Yearly Archives: 2008

Engineer, Heal Thyself

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The University of Minnesota Mascot, Goldie Gopher.
Biological engineers at the University of Minnesota tend to be creationists. The main professor who teaches this subject is a creationist and he teaches a creationism seminar on a regular basis. He helps run and organize a Christian student group that has a pledge of faith for members. The bio-engineers student group uses a gopher (our school symbol) standing in the Leonardo position ala the Discovery Institute. Continue reading Engineer, Heal Thyself →

Tim Russert is Dead

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i-5ef1d264ff6382cadac911f7beaabc99-russert.jpgTim Russert, most recently the host of Meet the Press and the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC died earlier today.

Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.Russert, the recipient of 48 honorary doctorates, took over the helm of “Meet the Press” in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, “Meet the Press” is the longest-running program in the history of television.In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.source

The Origin of Life on Earth: New Research

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A very Darwin-like god ponders what the nature of life will be like. From Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
The origin of life presents a number of fundamental difficulties to science. One of these is the seemingly irreducible complexity of life itself. For instance, DNA codes for the molecules that are essential to life. Some of these molecules, however, are the very enzymes that help DNA code for molecules. It is difficult to imagine DNA works without these enzymes, but the enzymes exist in a cell because, in part, of the activities of DNA. Even the basic process of moving molecules into cells to use in the construction of DNA or other molecules requires molecules that are thusly constructed.What’s an evolutionary biologist to do???? Continue reading The Origin of Life on Earth: New Research →

Mars Robot to cut a few lines…

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… of Martian Dirt.i-a805c6548ec88a86b7a822be7571ce9b-242641main_13339-226.gif

Phoenix used its Robotic Arm to test a “sprinkle” method for delivering small samples of soil to instruments on the lander deck. Bigger picture here.
The Phoenix Lander is preparing to sprinkle Martian soil onto a flat place for a microscope to look at.”On Monday, Phoenix tested delivering Martian soil by sprinkling it rather than dumping it. The positive result prompted researchers not only to proceed with plans for delivery to the microscope, but also to plan on sprinkling a sample in the near future into one of the eight ovens of an instrument that bakes and sniffs samples, the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA.” Continue reading Mars Robot to cut a few lines… →

Impossible Voyage becomes Ever More Possible

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This camera pill is not larger than a candy. It can be swallowed by the patient. The doctor steers it through esophagus and stomach ….
So, you swallow this “pill” and miniaturized scientists riding inside get to travel around inside your body like in that movie, doing battle with your immune system while searching for a deadly clot, and running dangerously low on fuel.Well, not exactly. This IS a camera that you swallow. That is not so unusual. Doctors have had patients swallow cameras for some time now, to give them a look at the inside of your alimentary tract. This camera is different because the doctors do get to drive it , though not by using miniaturized pilots. Continue reading Impossible Voyage becomes Ever More Possible →

Pluto Gets Consolation Prize, Will Thumb Nose at Astronomers Forever

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Pluto is the ninth planet in our solar system. In our planetary mythology, it is the ninth planet, it is small, far away, cold, and there is an important cartoon dog named after it. But astronomers decided a while ago that Pluto is not a planet. That throws everything out of balance. Nine Planets is not just some number (nine, in this case) and the word “planets.” It is a balanced equation, an iconic formula. Like the Holy Trinity. Or the Ten Commandments. Or the Three Stooges. Can you imagine a world in which there are only two stooges?Well, Pluto has been given a kind of compromise …. a fully inadequate one … but also a kind of honor. Continue reading Pluto Gets Consolation Prize, Will Thumb Nose at Astronomers Forever →

How do you pick a content management system?

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Joomla! is a Content Management System that is so widely used and cool that you can buy Joomla logo gear, like this shirt. Could that mean that it is a good CMS?
And why would you want one?Before I started Gregladen.com, I went through all of the content management sites that I had available to me in order to consider possibilities for running my blog. I ended up using WordPress, which is a kind of CMS that specialized in blogs, for a number of reasons. But I did use a couple of different content management systems for private or small scale projects. At the moment, I’m looking again at CMS as a solution for something we need to fix at The U.But how do you pick one? Continue reading How do you pick a content management system? →