Beyond eclectic

Strange place, this world. Stranger yet, the internet. And so, from once again bulging (virtually speaking) files ...

We'll start with "Did Neanderthals and modern man really co-exist?" And if they did, was there, well, fraternizing? According to one recent study, "Theories about when the last Neanderthals walked the Earth may have to be revised, according to a study that suggests they became extinct in their last refuge in Spain much earlier than previously thought, from 35,000 years ago to nearly 50,000." A bit here about the study.

Fast forward to modern cave/cubicle dwellers. "Up to 80 percent of time spent online at work is ‘wasted,’ according to study." Is anyone surprised? And why the quotes around wasted?

Meanwhile, from the Department of Egregious Lawyerly Overreach, "Games Workshop ignores decades of sci-fi history, says they own 'space marines.' " Space marines have been in SF almost from the dawn of the genre -- but at Games Workshop's complaint, Amazon stopped selling the novel Spots the Space Marine. Happily, at the intervention of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (among others), Amazon reversed this action. See: "Trademark Bully Thwarted: Spots the Space Marine Back Online."

If ignorance (and an inability to Google) was Games Workshop's excuse, well, they're not alone. The Halo game series owes a huge debt to the Larry Niven novel Ringworld. And because I respect intellectual property, you'll have to click through to a hilarious cartoon on the subject.

That's enough for one post about metaphorical things going boom. How about some real booms? And some straight science? I'm glad you asked. Following up on North Korea's recent third A-test, here's "How to Find a Nuclear Explosion in North Korea."

From NASA: artist conception

Nor can I fail to mention "Falling Meteor Explodes Over Russia" and injures about a thousand people. Given that the last big space rock to affect the Earth was also over Russia (the Tunguska Event, in 1908), one wonders if that country has a big bull's eye painted on it.

Sort of like how trailer parks attract tornadoes.

Depending on your tastes and how you feel about The Hollow Men, we can call that going out with a bang or with a whimper.