the color of office cubicles and the rest of the universe

2002.03.09

                     



My previous entry was incorrect, the universe, taken as a whole, is beige, not the minty green that was reported earlier. (The new color is #FEF9E5 for web developers...) The scientist who came up with the original finding as a sidenote to their paper made a mistake in translating their data into a single color. The new color is more intuitively obvious than the previous one. The article had a great quote from the astronomer Glazebrook:
"It is embarrassing. But this is science. We're not like politicians. If we make mistakes, we admit them. That's how science works."
And that's one of the main things I like about science.


Story of the Moment
Going to bed the other night, I noticed people in my shed stealing things.

I phoned the police but was told no one was in the area to help. They said they would send someone over as soon as possible.

I hung up. A minute later I rang again. 'Hello,' I said, 'I called you a minute ago because there were people in my shed. You don't have to hurry now, because I've shot them.'

Within minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, plus helicopters and an armed response unit. They caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the officers said: 'I thought you said you'd shot them.'

To which I replied: 'I thought you said there was no one available.'