The need to protect independent invention - it's pretty common for multiple inventors to come up with something similar at roughly the same time (e.g. lightbulb, calculus, telephone, jet engine) - "We find that a surprisingly small percentage of patent cases involve even allegations of copying, much less proof of copying. Copying in patent law seems to be the exception, not the rule." (HT: MR)
Picked this up from a site usually highly cynical about Christians. On a related note, just a couple of days back I came across an article in the local paper talking of (a Christian) group involving in downtown revitalization, turning a building heavily involved in the drug trade into affordable housing.
It looks like the Bonneville Power Authority is being forced to implement negative pricing in which consumers may at times be paid to consume power. The problem: the hidden payments for wind turbines, which see a subsidy per unit of energy produced in addition to the normal prices paid to producers for electricity (which means that they can generate a profit by paying you to take the electricity they produce).
Hitchens seemed to have a positive attitude towards debate, and seemed to be willing to enjoy friendship with some of his debate opponents. There was even a documentary about a debate series with Hitchens involved... (got it on DVD if you're interested in borrowing):
The video of the Oxford debate at Oxford can be found online BTW. The person organizing that debate on runs a fairly interesting weekly debate show which seems to attract a fair number of both Christians and skeptics. Previous people the host has interviewed include Dawkins himself as well as Christopher Hitchen's brother (amidst a whole pile of others). The Peter Hitchens episode was quite interesting just to compare the personalities of the two Hitchenses - they're actually quite alike even though Peter Hitchens is in the evangelical camp.
If only this were a hoax: "DogTV, a cable network for dogs, launched in San Diego this past Monday aimed at stay-at-home canines and their workaday owners who want to feel better about time apart. Free at launch, people will eventually pay $4.99 a month for the channel, but that may seem a small for sum for fido's peace of mind."
It's not just the silly high-heeled shoes that cause problems: "From tight jeans that cause nerve compression and digestive problems to tight shirt collars that create headaches to tight ties that constrict neck muscles, our clothes are undermining our health."
Survey of a few studies on the effect of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The most questionable of the studies they examine seems to be the one arguing that alcohol consumption is problematic even in small doses.
"the 60 nanoseconds discrepancy appears to come from a bad connection between a fiber optic cable that connects to the GPS receiver used to correct the timing of the neutrinos' flight and an electronic card in a computer"
"In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a seminal paper, drawn from 16 years of research, revealing a wealth of historical evidence that humans used to sleep in two distinct chunks."
