e pur si muove

While the first manned space expedition was almost entirely for the express purposes of beating their Cold War enemy, Malaysians aim to perform the first extraterrestrial teh tarik procedure with their first foray outside the earth’s gravitational field:

Making teh tarik (pulled tea) can be tricky and dangerous, even with the help of gravity. Malaysians pour boiling-hot milky tea swiftly and repeatedly from one vessel held high in one hand into another held low, producing a distinctive layer of froth.

Making teh tarik in space would bring Malaysian customs to the attention of a worldwide audience, said Faiz Khaleed, one of the two astronaut candidates.

“Teh tarik is one of the symbols of Malaysia,” he said. “I think this is a good idea also to bring something from our country so the world can learn something about our country.”

On Monday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named medical doctor Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and Faiz, a military dentist, as the two finalists. Russian space experts will pick one of the two men, both Muslims, to go into orbit on Sept. 2 next year.

« Daily Express, 9/5/06 « Improbable Research

Coming soon: your friendly neighborhood kopi tiam on the International Space Station.

Lifted shamelessly from xkcd.com:

Hilarity aside, it does illustrate a point that the latest fashionable thought in high energy physics is becoming divorced from reality in that:

1. Theorists in particle physicsts are engrossing themselves in theories that aren’t theories, in the sense that they cannot be falsified either using current technology, or technology that will be available in any conceivable future, and
2. To non-experts, the latest theories sound indistinguishable from complete B.S.

This week’s Youtube Monday features bloopers consolidated from the various Star Trek movies. Stay tuned for the last-minute surprise.

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