Science Tattoo Emporium

A first for Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium:

a tattoo has been submitted that was actually inspired by the existence of the Emporium...

A story of Creation

Every culture has its own Creation myth.

They range from the Maori legend of the broken embrace of Rangi and Papa, to the week of hard work in the Christian Genesis, the Dreamtime of Indigenous Australians, and the offspring of Chaos in Ancient Greek mythology. But my favourite is that of the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI as told by the late Douglas Adams at the start of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe":

The story so far:

In the beginning the Universe was created.

This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Many races believe that it was created by some sort of god, though the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI believe that the entire Universe was in fact sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure.

The Jatravartids, who live in pertpetual fear of the time they call The Coming of the Great White Handerchief, are small blue creatures with more than fifty arms each, who are therefore unique in being the only race in history to have invented the aerosol deodorant before the wheel.

However the Great Green Arkleseizure Theory is not widely accepted outside Viltvodle VI and so, the Universe being the puzzling place it is, other explanations are constantly being sort.

...

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

many human universals, but even as an insider not

Slavery and Segregation in the UAE

Excerpts from the Guardian article 'We Need Slaves To Build Monuments':

Like the rest of the Gulf region, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are being built by expat workers. They are strictly segregated, and a hierarchy worthy of previous centuries prevails.



"We need slaves," my friend says. "We need slaves to build monuments. Look who built the pyramids - they were slaves."



Sharla Musabih, a human rights campaigner who runs the City of Hope shelter for abused women, is familiar with such sentiments. "Once you get rich on the back of the poor," she says, "it's not easy to let go of that lifestyle. They are devaluing human beings," she says. "The workers might eat once a day back home, but they have their family around them, they have respect. They are not asking for a room in a hotel - all they are asking for is respect for their humanity."

Inside Dubai's Labour Camps (Photo Gallery)

Hitchens on Palin (and McCain)

"The most insulting thing that a politician can do is to compel you to ask yourself: "What does he take me for?" Precisely this question is provoked by the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin. I wrote not long ago that it was not right to condescend to her just because of her provincial roots or her piety, let alone her slight flirtatiousness, but really her conduct since then has been a national disgrace. It turns out that none of her early claims to political courage was founded in fact, and it further turns out that some of the untested rumors about her—her vindictiveness in local quarrels, her bizarre religious and political affiliations—were very well-founded, indeed."

More from Hitchens at Slate: Vote for Obama - McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace.