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Comment British cooks? (Score 4, Funny) 204

by syngularyx (#47443265) Attached to: Rocket Scientist Designs "Flare" Pot That Cooks Food 40% Faster
This is a good opportunity to quote this famous faxlore.. Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians.

Submission + - Margaret Thatcher dies at 87 (wsj.com)

Submitted by syngularyx
syngularyx writes: Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister who became one of the most influential global leaders of the postwar period, died on Monday, three decades after her championing of free-market economics and individual choice transformed Britain's economy and her vigorous foreign policy played a key role in the end of the Cold War.
Education

Submission + - How Do You Spot a Genius? 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Ingrid Wickelgren writes in Scientific American that people have long-equated genius with intelligence, but it is more aptly characterized by creative productivity which depends on a combination of genetics, opportunity and effort. "Nobody can be called out for outstanding contributions to a field without a lot of hard work, but progress is faster if you are born with the right skills. Personality also plays a role. If you are very open to new experiences and if you have psychopathic traits (yes, as in those shared by serial killers) such as being aggressive and emotionally tough, you are more likely to be considered a genius." True creativity and genius depends on an unfiltered view of the world, one that is unconstrained by preconceptions and more open to novelty writes Wickelgren. "In particular, a less conceptual and more literal way of thinking, one more typical of people with autism, can open the mind up to seeing details that most people miss." Our schools devote few resources on nurturing nascent genius concludes Wickelgren, because they are focused on helping those students most likely to be left behind. "We need to train teachers to spot giftedness, which may take a variety of forms and often needs to be accompanied by creativity, drive and passion. Offering a greater variety of enrichment activities to children will cause many more hidden talents to surface. And accelerated classes and psychological coaching are essential for nurturing talent as early and vigorously as possible.""
Math

Submission + - Randomly generated math article accepted by ``open-access'' journal (thatsmathematics.com)

Submitted by call -151
call -151 writes: Many years ago, a human-generated intentionally nonsense paper was accepted by the (prominent) literary culture journal Social Text. In August, a randomly-generated nonsense mathematics paper was accepted by one of the many low-tier ``open-access'' research mathematics journals. The software Mathgen which generated the accepted submission takes as inputs author names (or those can be randomly selected also) and generates nicely TeX'd and impressive-sounding sentences which are grammatically correct but mathematically disconnected nonsense. This was reviewed by a human, (quickly, for math, in 12 days) and the reviewers' comments mention superficial problems with the submission. The references are also randomly-generated and rather hilarious. For those with concerns about submitting to lower-tier journals in an effort to promote open access, this is not a good sign!

Submission + - Gaddafi killed as Libya's revolt claims hometown (reuters.com)

Submitted by syngularyx
syngularyx writes: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya's interim rulers said.

His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

Submission + - Leak risk at French nuclear site (timeslive.co.za)

Submitted by syngularyx
syngularyx writes: There is a risk of a radioactive leak after an explosion in an oven Monday at the Marcoule nuclear site near the city of Nimes in the south of France, emergency services said.

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