Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 10.8
- Supreme Court takes up church and state, but just barely – “A lone cross built to honor the dead of World War I, bolted to a desert rock on public land, raises a host of complicated issues about which religious displays violate the Constitution’s ban on government establishment of religion and who may challenge them.” From Chasmosaur.
- 30 dumb inventions – This slideshow from LIFE magazine is ridiculously funny. I think photo #4 is my favorite. From Middleman.
- Genome-wide study of autism published in Nature – “In one of the first studies of its kind, an international team of researchers has uncovered a single-letter change in the genetic code that is associated with autism.” From Steve.
- Dinosaur footprints found in France – “French fossil hunters have discovered huge dinosaur footprints, said to be among the biggest in the world.” From Skept-artist.
One of the dinosaurs has a hook on the end of his tail. This is clearly a breakthrough in Pirate evolution.
@SKrap: Had someone cut off the tail because it was caught stealing? What kind of boat did the sauropod ride in?
I remember the sea shoes & portable sauna.
Is it my imagination or were there more cigarette related inventions than any other catagory?
The link you provide goes to the end of the gallery. Try this one: http://www.life.com/image/3270485/in-gallery/25371/30-dumb-inventions
The autism article is VERY interesting. If nothing, at least it’s likely to provide solid proof that Autism is a genetic disorder, not a disease caused by vaccination.
I don’t think that all of those 30 inventions are dumb. Some are silly, but how is a mini television and dumber than watching TV shows on a cell phone? Also, I think the authors completely missed the point of the “anti-bandit bag”. I guess if someone really wants a specific item in your briefcase, they’ll stay and search around on the floor to find it, but it would certainly be difficult for someone to get everything and make a quick getaway.
Silly inventions: Baby cage hanging out the window of the apartment FTW!
@catgirl: The point of the anti bandit bag is to take the labels off them and sell them as normal briefcases, leading to several awesome instances of “I wonder what happens when I pull this…”
@slxpluvs: A french boat.
@DataJack:
I actually thought that was a great invention, as long as it’s safe.
#4 only needs ‘cupless’ added to the list to make it a great invention.
The dumb inventions list made me very sad. I’ve been looking forward to a rocket belt, a flying platform, or a birdman suit since I was 10 year old. Sure they don’t work and might kill you, but that doesn’t make them dumb, just inefficient.
As for the illuminated tires, I would buy them today!
The Laryngaphone isn’t so dumb. WWII pilots used a similar system to communicate, since microphones would pick up way too much ambient noise (of which I assume there’s a lot when the machine guns in a B17 are all being used).
@slxpluvs: My bad…
@durnett: I can see them with the spinning hubcaps now…
@exarch: …ambient noise (of which I assume there’s a lot when the machine guns in a B17 are all being used)
Specially if they were using the curved barrel machine guns!
Love the motorized surfboard pic. Guy on it looks like he’s having so much fun. You can just hear him yelling “weee!” between puffs of his cigarette.
@durnett: The modern equivalent is the Dub Pimpstar. $12,000 for a set. You could probably DIY using Adafruit’s Spoke POV, though.
@Steve: That looked like a bourgeois plot to me.
“I know how we can kill the surfer counter culture! Take the fun out of surfing. Make it as uncool as bowler hats!”
@durnett: Bowler hats aren’t cool? Sadface.
@Steve: Those may be the coolest invention I never knew existed and now couldn’t possibly live without.
@exarch:
That seemed a bit out of place on the list to me too. These were also used in tanks in WWII – another very noisy environment. It may be a bit overkill for a public phone, however.
I am a Hedge
My personal favorite dumb invention was the Sea-Shoes, they seemed like a bad and deadly idea when Adam made them on mythbusters. The T.V. Glasses are acually a decent idea, I believe one of the video game systems had a headset that you could wear instead of using the TV, it never caught on but I thought it was a great idea.
@SKrap: Bowler hats are not only uncool, they’re damned dangerous:
http://i.cnn.net/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i51/oddjob_010620071057.jpg
@Im a Hedge: Ok, so I’m not the only one who thought that. The astronauts wear similar gear while in space.
@durnett:
“Specially if they were using the curved barrel machine guns!”
The modern day equivalent is a holder with a hinge, in which you can place a standard 9mm pistol. I think it even has a built in camera.
The idea behind the curve is that when you try to shoot a straight barreled machine gun around a corner, more of you has to peep around the corner too to line up the barrel, which the enemy can then shoot at.
@durnett:
I want some illuminated tires. I’m surprised with all the “Pimp My Ride” craziness in the past decade that they don’t exist, again.