I’m ever so shocked to see this report by Henry Waxman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In brief: the Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming Yeah. No big surprise. Now if only somebody …
Category Archives: Science & Space
Good Math, Bad Math does a Takedown
I really like Mark Chu-Carrol’s blog, Good Math, Bad Math. In it, he dissects various mathematical concepts, most of which are tantalizingly past my ken, which makes me think. I like that. But he also does frequent mathematical smack-downs on the Intelligent Design boneheads out there who like to play fast and loose with statistics …
Pluto, We Hardly Knew Thee
A year ago, Pluto was declassified as Planet and shunted into the category of Dwarf Planet by the International Astronomical Union. This was accomplished through a series of three qualities that a ‘planet’ must possess, according to the IAU: A planet must orbit its star, not another body A planet must have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, …
"Why I Read Blogs" -or- "Wicked Stuff!"
I have a feedreader, appropriately named Feedreader, which serves up to me on a daily basis a stew of random stuff. Some of this is fluff, some is interesting, some is funny, some is crap, and some is so freaking cool, that I have to pass it along to you. The reason why I get …
Competing Crossword Puzzles
This link, as provided by the grand offices of Pharyngula, takes you to a demonstration of the differences between science and creationism/”intelligent design”. A well put-together metaphor for a complex topic.
Firefly
I have way too many friends who love Firefly. Therefore, I present, courtesy of Bad Astronomy, NASA is sending Firefly into space.
Awesome Astronomy, Terrible Reporting
This morning, I was alerted by the Atlanta Journal Constitution (reg. req’d) that a Georgia State University astronomy program on Mt. Wilson, in California, had imaged the surface of Altair, a sun-sized star that is one of the brightest in the northern sky. This is cool because it’s the first time a star this size …
Big Kaboom! Massive Star Goes Nova
The NY Times reports that the most massive supernova every observed occurred last September. Better information available at Space.com. The NY Times waters down the science, as usual. I haven’t been keeping up on my Blog Tracking or this wouldn’t be a surprise to me. This supernova is particularly cool because it does not fall …
Homeschooling Creationists
I was poked over to GregLaden.com to read his post about the Homeschooling Creationist Fair of 2007 [thanks to PZ] and discovered a firestorm in the comments. It is some very interesting reading. You’ve got to read to the bottom to get some of the more “interesting” comments.
Galactic Faerie Lights
If you don’t like fantastic wondrous phenomenal things, do not click on this link.