Thursday, April 12, 2012

A Little Drama, Please...

Start with a quiet little square in Belgium, a place where nothing really happens.  Then add a little drama...

Greatest Closing Paragraph Evah?

Scientific papers are not generally noted for their literary qualities (or even for their readability!).  So to see a such a science paper end like this is quite unusual:
An 
implication
 from
 this 
work 
is 
that 
elsewhere 
in
 the 
universe
 there 
could 
be 
life
 forms 
based 
on 
D 
amino
 acids 
and 
L
 sugars, 
depending 
on
 the 
chirality 
of 
circular
 polarized
 light 
in 
that 
sector 
of 
the 
universe or 
whatever 
other
 process 
operated 
to
 favor
 the 
L
α‐methyl 
amino acids 
in 
the 
meteorites 
that 
have 
landed 
on Earth.

 Such
 life
 forms
 could
 well
 be
 advanced
 versions
 of
 dinosaurs,
 if
 mammals
 did
 not
 have the
 good 
fortune
 to 
have 
the 
dinosaurs 
wiped
 out 
by 
an 
asteroidal 
collision, 
as 
on
 Earth. 

We 
would 
be 
better 
off 
not 
meeting 
them.
Via io9, where you can read more about it...

Pot Pie Night...

Wednesday night is “pot pie night” at the Descanso Junction Restaurant, and we were there last night.  At right is the chicken pot pie they served up for me: crosshatch puff pastry over a dish of curried chicken with just the right mix of chicken, sauce, and vegetables. 

For close to ten years now, the Descanso Junction Restaurant has been our favorite place to eat out.  We love the food, the generous portions, and the wonderful cast of characters who make us feel right at home there.  And they just keep getting better and better!

A Refreshing “Terms of Service”...

It's not often that your reaction to reading a legal document is “Hey, that was pleasant!”  Check out the right-hand column in the linked terms of service for the site 500px...