Scientists find a cure for earworms

Whenever I hear the term "earworm" I think of that creepy scene in Star Trek II in which Khan goes after Captain Terrell and Commander Chekov with a couple of Ceti eels. Not a pretty sight.

In reality, earworms are annoying tunes that get stuck in your head. But like Ceti eels, they burrow into your brain and drive you crazy. Fortunately, it seems someone has finally discovered a way to remove them.

According to a report in The Telegraph, researchers believe the best way to get rid of an earworm is to solve anagrams. If you don't have access to a book of anagrams, reading a novel may also help alleviate the suffering.

According to Dr. Ira Hyman, a music psychologist (that's an actual job?) at Western Washington University who conducted the research, the trick is to make sure the anagram isn't too difficult, otherwise the earworm may return:

The key is to find something that will give the right level of challenge. If you are cognitively engaged, it limits the ability of intrusive songs to enter your head.

Something we can do automatically like driving or walking means you are not using all of your cognitive resource, so there is plenty of space left for that internal jukebox to start playing. Likewise, if you are trying something too hard, then your brain will not be engaged successfully, so that music can come back. You need to find that bit in the middle where there is not much space left in the brain. That will be different for each individual. It is like a Goldilocks effect – it can't be too easy and it can't be too hard; it has got to be just right.

Interestingly, the research found that Lady Gaga (whose name cannot be spelled without "GAG") was the artist most responsible for creating dreaded earworms. Seems rather fitting to me.

Protect yourself by printing your own handgun

That unregistered, untraceable 3D-printed handgun you've been waiting for is finally here.

The world's first entirely 3D-printed gun (photo: Michael Thad Carter, Forbes)

OK, it isn't pretty. In fact, it looks like the spray nozzle on a bottle of Windex. But it works. And you can bet the gun-control crowd will be up in arms about it (no pun intended).

Final pieces hoisted atop new World Trade Center building

The final section of the spire is raised to the top of One World Trade Center. (CNN)

The last two sections of the 408-foot spire that will sit atop One World Trade Center have been hoisted onto a temporary platform earlier this morning. The spire, essentially a giant antenna, will put the building at 1,776 feet, making it the tallest skyscraper in the nation.

We can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a decent zero-G barf bag

Did you know that half of the astronauts who travel into space throw up from space sickness? Neither did I, nor did I really care. However, I was intrigued when I saw this video of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of the International Space Station, demonstrating the overly complicated barf bags NASA developed to deal with the problem of zero-G hurling. Talk about complicated! By the time you get one of these things open, you'll already be flailing around in a floating cloud of your own stomach contents.

Expert analysis: Could the eagles have flown Frodo into Mordor?

You may recall this scene toward the end of The Return of the King in which Frodo and Sam are rescued from certain death by the Eagles of the Misty Mountains after destroying the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom:


Everyone who has seen the movie or read the book has asked themselves the same question: Why didn't the Eagles just fly Frodo into Mordor and save him from the perilous journey on foot? If the Ring's destruction was absolutely necessary to save the world, then sending a Hobbit on what was sure to be a long, drawn-out suicide mission wouldn't be my idea of a winning strategy.

Sean Crist has done the research and envisions how a plan involving the Eagles might have unfolded:

1. After the Council of Elrond, but before the Company departs from Rivendell, Gandalf goes up to the Misty Mountains, hails the eagles, and discusses the matter with them to secure their cooperation and to coordinate the plan.
   
2. The Grey Company travels as they did in the text, passing thru Lórien and traveling down the Anduin on boats.
   
3. At some point on the Anduin, the company lands on the east bank, abandons the boats, and travels on foot north of the Emyn Muil thru the uninhabited Brown Lands. They then turn south and end up at some point along the Ered Lithui around a hundred miles east of Cirith Gorgor, directly north of Mount Doom on the north side of the mountains.
   
4. The eagles rendezvous with the company at some pre-arranged spot just north of the Ered Lithui. It's likely that Aragorn (or someone else) would have previously traveled in the Brown Lands and would be able to designate some landmark as a suitable meeting place.
   
5. An eagle carries Frodo to Mount Doom in a single flight, possibly accompanied by other eagles and by other members of the Grey Company. Frodo goes into Sammath Naur and throws the Ring into the Cracks of Doom.

Probably something like this:

Crist came to the conclusion long ago that this was simply a plot hole that Tolkien never bothered to address:

My contention is that there is nothing in the text to rule out such a plan, and that it is simply a hole in the plot of an otherwise excellent book that the issue is never brought up. This is not to say that LoTR is in any way a bad book; it merely shows that even as excellent a writer as Tolkien does not always succeed at perfectly harmonizing the various entities which he has placed in his world.

He goes on to address 12 objections one might raise in defense of the story as originally penned by Tolkien. If you're in a geeky mood, it's well worth the read.

This is America, right?

Just a few thoughts that went through my head when I saw the images of the police lockdown in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Education vs. Schooling

Ignorance is bliss. Don't read.

(via Facebook)

Most awesome Wal-Mart greeter ever

New 'Man of Steel' trailer marks Superman's 75th birthday

75 years ago today, the world was introduced to Superman in Action Comics #1. To mark the occasion, Warner Brothers has released an extended trailer for the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Enjoy!