Weirdness
pharyngula | October 17, 2007I must protest. Now we've got LOLCnidarians. What's next? LOLChoanaflagellates? LOLPriapulids? LOLLichens? This is MADNESS.
pharyngula | October 17, 2007
People often complain that I'm too mild-mannered in my personal appearances — that they want a real fire-breather. Well, my solution arrived as a gift in the mail today: a selection of fine fire-breathing aids from
Chilestuff.com, including a spectacularly vivid t-shirt with that appropriate logo on it. Next talk I give, you should sit in the back row.
Alas, this might make Skatje cry. She likes her food bland, but I'm going to have to sneak a little of the chile relish or the hot sauce into pale, tasteless, limp food — and then she'll look like the picture!
pharyngula | October 16, 2007Weird ol' Target is now selling talking Jesus toys. Isn't there something in the Bible about idols? Isn't it turning their divine prophet into a cheap gimmick, literally? It seems to me that the real blasphemies seem to emanate from the Christians themselves, rather than us atheists.
It might be a useful toy for breaking indoctrination, though, when the kiddies discover that Jesus has "Made in China" imprinted on the sole of his foot, and that they can play games that have him shacking up with Barbie. And Ken.
pharyngula | October 16, 2007It's awfully risky to put this here, but it is a pretty picture.
Feeling trinitarian yet?
pharyngula | October 16, 2007Perhaps you are interested in knowing how to survive the end of civilization in an alternate universe. Or perhaps you'd like to know how to take advantage of the apocalypse to shape this universe into an alternate reality. Then you are part of the rarefied market for A SteamPunk's Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. There are actually some useful suggestions in there for any cultural upheaval.
(via Our Descent Into Madness)
pharyngula | October 16, 2007I just got back from Madison, which is mad about Halloween, and then I was emailed this exceedingly cool Halloween costume idea: dress up as a jellyfish with flashing LEDs.
It looks easy: here are the full instructions, with the traditional hot glue gun and soldering iron, but no duct tape, which does violate the rules of home handicrafts, I think. The only drawback is that the LEDs cost about $2.50 each, which adds up. The jellyfish uses 18, but if you modified this to make a luminescent squid, you'd only need 10.
Another virtue for the paranoid parents out there, though, is that the late…
pharyngula | October 15, 2007Scientists love empiricism and evidence-based demonstrations, so elderly urologists flaunting their erections seems like an effective presentation technique in the right context. And here I've always just relied on boring ol' PowerPoint.
pharyngula | October 13, 2007Here's a simple little video game: Michael Behe vs. The Mousetraps. It does need some sound effects, and it's far too easy for Behe to get ID points.
pharyngula | October 13, 2007One source of fuel hydrocarbons in the 19th century was the whaling industry. I guess that won't work in the 21st century.
According to industry website SaveTheWhales.org, a sperm whale could produce 2000 gallons, or 47.6 barrels, of oil. Thus a touch of long division tells us that we will need to slaughter approximately 630 million sperm whales each year in order to completely replace our petroleum production. Since there are only an estimated one million sperm whales currently living on Earth, wiping out the entire species would power the global economy for about half a day.
Too bad. I…
pharyngula | October 11, 2007Since we have a few people who seem to like poetry here, I thought you might be amused by some Christian poems. Actually, if you like and respect poetry, you might not want to click through that link—this is poetry like throwing a cat in a woodchipper is music. I've included a few small fragments below the fold if you just want a taste.
A Young Atheist
As you gaze into the bosom of God,
A big empty whole you will see.
God is so empty and sad because He is so lonely.
He misses you so much, dear.
That hole in His heart,
so big and empty, is where you once came from.
His life and love is what…
pharyngula | October 9, 2007You know, when a conservative Christian minister, graduate of Liberty University, and friend of Jerry Falwell is found dead under these circumstances…
Clothing: The decedent was received wearing two (2) wet suits, one scuba diving mask, one pair of diving gloves, one pair of slippers, one pair of rubber underwear, two (2) ties, five (5) belts, eleven (11) straps.
Personal Effects: One yellow metal ring intact on left ring finger, one dildo.
…you know that somehow, somewhere, someone is going to blame the liberals.
Although I think Mrs Tilton has the right response — it's a shame and a waste…
pharyngula | October 8, 2007Since it is close to dinner time, it's probably the perfect moment to gather your kids around and show them this movie of a snake vomiting up a dead hippo. Tell them we have a fun new game to play after our meal. Don't tell your spouse! And don't tell anyone I told you about this!
pharyngula | October 8, 2007You'd never guess who the second largest religious group at Missouri State University might be. And they get hate mail and threats just for existing!
If that link doesn't work, try this:
Thanks, Greg!
pharyngula | October 7, 2007You may have heard about the 21-foot long half-scale model of the X-Wing that was built to actually fly, using solid fuel rockets. It was launched yesterday. The results were caught on video, and it is spectacular. There were lots of kids watching this thing, the announcer does the countdown, it lifts off on beautiful columns of flame and smoke, gets about 50 feet in the air … and did the announcer just say "Holy shit!" over the loudspeakers?
The kids are thrilled. We shall enlist them in the Empire's legions.
pharyngula | October 4, 2007This is getting ridiculous. Now I'm accused of "trying to drive a wedge between those who are against evolution" … because I think belief in angels and demons is absurd.
Damn. Just because someone accepts evolution doesn't automatically make them a good guy, and if they're praising evolution and at the same time babbling about demons causing appendicitis or angels warding off curses, they aren't on my side in the cause of increasing rationality.
I'm beginning to wonder if there is some psychological transference going on here. People who think that merely believing in Jesus grants them…
pharyngula | October 2, 2007Omnibrain provides the proof. We live in a universe ruled by chance, the product of chaos, where reason simply does not matter.
Now that that has been established, I find myself with the sad thought…is this a world I want to live in?
pharyngula | September 22, 2007Take a look at the winners of The 49th International Conference on Electron, Ion and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication Bizarre/Beautiful Micrograph Contest. It's itty-bitty art and weirdness!
pharyngula | September 21, 2007I don't just get ranting hate mail. I also get conversion stories and invitations to believe. These are saddest and most pathetic emails of them all—you just want to weep for the credulity of the poor victim.
True Good News. God is real. Jesus is Lord.
I know God is real because he spoke and acted for my salvation
Short Version:
God said to me,"Good News", and soon after I recieved a Good News bible.
Full experience:
I was down Pittsburgh, finishing up a day of work at Cargenie Mellon as I
was working as a computer consultant for the Career Center. It was a pretty
cool job. I'd write some…
pharyngula | September 19, 2007Wired has funny little poll: 3 rounds of quotations from Collins and Dawkins, and you get to judge who wins each round.
So far, Collins is reeling and staggering, battered badly, and especially in the last round, is fading fast. I don't think he's going to pull a Rocky on this one — especially since I'm now sending everyone here to go do a Raging Bull on him.
pharyngula | September 18, 2007Just two days ago, I caught Skatje snacking on bacon, and also there on the counter was a bar of chocolate…and I joked to her that she ought to whip up some chocolated-dipped bacon. Who knew that bacon-flavored chocolate actually exists?
I'm afraid it doesn't sound too tasty to me, and I mentioned it in a "eww, gross" sort of way … maybe some chocolatier somewhere needs to tap into my prescient talents, because I sure wasn't going to actually try that stuff.