March 17, 2011
The endurance running hypothesis is the theory that the evolution of certain human characteristics can be explained as adaptations to long-distance running. The theory states that prior to the invention of the spear, the first projectile weapon, 200,000 years ago, ancient humans would use persistence hunting as their method of hunting animals, whereby, rather than outpacing animals, they would chase the animals over long distances until the animals would overheat.
Thus, adaptations favoring long-distance running ability would have been favored in humans. After projectile weapons were developed – in evolutionarily recent times – the importance of long-distance running became lessened but the traits remained.
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March 17, 2011
The aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH), an alternative explanation of some characteristics of human evolution, theorizes that the common ancestors of modern humans spent a period of time adapting to life in a partially-aquatic environment. The theory is based on differences between humans and other great apes, and apparent similarities between humans and some aquatic mammals. First proposed in 1942 and expanded in 1960, its greatest proponent has been the writer Elaine Morgan, who has spent more than forty years discussing the AAH.
While there are theories suggesting protohumans underwent some adaptations due to interaction with water, the sort of radical specialization posited by the AAH has not been accepted within the scientific community as a valid explanation for human divergence from related primates. It has been criticized for possessing a variety of theoretical problems, for lacking evidentiary support, and for there being alternative explanations for many of the observations suggested to support the theory.
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March 17, 2011
‘The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal’ is a 1967 book by ethologist Desmond Morris which examines human behavior (he wrote a followup, ‘The Human Zoo,’ about urban behavior in 1969). Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, a sub-topic of zoology. Morris attempted to frame human behavior in the context of evolution, but his explanations failed to convince academics because they were based on a teleological (goal-oriented) understanding of evolution. However, the book was revolutionary for its time and has found fans among anthropologists and zoologists alike.
‘The Naked Ape’ depicts human behavior as largely evolved, to meet the challenges of prehistoric life as a hunter-gatherer. Morris made a number of claims in the book, including that not only does Homo sapiens have the largest brain of all primates but also the largest penis. He further claimed that our fleshy ear-lobes, which are unique to humans, are erogenous zones, the stimulation of which can cause orgasm in both sexes. Morris stated that the more rounded shape of human female breasts means they are mainly a sexual signalling device rather than simply for providing milk for infants.
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March 17, 2011
Sukey is British organization formed to counteract the police tactics of kettling, by co-ordinating information electronically and transmitting it to the protesters, allowing them to avoid the police kettle. ‘Sukey,’ is British slang for the person who takes the kettle off the stove (which is itself derived from the nursery rhyme: ‘Polly Put the Kettle On.’
The organization was founded by the students Sam Carlisle and Sam Gaus during the occupation by students at University College London. The system was first used for a London demonstration against the proposed abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) on 29 January 2011.
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March 17, 2011
Kettling, also known as containment or corralling, is a police tactic for the management of large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely prevented from leaving. The term ‘kettle’ is a metaphor, likening the containment of violence to the containment of heat and steam within a domestic kettle.
The tactic prevents large groups from breaking into smaller splinters that have to be individually chased down, thus requiring the policing to break into multiple small battles. Kettling has been criticized for being an indiscriminate tactic which leads to the detention of law-abiding citizens and innocent bystanders, as well as for denying detainees access to food, water and toilets (for long periods of time in some cases). Critics also allege that kettling has been used to foment disorder with the aim of changing the focus of public debate.
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March 16, 2011
Phase-change memory (PCM) is a type of computer memory which exploits the unique behavior of chalcogenide glass; with the application of heat produced by the passage of an electric current, this material can be ‘switched’ between two states, crystalline and amorphous.
Recent versions can achieve two additional distinct states, effectively doubling its storage capacity. PCM is one of a number of new memory technologies competing in the non-volatile role with the almost universal flash memory, but is faster and uses far less power than the latter. Samsung last year announced a 512Mbit PCM RAM chip for use in mobile handsets.
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March 16, 2011
The China Syndrome is a term coined by an American physicist in 1971 to describe the result of a severe nuclear meltdown in which molten reactor core components penetrate their containment vessel and building. The term is misleading, since molten material from such an event could not melt through the crust of the Earth and reach China.
Nuclear power plants ordered during the late 1960s raised safety questions and created fears that a severe reactor accident could release large quantities of radioactive material into the environment. In the early 1970s, a controversy arose regarding the ability of emergency cooling systems to prevent a core meltdown, which might lead to the so-called China Syndrome.
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March 16, 2011
A nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Meltdown conditions can be created when system failures lead to temperatures and heat generation that exceed cooling capacity to the extent that the nuclear fuel assemblies overheat and melt, either partially or completely.
A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential that highly intense radioactive materials with long half-lives and lethal threat could be released into the environment. The effects of a nuclear meltdown depend on the safety features designed into a reactor. A modern reactor is designed both to make a meltdown unlikely, and to contain one should it occur.
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March 16, 2011
Joel Thomas Zimmerman (b. 1981), better known by his stage name deadmau5 (pronounced ‘dead mouse’), is a Canadian progressive, electro, and house producer based in Toronto, Ontario. His debut album, ‘Get Scraped,’ was released in 2006. He is known for often performing in a titular costume head which he originally created while learning to use a 3D program, which resembles a mouse head.
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March 16, 2011
The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile. It was in 1975, when Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first BMW Art Car.
This first example would be a BMW 3.0 CSL which Poulain himself would race in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race. Since Calder’s work of art, many other renowned artists throughout the world have created BMW Art Cars, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Jeff Koons.
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March 16, 2011
Tijuana bibles (also known as bluesies, eight-pagers, gray-backs, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, Tillie-and-Mac books, and two-by-fours) were pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Their popularity peaked during the Great Depression era. The typical ‘bible’ is 4 by 6 inches (approximately 10 by 15 cm) with black print on cheap white paper and running eight pages in length. In most cases the artists, writers, and publishers are unknown.
The subjects are explicit sexual escapades usually featuring well known cartoon characters, political figures, or movie stars, invariably used without permission. Tijuana bibles repeated ethnic stereotypes found in popular culture at the time. Wesley Morse (who later went on to draw ‘Bazooka Joe’) is believed to have drawn Tijuana bibles before WWII. Superman co-creator, Joe Shuster illustrated a Tijuana-bible-styled erotic work called ‘Nights of Horror’ in the early 1950s.
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March 16, 2011
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including J Lesser.
Much of their work could be classified as a pop version of the musique concrète genre (a forbearer of modern electronic music). The name Matmos refers to the seething lake of evil slime beneath the city Sogo in the 1968 film Barbarella.
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