EPA Kills Bees

Okay, the title may be a bit of an overstatement but according to some random site that we've never heard of that is obviously legitimate, a leaked government document says that the Environmental Protection Agency knowingly allowed a bee-toxic pesticide to be wildly used as a pre-treater for corn seeds. (corn seed pre-treatment? wtf?)

The pesticide, known as Clothianidin, is lethal to a variety of bee species including the I'm not yet extinct but I will be soon and you'll all be dead suckers honey bee and it's even rarer cousin, visible only for a few days each year, the halloween honey bee. (see photo below)


Thanks, EPA!

The halloween honey bee

[images via illinois.edu and flickr licensed under creative comments so EIGN was legally allowed to post and modify this file for non-commercial purposes]

Most Awesome Things of All Time - #95 - Apple Pie

#95 in our ongoing project of the 100 most awesome things of all time...

Apple Pie


photo by eign friend k. via flickr

Flying Snakes and the Department of Defense

According to this washington post report, the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (you know, those guys that created the internet) has been funding research for FLYING FUCKING SNAKES. No one here at EIGN has ever heard of these terrifying creatures abominations that are native to China and Southeast Asia before.

...and here we have yet another reason I am glad I don't live in China:


video via washingtonpost.com

The End Postponed? Or has it already happened?

So it may have already happened.... the Mayan last days, 12-21-2012. But now someone, somewhere, in some textbook, is suggesting that the date may be inaccurate.

And, even scarier, it may have ALREADY HAPPENED!
The textbook "'Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World,' argues that the accepted conversions of dates from Mayan to the modern calendar may be off by as much as 50 or 100 years." (via news.yahoo.com)

Awesome. But, on the plus side, if it's been pushed back by 50 to 100 years EIGN staff may actually have time to finish the most awesome / least awesome things of all time. Win.

Happy Fall.

Least Awesome Things of All Time: #95 - Watching Your Team Lose the Stanley Cup

#95 in our ongoing project of the 100 least awesome things of all time...


#95 - Watching your team lose the stanley cup


[from courierpostonline.com i think]

Most Awesome Things of All Time - #96 - Winning the Stanley Cup

#96 in our ongoing project of the 100 most awesome things of all time...

Winning the Stanley Cup...




...and all the rewards that come with it.


(congratulations chicago)

Least Awesome Things of All Time: #96 - Losing the Stanley Cup

#96 in our ongoing project of the 100 least awesome things of all time...

Losing the Stanley Cup





[from courierpostonline.com and philly.com i think]

It's Online

The Large Hadron Collider is Online.

We're Doomed.

I Choose Invisibility (Again!)

Back in 2008 we posted a story about scientists making tiny 3 dimension objects disappear. Now they apparently they have made another step towards true invisibility for (slightly) larger objects.

"The "cloak", described in the journal Science, hid an object from detection using light of wavelengths close to those that are visible to humans.

Previous devices have been able to hide objects from light travelling in only one direction; viewed from any other angle, the object would remain visible.

This is a very early but significant step towards true invisibility cloaks."(bbc)

I so can't wait for this to work for an object the size of... well... me!

Dark Matter Soon?

"The world's largest atom smasher could generate its first scientific breakthrough later this year when operators hope to make discoveries into the elusive nature of dark matter, the director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research said Monday." (ap, via wapo)

How much money has this thing cost? (9 Billion US$) How long has it be under construction? (15 years) And it's about to make it's first scientific breakthrough? And it's going to kill us? (yes) What a waste!

[image via here]

#97 - Rain

#97 in our ongoing project of the 100 most awesome things of all time...



Ah Rain, sweet giver of life. So much better than your no good cousin snow.

...unless you lead to mudslides and flooding. [which we can only assume will be somewhere in the top 100 -ed]

[image via flickr user orangeacid (and we LOVE it) ]

Good News Wednesday - Beer Good For You!

Is it good for you or is it bad for you?
That's the on going debate about nearly everything. Today beer gets a plus one in the "it's good for you" category.

"Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, have found beer is a rich source of silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis, as dietary silicon is a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density." (reuters)

I can't really remember but I think this is why I ordered a few extra beers over the weekend. Seems like a good enough reason for me.

#97 - Snow

#97 in our ongoing project of the 100 least awesome things of all time...



Fuck Snow.

[eign stock photograph]

Breaking the Laws of Physics (A Non-LHC Collider Story)

This can't be good. Distorting laws of physics? Yikes.

"Physicists said Monday that they had whacked a tiny region of space with enough energy to briefly distort the laws of physics, providing the first laboratory demonstration of the kind of process that scientists suspect has shaped cosmic history." (nytimes)

"The blow was delivered in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, or RHIC, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in [New York]." A second blow was a shot to the pride of the Large Hadron Collider which, to this point, hasn't done shit for anything.

Cell Phones Bad For You (again)

A few weeks ago we posted a story about cell phones potentially being good for Alzheimer's patients.

Turns out we were probably wrong. Today's Washington Post Health section has a story about how bad they are for you and how they potentially cause cancerous tumors. Awesome.

Which is it scientists? Are they Good or are they Bad? It's like the egg debate of the 80s and 90s. Good. Bad. Good. Bad. UGH WHO CARES!


[image via here]

Bees Remember You

via the nytimes...

Bee's remember faces. Don't piss them off.

"A honeybee brain has a million neurons, compared with the 100 billion in a human brain. But, researchers report, bees can recognize faces, and they even do it the same way we do. Bees and humans both use a technique called configural processing, piecing together the components of a face — eyes, ears, nose and mouth — to form a recognizable pattern." (nytimes)

[photo via flickr user kapkap]

#98 - Nothing

#98 in our ongoing project of the 100 most awesome things of all time...

There is nothing awesome to match number 98 on the least awesome list... Earthquakes are bad.

Seriously, Please consider helping. (redcross.org)

NY City Attempts To Lift Ban On Beekeeping: Good News Wednesday!

EIGN has always loved bees.

"[New York City's] Board of Health on Thursday proposed lifting a ban on beekeeping, partly in response to the rising popularity of urban bee colonies." (nytimes)

"The department said in a statement: 'After the Board of Health received a petition from a group wanting to promote honey-bee keeping as sustainable agriculture, the Health Department looked into urban beekeeping and found that responsible urban beekeeping does not pose a public health issue.'" (nytimes)

Here's hoping it passes.


[image via flickr user jfortugaleza]

#98 - Earthquakes

#98 in our ongoing project of the 100 least awesome things of all time...



Earthquakes are bad.

Please consider helping. (redcross.org)



[image via here.]

#99 - Pandora and the Music Genome Project

#99 in our ongoing project of the 100 most awesome things of all time...




What else takes you from Neutral Milk Hotel to the Strokes to the Shins?

From their site:

The name Pandora means "all gifted" in Greek. In ancient Greek mythology, Pandora received many gifts from the gods, including the gift of music, from Apollo. She was also, as we all know, very curious. Unlike those gods of old, however, we celebrate that virtue and have made it our mission to reward the musically curious among us with a never-ending experience of music discovery.

Thank you pandora.

Butterflies (and everything else) Are In Trouble

Butterflies are apparently screwed thanks to global climate change. (global warming. nah. that's fake.)

"Diversity among high-elevation butterflies is beginning to fall as temperatures become uncomfortably warm for them and, [UC Davis butterfly expert Arthur] Shapiro says, 'There is nowhere to go except heaven.'"(science daily)

That has to be the most depressing quote we've ever (re)published. When this blog reaches the end of its life that quote will be in the last post.

[eign stock photo]

Cell Phones As A Force For Good: Good News Wednesday!

Prolonged exposure to electromagnetic waves put out by cell phones may not only protect, but possibly reverse the effects, of Alzheimer's disease. (sciencedaily.com)

My question, how do people with Alzheimer's know who to call or what to talk about?

#99 - Pandora and That Damn Box of Hers

#99 in our ongoing project of the 100 least awesome things of all time...



Everyone knows the story of Pandora's Box Jar. When she opened the box jar she unleashed all of the plagues, sicknesses and ills on mankind. And then she decided to close the thing up and lock hope inside. Thanks Pandora.



[image via flickr user soulsister]

File this under FG (for Fucking GROSS)

"A nearly 600-pound man was able to hide a weapon for more than a day while he was in custody" in his FAT ROLLS. (click2houston.com)

[image via click2houston.com]

The Next Great Threat.... Spoons

It's cold and (piggy) flu season again. Have you been taking liquid medicine? Do you use a spoon to take it instead of that little plastic liquid measuring cup? If so you may be close to killing yourself via robotoson. Spoons can be deadly. Why not use a spork instead?



The most interesting part of the story, however, comes in the form of a quote near the end of the article and it has implications far beyond spoons... "'Simply put, we cannot always trust our ability to estimate amounts,' said the study's co-author, Dr. Koert van Ittersum, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Georgia Tech." (sciencedaily.com) If we can not trust our ability to estimate amounts what can we trust?


[eign stock photo]

#100 - Good Holidays

Screw you New Years Eve, let's hear it for a real holiday. Like Black Friday. (That's the day after thanksgiving if you're in the USA). It's where you get up at 4am and go be a good little consumer.


Now there are two ways to do black friday. The lame way:




And the right way:



[images via moneyforstuff.files.wordpress.com and images.google.com, respectively.]

100 Most Awesome Things of All Time

As a companion to our (hopefully) weekly list of the 100 least awesome things of all time list EIGN is happy to bring you the 100 MOST awesome things of all time. However, due to the fact that we live (for now) in a cruel, cruel world, we may not be able to complete this list. We'll try though. Look for #100 tomorrow.

The List:
#93 - Outdoor Offices
#94 - [ nothing ]
#95 - Having time to contemplate life, loss and new beginnings
#96 - Winning the Stanley Cup
#97 - Rain
#98 - [nothing]
#99 - Pandora and the Music Genome Project
#100 - Good Holidays

#100 - Overrated Holidays

The 100 Least Awesome Things of All Time

Given that we have about 100 weeks between now and of the end of the world, our occasional guest contributor jg3 suggested we bring you the 100 least awesome things of all time. Hopefully this will happen weekly between now and the end of the world.


The list:
#93 - Cubical Farms
#94 - Watching your team lost in the NLDS after tearing your Achilles
#95 - Watching Your Team Lose the Stanley Cup
#96 - Losing The Stanley Cup
#97 - Snow
#98 - Earthquakes
#99 - Pandora and That Damn Box of Hers
#100 - Over Rated Holidays