Three points order, valued board of skeptics:

First up, Discover Magazine is having a contest! Shoot a video of yourself explaining String Theory in two minutes or less and you could win . . . well, nothing but bragging rights around the Erlenmeyer flasks Monday morning, but the results should be fun! I’d like to come up with something, but my grasp of the idea is tenuous enough that I doubt I could do as good a job as some of the more scientifically literate out there. If any of you are planning to submit a video, let us know!

Second, reader Dan has tipped us off to a new Darwin movie in the works! He sends us this link to CHUD.com — I poked around the old webosphere but was unable to find any corroborating evidence. The blurb names Master and Commander screenwriter John Collee (promising!) and The Core director Jon Amiel (frightening!).

Third, I nearly forgot to mention that I received my Darwinian pick-up line t-shirts! Sweeeeeeet. Also, Azinyk’s belated valentine for having the winning entry will shortly be to its destination!

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca leads a team of skeptical female activists at Skepchick.org and appears on the weekly Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast. She travels around the world delivering entertaining talks on science, atheism, feminism, and skepticism. There is currently an asteroid orbiting the sun with her name on it. You can follow her every fascinating move on Twitter or on Google+.

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18 Comments

  1. Profile photo of Blake Stacey
    February 28, 2007 at 6:40 am —

    The terms of the contest are rather in the "we own your firstborn children" genre, which dissuades me from putting serious effort into this. Before I read them, however, my first thought was of the wonderful Borat impression my friend Mike does, and what a wonderful premise that could become. "In Kazakhstan, we study theory called loop quantum gravity. Please, you explain: is same as string theory?"

  2. Profile photo of N.R. Miller
    February 28, 2007 at 6:57 am —

    I notice you aren't wearing the really dirty, and consequently really cool, shirt.

    I guess a shirt asking people to come on your face is almost asking for it.

    heh… asking. get it?

  3. Profile photo of slashnull
    February 28, 2007 at 8:37 am —

    I wonder if the SGU folks have a t-shirt with "I have monkeys in my pants" on it.

    Everything can be made good by adding "in my pants" at the end of it. Just imagine using the Law of Attraction to get your farting pony…in my pants.

    See it works!

  4. Profile photo of Buck Fuddy
    February 28, 2007 at 10:30 am —

    Think globally. Act locally…in my pants!

    Hey, slashnull, you're right!

  5. Profile photo of bug_girl
    February 28, 2007 at 11:03 am —

    actually, at "<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youaredumb.net/&quot; rel="nofollow">you are dumb" they have a running thread where you take church signs and add "in my pants" to the end.

    Much Hilarity Ensues.

    (edited to add–it's the Presbytarian Pants thread. One of the best: "Worship one God…In my pants!"

  6. Profile photo of thad
    February 28, 2007 at 12:02 pm —

    To paraphase a certain quote: "If you think you understand string theory, you don't understand string theory."

  7. Profile photo of Cain
    February 28, 2007 at 1:41 pm —

    xkcd has a pretty good take on this: http://xkcd.com/c171.html

  8. Profile photo of Ramboelmo
    February 28, 2007 at 2:16 pm —

    Hey Rebbeca,

    NICE SINK! … in my pants.

  9. Profile photo of BigHeathenMike
    February 28, 2007 at 4:38 pm —

    Hot picture, Rebecca. I believe I've prematurely subverted my genetic imperative…in my pants.

    Someone really needs to ban me from this discussion. I'll keep kicking that horse long after it's dead.

  10. Profile photo of thad
    February 28, 2007 at 4:56 pm —

    Where's a TAM when you need one? ;)

  11. Profile photo of thad
    February 28, 2007 at 5:02 pm —

    Hmm… try:

    "If you doubt this is possible, how is it there are PYGMIES + DWARFS… in my pants??"

  12. Profile photo of exarch
    February 28, 2007 at 6:12 pm —

    STREETLIGHT! … in my pants.

  13. Profile photo of slashnull
    March 1, 2007 at 12:07 am —

    I nearly chocked to death on my breakfast laughing at the PYGMIES + DWARFS in my pants, thanks thad.

    And there's nothing worse than chocking to death….in my pants.

  14. Profile photo of siener
    March 1, 2007 at 2:10 am —

    The competition is only open to residents of the USA. Damn. I think I could have done a pretty good job.

  15. Profile photo of exarch
    March 1, 2007 at 4:47 am —

    So what? Do it anyway.

  16. Profile photo of siener
    March 1, 2007 at 8:58 am —

    Hmmm… maybe I should

  17. Profile photo of Blake Stacey
    March 1, 2007 at 9:11 am —

    Dude, totally. The point of making a string-theory video is not to get blogo-fame by being plastered across Discover Magazine's website. The point is to make Peter Woit upset.

  18. Profile photo of Joshua
    March 1, 2007 at 9:39 am —

    "Think globally. Act locally…in my pants!"

    Actually, I like the title of the Gogol Bordello song: "Think Locally, Fuck Globally". (In my pants?)

    Now there's a genetic imperative for ya!

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