Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

CG image of Atlantis (Photo by Associated Producers Ltd. for "Finding Atlantis")

Atlantis, the legendary island metropolis, has allegedly been found in some mud flats in southern Spain, according to a Connecticut professor featured in the National Geographic TV special “Finding Atlantis” that aired on Sunday.

University of Hartford professor Richard Freund and his global team used satellite images to pinpoint what they say is the location of the sunken city in the vast marshlands just north of Cadiz, Spain, msnbc.com and Reuters reported.

A fabled, perhaps mythical island memorialized by Plato’s dialogues, Atlantis is thought to have been swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago.

“This is the power of tsunamis,” Freund told Reuters. “It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that’s pretty much what we’re talking about.”

Freund – whose team also used deep-ground radar, digital mapping and underwater technology – said the discovery of concentric rings in the area buttressed his theory, msnbc reported.

CGI map of possible location of Atlantis in Spain (Photo by Associated Producers Ltd. for "Finding Atlantis")

Researchers previously thought Atlantis was located elsewhere, including on the Greek island of Santorini, and the Italian islands of Sardinia and Cyprus. A British engineer also thought a rectangular area off the coast of North Africa on Google Maps looked like Atlantis.

The National Geographic show is scheduled to be rebroadcast on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

Monday is March 14th. Make that 3/14 or perhaps 3.14.

And so it is National Pi Day. You geeks and math nerds out there — who either are or soon will be running the world and our lives — already knew that.

That we should all look this good eating pie. Photo by Getty Images

So go ahead, celebrate it by carrying it to the 25th decimal point. Find the circumference of a circle. Or celebrate Pi with a pie of your choosing.

And remember: Pie are round; cornbread are square.

Alas, there are rumblings that Pi might have met its match. Some number nerds are pushing “tau,” which is Pi multiplied by two, says CNN.

Why, you ask. CNN quotes an anti-Pi rebel that “circles are most naturally defined by their radius. Tau would be the ratio of the circumference to radius of the circle, while pi is circumference to diameter.”

For some, this is half-Tau day. Still hope we can have coconut cream on June 28th.

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

We’ve seen many stunning still photos in recent days of the tsunami that struck northeastern Japan last Friday and the devastation it wrought. But seeing the giant waves in motion is something else again …

James MacWhyte posted this stunning video on Facebook over the weekend, showing the tsunami moving down a city street, moving everything in its path. He asked others to share it on their walls and they have; the link has been circulating on Twitter as well.

I want to show everyone the news media we are being presented with here in Japan. I think it’s quite different from what you see on CNN and other Western news outlets. One thing about Japan–there are professional cameramen EVERYWHERE! It reminds me of the Vietnam war, and how it was the first time the US got real-time, color footage of a war zone. Since the quake, we’ve had lots of steady, HD video playing non-stop, showing you exactly what it would be like to witness the disaster first hand. …

Here’s another video, posted on Russia Today’s YouTube channel, that shows the tsunami’s power from a waterfront view as it overflows a seawall:

Comments(1)

|

E-mail

|

Print

Amanda Byne's breakout "The Amanda Show" will be one of the classics to return this fall

Remember a couple of weeks ago when rumors circulated the Web about the impending return of old-school Nickelodeon cartoons?

You may still be mourning the discovery that those rumors weren’t true, but here’s a bit of condolence for you: TeenNick is bringing back some of their ’90s programming, Entertainment Weekly reports.

The network announced today that it will feature a block of air time called “The 90s are All That” starting this fall. The good news? The block will feature shows like “Kenan and Kel,” “Clarissa Explains it All” and “All That.” The bad news? It will air from midnight until 2 a.m.

Of course, this may be a brilliant strategy on Nickelodeon’s part. Think about it: the youngest of the nineties kids are now in their early twenties and are likely to be in college (myself included). What better way to ease those all-nighter  blues than with a bit of ’90s nostalgia?

As for the rest of those in need of a ’90s fix — well, this is the digital age, and TiVo was invented for a reason.

Comments(8)

|

E-mail

|

Print

You can’t escape your past — especially if your past involves starring in X-rated films.

Tera Myers lost her job teaching science at a Missouri high school on Monday after a student discovered that she had starred in pornographic films under the name Rikki Anderson two decades ago.

In 2006 she lost a similar teaching job under the name Tericka Dye in Kentucky after school officials discovered her sultry past. After that incident, Myers said making the films was the worst decision of her life, Heartland News reports.

“I’m a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who’s made a lot of bad decisions in life,” she said.  “Anybody who’s been in my classroom could tell you how much I love teaching and how much I love these students, and that should be what matters more than anything in my past.”

I’ll admit, I’m torn here. If I had kids, there’s no way I’d want a former porn star teaching them. But aren’t redemption and opportunity (supposedly) foundational to our society? Myers took the jobs because she needed the money, and subsequently went to college and met her teaching qualifications.

And most of us can understand being young and taking any job for want of money. I, for one, have done it all: from cleaning toilets to modeling; from working retail to working as a nanny.

But most of us would draw the line way before pornography. Perhaps Myers loves teaching, but accountability is a part of one’s professional life. In a different field, her past might be excusable, but it’s hard to imagine a school — or parents — that would accept Myers as a teacher.

She might prefer teaching, but Myers will surely be able to find another job. And let’s face it — she can probably find a way to profit off this incident anyway. Lifetime movie, anyone?

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

Willow Smith’s new “21st Century Girl” video premiered Monday, and here’s the positive: The song is nowhere near as annoying as her previous caterwauls about whipping her hair back and forth. Improvement is key, right?

But here’s the negative: Until Smith calls herself “the type of chick that likes to rock the beat,” I would have believed someone who told me it was a Justin Bieber song. There’s no denying that this is the Auto-Tune generation.

Watch the video for yourself:

“Strange” is probably a good word to describe the video, with its old lady digging the tween out of the sand and the wolves that romp with Willow and her crew, but she’s still an unmistakably cute and sassy starlet. We can only hope she doesn’t ultimately follow the same path as former famous-parented mini-celebrity Miley Cyrus did.

Comments(1)

|

E-mail

|

Print

Charlie Sheen is looking for an intern. Talk about a resume-builder — or perhaps it’s more of a resume-breaker.

Sheen made the announcement Monday through a tweet that included a link to an Internships.com position. See if you meet the qualifications described in his listing:

Do you have #TigerBlood? Are you all about #Winning? Can you #PlanBetter than anyone else? If so, we want you on #TeamSheen as our social media #TigerBloodIntern!

The best part? The position is paid. If you think you’re cut out for the job, the application is at the above link, and the deadline is Friday. All you have to do is convince Charlie you’re the most #Winning candidate in 75 characters or less.

One thing’s sure — if people didn’t believe today’s job market was a bad one before, they certainly must now.

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

You can make fun of Tom Brady’s dance moves, which he briefly showed off while accompanying wife Giselle Bündchen in the Rio de Janiero Sambadrome.

You can mock the tiny ponytail he wears while bobbing and swaying to the samba strains.

But, by God, do not call the San Mateo native’s hair accessory a scrunchie, as Deadspin, the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News did. It’s a hair band or hair elastic, people!

As the indignant coiffure experts at New York Magazine note, this is a scrunchie. And this is a pink NFL Patriots scrunchie.

And this is Tom canoodling with Giselle – a reminder that no matter how ridiculous you might find his morphing hairstyles, Tom is married to a supermodel and you’re not.

Tom Brady’s Ponytail Sparks Mass Confusion Over Definition of Scrunchie (NYMag)