Gemina (pronunced Gem eee na) the Crocket Neck Giraffe died for reasons unrelated to her neck.We prefer to remember Gemina in life rather than as, well, a dead giraffe.Details of her death are here.
Monthly Archives: January 2008
It’s Friday, so Here’s a Cat Video
Translation below the fold… Continue reading It’s Friday, so Here’s a Cat Video
Unexpected Black Holes
This just in from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has detected plump black holes where least expected — skinny galaxies….Scientists have long held that all galaxies except the slender, bulgeless spirals harbor supermassive black holes at their cores. Furthermore, bulges were thought to be required for black holes to grow.The new Spitzer observations throw this theory into question. The infrared telescope surveyed 32 flat and bulgeless galaxies and detected monstrous black holes lurking in the bellies of seven of them. The results imply that galaxy bulges are not necessary for black hole growth; instead … dark matter could play a role.”This finding challenges the current paradigm. The fact that galaxies without bulges have black holes means that the bulges cannot be the determining factor, ” said Shobita Satyapal of the George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. “It’s possible that the dark matter that fills the halos around galaxies plays an important role in the early development of supermassive black holes.”…
Read the whole story here. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2008-01/release.shtml
Florida: Evolution could be coming to a classroom near you…
The latest on the Florida fight over the use of the actual word “evolution” in the classroom. (Or, more specifically, in the science standards) Continue reading Florida: Evolution could be coming to a classroom near you…
Interplanetary collision called off
An asteroid heading for Mars is going to miss the angry red planet. Too bad, that would have been cool.But there is a very cool graphic that results from the science surrounding this non event.This is a moving GIF showing the evolution over time of the uncertainty region for the collision. You can see where mars was initially in the uncertainty region, and over time, as the uncertainty region became smaller and smaller, the planet moved first to the edge then entirely out of the region.Much like Barack Obama and the New Hampshire Primary.Oh well, maybe next time. Mars and Barack.The full story and more graphics are here.
More Florida Creationism Woes
Sure, the Taylor County school board was apparently the first to pass a resolution complaining about evolution, but they’re not the only one.Two more counties passed resolutions, too: Baker County and Holmes County.
Florida Citizens for Science and Dispatches from the Culture Wars are covering this.
The Island Effect in Dinosaurs
Everyone these days knows about the “island effect” where certain animals evolve to a diminutive size because they live on islands. You know this because of the Flores hominid. Now, it has been shown to have operated in a dinosaur. Continue reading The Island Effect in Dinosaurs
Federal Court: Bible Distribution in Schools Violates U.S. Constitution
In a very important ruling, a Federal district court in Missouri has ruled that allowing the Gideons to come into elementary schools and distribute Bibles to students is a violation of the establishment clause …. This is a key ruling that could be replicated nationwide, where many schools still allow the Gideons to go into schools and do this. The ruling was by summary judgment.
Ed Brayton has the story and the details here.
Religious Mother Murders Children
They were possessed by the devil. She claims the demons did the killing but authorities may not be buying it.
Texas Official: Call it a “Creationism Degree”
Here’s a novel idea for creationists: Be honest!
Continue reading Texas Official: Call it a “Creationism Degree”
Texas Official: Call it a”Creationism Degree”
Here’s a novel idea for creationists: Be honest! Continue reading Texas Official: Call it a”Creationism Degree”
The Call for A Science Debate …
Bush Will Invade Iran, Obtain 45% Approval Rating
I’m going to make a prediction. Just remember, you heard it here first…. Continue reading Bush Will Invade Iran, Obtain 45% Approval Rating
Sir Edmund Hillary Died Today
Sir Edmund Hillary Died of Heart Failure at the Auckland City Hospital at the age of 88.Hillary is most famous for being the first european, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to reach the top of Mount Everest and return alive (and possibly the first to reach the summit). Continue reading Sir Edmund Hillary Died Today
Larry Brilliant: TED Prize wish: Help stop the next pandemic
Accepting his 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was finally eradicated from the planet. In a conversational style that belies the deadly seriousness of his subject, he describes the dangers of pandemic disease, and offers a solution in his dramatic TED Prize wish, a plan to use the Internet to help prevent the next pandemic. (Contains strong images.)
Continue reading Larry Brilliant: TED Prize wish: Help stop the next pandemic