This has been a slow news day.  On such days, my mind tends to drift somewhat.  Combining the science of linguistics with the philosophical notion of multiple parallel universes leads to some very strange notions.  You may not think it is science, but I hope you think it's fun.

If there are infinite universes parallel to ours, there must be at least one in which Hamlet was written by an orangutan.

"What a piece of work is an orangutan,
how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!"

Wikimedia commons.

Who are your all time favourite childrens' authors?

Dr. Seuss, Enid Blyton, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Adolf Hitler?

Warning: satire alert!
Adolf Hitler - World's Best-Selling Children's Author.

Adolf Hitler, famous author of the philosophical masterpiece Mein Kampf has his children' early learning books and methods placed on lists of approved materials for use in British and American schools.

Whaaat!!!???

What is a Fudge Factor ?

It is a most unfortunate fact that, however beautiful a theory is, the data plots just don't want to fit the nicely drawn curve.  It is a problem in all fields of investigation.  The solution is easy.  Just take the function that defines the curve, determine the correction necessary to bring outliers into the curve and - voila! - the theory works!

All that remains is to invent a new name for the correction that must be applied.  There is no universal standard for this.  One person's dark energy is another person's epicycle.

A Brief History of the English Language Part 6 - Global English


Part 1 briefly covered the period from the 5th century CE to the 14th century.
Part 2 describes Chaucer's influence on the development of English.
Part 3 covers the period from Chaucer to the Elizabethan age.

This isn't bad science.  It's a whole new ball game.  It's below the level of pre-school science.
It's unterkindergartnischwissenschaft.


Is Michael O'Leary a virus expert ?

Michael O'Leary is the boss of RyanAir, a budget airline with a not-so-good reputation.

Various sources today quote Michael O'Leary as saying that the swine flu outbreak is only a risk to Asian and Mexican slum dwellers.  He thinks that the viral infection can be cured with a common anti-bacterial sweet.

A Brief History of the English Language Part 5 - Early Modern English

Part 1 briefly covered the period from the 5th century CE to the 14th century.
Part 2 describes Chaucer's influence on the development of English.
Part 3 covers the period from Chaucer to the Elizabethan age.