In Iran, there was NOT an assassination attempt on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Here is a picture of him not being assassinated as his bodyguards don’t react to anything as startled onlookers glance at the cite where there was not an explosion behind them.
(Photograph from Reuters, in The Guardian, which is NOT reporting anything.)
The BBC also reports that nothing happened in Iran today. Aljazeera.net, on the other hand, reports: Iran denies attack on Ahmadinejad.
Born on or near August 4th 1961, in Honolulu Hawaii. Or somewhere.
Overturning more than 40 years of accepted practice, new research proves that the tools used to check tests of “general mental ability” for bias are themselves flawed. This key finding from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business challenges reliance on such exams to make objective decisions for employment or academic admissions even in the face of well-documented gaps between mean scores of white and minority populations.
John McKay at Archy has written an in-dept analysis of Minnesota Congressperson Michele Bachmann. Read it here.
Surly Amy address Religion vs. Faith.
And, of course, the Ultimate Death Match: Fungus vs Worm
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In the 1960s, the whole idea of a “greenhouse effect” was well understood, and assumed to be an important potential factor in climate change. So was glaciation, and the short and medium term future of the Earth’s climate was less clear than compared to now. But the basics were there … C02 was being released into the atmosphere, this could cause a greenhouse effect, and that would warm the earth. Certainly by the early 1980s, it was possible to make some thumb-suck estimates of how much the earth would warm given various assumptions about CO2, and it was not that difficult to see that a lot of fossil carbon was being put into the atmosphere.
Continue reading Science as a Contact Sport by Stephen Schneider
There is a new blog you should check out: OpenSourcePhotography.org. It deals with, believe it or not, OpenSource stuff and Photography stuff. There is some real potential there, I hope it develops.
There is apparently a big fight among OpenSource community members about whether or not Ubuntu (pronounced Ubuntu) gives back to the community. In my view, not knowing much about the debate, the fact that the vast majority of desktops and laptops that run Linux these days do so because Ubuntu did what it did should be plenty, but apparently there is more to it than that. The fight, really, is about code. Read about is here: Ubuntu Empire Strikes Back
Colin will almost certainly not become a strong hurricane or reach landfall as a hurricane, so we should be looking out for Danielle the next name in the sequence.
According to NOAA, Colin will continue to strength and follow a WNW path until curving north. It will maintain tropical storm status or possibly (ca 25% chance) reach low level hurricane strength at most between 1.4 and 4 days from now and stay that way for a few more days without strengthening. After that, the models diverge so a lot of different things could happen, but most likely dissipation.
(Keep in mind, of course, that a tropical feature can under certain conditions reorganize and become a factor again, though that is not likely here.)
It turns out the American Teabagging Party is very diverse after all. They have all sorts of nutbags and morans amongst their members: Tea Party Diversity Event at Crooks and Liars.
Mn Guv Candidate picks up key endorsement from the Star Tribune.
… And, in that very same race, the Democrats hold a lead in early polls against Republican candidate Emmer.
Minnesotans: Check out MnAtheist events for the month.
… from the National Center for Science Education.
Click the picture to get the PDF of Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z
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A new mammal species has been discovered in Madagascar, and is described here on Tetrapod Zoology. It is NOT a primate.
Brian Switek reviews Shooting in the Wild: An Insider’s Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom
The PLoS Blog Pick of the Month for July has been announced, and it’s a post by Hannah Waters of Culturing Science on forest canopy height. This is a great choice. Read it here.
When: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Emory Math & Science Center, 400 Dowman Dr., Atlanta, GA 30322
Proceeds to go to Light the Night – the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Please join the Atlanta Skeptics on Thursday, September 2, 2010 for stargazing, food, drinks and conversations with astronomers. We are once again hosting a star party to celebrate the beauty of the universe around us while raising money for a great cause.
Astronomers Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain will be hosting the event, leading guests in exploration of the skies, and discussing what we see. Musician, podcaster and science-lover George Hrab will also be providing entertainment.
This event is in honor of Jeff Medkeff, the Blue Collar Scientist, astronomer, skeptic and friend to many of us. Jeff succumbed to liver cancer in 2008. All proceeds will go toward the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Jeff’s name.
