Pirates and Reality Checks

1) Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day: Arrrrrrgh mateys, it's no joke, it actually is International Talk Like A Pirate Day today! All over the world, folks from all walks of life will spout their best pirate lingo and even dress up like their favorite hellion of the high-seas. And to help out, here's a link to commonly used pirate phrases and of course, a site about the holiday itself HERE

2) Reality Checks: If you have even the slightest interest in science and enjoy some FUN scientific reading (yes, that IS possible BTW), there's several books out that you should give a try:

a) The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios: Here, your favorite superheroes like Superman, Spiderman and Ironman go under the microscope of known scientific fact, and to the author's surprise and delight, the comics more times than not actually get their physics right (click below to see the Amazon page).

b) The Biology of Science Fiction Cinema by Mark C. Glassy: The author, being a long time science fiction fan in addition to teaching biology, examines all kinds of creatures and concepts commonly used in sci-fi and monster movies in light of scientific fact. For example, such creatures as The Blob get a pretty rigorous examination (in the case of the hungry red amoeba from outer space, it's deemed to be impossible for such a creature to function at all, among other reasons, it could not exchange gases the way most organisms do). Click below to go to the Amazon page:

c) Beyond Star Trek - Physics From Alien Invasions to the End of Time by Lawrence Maxwell Krauss: One of my favorite reads in this vein. Here, physicist Krauss takes an unflinching and scientific look at how sci-fi aliens might or might not succeed in wiping us out. Let's take "Independence Day" for example. The mother ship (which was about 1/4 the size of the moon), could EASILY have scorched the Earth's surface without firing a shot, the output from the craft's engines would've been sufficient to roast us, and not to mention the fact that the mothership could've went into a counter orbiit around the Earth, exerting enough gravitational force to stop the Earth from rotating. And the 15-mile wide City Destroyer ships? They wouldn't have even had to use the death ray, they would've exerted enough air compression/overpressure to flatten a whole city. And that's just one of the subjects examined here, read and find out more (click below for Amazon page):

d) The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence Maxwell Krauss: I LOVE this guy!!! Here, the long-lived Star Trek franchise gets the mother of all reality checks. On some fronts, the series had some plausibility in regard to some form of a propulsion system that distorted local space/time. The downside is, it would require an incredible expenditure of energy that would take hundreds or even thousands of years to technologically advance to. And the transporter? HILARIOUSLY inept and implausible at best! For instance, the amount of energy required to completely dissasemble every atom of the human body would require an energy expenditure equivalent to that of a nuclear weapon. Secondly, there's the issue of storing that person's information atom by atom, which would require an IMPOSSIBLE amount of computing power. Thirdly, there's the inconvenience of having to EXACTLY on an atomic level reassemble the EXACT positions and compositions of the transportee's molecular structure. And lastly, what happens to the soul in the process of transporting? These and other improbabilities are explored in great yet understandable detail by Krauss. Click below for the Amazon page: