Random Stuff XXI
You know what glib admonishment I can't stand?
It's okay to drink like a fish-as long as you drink what a fish drinks!
Not because I'm a heavy drinker: I tipple about as often as I'm offered a free strawberry daiquiri, about once a year on average. I object to the profound ignorance of physiology displayed here.
Fresh-water fish are saltier than their environment. If it could, the salt inside the fish would diffuse away into the water, but the animal's skin and internal membranes are impermeable to the ions (charged particles) that make up salts in solution, so loss of salt is not a problem. However, the internal membranes are permeable to water, and so the fish tend to take up water via osmosis. (In effect, the water is moving from an area of higher concentration, the external milieu, to an area of lower concentration, the salty interior of the fish.) As a result, fresh-water fish don't drink; they obtain more than enough water by osmosis. Moreover, they must produce copious quantities of urine just to get rid of the excess H2O. (Think about that the next time you go swimming in a lake.)
Salt-water fish have the opposite problem: they are less salty than their environment. They must drink voluminously to replace water lost to the ocean, and they urinate just enough to get rid of metabolic wastes (and the excess salt they take in by drinking). To recap: Fresh-water fish don't drink at all, and ocean fish drink seawater. So I ask you: why should we drink what a fish drinks?
George Carlin once railed against drivers who "haven't had a generous thought since St. Swithin's Day." Well, we needn't worry about such people right now, for today is St. Swithin's Day. According to an ancient proverb, the weather on this day predicts rain or shine over the next 40 days (until St. Bartholomew's day, that is).
St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.
There are numerous variations; this one best preserves the original Celtic burr necessary for rhyming the third and fourth lines.
I hope to Bokrug the proverb isn't true, as today's weather was saunarific. Yet, in tribute to St. Swithin, the forecast calls a continuation of the same for the foreseeable future, and perhaps even more intense infernal heat and East Cleveland-like mugginess.
"I'll take 'Clueless Idiots' for $500, Alex."
"The answer is: 'Proving that White Trash isn't always poor, it's a monument to American selfishness and irresponsibility.'"
Link Housecleaning Section
Here is a nice short essay explaining how Intelligent Design isn't just bad science, but also bad religion. (via Pharyngula)
And I think you'll enjoy a history of the Iraq War, told entirely in lies. Every sentence is a direct quote from a Bush Administration official. If only the quotes were cited, with names and dates, I'd append this to our next Christmas letter.
It's okay to drink like a fish-as long as you drink what a fish drinks!
Not because I'm a heavy drinker: I tipple about as often as I'm offered a free strawberry daiquiri, about once a year on average. I object to the profound ignorance of physiology displayed here.
Fresh-water fish are saltier than their environment. If it could, the salt inside the fish would diffuse away into the water, but the animal's skin and internal membranes are impermeable to the ions (charged particles) that make up salts in solution, so loss of salt is not a problem. However, the internal membranes are permeable to water, and so the fish tend to take up water via osmosis. (In effect, the water is moving from an area of higher concentration, the external milieu, to an area of lower concentration, the salty interior of the fish.) As a result, fresh-water fish don't drink; they obtain more than enough water by osmosis. Moreover, they must produce copious quantities of urine just to get rid of the excess H2O. (Think about that the next time you go swimming in a lake.)
Salt-water fish have the opposite problem: they are less salty than their environment. They must drink voluminously to replace water lost to the ocean, and they urinate just enough to get rid of metabolic wastes (and the excess salt they take in by drinking). To recap: Fresh-water fish don't drink at all, and ocean fish drink seawater. So I ask you: why should we drink what a fish drinks?
George Carlin once railed against drivers who "haven't had a generous thought since St. Swithin's Day." Well, we needn't worry about such people right now, for today is St. Swithin's Day. According to an ancient proverb, the weather on this day predicts rain or shine over the next 40 days (until St. Bartholomew's day, that is).
St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.
There are numerous variations; this one best preserves the original Celtic burr necessary for rhyming the third and fourth lines.
I hope to Bokrug the proverb isn't true, as today's weather was saunarific. Yet, in tribute to St. Swithin, the forecast calls a continuation of the same for the foreseeable future, and perhaps even more intense infernal heat and East Cleveland-like mugginess.
"I'll take 'Clueless Idiots' for $500, Alex."
"The answer is: 'Proving that White Trash isn't always poor, it's a monument to American selfishness and irresponsibility.'"
Link Housecleaning Section
Here is a nice short essay explaining how Intelligent Design isn't just bad science, but also bad religion. (via Pharyngula)
And I think you'll enjoy a history of the Iraq War, told entirely in lies. Every sentence is a direct quote from a Bush Administration official. If only the quotes were cited, with names and dates, I'd append this to our next Christmas letter.