Score one for the transient Outdoorzies out there… or maybe score one for the physicists not-so-cool image… no matter. A guy who spends his Summers guiding backpacking trips and surfing, and his Winters ski-bumming has formed a theory on the universe that the scientific community is standing up and taking a look at. The Telegraph reported this week that Garrett Lisi has created a theory of the universe that could actually explain some things to physicists. Lisi has a doctorate but isn’t affiliated with any universities… currently. My guess is he’ll be picked up pretty quickly after this.
The E8 Theory… (don’t stare too long, it will suck you in… seriously)
From the Telegraph… ” Lisi’s inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.”
I’m not even going to pretent like I understand… so I’ll just step away and say… “Cool Brah.”
My cousin just moved to Billings, so maybe I’ll actually make it to PQ this year. Montana will provide a scenic backdrop and should also make for ideal adventure racing terrain. Can’t wait to see what they have in store this year.
It was announced this past week that this ginormous rat was found as a new mammal species in Indonesia. It is amazing in this day and age to find a new mammal species, ever!
Here’s my prediction
2009 - The scientists discovering this species are presented with numerous awards for their groundbreaking find.
2010 - Giant Rats, now known as Grats, become a huge hit in China and Japan as pets.
2011 - Grats are introduced into American and European culture.
2012 - Disney takes Grats to the next level with cool Grats fashion outfits, accessories, and even a Dancing with the Grats TV series.
2013 - Disney introduces Grat Viagra, but this goes horribly wrong. Grats breed like crazy and infest most major cities.
2014 - In NYC Will Smith is the only remaining survivor of the Grat Infestation of 2013.
2015 - Will Smith discovers that his Aunty and Uncle in Bel Air are still alive and he moves in with them.
2016 - Carlton drives him nuts and he moves back to NYC.
So Buster sent me this viral video that has been going around. It claims that you can turn a regular mountain dew into a glow stick by adding Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda. I was shocked and amazed at first… mostly cause I hadn’t heard of it. But then I got a little skeptical. So, Emile and I decided to try it out this morning….
Yep, we got way too excited that this might work. We were like two kids running around getting the ingredients together. Then it didn’t work. We followed the directions exactly too. So, we did a simple Google search and found references of all the other dummies who tried this too. It doesn’t work. It isn’t real. We figure the guy in the video must have put glow stick liquid into the peroxide bottle to fool people.
Oh well. And the world could have saved all that money on glow sticks… Maybe it’s a video planted by the Mountain Dew marketing team to drum up some excitement.
Well dudes and dudettes, if you haven’t ordered by now, you’re either going to have to pay out the arse for shipping, or you’re going to have to get your fanny out in the hustle and bustle and fight the hoards to shop.
Okay, a few last minute deals. Get em while they’re hot yall!!
I have been wanting a GPS so bad I can taste it. Granted it’s more for driving around this small town vs driving around being outdoorzy, but that is beside the point. The fact is I don’t really need one (hey where’s the mall, oh same place it’s been for the past 20 years, thank you GPS,thank you), but I sure to want one, so let’s look at a couple I have been considering blowing some cash on.
The first one is the Garmin nuvi 250w. It has a 4.3″ wide screen and comes with preloaded maps of North America (no Mexico). Some GPS systems these days come with MP3 player, Bluetooth and text-to-speech, this one does not. However, it is packed with Points of Interest (POIs). The nuvi is also portable and fits in a backpack or purse. It has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which has about a 5 hr life. Here is a good review of the Garmin nuvi 250w.
This other model is the TomTom ONE XL. It also features a 4.3″ wide screen and maps of US and Canada. Like the nuvi above it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles (MP3 and text-to-speech), but it does have Bluetooth. It has an expansion slot for 1 gb flash SD card which pictures can be uploaded to and viewed. The battery life is also about 5 hr. Check out this thorough review of the TomTom ONE XL.
Note: These are the car models, I don’t have much experience with any other type. I know there are some great ones out there for hiking. Do any of you guys use any that you might suggest to some of the readers?
