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If pkc did a PhD
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| Trance Nutter |
If pkc did a PhD, I'm betting it'd be something like this
| quote: | Star Trek's a thesis
By Adam Morton
August 28, 2006
It's the PhD thesis that boldly goes where no thesis has gone before. Djoymi Baker watched 700 episodes - 624 hours without ads - of Star Trek and its spin-offs, dating from 1966 to 2005, in the name of research.
She analysed the series armed with an exhaustive knowledge of the characters and storylines of ancient mythology - from Homer's Odyssey down.
It may sound like torture for those with an aversion to William Shatner's campy theatrics but, six years and 90,000 words on, it has earned Dr Baker a coveted chancellor's prize for excellence at Melbourne University. And the respect of academics and Trekkies alike.
"I was interested in where myths turn up in less obvious forms, and there wasn't much work on the early years of television and its relation to myth," Dr Baker said.
Importantly, she was also a fan of the series.
"I don't think just because a study is serious and that I'm connecting Star Trek to a broader history of TV and ancient myths that it means there is not also a fun side - I can see the fun side as well."
Among the dark corners where Dr Baker's thesis - titled Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek - shines light is the changing link between the starship Enterprise's intergalactic adventures and the real world's space race.
Shatner's monologues were inspired by the visionary speeches of JFK, advocating greater exploration. Thirty years on, the roles were reversed, with astronauts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration guest-starring on Star Trek spin-offs to promote their underfunded existence.
Since finishing her thesis last year, the 34-year-old has had a daughter and is turning her thesis into an academic text.
She's also writing an introductory piece for a Star Trek exhibition at the Victorian College of the Arts in October. |
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2...6617211732.html |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
:stongue: :stongue:
its ing amazing what can be intellectualised!
for the record, i dont like star trek peeps. babylon 5 ftw! :D
also for the record, my hons thesis was on feminism, so if any of you gals need help exploring yourself, lemme know ;)
if i ever did a PhD, i reckon itd be something like
\'feminist practice and its condemnation of sexual experimentation: (or) how to get your bitch to brown town\'. |
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| eRRaTiK |
they should make a documentary out of her thesis!
would be an interesting read i reckon. |
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| Philby |
haha nice one
go nerds :D |
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| tathi |
| doesn't matter how fugly she could be, she would pickup hardcore at a LAN |
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| Trance Nutter |
Another strange PhD project, "Why cookies crumble"
| quote: |
LONDON, England -- When cookie-lovers open packages of their favorite snacks, some of the biscuits are often in bits.
Now scientists say they know why -- and it has little to do with the way cookies are packaged and transported.
Instead, laser tests carried out by British physicists found that cookies -- or biscuits, as they are known in Britain -- often develop "fault lines" a few hours after baking.
According to researchers at the University of Loughborough in Leicestershire, central England, as biscuits cool down after coming out of the oven, they pick up moisture around the rim which causes them to expand.
At the same time, moisture at the center makes them contract. The difference results in a build-up of strain forces that can pull a cookie apart.
Cracks appear that weaken cookies so they easily break apart when handled, moved or packaged.
Manufacturers try to tackle the problem by removing problem cookies before they reach store shelves. But many crumbly cookies still end up in shoppers' hands.
"We now have a greater understanding of why biscuits develop cracks shortly after being baked," said doctoral student Qasim Saleem, who led the research.
"This will help biscuit manufacturers adjust the humidity or temperature of their factory production lines to change the cooling process in such a way that the biscuits won't break up due to normal handling, and hence producing the perfect biscuit."
The scientists used an optical technique called "digital speckle pattern interferometry" to study the surface of cookies cooling to room temperature.
A paper on the research, entitled "A novel application of speckle interferometry for the measurement of strain distributions in semi-sweet biscuits," appeared Thursday in the journal Measurement, Science and Technology. |
At least this one has some science behind it, just a strange choice of model
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europ...mble/index.html |
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| MiSSyM |
LOL
where did u find that? IN WHAT IN THE WEIRD IN MX?
WTF
| quote: | | When cookie-lovers open packages of their favorite snacks, some of the biscuits are often in bits. |
WHO REALLY GIVES A FARK?
WHY DONT these 'scientists' use their knowledge on finding out something more important then why 'biscuits are often in bits'.
hahaha
for all you know some person at the shops couldve dropped a packet or thrown it in the trolley with full force, thus making the bikkie's crumble.
hahahaha
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: |
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| kittn |
| Yeah unless the cure for cancer is un-crumbled cookies, I think their time could be better spent! |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
lol at you people. as if any of us are any better. posting on ta certainly aint curing cancer and you people deem it fit to judge their studies of choice? ok.
| quote: |
WHY DONT these 'scientists' use their knowledge on finding out something more important then why 'biscuits are often in bits'. |
when you actually use your knowledge for something that will benefit humankind, then you may pass judgement on lesser contributors. |
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| kittn |
But I don't get wads of government funding to post on TA.
You on the other hand... you're a public servant, aren't you? |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by kittn
But I don't get wads of government funding to post on TA.
You on the other hand... you're a public servant, aren't you? |
youre kidding right? and where exactly do you think your salary comes from? :p
and anyway, allocations to university studies are not a tied grant, so the universities can spend that money how they wish. |
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