Quote of the Day

From Slate's science roundup column:

Scientists claim to have built an 'invisibility cloak.' It uses metamaterials (metal patterns on a surface) to bend waves around an object so that the waves strike you as though they've passed through empty space. Researchers' hype: We can hide anything from anyone! We hid a copper cylinder, and now we're gonna hide a toaster! Sci-fi hype: Today, Harry Potter's cloak; tomorrow, Romulan space ships! Critiques: 1) The cloak didn't hide anything. It bends microwaves, not light. 2) It worked in two dimensions, not three. 3) Even with microwaves, it left a telltale reflection and shadow. 4) To bend light, which is much harder, you'd have to find new metamaterials. Naive answer: Just you wait, we'll figure out how to hide things, and you'll hear all about it. Cynical answer: The military, which is funding this work, will figure out how to use it to hide things, and you'll never hear about it.

Quote of the Day

Wally, from Dilbert -

I have an idea for boosting my performance. You wisely coached us to use all of our vacation days each year, because we come back recharged! Our renewed motivation is more than enough to compensate for the missed days. My plan is to leverage that competitive advantage. I'll take a fifteen year vacation and return ten minutes before retirement. Then I'll be so recharged that I'll pounce and do twenty years of work in minutes!!! Unless it's near a holiday, in which case, do you mind if I leave early?