MYMAMA can beat YODADA
[Posted Saturday, September 26, 2026 9/26/26 8:45 am]
In my continuing fascination with language and languages, I found something really (and literally) small last week that caught my eye.
In a restaurant I spied a small salt packet which was labeled:
This caught my eye because YODADA is so much like YOMAMA that I thought it had to be a joke or at the least a funny mistake.
But it's not. Assuming it was Spanish because (a) SAL is Spanish for salt and (b) I live in Los Angeles and (3) upon closer inspection of the salt packet it was packaged in Mexico, I looked it up in the translator app. Sure enough, IODINE in Spanish is YODO, and YODADA in English is IODIZED.
As Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating."
Astrophysicist discovers the planet Krypton
[Posted Sunday, September 20, 2026 9/20/26 6:55 am]
Neil deGrasse Tyson is known for many great achievements, PhD from Columbia University, he is an acclaimed astrophysicist, prolific author, and one of the world's most influential science communicators of today as director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.
But in my opinion, the coolest thing he ever did was when he announced that he had discovered the exact location of the planet Krypton.
 | | The planet Krypton (artist's conception) |
According to Dr. Tyson, Krypton orbits the real red dwarf star LHS 2520, which is cooler and smaller than our sun, 27.1 light-years from Earth, just about the right span of time for Superman to see Kyrpton from the planetarium. It's in the southern sky not far from Virgo and Hydra, in the constellation Corvus (Latin for The Crow). Coincidentally (?) the crow also happens to be the mascot of Smallville High School.
The location of Krypton was revealed in DC Comics' Action Comics #14, in which Dr. Tyson appears as himself.
According to DC Comics, "By applying real-world science to this story Neil deGrasse Tyson has forever changed Superman's place in history. Now fans will be able to look up at the night's sky and say, that's where Superman was born."
Dr. Tyson said, "As a native of Metropolis (New York City), I was delighted to help Superman, who has done so much for my city over all these years. And it's clear that if he weren't a superhero he would have made quite an astrophysicist."
Humanity's days are numbered
[Posted Monday, September 14, 2026 9/14/26 3:00 pm]
I've been warning about this for some time now.
Last week, Anthropic AI researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, writing on X that OpenAI and Anthropic were "gambling with our lives," warning that "the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." A lead Anthropic researcher, Evan Hubinger, agreed in a post on X that Coxon was right, saying, "we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!"
They believe this could happen when AI gets too smart and takes control of things like power centers and nuclear weapons. This is basically the plot of the 1970 sci-fi film Colossus: The Forbin Project.
In the meantime, Beijing disparaged the warnings from U.S. tech leaders as "fearmongering" from a "Cold War playbook" aimed at hobbling China. President Trump agrees, rejecting the idea of placing guardrails on artificial intelligence.
In response to the CEO of Anthropic saying that AI companies should "slow the pace" of AI development, Trump called the reports a hoax and a conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. He added, "Whoever wins AI, wins."
We can only hope that cooler minds prevail and humanity is saved from extinction by the evil Skynet.
Star Trek Day
[Posted Tuesday, September 8, 2026 9/8/26 5:55 am]
Today is Star Trek Day!
On Thursday, September 8, 1966, at 8:30 PM (ET) the very first episode of Star Trek (The Original Series) aired on NBC television in the United States.
Besides the original 79 episodes, over the years there's been 14 Star Trek movies, including 6 with the original cast, and 12 distinct spin-off television series.
Fans of the show continue to gather at national and regional conventions, the biggest taking place every year in Las Vegas. I have fond memories of attending Star Trek conventions over the years, including one in the mid 80s in Philadelphia where I met Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and Walter Koenig (Chekov).
Paramount is celebrating Star Trek Day with the release of a new box set of the original show on DVD and BluRay, including over nine hours of special features.
Star Trek envisioned an optimistic future where humans have united to peacefully explore the galaxy alongside aliens from different planets. After six decades, Star Trek's passionate global fans continue to influence modern popular culture and real-world innovation in technology, like cellphones and computer tablets.
Happy 60th birthday, Star Trek!
Pickle Physics
[Posted Wednesday, September 2, 2026 9/2/26 8:23 am]
Hey! Someone has broken into my place and eaten almost all of my pickles!
Well... maybe not. But I think I have just identified a very interesting aspect of the physics of a jar of pickles.
Have you ever noticed this? You have a jar of pickles in the fridge that you take approximately one from per day for a quick snack.
For the longest time, the jar doesn't seem to get that much more empty. Then, all of a sudden, one day you notice that the jar looks almost completely empty. Where did all the pickles go?
I think it may have to do with the the geometry of the pickle spears standing upright in the jar, and then being able to become arranged haphazardly when enough room in the jar opens up. But I just don't know for sure.
For now, I guess it will have to remain a mystery. I just wish I knew who was stealing my pickles...
Thinking of Brian
[Posted Thursday, August 27, 2026 8/27/26 8:30 am]
Today we remember Brian Epstein, who passed away 59 years ago on this day, August 27, 1967.
Would the Beatles have happened without Brian? He believed in them when no one else did. Dick Rowe of Decca records told Brian that guitar groups were on their way out. Brian told Dick Rowe that the Beatles were going to be bigger than Elvis.
Brian tamed them without changing their sound or who they were. He traded in their leather jackets for suits and ties, and taught them to bow politely to the audience at the end of every song. Imagine that day, telling John Lennon he'd have to clean up his act and bow to the audience, instead of cursing at them. No one could get John Lennon to do anything he didn't want to.
Except Brian.
It's a shame an accident took Brian from us at such a young age. He was only 32, but he lives on in the hearts of every Beatles fan forever.
To learn more about Brian Epstein, visit www.brianepstein.com.
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Adam Forrest: 
