SCIENCE! is a weekly dose of edumakashunal stuff from the world of science! Cuz you need to learn yourself a thing or two.

• Mind=Blown (to the 10th power!): An excellent graphic representation of all of the dimensions, from first to 10th. Really crazy stuff, but this video makes it very easy to understand (in theory/concept).

• Huzzah! Indiana Jones 5 Has Found Its Next Plot Point!: Lost Continent off the coast of Scotland sank 55 million years ago. How will this not show up in every JJ Abrams tv show or any time travel story? Something about raising this land, then aliens, then...I dunno...Jesus or something.
• Even Though He's Technically a Cyborg, You Don't Have to Fear Him!: There's this photo of Obama and Stephen Hawking:
  
  

  

  Via Reddit. Apparently Hawking was getting a medal. That's not...that's not what it looks like. Also - why not give him the medal in a frame? You know, like Daniel-san did for Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor. Remember that? From The Karate Kid? No? I hate this place!

News organizations tend to report on the debt ceiling negotiations as if reducing the deficit is the main concern for both parties. Unfortunately that is not really the case. I say unfortunately because if Democrats and Republicans had the same overall goal, it would be much easier to get a deal done (and as previously discussed, a deal to raise the debt ceiling is absolutely necessary).

If reducing the deficit as much as possible was the goal of both parties, a deal could be struck in which spending cuts that Republicans covet would be traded for revenue raisers (tax increases, elimination of tax breaks, etc) that Democrats desire. The resulting deal would reduce the deficit by a certain amount and both sides would declare victory. This is the type of deal Reagan and Clinton enacted to reduce the deficit and it’s similar to what I expected to happen in this case.

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(Via Reddit)

Little sumthin' for my godson Elijah and a little girl named Corinne.

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Instead of taking on a new topic this week, I’m going to post a few quick follow up items to two of my last posts as well as a couple links to articles I found interesting or noteworthy.

Follow up items:

• In last week’s post on contradictions in the debt ceiling negotiations, I stated that the negotiations were progressing better than they might appear and that it was likely Republicans would eventually agree to increased taxes via the elimination of tax breaks. Then, on Thursday, Congressional Republicans pulled out of the debt ceiling negotiations over the issue of taxes.
  

  Whoops! It is now likely that President Obama will have to hammer out a deal directly with Speaker Boehner. While it is still possible that the final deal will include the elimination of tax breaks, I’m less confident than I was last week. This is due to the fact that Republicans have hardened their rhetoric around tax cuts and Democrats have seemed increasingly focused on getting additional economic stimulus (in the form of an employer payroll tax cut) into the final deal.

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Today's word of the day is "ennui."

Ennui

a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui.

Haha...see what I did there?  Sick of Healthcare?  What a delicious bon mot!

Enough with the pleasantries.

Curious how all these Healthcare bills stack up? Want to know what each bill brings to the table? 

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Updated on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 4:43AM by Rob Dean

Updated on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 6:43PM by Rob Dean

The last of Conan on NBC just aired, and with it comes a few thoughts.

Firstly, I was perusing Hulu today, looking at the most recently added shows to see if Archer had been added yet (alack alas, not until February 14 - weak sauce, I know).  I was moving my cursor around the page when I passed by The Jay Leno Show (requisite: Boo! Hiss!) and happened to notice what people are tagging the Leno Show with:

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Also, Michael Ian Black wrote a bleak but honest assessment of the whole thing. 

Although, I disagree. 

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