Wacky news that makes you go "wtf?"

[science_man_88]

Secret to Perfect Sandcastles Revealed

That optimal mixture will allow your castle to reach a maximum height that equals roughly the radius of the base to the power of two-thirds, the researchers say. That equation means it is possible to build tall, skinny columns of sand that won't fall apart.

so base = 5; radius = 2.5 height = 2.5^(2/3) = about 1.84 how is that tall and skinny ?

[only_human]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Getting back to the WTF? of the more-benignly wacky variety (though it involves a genuine wacko and a truly Stalinist police state):

Teddy Bears Fall From Sky, and Heads Roll in Minsk

Swedes behind teddy bear drop summoned by Belarus’ KGB, have 10 days to appear in Minsk

If the Swedes don’t show up within 10 days, the agency said they could face a fine or “correctional work for up to two years, or imprisonment for up to six months.”

Studio Total co-founder Tomas Mazetti, who piloted the plane in the teddy bear drop, said he received the summons via email, and that it demands he and two colleagues, Hannah Frey and Per Cromwell, appear.

It’s “a bit cute and tragic at the same time,” he said. “They just expect us to show up just because they say so.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddybe...rop_Minsk_2012

[Batalov]

Originally Posted by xilman

Teddy Bears Fall From Sky, and Heads Roll in Minsk

I had a moment of deja vu when I heard that news report on the radio. Anyone else here remember a certain Mathias Rust?

And now the american equivalent of the 'bear drop'.
http://news.yahoo.com/jet-skier-brea...opstories.html

[science_man_88]

Charges dropped against fugitive doctor, because evidence is using too much space on federal servers

The federal government has more than 400,000 pages of evidence against fugitive Miami doctor Armando Angulo, taking up some two terabytes of digital space. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty solid case. But at the urging of prosecutors, charges were dropped against the doctor because the evidence is simply taking up too much space on government servers.

[bcp19]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/08/...ith-new-shoes/

[jasong]

Originally Posted by science_man_88

Charges dropped against fugitive doctor, because evidence is using too much space on federal servers

I facepalmed so hard I almost hurt myself.

And we're the country with the biggest nuclear arsenal. Don't be afraid that we'll try and hurt you, be afraid that we'll ACCIDENTALLY hurt you.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by bcp19

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/08/...ith-new-shoes/

Not altogether unlike examples of other lures to school that happen in 3^rd world countires.

[xilman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19307388

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

[science_man_88]

New Theory: Universe didn’t start with a Big Bang, but with a Big Freeze

Again, the states-of-matter analogy could help. When liquids turn to ice, they crystallize and form cracks. What Quach and his team need to do now is find the cosmological equivalent of these "cracks," or defects.

I would personally suggest wormholes.

[Dubslow]

TSA (sort of) again (though at least this time, somebody in the TSA made the right decision, even if said decision was a little late)

http://arijitvsdelta.blogspot.co.uk/

[science_man_88]

Scientists Use Mathematical Shortcut to Create New Metals

The team tested tungsten, which is one of the strongest metals known and has the highest melting temperature. Schuh told InnovationNews Daily that the high melting temperature means it needs to be hot in order to be processed, so keeping the nanocrystal structures stable is a lot harder to do. The mathematical model, developed by Murdoch, suggested a few candidates that would allow the structures to stay stable, such as titanium, zinc, chromium and gold. It also showed that copper, cadmium and strontium would not work.