If work is a hologram...do I have to come in tomorrow? :)  Read the full article for more brain-bending stuff, such as "we can tell by measuring the blurriness of the universe".  It almost makes sense...Stephen Hawking, eat your heart out.

According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."

South America....NOT on my vacation list anymore

Glad my family got to go there as a port-of-call on a cruise as a kid.  Caracas, Venezuela is definitely OFF my vacation list forever.  From CNN:

"Foreign Policy magazine said in September that Caracas tops the list of five murder capitals of the world, with an official tally of 130 homicides per 100,000 residents. The city, which is Venezuela’s capital, has about 4 million inhabitants."

Of the top five, only one U.S. city made the list: New Orleans.  :)

Politics and black holes....they both SUCK.

If you're worried that the government now owns your house (ok, ok..only true for 50% of America...not me, I've been able to build a life without the help of Uncle Sam, thanks)....have no fear.   We'll all die in the coming months as the earth collapses into itself. 

"Although physicists acknowledge that the collider could, in theory, create small black holes, they say they do not pose any risk. A study released Friday by CERN scientists explains that any black hole created would be tiny, and would not have enough energy to stick around very long before dissolving."

In some small corner of the world...freedom rears its head. And gets stepped on.

Awesome quote from an interview with the President of Georgia...you know, the country that's getting invaded by Russia? Yeah.

Although the name Georgia is familiar to the United States, the country isn't. Most Americans don't know its remarkable story. The first time I spoke to [President] Saakashvilli a few months earlier, it was under much more pleasant circumstances. I found him to be a young, energetic and well-spoken reformer who in many ways understands our founding fathers better than most Americans.

He spoke to me about his vision for Georgia, the vision that transformed it from a failed state to a burgeoning democracy with a quickly growing economy.

He said, "the government is going to help you in the best way possible, by doing nothing for you, by getting out of your way. Well, I exaggerate, but you understand. Of course we will provide you with infrastructure and help by getting rid of corruption, but you have all succeeded by your own initiative and enterprise, so you should congratulate yourselves."

Also, McCain is a damned hypocrite: "Speaking to reporters about the situation in Georgia, Sen. John McCain denounced the aggressive posture of Russia by claiming that:"in the 21st century nations don't invade other nations." (link to the actual video)