A tumultuous story told by a stone with streaks of pure iron

Back in December, I had the chance to walk through New York's Museum of Natural History with Ebonmuse (of Daylight Atheism). He pointed out an exquisite stone from the Proterozoic Eon. You could plainly see broad streaks of pure iron running from side to side. Such streaks could never form today, due to our oxygen-rich environment. That observation was the beginning of a mind-expanding yet poetic story. I learned a bit of that story back in December. Now, Ebonmuse tells a much more expansive and dramatic version. Here's an excerpt, but I'd highly recommend a visit to Daylight Atheism for the full dose:

Looking at this stone, you get some idea of the dizzying vistas of geological time, as well as the turmoil that life has endured to reach the present day. Each of those colorful red and silver layers represents what was, in its own era, a disaster beyond imagining, one that reset life to its starting point. Each of those layers, as well, is a silent testament to life's tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. Of course, the cycles of growth and destruction did not last forever. Eventually, evolution found a way, as evolution nearly always does, and oxygen was tamed to become a power source in an entirely new metabolic cycle. The oxygen-breathers arose, the remaining anaerobes retreated to the deep crevices of rocks and the sea, and life found a new equilibrium, with the balance of the atmosphere permanently changed. All the oxygen we breathe today is biologically produced, a tangible proof of life's power to reshape its own world.

Continue ReadingA tumultuous story told by a stone with streaks of pure iron

Musak is in big financial trouble: files for bankruptcy

A ubiquitous and uniquely American art form is in grave danger. On February 10, 2009, Muzak Holdings LLC filed for bankruptcy protection. You know, Muzak, often referred to as "elevator music":

The style of music used was deliberately bland, so as not to intrude on foreground tasks, and adhered to precise limitations in tempo and dynamics. This style of music blended into the background as intended in most situations, but was sometimes noticeable (particularly in quiet spaces such as elevators). Thus the word “Muzak” began to be used as a pejorative for this type of “elevator music.”
Muzak is an acquired taste. I suspect that many of you haven't invested the necessary time to come to terms with Muzak. It takes persistence and a wide-open sense of musicality to enjoy this specialized art form. Muzak itself has been at fault for much of this lack of appreciation. Consider Muzak's obstinate failure to take its music and its musicians on nationwide tours and its failure to provide Muzak-appreciation courses for grade-school students. Nor has Muzak taken the time to go into the inner cities to enrich the lives of underprivileged children with its idiosyncratic art form. Perhaps, though, these failures were all for the best, give the attendant risk to enjoying Muzak: based on my own personal experience, Muzak is capable of triggering an especially pernicious and annoying form of earworm. On a serious note, Muzak-type music has intentionally been employed as a social repellent:

During the last ten years, another use of elevator music has emerged, not with the aim of relaxation and pleasure, but to make loitering less attractive for those people who dislike the music (allegedly aimed toward drug addicts, prostitutes). For this purpose serious classical music (e.g. opera, marches or sonatas) is used and played louder than usual. One of the first places it was tested was in Amsterdam.

The bottom line is that Muzak is struggling and we might need to figure out what else we can possibly do in elevators and stores. Maybe we'll have to work harder to become interesting to ourselves. Consider, finally, The Onion's requiem for Muzak.

Continue ReadingMusak is in big financial trouble: files for bankruptcy

Framing the Energy Issue

Do you remember Dubya's "Clear Skies Initiative"? It was an plan to relax air pollution standards. His "Healthy Forests Initiative" was a timber industry clear-cutting plan. I recently saw an ad for EnergyTomorrow.org. As near as I can tell, it follows Sarah Palin's policy of "Drill, drill, drill!". Apparently, long term energy security depends on using up our petroleum reserves as quickly as possible. And moreover to direct its use as fuel, rather than conserving it for producing plastics and fertilizer. I suppose that they mean "tomorrow" in the sense of as soon as possible. But the ad and the site is framed to look "green". As if.

Continue ReadingFraming the Energy Issue

North Dakota House says any human fertilized egg is a person

North Dakota's House of Representatives has passed a bill declaring that every fertilized egg has all the same rights of a baby. If passed, this bill would mean that any abortion is the equivalent of murder. Here's the wording of the bill, from Yahoo News:

The bill declares that "any organism with the genome of homo sapiens" is a person protected by rights granted by the North Dakota Constitution and state laws.

Continue ReadingNorth Dakota House says any human fertilized egg is a person