Is Toyota Better Than Ford and GM?
Maybe just better run. Mark Thoma at Economist's View has some thoughts. So do his readers.
Wes Phillips
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More Blimpy Goodness
Over at Popular Science, there's a post about a gargantuan "cruise blimp" that just seems too cool to ever get built. Check out the illustration of the observation deck—it's like an irony-free Bruce">http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibframez.html">Bruce McCall illo, which is kind of disorienting.
Mix Your Own Version of "Revolution 9"
Hours of mindless fun!
Layman's Guide to the Banach-Tarski Paradox
The BTP posits that it's possible to take a solid sphere, cut it into pieces, rearrange the pieces using nothing more than rotation and translation, and then re-assemble them into two identical copies of the original sphere. "In other words," www.kiro5hin.org; explains, "you've doubled the volume of the original sphere."
Dharma is a Cat
Teaching Buddhist precepts with a cartoon kitty. Probably won't cause riots.
Instant Replay
Turns out, it might reinforce a bad call rather than correct one. What works better? Maybe the pause button.
There Were Other Scientists Working in 1905
Although 1905 is remembered as Einstein's annus mirabilis, there were other scientists doing good work then, too. Tony Rothman gives a few of them a shout-out.
Popular Myths
Glad to learn these are myths. I've always wondered if my year in Peru was wasted just because I could never determine if the water swirled in the wrong direction in my basin. I still can't tell you which way it flows when I flush.
Never Did Like That Note
Seconds before they explode, giant stars hum middle C.
The Origin of Funk Is the Chicken
Or is it? www.moistworks.com; is an aggregator site and a darn good one. Here, it explores the relationship between the chicken and funk—although it does omit the superb "Chicken Stuff" by slide guitarist Hop Wilson. And who could ignore Amos Milburn's rocking "Chicken Shack?" OTOH, any place that posts Swamp Dogg's "Eat the Goose Before the Goose Eats You" is well worth visiting.