160 atoms. Average adult weight is something like 70 kg, so figure 11200 potassium-40 atoms are undergoing beta decay inside the average adult body every second.

Quick back-of-the-envelope calculations: Blackle saves roughly 18W over Google; my electricity costs about $0.12/kWh; so Blackle would save me roughly a penny for every five hours that I'm on the Google website!

This is one of those stories where there's actually something useful you can do. If you haven't gotten a Tdap booster as an adult yet, do so when you get your next Td booster. (You do get a Td booster every ten years, right? You don't want tetanus, do you? You know they used to call it "lockjaw", right? You know the bacteria that cause tetanus survive in the environment outside of living hosts, right?)

I'm curious. I know my basis for considering the term "bimbo" offensive, but what's yours?

Also, what criteria do you propose for the returning of a donation being a moral necessity?