March 28

Pyramid of the Sun .

Better Than News

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  Bonsai lock picking is the practice of unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device using a bonsai or similar miniature tree.

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  Turing Completeness Adventure Stories— "Chilling and informative tales of Turing Machines — rule sets which are able to recognize or decide other data-manipulation rule sets."

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  Three Days of El Condor Pasa is a 1975 political musical film about a bookish CIA researcher (Robert Redford) who returns to his childhood home in the Andes, only to discover that all of the miners of the village, and many of their wives and children, have been murdered or disappeared by Operation Condor.

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  3:10 to Ytterbium is a 1957 American Western chemistry film directed by Delmer Daves, starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Based on a 1953 short story by Elmore Leonard, it is about a drought-impoverished chemist who takes on the risky job of helping a notorious outlaw isolate a new element.

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  The Molecule of Discord was a molecule of tetrachloroethylene (PERC) dropped by Eris, the goddess of dry cleaning, at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis in the Greek myth of the Judgement of Paris. It sparked a vanity-fueled dispute among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War.

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  "Me and the universe, we got an understanding" is line from the film The Blueshift Brothers.

Are You Sure

• ... that philosopher, mathematician, and political scientist Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet embodied the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and rationalism; and that his thinking remains influential to this day?

• ... that mathematician Alexander Grothendieck was the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry; and that his research extended the scope of the field and added elements of commutative algebra, homological algebra, sheaf theory, and category theory; and that his relative perspective led to advances in pure mathematics?

• ... that physicist and academic John D. Strong contributed to optical physics, developing optical devices and materials including improved telescope mirrors and anti-reflective coatings; and that Strong detected water vapor in the atmosphere of Venus?

• ... that the image Pyramid of the Sun is an entirely digital image, with no hand drawing, and that its pyramidal effects arises from the halftone effect?

On This Day in Fiction and Nonfiction

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  1794: Philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet dies. His ideas and writings were said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and rationalism, and remain influential to this day.

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  1928: Mathematician and theorist Alexander Grothendieck born. He will become the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry.

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  1933: The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool crashes after a fire break out. Sabotage will be suspected due the suspicious behaviors of a passenger who seemingly jumped from the aircraft before it crashed.

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  1979: A coolant leak in the Unit 2 nuclear reactor of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station leads to core overheating and a partial core meltdown.

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  1992: Physicist and academic John D. Strong dies. Strong contributed to optical physics: he was the first to detect water vapor in the atmosphere of Venus, and he developed optical devices and materials including improved telescope mirrors and anti-reflective coatings.

Topic of the Day

Batman

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  The Artaud Knight is a 1980 psychological thriller film about an avant-garde artist (Antonin Artaud) who must stop a deranged billionaire (Bruce Wayne) from routinizing the charisma of Gotham City.

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  The Dark Water is a superhero comedy thriller film starring Michael Caine, Valerie Perrine, and Heath Ledger.