MuseBlog

Born 14 March 1879; died 18 April 1955.

You left the world a weirder place than you found it — and for that, we thank you.

In the United States, March 14 is 3-14 — the first three digits in pi. At 1:59, all work ceases and people swarm into the streets to honor their favorite irrational number.* How will you celebrate?

(*Well, they will, when Musers are running things.)

It’s been almost a year since the previous Random Factoids thread. Loads of new factoid-filled Musers have joined the blog since then. Share and enjoy!

It’s International Brain Awareness Week! How shall we celebrate?

This press release arrived this morning in Robert’s e-mail. Bet you wondered where all those “official” theme weeks and months came from. Thought-provoking, isn’t it?

Greetings-
International Brain Awareness Week® is this week, March 12-18. Coordinated by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, it will be celebrated with public events in more than 69 countries.

Brain Awareness Week may be a useful framework for your upcoming stories on brain-related subjects – such as body clocks, hormones, infant development, memory, and more. It may also be an opportunity to profile neuroscientists who are science communicators. Members of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives are just that; the Dana Alliance is a nonprofit organization of 260 leading neuroscientists committed to advancing public awareness of the brain. We would be happy to connect you with local experts.
…
*Brain Awareness Week® is a federally registered mark of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives is a nonprofit organization of 260 leading neuroscientists, including ten Nobel laureates, committed to advancing public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. It is supported by the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization with particular interests in neuroscience, immunology, and arts education.

In absentia, alas. The author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books (b. 11 March 1952, d. 11 May 2001) would have been 55 years old today. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

*Middle English for “quiet madness.”

This thread is slightly hard to explain. To get the hang of it, see the last installment, here.

By popular request. We tried to find a way to make this thread read from right to left, but no dice.

By popular request. We’re not sure how you’ll discuss this topic without pictures, but we’re willing to be convinced.

With a movie and the last book coming out this summer, people are bound to be talking about it all over the Web. Here’s MuseBlog’s contribution to the discussion.

We keep coming back to this topic. In a series of threads last year, MBers discussed their own religions as well as many others. Now FrigidSymphony has requested a (so to speak) revival. Here you are.

Less random than the random thread. More continuity, focus, and attention to spelling, punctuation, and other niceties.

Current topic:
Pet peeves
Death
Anorexia, recovering from
Wikipedia article about Muse
Home videos
Eclipses
Race? or Guantanamo Bay?
Naruto
Archaeology/Paleoanthropology/Paleontology

We haven’t done this in almost a year. By special request of Sweet Melpomene, who needs to vent.

By popular, or at least repeated, request.

We’ve been creating a lot of new threads lately, so this will be the last one for a few days unless something absolutely irresistible comes up.

For discussions that need to be handled with care.

Continued from version 2007.1.

Why do some continued threads have parts, while others have versions? Who knows?

Earlier threads on this and similar topics include

Books and Reading, Part 2,
Books and Reading,
Libraries, Books, and Bookstores,
and
Books.

The latest in the series. For the previous one, click here.

Do re mi fa so la ti do and all that jazz. A place to talk about music.

Continued from Music, v. 2006.3.

Wild, tame, however you find them. By special request of Red-Tailed HAWK. (Elassë-Adæl: the topic can be stretched to include crow girls. We like them, too.)

“Take me out
To the Black,
Tell ’em I ain’t coming back…”

For Musers who watched the the TV science-fiction series Firefly and the spinoff movie Serenity.

It’s Monday: same date, same year, two great guys.

Because you can never have too many words or names.

For inspiration, you might check the original Words & Names thread and Words & Names, v. 2006.2.

And a most impressive performance it is, too. You can hear his sound file by clicking here.

It’s formatted for Windows Media Player, but Macs should be able to handle it. Note: You might want to turn down the volume first.

All types. You know who you are.

Or “Maths & Maths Geeks,” if you happen to be British. Requested by curious and questioning, who, as you may have guessed, is good at mathematics.

Less random than the random thread. More continuity, focus, and attention to spelling, punctuation, and other niceties.

Current topic: Seinfeld Guitars Musical instruments Airsoft Lego Complaints.

(This topic could last a while. It’s probably good thing that the next chameleon thread is just a few days away.)