Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be. – William Hazlitt
17 Dec 2009 No Comments
in Cool!, Science, Video Tags: awesome, Eames, Science, space, Video
I don’t remember where I first saw this, but this is an amazing video in the spirit of the Powers of Ten film frequently shown in science classes.
Here’s the Powers of Ten video.
04 Aug 2009 No Comments
in Science Tags: LHC, physics, Science
The Large Hadron Collider has some more problems, according to the NYT.
I’ve posted this before, but it’s getting a little freaky how many problems LHC is having. Maybe it did work… in the future.
19 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Science Tags: creepy, LHC, physics
Seriously, this is getting a little wierd. First, the LHC has a “glitch”, now it’s this:
At 1127 (0927 GMT) on Friday, the LHC’s online logbook recorded a quench in sector 3-4 of the accelerator, which lies between the Alice and CMS detectors.
The entry stated that helium had been lost to the tunnel and that vacuum conditions had also been lost.
It added that the Cern fire brigade had been called to the scene.
Maybe they’ve already succeeded in the future or a parallel reality?
19 Sep 2008 2 Comments
in Science Tags: insightful, Politics, psychology, self-examination, TED
18 minutes you must watch. Whatever your political leanings, this examination of how the mind works is both fascinating and insightful, especially given the political climate we all find ourselves in.
Remember, every politician plays against the types of predilections Jonathan Haidt talks about here. It’s not a partisan issue to know how you’re being played.
And check out other TED talks; it’s really cool to see what other people are thinking about. TED is also available as a free video podcast on iTunes; highly recommended.
18 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Cool!, Science Tags: LHC, physics, time
“Transformer glitch shuts down biggest atom smasher.” Today’s headline from Yahoo News. And my first thought was, “Oh really?”
As the LHC supposedly gears up, Harvard physicist Kevin Black, based at CERN, investigates rumors that the particle accelerator may, in fact, soon be shut down—by ripples from the future. [source]
Hmmmmmmm….
04 Aug 2008 No Comments
Phil Plait, the force behind Bad Astronomy, has accepted the position of President of the JREF Board of Directors, taking over for its namesake James Randi. Randi will continue and chairman of the board.
Good to see that the debunking of the foolish will continue for many years to come (psychics, paranormal communication, and moon hoaxers beware). If you think you actually are a psychic or some such nonesense, prove it and a million bucks are yours.
Randi’s big shoes to Phil | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine.
21 Apr 2008 No Comments
in Religion, Science Tags: creationism, Politics, Science
How do I know? Because even the Grand Rapids Freaking Press panned, no, outright insulted the movie. This is a newspaper steeped in the Christian orthodoxy which the film touts and published in the heart of Christian Reformed bigotry and ID adherents. A sample:
The film frames scientists who oppose I.D. as hypocrites [...] thus making Michael Moore’s similarly slanted documentary techniques look like objective journalism.
…
But “Expelled” is slick and slimy, and anyone wanting a proper response to the onslaught of leftist documentaries — or harboring a similar viewpoint of man’s origins — likely will be put off by Stein’s smug tone and his disigenuous [sic] suggestion that not just Darwinism, but science itself is a dangerous tool of evil minds.
Ouch.
14 Apr 2008 No Comments
in Politics, Science, Signs of the Horsemen Tags: comics, creationists, evolution, expelled, idiocy, movies
Since I talked about it before, and a CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE EVOLUTIONARY APPARATUS DIRECTIVE exists, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point of that Expelled has a new counter-site aggregating the awful reviews and accounts for and about the movie.
Oh, and Overcompensating has good comic up today as well.
21 Mar 2008 No Comments
in Politics, Science, Signs of the Horsemen Tags: creationists, Dawkins, evolution, Godwin, idiocy, movies
Slight backstory: There is a movie currently being screened for very select crowds called EXPELLED!, hosted by Ben Stein. It is, essentially, creationist propaganda about how colleges and universities are evil for promoting science and not religious dogma in their classes (here’s a trailer, if you have 8 minutes to sacrifice). It has, predictably, come under intense criticism from actual scientists for what it is; creationism dressed up as victimization. Yah know, the classical view that evolution is, as they say, the view that life is simply “mud animated by lightening.” The trailer even Godwin’s itself.
Anyway, as I said, they are screening this movie for very select audiences to build good grass-roots support for it. This basically means they hand-pick audiences of the Faithful to view the film or go to churches and show it there. They have been very wary of allowing anyone not on The List to see the film, which should send up red flags everywhere.
Last night, PZ Meyers, a biologist, associate professor at the University of Minnesota, and vocal critic of the creationist agenda, tried to see the film with his family. According to his blog, he registered for the event (as did everyone else attending), but was thrown out of line and then the theater property altogether before being able to enter the movie at the request of the producer.
The funny bit is who the producer (Mark Mathis) missed. You’d think that if one were so averse to allowing any potential critic into one’s movie, one would know all the major players to bar from one’s film. You’d be wrong because, although the producer knew Meyers, he didn’t know his friend, a friend who was able to enter and view the film. The friend? Richard Dawkins.
Yeah, good one guys. I bet your film is utter crap and I can’t wait for its vivisection.
06 Oct 2007 No Comments
Is a person is able to create non-sentient life (say, a bacterium), what does that do to your worldview?
This is not an endorsement of the experiment in question, but more a moral quandary. Eventually, someone will figure out how to combine the right amino acids and energy to create a non-theoretical lifeform. Since creation of life is reserved for deities, what will this eventual achievement mean to the larger community of believers?
What would it mean to you?
RSS
Twitter