U of T courses go onlineThe University of Toronto has joined U.S. schools like MIT and Columbia by committing to publish course material for free on the Internet. MIT was the first to lead the charge with its OpenCourseWare, a $100-million venture whose goal is to publish all course materials online within 10 years. The current MIT project, DSpace, was launched with a $1.8-million gift from Hewlett Packard. The company is also developing the online software universities will use to publish their material. Source: www.dspace.org–Matthew BoulosViagra helps Canadian sealsHow is the Canadian seal getting a boost from Viagra? As you might have guessed, concerned zoologists aren’t forcing the fuzzy fellows to down a blue pill before they bounce off in search of a mate. According to traditional Chinese medicine, seal penises help to cure human impotence. Although the success of such practices is questionable, the success of Viagra isn’t, even to sceptical East Asian users. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia and the University of Alaska suggest that the numbers of seals hunted has gone down in correlation with the release and proliferation of Viagra use.Source: Nature–Matthew BoulosWorst science joke in the worldSo ex and are walking down the street, discussing their respective merits. is saying how it’s an important number, being transcendental and used in all things circular, but ex says, “Well, you’re not as important as me, because when I get differentiated, I stay the same, but you’ll be zero. Then they meet a differentiation operator, d/dx, and sure enough disappears while ex stays exactly the same. So ex is feeling pretty sure of itself, when it happens to meet another operator. “Hi,” says ex, “I’m ex.” “Hi,” says the operator, “I’m d/dy.”
