One odd thing on our recent holiday was seeing people out in the mountains wearing toes shoes (the oddly-named “FiveFingers” shoes). As the author of a late 2013 article, “Toe Shoes - Beneficial or a Pathetic Fad?”*, put it:
“I’d like to think that one of the benefits of shoes, is to cover up your ugly toes.”
Or, as XKCD put it:
*The conclusion of the article was fad… and “blatant fashion crime”! Sadly, a fad that hasn't yet died.
A couple of weeks old but no less poignant:
Climate change deniers are quick to point out that there was still life on Earth at predicted future CO2 levels and global temperatures. This is true. The problem is, that life did not include us, anything like us, or even anything much like most of the things we eat. Oh yes, and most of the world’s major cities being under water. :sigh:
It’s a position summed up frustratingly well by Doonesbury (via WEIT):
For those who haven't already seen it, the outstanding XKCD comic now has a weekly "What If?" section, "answering your hypothetical questions with Physics, every Tuesday"or, as the main site puts it:
"abusing science to answer hypothetical questions".I prefer this second description as the second question answered ("What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be?") does not seem to have much to do with Physics. The inaugarul entry, however, "What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?", has a definite Physics theme and is highly entertaining, complete with great XKCD illustrations. (The footnote at the end is also most excellent but I won't spoil the punchline here!)
