gregladen | December 22, 2012I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday, even though it happened years ago, even before you were born. I screamed silently, pinned on my back by the massive weight of a cotton blanket, legs frozen, the dark lights flickering as the human-like form approached, its arms raised in front like The Mummy or Frankenstein's Monster, hands ready to grab, closing in. A strange net-like pattern covered the featureless humanoid shape, moving around on its surface like Saint Elmo's fire dancing on Jacob's Ladder, undulating, letting off light, disintegrating and reforming and making a crackling…
gregladen | December 21, 2012The just uploaded podcast of Skeptically Speaking is a must-hear:
Whether you’re dropping a last-minute hint to a relative, or buying science books for the people you love, Skeptically Speaking has you covered. We’ve enlisted two dozen scientists, science writers and bloggers, including some of our favorite past guests. They’ll bring you their favorites from 2012, and some classics to help fill out anyone’s science library. Happy holidays!
(Mine is at about 19 minutes.)
gregladen | December 21, 2012Below the fold is a description from Wikipedia of the Red Lake School Shooting. Consider the details in relation to issues of gun ownership, safety, school security, and whatever other issues it brings to mind.
Warning, this is graphic and horrid.
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The day of the massacre, Weise got a .22 caliber pistol from his bedroom, and fatally shot his grandfather as he was sleeping; he shot him two times in the head and ten times in the chest. According to Weise's friends, the teenager may have had the gun for as long as a year. He took Lussier's two police-issue weapons, a .…
gregladen | December 21, 2012The web site pertaining to the following video is HERE. Click through to participate.
Ooops, I may have put on the wrong video. Sorry about that NRA.
gregladen | December 20, 2012Scene: Berkeley, California, April 1986. A bar. Five conference attendees, myself included, grabbing a hamburger and a beer in a fern-bar on or near Telegraph.
All eyes are on the TVs mounted over the bar, where we watch footage of an air strike against Libya. This is the retribution by Ronald Reagan against Insane African Leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. The White House was issuing statements about al-Gaddafi's involvement in bombings in Europe, the OPEC oil ministry kidnapping, linkage to the infamous Jackal, and so on. Nikki, a friend and colleague, said something, and I remember asking…
gregladen | December 20, 2012American Atheists and two co-plaintiffs today filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky a lawsuit demanding that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stop giving preferential treatment to churches and religious organizations via the process of receiving non-profit tax-exempt status under the Internal Revue Code (IRC) procedures and definitions.
“American Atheists receives tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3),” said American Atheists President David Silverman, “but because the organization is not classified as religious it costs American Atheists, along…
gregladen | December 20, 20121) The number of people who care more about gun control than about the 2nd amendment has been greater for some time now, and it has shifted even further. This is according to a new poll by Pew Research Center: After Newtown, Modest Change in Opinion about Gun Control
Most Say Assault Weapons Make Nation More Dangerous
2) NASA has a new design for their next generation space suit, and it looks familiar. Have a look. NASA's is the one on the left:
3) Facebook is going to start charging one dollar per message for certain messages. They say it is for your own good.
In a statement posted…
gregladen | December 20, 2012
Golden Eagle
I hope I won't disappoint you ... this is not about John Ashcroft. It is about golden eagles (actually, maybe its about one golden eagle in particular).
A timely repost.
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) has been in decline for a very long time, so you may not know it formerly bred in a much wider range of habitats, across the entire U.S. Today it is known as a mountain eagle because this is where it is generally found, at least in North America. Any experienced birder will tell you that in places like Minnesota nine out of ten, or maybe 99 out of 100 golden eagle…
gregladen | December 20, 2012Mitochondria are cool, important, and fascinating. You know the basic story. Mitochondria are the result of endosymbiosis. A bacterim or bacteria-like organism insinuated itself into another bacterium or bacteria-like organism. The former was small, the latter large. A relationship started up whereby the smaller one became an organelle in the larger one, and Eukaryotic life was formed. You probably also know that in multi-celled organisms mitochondria may be passed on by one sex (female) so paleogenetic research can sort out female lineages by looking only at the DNA found in the…
gregladen | December 20, 2012Sometimes you just know something is going to happen, and then it happens. And if that doesn't happen to you enough, try some confirmation bias, that always works! I have a friend who just got a new cat and at the same time moved into a new house, and one of the first things that happened was that the cat disappeared. The Cable Guy had been in and out and it was assumed the cat had escaped that way. At this point, I don't think anyone is 100% clear on what happened, but about a day after the cat vanished it re-materialized. Personally, I think it was in the Cosmic Sock Drawer.
This…
gregladen | December 19, 2012The gun nuts did not waste much time after the brutal slaying of 20 six year olds, some teachers, a principal, and some others at a school in Newtown Connecticut to start suggesting that everything would have been fine if only the teachers were armed. And now, after more days have gone by, it seems that the gun nuts are making this suggestion even more frequently.
The evidence suggests that when there are more guns around, especially in the hands of untrained individuals, there is more rather than less danger. Don't let anyone tell you that an armed population is a safe population. That is…
gregladen | December 19, 2012Last night Julia sent me a link to a video of a Golden Eagle swooping down into a Montreal park, picking up an infant/toddler and lifting it several feet into the air before dropping it and flying off. Since then many on the Intertubes have declared the video to be a fake while others insist it could be real, but unfortunately many of the reasons given for it being a fake or for being real are misconceptions or inaccuracies. I'm sure the event depicted in the video is faked ... no eagle picked up a child as depicted ... but the reasons for it being a fake are not as many have suggested. …
gregladen | December 18, 2012From NASA:
On Oct. 17, 2012, during its 174th orbit around the gas giant, Cassini was deliberately positioned within Saturn's shadow, a perfect location from which to look in the direction of the sun and take a backlit view of the rings and the dark side of the planet. Looking back towards the sun is a geometry referred to by planetary scientists as "high solar phase;" near the center of your target's shadow is the highest phase possible. This is a very scientifically advantageous and coveted viewing position, as it can reveal details about both the rings and atmosphere that cannot be seen in…
gregladen | December 18, 2012A handful of us in the science-skepticism-secularism blogosphere have been saying roughly the same things for a few years now about gun ownership, regulation, and safety. (Here's 67 posts of mine on this topic. Oh, and here's another 60 on a different blog.) While we were busy with this issue as well as other pet projects, the rest of the bloggers and writers were busy with their own important and interesting projects. But when the "Dark Knight" shooting in Colorado happened, I noticed a lot of other bloggers who had not touched on the gun issue before at all to my knowledge chimed in and…
gregladen | December 18, 2012I've got kids ranging from zero to 12 years of age to find gifts for this season. I've got most of them covered, and science books have figured in this effort in a bigger way than usual this year. I'm impressed with the number of climate change choices that have become available. Know a Republican with offspring? Ha. You know what to do...
But first some other sciencey books that are highly recommended or
award winning....
Animal Grossapedia ... from the publisher: "Think all animals are cute and cuddly? Read this book to discover just how disgusting they can really be!
Kids books about…