digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Can_Sarah_Palin_really_see_Russia_from_her_house’;Any intelligent person knows that Sarah Palin was joking when she said that she could see Russia from her house. It’s pure hyperbole. But everyone in the media keeps repeating it over and over, and I’m certain that some people probably actually believe it to be true. I bet that [...]

The flowers of Passiflora edulis are gorgeous. I particularly like the Fibonacci numbers of stamens, three of one kind, and five of another. Fibonacci numbers are, of course, related to the Golden Ratio, which is pretty much the mathematical definition of beauty.
At this time of year, these passion flowers are blooming vigorously here. [...]

It might not be possible to have too much fun, but it’s definitely possible to have to much Phun. Phun is a “2D physics sandbox”. What that means is that it allows you to draw shapes (circles, squares, or arbitrary freehand shapes) and then lets you bang them together using simulated physics laws. [...]

A couple years ago, a friend and I, while staying at a beachside condo, were standing on the balcony staring at the flat, distant horizon, and we got to wondering, “I wonder how far we can see right now?” and “I wonder how much further we can see up here on the 9th floor than [...]