Search Content | ScienceBlogs

"...and the moon into blood"

Poetic lot those ancients. There is a total lunar eclipse this weekend, saturday at midnight in western Europe, right at sunset on the east coast of the US. Click for full size From NASA Headline News Feb '07 To see it in the US, hope for clear skies, and find high ground with unobstructed view to the east and look for the moon rising right at sunset. Here are the technical details One hour and 14 minute duration. Total eclipse becomes visible right at the Iran-Afghan border, ironically enough, and is just visible on the east coast of the US right at sunset. Europe, Middle East and Africa…

iPod iChing - second stars?

Oh, mighty iPod one, whose wisdom is as varied as the flakes of snow on my window: what is the story on the second stars? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. The Covering: Little Man, What Now - Morrissey The Crossing: Vinkonur - Andrea The Crown: Poppstjarnan - Utangarðsmenn The Root: Can't Cry Anymore - Sheryl Crow The Past: Gata Dagsins - Spilverk Þjóðanna The Future: Cielo e mari - Pavarotti The Questioner: Tiento - Julian Bream The House: Peter and the Wolf: Bird Diverts the Wolf The Inside: Jamming - Bob Marleu The Outcome: Popsicle - Talking Heads Well, the Covering is cruel. The…

A prediction on war, Iran and funding

Watching Countdown rerun... I predict that the next budget passed by Congress affecting the armed forces, whether a continuing, supplemental or by agency, will have a very interesting, and possibly cryptic signing statement. Bush will use his signing statement precedents (as yet untested in court) to claim plenary powers under the unitary executive and as commander in chief, to redirect resources to deploy forces where he, as CinC, deems necessary. This will circumvent, at least for a while, any attempt by Congress to block escalation in Iraq or expansion of the war to adjacent countries. The…

AAS: first will be last

So all good things must come to an end, and the 3000 or so astronomers disperse from SEA-TAC to destinations worldwide. It was a good meeting, though light on major announcements. I have a backlog of press releases that I may or may not get round to picking over. Some nice pretty pics in there. Think I did ok for myself, we'll see how it goes. As we were wrapping up and heading for the last couple of exoplanet sessions, John (no not that John, the other John) pointed out a couple of poignant remnants Wery Silli The large astrophysics missions were doing Silli Band swag: a LISA constellation…

Best explanation for the non-existence of global warming ever

Some guy up in Moorehead wrote a letter to the local paper explaining why we don't have to worry about global warming. You can just picture the gears jerking haltingly around in his head as he tries to explain how a planet works while he doesn't even understand why Australians don't fall off the earth. When God sent the rain on this Earth for 40 days and nights, all this water had to go someplace so the Earth would be dry again. Remember, God is the Creator and controls the universe. God tilted the Earth from its original position and caused all the excess water to rush to the poles, and…

We're waiting on you guys…

I'm down at this funky coffeehouse in Fargo, the Red Raven, watching Roy Zimmerman set up. It's not too late, the show starts in a half hour, so you Dakotans better come on over! It's a nice cozy little venue, and a great place for a performance. Definitely a great performance — Roy is great about making you laugh over situations that ought to make you cry. I heard a few new songs, including one about Sarah Palin that must have been written in just the past few days. Here's my obligatory fanboy picture: If you missed him tonight, there are more chances. He's about halfway through his 48…

Wheel Turns

Robert Jordan, author of the "Wheel of Time" fantasy series, and assorted Conan novels, died I am not much of a fantasy reader, although I went through a phase of reading all the Conan novels (originals by Robert Howard, then the later sequels by de Camp and Carter and then Jordan, haven't looked at the third wave of graphic novels and movie tie-ins). Occasionally, some friends would recommend a fantasy series, some of which I read (like anything by Guy Gavriel Kay) and others not so much (I may yet forgive the friend who recommended the Illearth series, maybe, but the "Bio of a Space Tyrant…

hello sailor

So, the Beeb reports Russian Tu-95 rec aircraft buzzed Guam They most likely went to check on how Valiant Shield '07 is going - the summer's three aircraft carrier exercise off Guam. Stennis, Nimitz and Kitty Hawk are there, while the Enterprise just cleared the Suez Canal and is hovering outside the Persian Gulf. So the Gulf now has no carriers, which apparently has some of the emirates on the coast in a tizzy, since they were under the impress there'd be a permanent carrier shield in the Gulf between them and Iran. According to the unreliable Debka file, foreign observers were excluded…

iPod iChing - Carter's Argument

Sunny, happy friday. We approach the iPod, and we ask - is Carter's Large Number Coincidence Argument valid, or does it fail for one or both of the two obvious reasons? Whoosh goes the randomizer. Whoosh. The Covering: Walking Contradiction - Green Day The Crossing: Danse Des Cygnes - Tchaikovsky The Crown: Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) - Dixie Chicks The Root: Overpowered by Funk - Clash The Past: Kökubaksturinn - Thorbjorn Egner The Future: Lazy Daisy - Spilverk The Questioner: Sing Through The Year The House: Identify The Beat - Marc Smith vs Safe'n'Sound The Inside: Lilli og Marteinn Læðast…

A fantastic book for anyone who teaches or works in science

My husband brought this fantastic book home from the ASHG* that I think many of you will find interesting. The book is: Making the Right Moves A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, published in 2006 by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. You can download the book for free at the HHMI site and there's even a video of Tom Cech. In fact, this book has such great information, that if it weren't for the interesting discussions in the comment section, I truly think this book would put Drug Monkey Comrade PhysioProf, and Isis…

Plants that make crystals that look like plants

A crystalline botanical fashion show. Awhile back Chemical & Engineering News published a fascinating article called "The Secret Life of Plant Crystals" with some wonderful photos of calcium oxalate crystals. Special cells (called "idioblasts") produce these crystals, with shapes that are unique to each type of plant. Reposted for the holiday. Even though 75% of flowering plants make these crystals, no one knows why they make them and in fact, their functions may be as diverse as their shapes. Some crystals look sharp and dangerous, like thistles or thorns, suggesting that they…

What the next President must know

The Apple Pro-Sessions Science Blogging panel is done, and jolly good fun it was too. Good crowd, very good questions and decent banter - interesting to meet the various sciblings, including the ringers in the crowd. The last question, and I paraphrase, was interesting: "What one thing should the next President understand about science?" There were several good answers, mine was: "The next President must understand that you CAN NOT make your own reality" here is the original: "The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people…

mystery illnes in Kanpur

Hindustan Times is reporting a mystery epidemic in Kanpur, India. 160 dead in two weeks, "thousands sick" in 350 villages. Times reports it was initially diagnosed as "viral fever" (duh), then malarial. Now apparently malaria is ruled out but 'cause is not known. Waiting for blood tests from New Delhi labs. Times implies "viral fever" is ruled out, which seems implausible - rather I suspect they mean that some of the obvious viral infections have been ruled out, but it necessarily must be the case that it could be an obscure or new virus. Presumably bacterial infection would be responding to…

Recently in the IEEE: Humanitarian Engineering

A selection of articles from two recent IEEE publications which have special issues devoted to humanitarian service in engineering. Note that most of these articles will be behind the IEEE paywall. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, v52i4. The Role of Information and Communication in the Context of Humanitarian Service by Haselkorn, M; Walton, R Adapting to Change: Becoming a Learning Organization as a Relief and Development Agency by Smith, S.; Young, A. Listening as a Missing Dimension in Engineering Education: Implications for Sustainable Community Development Efforts by…

KITP: in which the organisers try to finish us off...

last week of the globs workshop, so the pace is stepped up, with two talks this afternoon Michele on dynamical evolution (video and podcast) 32k runs, parametric over initial conditions evolved mass function, primordial binaries, tidal field, variable initial concentration, IMBH presence Glenn on dynamical Schwarzschild modeling (video and podcast) Schwarzschild orbit models First intro to state of the art for fitting galaxy models using Sauron integral field spectroscopy plus photometry and get h3 and h4 of course (gaussian weighted skew and kurtosis for you heathens) Nice models then…

KITP: planets in globular clusters!

The dynamics workshop in back, refreshed and ready to rock with yet more people in place. This morning Melvyn tutors us on planets. In globular clusters. Planets in globulars clusters?! From the CfA wallpaper collection - very nice images btw Well, yes, maybe. Or, more generally planets in very dense stellar associations. Dynamically planets tend to get stripped quickly if they are orbiting at more than a few AU in a typical cluster. But, planets closer in can stick around for gigayears, and those tend to be the ones we can observe. We looked... we found something interesting elsewhere...…

KITP: grb

long weekend over, and we're back at it. today's topic is GRBs and what, you might ask, do they have to do with clusters...? Well, Bob, as you know, there are two types of gamma-ray bursters, or maybe three depending on how you count type I and type II the long and the short "Some say" that short gamma-ray bursts are, clearly, coalescing binary neutron stars, spiraling into contact through gravitational radiation emission. This can, clearly, happen in globular clusters, as evidenced by PSR M15C, and taking a single data point, inverting the rate, and throwing in some theoretical…

From the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

This year's Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing took place this past week in Atlanta, GA. I thought I'd gather together some small part of the blog posts I've been seeing floating around the Internets on this wonderful event. Opening Session of Grace Hopper Conference - 2010 Dancing with Hundreds of Technical Women at Grace Hopper The Impact of the Grace Hopper Celebration It's the most wonderful time of the year Back from GHC10@tlanta, now time to retrospect Together, We Are Big Fish! Grace Hopper Celebration 2010 : Day 2 (29 September) Open Source Codeathon for Humanity (a…

Bush's Nose Continues to Grow as He Tells Yet Another Lie

tags: George Bush, al-queda, politics, political opinion George Bush, who loves to ignore the facts in favor of telling a good fairy tale, denied that al-Qaeda is as strong as it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks. Just as he does with science, Bush ignored recent media coverage of a US intelligence report entitled Al-Qaeda Better Positioned to Strike the West, which claimed that intelligence analysts told Congress on Wednesday that al-Qaeda had created a safe haven in remote parts of Pakistan. In short, the report flatly stated that Al-Qaeda is "considerably operationally stronger than a…

Perija Parakeet

tags: Perija parakeet, Pyrrhura caeruleiceps, tags: birds, parrots, ornithology, zoology, Image of the Day The critically endangered Perija Parakeet, Pyrrhura caeruleiceps. Image: ProAves Colombia. (more images below the fold) The critically endangered Perija Parakeet, Pyrrhura caeruleiceps, was photographed in the wild for the first time by Adriana Tovar and Luis Eduardo UrueÃ±a on the same expedition where they photographed the recurve-billed bushbird, thanks to Loro Parque Fundacion. The Perija parakeet population is estimated to be between 30 to 50 individual birds due to habitat…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 22

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 21

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 20

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 19

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 18

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 17

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 16

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 15

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 14

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 13

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 12

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 11

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 10

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 9

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 8

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 7

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 6

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 5

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 4

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 3

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 2

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

42nd Street Times Square Passageway Subway Art 1

tags: Times Square, 42nd street, The Revelers, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC The Revelers (2007). Artist: Jane Dickson. Photographed in the passageway at 42nd Street/Times Square traveling east between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms. I watched the workmen install these mosaics (I wish I had photographed the process to share with you) and photographed them all after the adhesive had dried. Image: GrrlScientist 9 September 2008 [larger view]. I have photographed glass tile…

Mystery Bird: Redhead, Aytha americana

tags: Redhead, Aytha americana, birds, nature, Image of the Day [Mystery bird] Male Redhead, Aytha americana, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 January 2008 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Read an analysis for how to identify this species below the fold; Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes: Here's a puffy-headed Aythya with a uniformly reddish head -- a prominent feature that leads us directly to the…

Dreamers

tags: Dreamers, Siegfried Sassoon, poetry, National Poetry Month April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). I found today's poem after a reader on Reddit, Jack, suggested that I read some of Siegfried Sassoon's works. I have never read anything by Sassoon before, so I'd like to thank Jack for his recommendation. Below the fold is a poem by Sassoon that I thought you might appreciate. Dreamers Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land, Drawing no dividend…

Coco-fuel Powers Cars in New Guinea

tags: coconut oil, gasoline substitute, alternative fuel, Bougainville, South Pacific Islands Have you heard about the clever people who live on the island of Bougainville, near Papua New Guinea? They are developing mini-refineries that produce a coconut oil to replace diesel fuel for their cars. Unfortunately, because they depend upon imported fuel, shortages and high energy costs often cause many businesses to completely stop in this part of Papua New Guinea. But increasingly, the locals are turning to a cheaper and far more sustainable alternative to diesel: coconut oil. The coconut oil…

Amur Leopard

Conservationists have welcomed the Russian government's decision to strengthen laws protecting the Amur leopard, Panthera pardus orientalis, the world's most endangered big cat, from extinction. Fines for poaching will be increased to 100 times the nation's annual minimum wage. [much larger image] Image: BBC News. As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by…

Condoleezza Rice Subpoenaed on Iraq

tags: Condoleezza Rice, subpoena, Iraq war, politics It's about Condoleezza Rice was subpoenaed regarding the Iraq war, since we are finally interested to get to the bottom of why America is caught up in this stupid war. Today, the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 21-10 to subpoena Condoleezza Rice to appear before the panel next month. The Secretary of State is expected to testify about administration justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Meanwhile, crybaby Republicans accused Democrats of a "fishing expedition." But Democrats said…

Bedtime For Gonzo

Things are moving along in the Alberto "I'm a Lying Fucktwit" Gonzalez scandal .. moving at a crawl, but at least they are moving forward. With any luck, he'll be gone this by weekend. Otherwise, we will have to wait until 17 April to celebrate his resignation. The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed new documents Tuesday from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as part of its investigation into the firings of federal prosecutors, with the panel chairman saying he had run out of patience. "We have been patient in allowing the department to work through its concerns regarding the sensitive…

Fluorescing Spider

The spider Enoplognatha ovata photographed fluorescing under ultraviolet light. Scientists at Portland State University in the US discovered that many spiders from different families fluoresce. They suggest it has something to do with getting food and avoiding being eaten. Source: BBCNews. As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We…

Kingfisher

A new decree from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry permits the management of forests to obtain benefits labelled "ecosystem services". These can include carbon storage and protection for wildlife - such as the rufous-collared kingfisher, Actenoides hombroni. Source: BBCNews As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of…