Yearly Archives: 2015

7 posts

Sexism of the Day: Nobel Prize Winning Scientist Tim Hunt Says Women Don’t Belong in Labs

English biochemist Sir Tim Hunt won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine back in 2001, but now he is more widely known as Sir Sexist Pig.

Hunt was speaking at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea this week when he explained to the audience why he is in favor of single-sex labs.

“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls,” he said.

Uh oh…

“Three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry.”

You see, all the ladies love Hunt, because he is just so irresistible and such a smooth talker.

Here he is talking about cell division, which might get you all hot and bothered.

Unfortunately, he is probably going to find it difficult for anyone to fall in love with him again after that comment.

He later apologized for the timing of the remarks, but stood by his beliefs, telling BBC Radio that it was “a very stupid thing to do in the presence of all those journalists.”

He added: “I have fallen in love with people in the lab and people in the lab have fallen in love with me, and it’s very disruptive to the science because it’s terribly important that in a lab people are on a level playing field.”

The Royal Society, of which Hunt is a fellow, also issued a statement distancing themselves from Hunt and his comments.

The Royal Society believes that in order to achieve everything that it can, science needs to make the best use of the research capabilities of the entire population. Too many talented individuals do not fulfil their scientific potential because of issues such as gender and the Society is committed to helping to put this right. Sir Tim Hunt was speaking as an individual and his reported comments in no way reflect the views of the Royal Society.

And here are some of the reactions from people Twitter.

 

 

Squee of the Day: Mom Weasel Goes Back For Smallest Baby Left Behind

OK, so we aren’t sure if these are weasels, ferrets or stoats—but we do know this is one dedicated momma!

The video starts out with these adorable creatures scrambling up a stone wall led by their fearless mom. When mom gets a look at the camera, she signals to the babies to follow her away from any danger.

But, oh no! One of the babies has fallen off the wall and can’t seem to get up.

The runt of the group finally makes it back up to the top of the wall where it calls out for mom.

With one swift tug, the mom weasel/ferret/stoat pulls the baby to safety and rejoins the group.

Supercut of the Day: Watch All Your Favorite Dance Scenes from Movies in One Video

Shut up and dance with everyone who has ever danced in a major motion picture.

YouTuber MsTabularasa has taken memorable dance scenes from about 88 different movies and mashed them together in one big celebrity dance-off for your viewing pleasure.

The supercut is set to Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance with Me” and it’s really well timed with the music.

It includes classics like “Dirty Dancing” and “Footloose” as well as some more recent films like “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Magic Mike.”

In case you can’t guess them all, she’s listed all of the film titles in the comments below the video along with the corresponding time codes.

Food of the Day: Krispy Kreme Announces Donut Dog with Raspberry Jelly and Bacon

Is the world (or our heart) even ready for this?

It’s only been a few weeks since Little Caesars unleashed their bacon-wrapped pizza, and now Krispy Kreme has come along with an exclusive new creation to put that thing to shame.

Meet the “Krispy Kreme Donut Dog,” a hot dog in a glazed donut bun, slathered in raspberry jelly and covered in bacon.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks, a minor league baseball team from Delaware, has partnered with the donut company to sell this beast during their games at Frawley Stadium.

“The Blue Rocks are always looking for new ways to please our fans, and we think this is certainly going to accomplish that,” said Blue Rocks Director of Advertising Sales Brian Radle. “Krispy Kreme doughnuts and ballpark hotdogs are two of America’s favorite treats, so why not combine them?”

The team has also set up a contest to help officially name the monstrosity, and they are accepting submissions until March 17.

Apology of the Day: Comcast Sorry for Changing Subscriber’s Name to A-Hole

Here’s yet another reason to join the cord-cutting revolution.

A man in Spokane, Washington was surprised to find out that Comcast had changed his name from Ricardo Brown to “Asshole” Brown on his most recent bill.

He and his wife Lisa had been trying to cancel their cable subscription with the company, which should have been a very simple process.

But it was not.

They first reported the issue to consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, who wrote:

Instead of complying immediately, a representative escalated her call to a retention specialist, who tried to persuade her to keep the cable service and sign a new two-year contract.

His wife said she was not being rude, but the Comcast customer service agent decided to get back at them for not taking the offer in the most passive aggressive and childish way possible.

Elliot spoke with a Comcast rep who eventually apologized.

“We have spoken with our customer and apologized for this completely unacceptable and inappropriate name change,” he said. “We have zero tolerance for this type of disrespectful behavior and are conducting a thorough investigation to determine what happened. We are working with our customer to make this right and will take appropriate steps to prevent this from happening again.”

The company also promised to fire the employee responsible and has offered to both waive the $60 cable cancellation fee (how generous) and provide a refund of their two years of cable service.

And just as a reminder of it’s like to deal with Comcast customer service:

Toy of the Day: You Can Now Buy an Action Figure of Vladimir Putin Riding a Bear

Meanwhile in Russia… you can now own an action figure of your favorite Russian president Vladimir Putin, shirtless and riding a bear.

Finally!

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Robert Coalson tweeted the strange image this weekend.

“For sale at the Ismailovo market in Moscow,” he wrote.

You can also purchase the polyresin figure at this website, and it appears to be on sale for just 2500 Rubles (about $38).

Here’s the description of the item from the site, via Google Translate:

Luxurious Figurine as the head of state who tamed forest brown bear standing on a segment of a great country, symbolizes the victory, the heroic strength and power. Bear has long been considered a symbol of immense Russia, represents courage, strength, courage and rage directed against enemies – this beast could not be better reflects the position of the nation and its principles.

There have been other Putin action figures available in the past, like this one of him giving a speech at a podium (boring).

Joke or not, Coalson is noticing a lot of interest from people about the item on his Twitter account.

There are a number of photoshopped images of the Russian president riding various wild beasts, including a shark, but this figure seems to be based off this one.

In Russia, you is on joke.

WTF of the Day: Swedish Kids’ Song About Sex Organs is Super Catchy

A cartoon penis and vagina are taking Sweden by storm.

This music video for kids is supposed to teach them about the human body, particularly male and female genetalia.

In it, the animated characters dance around with hats, canes and microphones.The song also actually really catchy too – even if you can’t understand the lyrics – which roughly translate to phrases like “here comes the penis at full pace,” and “the vagina is cool, you better believe it.”

The video was created by Swedish Public Television for a children’s show called Bacillakuten, and it was posted to their Facebook page last week where it has over 1 million views and some complaints from angry parents.

“The song is deplorable and unacceptable for children,” said one commenter.

“Yes why not talk about these body parts in a good and funny way!!” wrote another in support of he video.

The show isn’t phased by the critics, however, and thinks the message behind it is all that matters.

“Although we received some criticism, we are very, very happy today, because the impact of the video is awesome!” said a rep for the show.

Via: The Local