ambergris - an opaque, ash-colored secretion of the sperm whale intestine, usually found floating on the ocean or cast ashore: used in perfumery.
And now you know where these perfumes come from
ambisinister - clumsy or unskillful with both hands.
The expected antonym of ambidextrous
ambisextrous - held in common by both sexes, especially sexual characteristics.
The expected neologism of ambidextrous
amen corner - a place in some Protestant churches, usually at one side of the pulpit, occupied by worshipers leading the responsive amens of the congregation.
And I thought it was the 12th hole at Augusta National
American Legion - a society, organized in 1919, composed of veterans of the armed forces of the U.S.
Why did I keep thinking that this was the name of some sort of white supremacy group?
American plan - (in hotels) a system of paying a single fixed rate that covers room and all meals.
American twist - In tennis, a service in which the ball is spun so as to bounce high and to the left of the receiver.
A term that should be imported into bartending
Ammonium nitrate - a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, NH4NO3, usually produced by reacting nitric acid with vaporous ammonia: used chiefly in explosives, fertilizers, freezing mixtures, and in the manufacture of nitrous oxide.
That's why fertilizer bombs work
amphetamine - a racemic drug, C9H13N, that stimulates the central nervous system: used chiefly to lift the mood in depressive states and to control the appetite in cases of obesity. a(lpha) + m(ethyl) + ph(enyl) + et(hyl) + AMINE
amphotericin - an amphoteric antibiotic produced by the bacterium Streptomyces nodosus and used in the treatment of fungal infections.
It's the opposite of penicillin
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Dictionary Highlights: Day 5
Albania - 1. a republic in S Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, W of Macedonia and NW of Greece. 3,293,252; 10,632 sq. mi. (27,535 sq. km). Capital: Tirana.
2. Obsolete. Scotland.
Good to know if you're ever time-traveling to ancient Scotland. If they tell you you're in Albania, you're in the right place.
Albuquerque (Alfonseo de) - 1453–1515, founder of the Portuguese empire in the East.
alcoholize - 1. to convert into an alcohol.
2. to treat or saturate with an alcohol.
3. to place under the influence of alcoholic beverages; make drunk; besot.
A good question to ask at parties. "Are you alcoholized yet?"
Alcoranist - a person who believes in an absolutely literal interpretation of the Koran.
Why did they need to come up with another word for this. Is Wahhabiist not good enough?
alectryomancy - an ancient form of divination, using a rooster to select grains of food placed on letters of the alphabet.
And it's a lot more fun than Ouija. Perfect activity for a party once everyone has been alcoholized.
aleuromancy - the use of flour as a means of divination.
I would love to see how this works.
Alexandrinus -the Greek uncial codex, dating from the early 5th century a.d., originally containing the complete text of the Greek Old and New Testaments.
Sweet! Another complete text that predates Codex Leningrad.
aliterate - a person who is able to read but rarely chooses to do so: Schools are worried about producing aliterates who prefer television to books.
all-fired - tremendous; extreme; excessive: He had the all-fired gall to quit in the middle of the job.
Then his team members were all fired.
2. Obsolete. Scotland.
Good to know if you're ever time-traveling to ancient Scotland. If they tell you you're in Albania, you're in the right place.
Albuquerque (Alfonseo de) - 1453–1515, founder of the Portuguese empire in the East.
alcoholize - 1. to convert into an alcohol.
2. to treat or saturate with an alcohol.
3. to place under the influence of alcoholic beverages; make drunk; besot.
A good question to ask at parties. "Are you alcoholized yet?"
Alcoranist - a person who believes in an absolutely literal interpretation of the Koran.
Why did they need to come up with another word for this. Is Wahhabiist not good enough?
alectryomancy - an ancient form of divination, using a rooster to select grains of food placed on letters of the alphabet.
And it's a lot more fun than Ouija. Perfect activity for a party once everyone has been alcoholized.
aleuromancy - the use of flour as a means of divination.
I would love to see how this works.
Alexandrinus -the Greek uncial codex, dating from the early 5th century a.d., originally containing the complete text of the Greek Old and New Testaments.
Sweet! Another complete text that predates Codex Leningrad.
aliterate - a person who is able to read but rarely chooses to do so: Schools are worried about producing aliterates who prefer television to books.
all-fired - tremendous; extreme; excessive: He had the all-fired gall to quit in the middle of the job.
Then his team members were all fired.
Dictionary Highlights: Day 4
Aardwolf - a striped, hyenalike mammal, Proteles cristatus, of southern and eastern Africa, that feeds chiefly on insects.
Just like the aardvark, only more wolf-like
Ailurophile - a person who likes cats; cat fancier.
I didn't know they needed to invent a whole new word for "cat lover" which is shorter to say and to type, anyway.
Air Equivalent - a measure of the effectiveness of a material in absorbing nuclear radiation, expressed as the thickness of an air layer (at 0° C and 1 atmosphere) causing the same absorption.
Air Screw - an airplane propeller.
Airy Fairy -
Alabamine - In Chemistry, (formerly) astatine. Symbol: Ab
Because when we think of advanced scientific research, Alabama is the first thing that comes to mind.
Alack - An interjection used as an exclamation of sorrow, regret, or dismay.
For when Alas just won't do.
Just like the aardvark, only more wolf-like
Ailurophile - a person who likes cats; cat fancier.
I didn't know they needed to invent a whole new word for "cat lover" which is shorter to say and to type, anyway.
Air Equivalent - a measure of the effectiveness of a material in absorbing nuclear radiation, expressed as the thickness of an air layer (at 0° C and 1 atmosphere) causing the same absorption.
Air Screw - an airplane propeller.
Airy Fairy -
| 1. | Informal.
|
| 2. | Slang. effeminate; swishy. |
Alabamine - In Chemistry, (formerly) astatine. Symbol: Ab
Because when we think of advanced scientific research, Alabama is the first thing that comes to mind.
Alack - An interjection used as an exclamation of sorrow, regret, or dismay.
For when Alas just won't do.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year's Resolution
It's that time of the year again, for us to resolve to better our lives, breaking old habits and setting new ones.
I was fascinated when I read about an experiment where researchers tested individuals with conditions that prevented them from making new long-term memories. These patients are like the main character in Memento, unable to remember what they were doing even five minutes ago. The test went like this: The researcher introduces himself to the patient, and presents a puzzle (not necessarily a jigsaw puzzle, either) for the patient to solve. The researcher asks "have you done this puzzle before" the patient says "no" and the patient proceeds to work on the puzzle until it has been solved.
The results were fascinating. On the first day, it would take the patient, say, 20 minutes to solve the puzzle. On the second day, the patient would take less time to solve the same puzzle, say, 10 minutes. On the third day, the patient could solve the puzzle in less time still, despite having no conscious memory of ever having worked on the puzzle. This indicates that knowledge forgotten by the conscious mind is never lost. The implication is: if you learn, or even gloss over some kind of knowledge, even if you don't really understand it, even if you don't remember it, it will be beneficial should you desire to learn it later. For example, if you read a Master's Degree level physics text that is over your head, and don't understand it, take Bachelor's level physics courses, get a degree, then take a Master's physics course years later featuring that textbook you didn't understand, you will now learn that textbook much more quickly than if you had never read it in the first place.
This got me thinking. What could I do to provide a foundation for future learning. If I briefly gloss over the whole of human knowledge, then anything I learn in a formal education later in life, I will learn faster and retain more of it. In other words, I'd be supercharging my ability to learn.
Inspired by A.J. Jacobs' audacious project of reading through all of Encyclopedia Britannica in a year, I decided to do something similar, but a bit more modest. I have decided to read through Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language in one year. The text is 2230 pages long, which equals out to a little over 6 pages per day. While that may not seem difficult at first, here's an image of two pages of this dictionary:
.jpg)
Wish me luck. I think I'm gonna need it.
I was fascinated when I read about an experiment where researchers tested individuals with conditions that prevented them from making new long-term memories. These patients are like the main character in Memento, unable to remember what they were doing even five minutes ago. The test went like this: The researcher introduces himself to the patient, and presents a puzzle (not necessarily a jigsaw puzzle, either) for the patient to solve. The researcher asks "have you done this puzzle before" the patient says "no" and the patient proceeds to work on the puzzle until it has been solved.
The results were fascinating. On the first day, it would take the patient, say, 20 minutes to solve the puzzle. On the second day, the patient would take less time to solve the same puzzle, say, 10 minutes. On the third day, the patient could solve the puzzle in less time still, despite having no conscious memory of ever having worked on the puzzle. This indicates that knowledge forgotten by the conscious mind is never lost. The implication is: if you learn, or even gloss over some kind of knowledge, even if you don't really understand it, even if you don't remember it, it will be beneficial should you desire to learn it later. For example, if you read a Master's Degree level physics text that is over your head, and don't understand it, take Bachelor's level physics courses, get a degree, then take a Master's physics course years later featuring that textbook you didn't understand, you will now learn that textbook much more quickly than if you had never read it in the first place.
This got me thinking. What could I do to provide a foundation for future learning. If I briefly gloss over the whole of human knowledge, then anything I learn in a formal education later in life, I will learn faster and retain more of it. In other words, I'd be supercharging my ability to learn.
Inspired by A.J. Jacobs' audacious project of reading through all of Encyclopedia Britannica in a year, I decided to do something similar, but a bit more modest. I have decided to read through Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language in one year. The text is 2230 pages long, which equals out to a little over 6 pages per day. While that may not seem difficult at first, here's an image of two pages of this dictionary:
.jpg)
Wish me luck. I think I'm gonna need it.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
How Muhammad Got His Revelation
I know it's offensive, and I'm sure there are inaccuracies, but holy crap this is funny!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Richard Lewontin on Materialism
"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."
- Richard Lewontin
- Richard Lewontin
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Scientific Naturalism Refutes Itself
Transcript
Scientific Naturalism: The natural world is all there is and one should only believe what can be scientifically proven.
Think about the claim that the natural world is all there is. This is a form of atheism, but I cannot imagine how one could scientifically prove atheism. Since science only studies the natural world, how could science possibly prove that there is nothing beyond the natural world. The only way the naturalist could hold this would be by faith, but that would contradict his position that one should only believe what can be scientifically proven.
Consider the second claim that one should only believe what can be scientifically proven. This claim is demonstrably false. It is too restrictive. There are all sorts of truths that we all rationally accept but cannot be scientifically proven. For example, logical and mathematical truths, metaphysical truths like "the external world is real", ethical truths, aesthetic truths, and finally...scientific truths. Science is permeated with unprovable assumptions. For example, the theory of relativity is based on the assumption that the speed of light is constant between any two points in a one way direction. This is unprovable, yet one has to hold to it in order to believe in general relativity.
Worse than that, the naturalist claim "one should only believe what can be scientifically proven" itself cannot be scientifically proven. Therefore, this view is self-refuting.
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