Lightman Redux (And More!)

-- The other day, I mentioned a book by physicist Alan Lightman. If you'd like to read something by the good doctor for free, check out this book review in the Washington Post.

-- In the future, Andy Warhol said, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. The problem is, that each moment of those 15 minutes takes a full 15 seconds to make, meaning some people will be famous for far longer than they should be. See Al Sharpton or any Kardashian for examples.

-- Because the brochure offering a chance to visit the Deeps of Pluto would almost certainly look darn cool, here's hoping this is true.

-- A bunch of top-level violinists played several of the instruments while blindfolded. Among them were several made by the great Antonio Stradivari, but in the blind tests the musicians couldn't tell these from brand-new violins. Of course, they didn't really need the top concert players; I guarantee no one could have told a Stradivarius from a K-Mart Special if I was the one sawing away...