Go, Allyson!!

Yay Allyson!

ION, this video cracked me up: [link]

Harry Shearer explains how Obama's cat moves contrast with McCain as a possum. It's the only known analysis of the McCain-Obama race that concludes with an imitation of a possum being tasered.

Woot! Congrats, Allyson!

Go Allyson!

Wearing The Hair Of The Dog. Portraits Of People In Clothes Made From Their Pets' Fur.

These aren't just lovely portraits of people posing with their pets, but look a little closely and you'll see that the owners are wearing sweaters and vests that resemble the fur of their dogs. And they should because they were literally made from them.

Below is a series of photographs (an ongoing project) by photographer Erwan Fichou of people posing with their beautiful dogs, sporting canine couture... actual sweaters and vests made from the hair (fur?) of their own pet dogs.

Freaky....

A Solar Refrigeration System, Carried by Camels

Reaching the nomadic communities who roam the arid and hot Sahel of Africa with vaccines has always posed an exceptional challenge to health workers, particularly because vaccines need to be refrigerated. (See past posts on the Ice Battery.) National immunization programs to eliminate serious diseases like polio and measles rarely benefit pastoralist communities in Kenyan districts like Laikipia and Samburu, nor do those communities often get access other medications requiring refrigeration.

In the last two years, a team of designers, health workers, and development experts from Designmatters at the Art Center College of Design, Princeton’s Institute of Science and Technology of Materials, and the Mpala Community Trust has conceived and rolled out a clever mobile, refrigerated health clinic using solar energy and camels.

While the mobile health clinic still relies on vehicles to carry the supplies to the camels, once they're loaded up the camels transport supplies to remote areas, where local health staff travel by bicycle and foot between camel camps and communities.

In transit, the lightweight, foldable solar panel powers the camel-pack refrigeration system.

Nnnoooooooo!!!

Space Station Toilet Breaks Again

Is anyone else in the country noticing gas prices plummeting? The station I drive by in the morning was at $3.02 (down from around $3.20 a few days ago), and a friend in northern OH just emailed that it's down to $2.67 where he lives.

It's $2.77 here, it's been dropping pretty quickly the last couple of weeks.

Yep - my local station was down to 3.49 this morning (from 3.79 earlier this week).