Posts tagged: News
Surrounded by ignorance
Just watch this… as the video progresses, try to NOT let your mouth hang open in disbelief.
Oh… My… God! Now, I know many people are genuinely ignorant of things that don’t really affect them in their day-to-day lives. But really, America? This level of ignorance is just absurd. Apparently there are people living among us who don’t know how many sides a triangle has and don’t see something wrong on a map where the entire country of Australia is labeled “Iran” or “North Korea”.We also seem to have had THREE world wars and Hiroshima and Nagasaki are only famous for sumo wrestling.
Wow.
Via: Unrelated TechCrunch post.
Darwin made manifest in Dayton, TN
You gotta love The Onion. A fantastic hit on creationist’s use of the word “Darwinism” to describe people’s acceptance of evolution as a religious belief system.
DAYTON, TN—A steady stream of devoted evolutionists continued to gather in this small Tennessee town today to witness what many believe is an image of Charles Darwin—author of The Origin Of Species and founder of the modern evolutionary movement—made manifest on a concrete wall in downtown Dayton.
The article has some hilarious satirical quotes to go along.
I brought my baby to touch the wall, so that the power of Darwin can purify her genetic makeup of undesirable inherited traits,” said Darlene Freiberg, one among a growing crowd assembled here to see the mysterious stain, which appeared last Monday on one side of the Rhea County Courthouse. The building was also the location of the famed “Scopes Monkey Trial” and is widely considered one of Darwinism’s holiest sites. “Forgive me, O Charles, for ever doubting your Divine Evolution. After seeing this miracle of limestone pigmentation with my own eyes, my faith in empirical reasoning will never again be tested.”
Dayton’s not that far away. I may make the pilgrimage to this holy site.
Via: The Onion
Obama answers Science Debate 2008 questions
It seems pretty clear that Barack Obama is at least interested in bringing science back to the White House. Despite declining the actual debate, Obama has answered the 14 questions put forth by the team behind the Science Debate 2008.
I felt really good reading through his answers. I mean, the man actually thinks the public’s understanding of science is important for the future of our nation. Imagine that. He addresses stem cell research, health, energy space exploration as well as the importance of a president’s team of science advisers.
Scientific and technological information is of growing importance to a range of issues. I believe such information must be expert and uncolored by ideology.
I will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best- available, scientifically-valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees.
Sounds good to me.
Via: ERV
The 1st Carnival of Evolution
Minds more brilliant than my own bring you fascinating collections of fantastic evolution reading material in the 1st Carnival of Evolution. 3.7 billion years of molecular changes culminating in the emergence of matter inspecting its own origins and existence.
Do you care about the science behind evolution? Do you marvel at the tiny molecular machines spewing out coded messages to the microscopic inhabitants of your own bodied world? Do you grow irate at the ignorance pushers, the peddlers of relatively impotent gods, and the disintegration of science education in the modern world? Do you like to stay abreast of current topics and scientific findings in the study of the organismal existences surrounding us or those long gone?
If so, this is the blog carnival for you.
They’re currently asking for submissions for CoE #2, which will be hosted by EvolutionBlog.
Via: The Atheist Blogger
A beauty pageant for Catholic nuns
Rev. Antonio Rungi wants to run a nun beauty pageant to “give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.”
The “Miss Sister 2008” contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image.
Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to “vote for the nun they consider a model.”
Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered.
Heads uncovered? Ah, they must be liberal nuns… the nerve. But Rungi makes it clear that this is not your average beauty pageant.
We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits,” Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone.
Awww, Shucks. I was so looking forward to the evening gown and talent portions.
But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn’t hide it.”
OK, so God chooses to gift certain people with external beauty. And everyone else gets the gift of ugly? Anyway, so some of those externally beautiful people get called on to sacrifice a large percentage of their lives to meaningless prayer and devotion. Why not let them show off their bods on a blog for a while? A little jolt of ‘normal life’ might do them good.
Via: MSNBC
Image Credit: BrandsOnSale Halloween Costumes
Candidates talk religion – ignore science
A while back there was an ambitious attempt to get the 2008 presidential candidates to engage in a science debate. A debate they all turned down. And now we get this:
The Rev. Rick Warren, author of the best-seller “The Purpose-Driven Life,” will spend an hour interviewing each candidate at his 20,000-member Saddleback mega-church in Southern California.
On CNN’s “The Situation Room” earlier this week, Warren said he won’t play the role of a political pundit or ask “gotcha” questions, but rather tackle four areas of interest: the role of the presidency in government, leadership, the candidates’ worldviews and America’s role internationally.
It seems however that both our presidential candidates are more interested in answering questions from religious maniacs in high profile mega-churches than they are in showing the American public that they understand the importance of scientific literacy in in the 21st century.
Via: CNN
Volatile Compounds in Air Fresheners?
A new study by University of Washington researcher Anne Steinemann in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review reports many forms of smelly products like air fresheners, dryer sheets and detergents all contained a mixture of volatile organic compounds.
Since manufacturers aren’t required to list their ingredients for such consumer products, the boxes only admitted to containing a “mixture of perfume oils.” But five out of the six products Steinemann tested emitted one or more so-called hazardous air pollutants, which are carcinogens determined to have no safe exposure level by the EPA.
This shows a lack of skepticism on the everyone’s part, including my own. I don’t think I’ve ever really questioned how a company makes their fabric softener smell like Springtime or Flower Blossom fresh. Its pretty clear where companies used to use simple scented oils for many of their aromas, competition has forced them to change their tactics. The only problem is no one’s been keeping tabs. Technology is seeping into every form of consumer product out there and the EPA and other regulatory groups will have to keep up if they’re going to keep us safe.
Via: Scientific American’s 60-Sec. Science Podcast
Worth Mentioning This Week
Here’s my (somewhat) weekly wrap-up of stories that caught my attention but didn’t get blogged.
- MIT researchers have discovered an interesting new way to split water molecules which could lead to new advances in solar energy.
- The Birmingham City Council decides to block its employees from atheist & occult websites.
- You can’t walk your cute pets around Saudi Arabia anymore because they might attract women.
- Karl Giberson rants & PZ Myers responds.
- Disney gave us a glimpse into their planned sequel to Tron at Comic Con. io9 got the (crooked but still awesome) video.
How To Scare Consumers
I was scanning the Reuters science news and saw this story on nano-foods.
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Those consumers already worried about genetically engineered or cloned food reaching their tables may soon find something else in their grocery carts to furrow their brows over — nano-foods.
What a great way to introduce new technology to the masses, eh? OH NOEZ! DEY R GUNNA PUT NANOZ IN UR FOODZ!
Nano-technology is simply any technology that manipulates something on the molecular level. If you alter or add anything on that scale, it can be called nano-technology. Consumer product labs have been adding chemicals and additives to our food for years we rarely make a fuss. This is the exact same thing except on a much smaller scale. Its like deciding to use nano-technology to add fluoride to the water instead of the current technologies.
The worst parts however are the articles use of nano-scare tactics to address consumer’s fear of cloned animal products and their interviewee, Michael Hansen, who raises a complete non sequitur regarding the harmful inhalation of nano-sized particles and the use of nano-technology to engineer safer and healthier foods.
Sigh… why do I even read the news anymore?
Via: Reuters
Social Networking For Scientists
Labmeeting is a new social network geared at letting scientists share and discuss research that publicly opened its doors last week to anyone with a college e-mail account. Labmeeting can be seen first and foremost as a document management site that allows students and scientists to upload, search, annotate and share their growing collection of documents as well as follow what documents their colleagues are collecting.
Scientists aren’t exactly known for being the most social of people. Perhaps this kind of online networking can help bridge the gap between hardcore science and social interaction.
Via: TechCrunch
NOVA Offers ‘Open Content’
For their newest program, Car of the Future, NOVA and PBS have decided to try and get the public involved by making more than 200 raw, unedited video clips available online for everyone in hopes that they will fuel creativity and foster a sharing of ideas. The clips include expert interviews and a variety of scenic shots.
The videos are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported so there are only a few restrictions on what you can do with them.
Free Astronomy Lectures Online
The Astronomy Society of the Pacific has made many of the talks from their annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures available for free on their website in the form of The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcasts. There are lectures from the likes of David Grinspoon, Alex Filippenko, and Frank Drake.
There are videos of some of the lectures available for you iTunes users. Not sure why you need iTunes to watch free videos. Embrace the torrent.
Via: Bad Astronomy
Upside-down Church Causes Stir
A sculpture by American artist Dennis Oppenheim titled Device to Root Out Evil has been causing a bit of a stir in its current home in the Harbour Green Park on Cordova Street, Vancouver. It was placed there as part of the 2005 Vancouver Biennale sculpture festival.
… residents said it simply offended their Christian beliefs to see a church turned upside-down.
I’ll say it again. If you’re offended, look away. Leave it for others who have the intellect to look it over and respect the art for what it is. Personally, I think it’s a pretty neat sculpture and I wouldn’t mind having a miniature version in my yard. I wonder how it’s mounted.
Via: The Province
Human-Aided Search Dies
ChaCha, a human-guided search engine closed its doors on the human end today in favor of their newer mobile search product.
Judging from the image to the right (snagged from TechCrunch), they made a good decision, though not near soon enough.
Apparently this company hasn’t been doing so well in the eyes of the great anonymous internets. In all honesty, I just wanted to post that image.
Via: TechCrunch.
