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On March 9 . . .
In 1862 -- During the American Civil War, The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
In 1959 -- The beloved Barbie doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
In 1961 -- Sputnik 9 successfully launched, carrying a human dummy nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and demonstrating that Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight.
And, in 2010 -- The first same-sex marriages in Washington, D.C. took place.
Note:
You can listen to Mickey Gilley sing at lost.fm if you have a mind to.
Note 2:
I often play music from the lost.fm site while I do computer related stuff.
My goodness gracious... it's simply amazing what can be discovered out there... using Google?
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I read in a tweet from my old hometown newspaper that: "On Sunday March 13 at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States. Don't forget to Spring Ahead!"
Of course, here in Tucson we (being inimical to convention) neither move our clocks forward nor backward... ever. But since much of the rest of the country does so it's nice to know when the changes occur. For example: when Daylight Saving Time kicks in, the East coast will be three hours ahead of the folks in Tucson instead of the two hours differential during Standard Time. Also, we will share the same time as denizens of California instead of being an hour ahead of them.
inimical
-adjective
1. adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful
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The descent of man? Our species is still evolving, but future humans might be more like Danny DeVito than Stuart Broad. Olly Bootle explains why. Below is his opening...
Ever since Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution by natural selection 150 years ago, scientists have wondered whether the process still applies to humans. Evolution may have made us, but at some point, did we stop evolving? There's no question that we're unique in the animal world. While a bear which found itself stranded in the arctic would, over millennia, evolve thick blubber to keep itself warm, humans could make clothes and light fires. Or we could just build a boat and leave. And so scientists suspected that by adapting to environmental change – the driver of natural selection – using our ingenuity, we might have stopped ourselves evolving. The late Stephen Jay Gould, one of the most respected of evolutionary biologists, once said: "There has been no biological change in humans in 40,000 or 50,000 years. Everything we call culture and civilisation we've built with the same body and brain." It turns out that he, and many others, were wrong.
The above link will take you to this truly fascinating short article.
Danny DeVito
_____The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf is the latest of my FREE KindlePC downloads. I read the first two pages immediately but then had to tend to some pesky chores, but I intend to get back to it later this evening.
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RELEASE: 11-067
NASA ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FROM 'INSPIRED' HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
WASHINGTON -- U.S. high school students are invited to participate in NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience, or INSPIRE, through an online learning community. INSPIRE is designed to encourage students in ninth through 12th grades to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Applications are being accepted through June 30. NASA will make selections for the program in September. The selected students and their parents will participate in an online learning community with opportunities to interact with peers, NASA engineers and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards and chat rooms for participants to gain exposure to careers and opportunities available at NASA.
Students selected for the program also will have the option to compete for unique grade-appropriate experiences during the summer of 2012 at NASA facilities and participating universities. The summer experience provides students with a hands-on opportunity to investigate education and careers in the STEM disciplines.
INSPIRE is part of NASA's education strategy to attract and retain students in the STEM disciplines critical to NASA's missions. For more information about INSPIRE, visit this website
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/INSPIRE_Project.html
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
--Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
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