Something Silly This Way Comes

It's one of those days when the only things happening in the world around us can be laughed at.

Let us begin with musical diplomacy. The New York Philharmonic is visiting North Korea, providing for a history cultural exchange bAetween two countries who have been a button push away from nuking each other. Described as "a burst of musical diplomacy notably devoid of propaganda glorifying leader Kim Jong Il or attacks on U.S. policy." Talk about a rare occasion! So much so that one diplomat said, "Most North Koreans have never seen an American before; you'll be something very exotic." Most North Koreans have not seen food either.

Another thing North Koreans have not seen... shoes... on dogs. German police dogs will no longer get their feet dirty when on patrol - the entire dog unit will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes. "The dogs will start wearing the shoes this spring but only during operations that demand special foot protection." Why are the shoes blue one might ask... to match the officer's uniforms. Future purchases include doggie raid vests, helmets and motorcycles.

Meanwhile in Norway, a "doomsday" vault built to withstand an earthquake or nuclear strike has been built to protect millions of seeds. Thats right... seeds. "The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was to be officially inaugurated on Tuesday, less than a year after crews started drilling in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole. The vault, which Norway built at a cost of about 50 million kroner (US$9.1 million, euro6.25 million), has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from around the globe, shielding them from climate change, wars, natural disasters and other threats." The facility will allow Nordic scintists to stop acting like squirrels, as they have been storing frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine for the last 20 years.

In Isreal, where frozen seeds are not of concern, a computer scientist is teaching a computer to appreciate art. While Michael Thompson and Michael J. Apter asked this question over 30 years ago... Daniel Keren has written "a mathematical program that began as a lark and become a serious effort to match some of the world’s greatest painters with their masterpieces. If the project pans out, it could help point out poor copies and eventually distinguish forgeries from the real deal." While the computer may be able to tell if the work is real or a forgery, it still will not be able to appreciate this blog.

And for balding men everywhere... Reuters reports, "Researchers have identified a gene linked to hair loss that could lead to new drugs to treat baldness." However, they have not yet identified a gene linked to understanding why some women find bald men attractive.