Sad news. Hopefully, people will think about how much we've benefited from going into space & want to go back.

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Ha! We can't trust science after all!

From discoverynews:

That Faster Than Light Neutrino Theory Is ‘Almost Certainly Wrong’

Ian O’Neill:

OK, so it seems this grand announcement was premature, especially as the OPERA research had yet to be reviewed by peers in the field. It’s little wonder that a flood of publications contradicting the OPERA results hit the arXiv preprint server faster than the (alleged) neutrinos themselves!

But was this a bad thing? Did CERN deliberately jump the gun? Was it the media’s fault for blowing the whole thing out of proportion?

To [ Lawrence M. Krauss, director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University], the way in which the CERN announcement was presented to the world is a cause for concern.

“A dramatic claim from a distinguished laboratory that turns out to be false reinforces the notion that somehow science is not to be trusted, that one can dismiss theories one finds inconvenient, even those whose predictions do agree with observations,” he said.

STUPID SCIENCE!  So wrong!!  I’m going go back to religion now.  It’s NEVER wrong!!

The way we’ll all be getting around in the future?  From discoverynews:

Poo-Fueled Motorcycle

The country’s leading toilet maker, TOTO, has created Toilet Bike Neo, a talking hybrid toilet-motorcycle that runs entirely on — you guessed it — human waste.

Read more

Is that a toilet seat flipped up?  So, you literally use it as a toilet???  Well, as long as it comes with some sort of privacy shield, I suppose it’s fine. I mean, how embarrassing that would be!  You’re zooming down the highway when suddenly you run out of fuel.  NO PROBLEM!  You had Mexican food for lunch!  So, you just pull over and start to, uh, refuel, and then you get arrested for indecent exposure!!

I sometimes wonder about these “scientists”. :|

Science is Cool: Earth got its oceans delivered.

Holy crap this is cool--from NASA.gov:

Astronomers have found a new cosmic source for the same kind of water that appeared on Earth billions of years ago and created the oceans. The findings may help explain how Earth's surface ended up covered in water.

New measurements from the Herschel Space Observatory show that comet Hartley 2, which comes from the distant Kuiper Belt, contains water with the same chemical signature as Earth's oceans. This remote region of the solar system, some 30 to 50 times as far away as the distance between Earth and the sun, is home to icy, rocky bodies including Pluto, other dwarf planets and innumerable comets.

Science is so damn cool.  So now we think we have an understanding of how our oceans were created.  They were delivered by comets.  We've always understood that this was possible, but seeing a comet with the exact same chemical composition as our oceans is as close to proof as I think we'll ever get.

That makes me wonder if the same impact(s) that likely brought us our oceans also ejected the moon into orbit.  It also makes me think about the potential for more surprises to be delivered by Comet Express.  Who knows what else could end up on our doorstep?  If oceans were delivered once, anything is possible.  Hell, there have been theories for years that life, itself, was deposited here via cosmic-object-impact.

Science is awesome.

unknownskywalker:

Vast cosmic filament discovered connecting Milky Way to the Universe

Astronomers at The Australian National University have discovered proof of a vast filament of material that connects our Milky Way galaxy to nearby clusters of galaxies, which are similarly interconnected to the rest of the Universe. By examining the positions of globular clusters, they found that the clusters form a narrow plane around the Milky Way rather than being scattered across the sky.

Furthermore, the Milky Way’s entourage of small satellites are seen to inhabit the same plane. This is evidence for the cosmic thread that connects us to the vast expanse of the Universe. The filament of star clusters and small galaxies around the Milky Way is like the umbilical cord that fed our Galaxy during its youth.

A consequence of the Big Bang and the dominance of dark matter is that ordinary matter is driven, like foam on the crest of a wave, into vast interconnected sheets and filaments stretched over enormous cosmic voids – much like the structure of a kitchen sponge. Unlike a sponge, however, gravity draws the material over these interconnecting filaments towards the largest lumps of matter, and the globular clusters and satellite galaxies of the Milky Way trace this cosmic filament.

In the picture, most of these star clusters are the central cores of small galaxies that have been drawn along the filament by gravity. Once these small galaxies got too close the Milky Way the majority of stars were stripped away and added to our galaxy, leaving only their cores. It is thought that the Milky Way has grown to its current size by the consumption of hundreds of such smaller galaxies over cosmic time.

I think I’ve figured out why science isn’t more popular.  It’s because of discoveries like these.  Science is a tool that, if used properly, is constantly updating with new information.  People don’t like change.  People like stable rules they can trust to always be there.  They pretend that the Bible is God’s unchanging word, despite historical fact to the contrary.  So why do they ignore facts and embrace belief?  Because facts challenge established norms.  Like this story about a vast cosmic filament connecting our galaxy with the rest of the galaxies in our universe.  This is a HUGE discovery.  It’s like discovering there was a tiny stream of matter connecting you to every other human on the planet.  HOW COOL IS THAT?

Unexpected? Surprising? Even a little mind blowing? Sure. But that’s what science does.  It’s a tool designed to facilitate learning.  The Bible is a 2000 year-old book of instructions written and re-written a few times to reflect the views of those in charge at the time. (Google “Council of Nicaea” for a good example.)  Science, however, updates our knowledge almost constantly.  In fact, there have been quite a few amazing discoveries in the past ten years that make me think we just might be entering a period of incredible discovery that is only quiet and largely unnoticed because of the general distain Americans have toward science ( I wouldn’t be surprised if we finally find proof of life that didn’t originate on Earth any day now).  

I’m growing a new theory about humanity.  There’s roughly two kinds of people in the world, those who get off on fear and those who get off on learning.  The former are afraid of new things, close minded and prefer 2000 year-old ideas.  The latter are interested in being challenged, proved wrong, and therefore, better educated.  

So, the next time someone tells you science isn’t as important as war or the economy, tell them to stop being fearful of change.  Only science provides the things that revolutionize our way of life.  Religion has never done that.  Religion didn’t invent the wheel, the steam engine or the integrated circuit.  While religion did bring us the pretzel and champaign, it is science that has brought us the computer, the cell phone, lasers, electricity, dark matter, dark energy, dark flow, quantum physics, galaxy-connecting filaments, and soooo much more.

It’s like Carl Sagan once said: why is there an astrology section in the daily paper but no astronomy section?  It’s because one reinforces our beliefs and makes us feel good, while the other challenges us, makes us wonder and forces us to consider things so much bigger than ourselves.

And who wants to do that?

I mean, aside from me?

motherjones:

A Terror Plot Wile E. Coyote Might Love

Seriously, MSM? You all freaked out about a dude with a BS in physics, a model airplane, and big dreams? Yeah, here’s why that wouldn’t have worked.

NEWS FLASH: even Mother Jones doesn’t get that nearly every “terrorist” arrest on American soil involved suspects that had the want to harm America but no means to actually do it. The vast majority of the people the USG is keeping us safe from inside the US are just pissed at the government and these days who can blame them.

Funny thing is, I was going to blog about this (and probably still will at thepete.com) but it’s so much easier to just reblog someone else’s setup :)

My main point is that we really need to step back and get a sense of scale here. I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again: during the Cold War we didn’t have a Patriot Act. We weren’t searched before we got on an airplane, we didn’t have cameras on every corner, we didn’t torture anyone and we didn’t arrest people without trial.  And all that was when we were up against “The Evil Empire”.  Al Qaeda is a handful of guys (thousands—maybe) and the Soviet Union was millions.  Why are we so fucking scared of a few people who don’t like us?  

OH NO, A MODEL AIRPLANE MIGHT GET ME! QUICK! FEEL MY BALLS, THAT WILL KEEP ME SAFE!

OH WOW, SOMEONE FORGOT A ROLLER BAG IN TIMES SQUARE FUCKING SAVE ME GOD!! (Oh, it’s just a bag of clothes forgotten by some tourist? Oh.)

OH MY GOD, THAT MAN HAS DARKER SKIN THAN ME! AND HE’S SPEAKING IN TONGUES!! (Ah, that’s President Obama and he’s talking about the economy, ah…)

HOLY SHIT! THERE’S A SCARY, FEARFUL PERSON STARING AT ME FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF A STRANGE GLASS PORTAL IN MY BATHROOM WALL!!

(Oh, that’s me, in  the mirror… oh…)

GROW UP, AMERICA.  YOU FUCKING PUSSIES.

China starts the Second Space Race without US

Found this via UnknownSkywalker:



According to an article at physorg.com, China is beginning work on a space station starting with this first module.  Now, this doesn't mean China will be conquering space before Christmas.  This first module is just for practice. The real station goes up in 3 parts starting in 2020.

Yeah, it seems like a pretty unimpressive start to the Second Space Race, but hey, the First Space Race started with the Russians tossing a 2-foot-diameter mirror ball into orbit in 1958. Consider that the first serious attempt at a space station, Skylab, wasn't until the 70s and Mir didn't go up until the 80s.  So, 8 years to launch the first third of a space station is actually pretty damn fast.

Of course, Americans won't have anything in space in 8 years because we put our economy in front of the advancement of human kind and, apparently, the spread of communism into space.

I swear, if, in 2030, we've got Space Commies to deal with, I'm blaming Obama!!

The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.

The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.

Carl Sagan (via ageofreason)

#Indeed.

It’s also common in the media, schools, social situations, and more!  In fact, humans don’t like uncomfortable ideas, period.  

Huh, I guess that’s why it’s called “UNcomfortable”.  

Holy CRAP: DNA building blocks found in meteorites via WaPo

Holy CRAP: DNA building blocks found in meteorites via WaPo

This is amazing news (from WaPo):

DNA building blocks found in meteorites

By Brian Vastag, Published: August 8

For 50 years, scientists have debated whether the components of DNA — the molecule central to all life on Earth — could spontaneously form in space. A new analysis of a dozen meteorites found in Antarctica and elsewhere presents the strongest evidence yet that the answer is yes.

Read the rest.

The only problem I have with their conclusion is that the DNA building blocks could “spontaneously form in space.”  I think it’s conjecture to suggest they just “sprung into being” because that’s impossible.  Somehow those building blocks got into the meteorites—we just don’t know how.

A better way to put the claim: we don’t, as yet, know how the DNA building blocks found their way into the meteorites but finding them there is an important part of understanding how life began on Earth.”

Just my ¥2, as always…

Also just in time for Easter, something that may make everyone question religion as they know it, or knew it: Did science finally find the 'God particle'?

Also just in time for Easter, something that may make everyone question religion as they know it, or knew it: Did science finally find the 'God particle'?

Cool!  Soon my iPhone will LEVITATE!!

>_<

#YouKnowThatsWhatTheyllDoWithIt

Scientists De-age Mice--could mean huge implications for humans.

This is kind of insanely amazing—yet I bet it got buried under news of WikiLeaks. Check out this cutting from CTV.ca:

Mon Nov 29, 10:00 PM

Scientists find way to reverse aging in mice

CTV.ca News Staff

Scientists in Boston have made an astounding discovery, taking aging mice and turning them young again, like tiny little Benjamin Buttons. (AP / Bebeto Matthews)

Scientists in Boston have made an astounding discovery, taking aging mice and turning them young again, like tiny little Benjamin Buttons.

Just like the title character in the Hollywood film version of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the mice appeared to not only stop aging but grow younger.

The gist isn’t quite as promising as it sounds, sadly.  Turns out they could only reverse the aging in mice they’d already aged artificially by giving them that disease that mimics the effects of old age.  However, if it works on these mice, why wouldn’t work on humans with the same disease? Or on mice and/or humans who are old, if the effects of the disease are so similar to the effects of regular old-aging?

Check out the whole article to read the specifics.  It’s fascinating stuff for sure.  I’ve always had the feeling I’d live forever. Now I have the feeling I just might know how I’ll do it. :)

TODAY is Carl Sagan Day: http://www.carlsaganday.com/

TODAY is Carl Sagan Day: http://www.carlsaganday.com/

Carl Sagan auto-reblog/RT!!

To celebrate his legacy at the 76th anniversary of his birth (November 9, 1934), and to increase public involvement in the excitement of astronomy and space exploration, a local coalition of science and reason-based organizations announces the SECOND ANNUAL CARL SAGAN DAY, NOV. 6 2010.

Oh and:

Live Streaming beings at 12:00PM Eastern.
Click to join us!

All right religious folks, time to start editing your holy books! We found another Earth-like planet!

From the friendlyatheist:

So much for the fine-tuning (teleological) argument. Our world is just one on a scale of many, many varying degrees. Nothing magical about it.

Well, it IS magical, but like Steve Jobs uses the word—sure, nothing spiritual about it, but FUCK dude, we should stop all this bullshit fighting with each other about religions (you know, Israel/Palestine & terrorism in general) and focus on BUILDING A LIGHT DRIVE!!

This planet is surprisingly close.  Check out this cutting from the MSNBC article Friendly Atheist links to above:

Astronomers say they’ve found the first planet beyond our solar system that could have the right size and setting to sustain life as we know it, only 20 light-years from Earth.

“My own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent,” Steven Vogt, an astrophysicist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, told reporters today. “I have almost no doubt about it.”

So, LET’S GET TO THAT TRANSLUMINAL ENGINE GOING!!

Don’t you get what this means?  It means we no longer have to share this planet with each other!!  Assuming we can get off of this planet to that planet, if we have major strife with each other, we can JUST LEAVE!!

SWEET!!

But, I swear, if anybody tries to name this planet “Pandora” I’m going to kick them out the airlock on the way.

HUGE news in a post from unknownskywalker:

Laws of Physics Vary Throughout the Universe, New Study Suggests

A team of astrophysicists based in Australia and England has uncovered evidence that the laws of physics are different in different parts of the universe.

The report describes how one of the supposed fundamental constants of Nature appears not to be constant after all. Instead, this ‘magic number’ known as the fine-structure constant — ‘alpha’ for short — appears to vary throughout the universe.

After measuring alpha in around 300 distant galaxies, a consistency emerged: this magic number, which tells us the strength of electromagnetism, is not the same everywhere as it is here on Earth, and seems to vary continuously along a preferred axis through the universe.

The implications for our current understanding of science are profound. If the laws of physics turn out to be merely ‘local by-laws’, it might be that whilst our observable part of the universe favours the existence of life and human beings, other far more distant regions may exist where different laws preclude the formation of life, at least as we know it.

The researchers’ conclusions are based on new measurements taken with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, along with their previous measurements from the world’s largest optical telescopes at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

The Keck telescopes and the VLT are in different hemispheres — they look in different directions through the universe. Looking to the north with Keck a smaller alpha is seen in distant galaxies, but when looking south with the VLT a larger alpha is detected. It varies by only a tiny amount over most of the observable universe, but it’s possible that much larger variations could occur beyond our observable horizon.

The discovery will force scientists to rethink the understanding of Nature’s laws. The fine structure constant, and other fundamental constants, are absolutely central to our current theory of physics. If they really do vary, we’ll need a better, deeper theory. While a ‘varying constant’ would shake our understanding of the world around us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This finding is extraordinary, no doubt about that.

Image: Illustration of the dipolar variation in the fine-structure constant, alpha, across the sky, as seen by the two telescopes used in the work: the Keck telescope in Hawaii and the ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile.

[Science Daily]

In short, from what I could understand of the above explanation, there seems to be variations in the laws of physics—where, if the Earth was the universe, if you walk along the equator, you might way 100 pounds, but if you were to walk north you’d get lighter but heavier if you went south. What this means, in a nutshell is that there may be no way to conjure a universal theory of physics—aka figure out exactly how the universe works.  On the plus side, Star Wars just got more realistic! ;)

You may now return to worrying about whatever petty shit you’re dealing with in life (which completely fucking pales in comparison to this new problem facing life in the universe).

Why Neill deGrasse Tyson is one of my favorite people on the planet. Thanks @neiltyson!

Here’s a text version for easy copy/pasting:

Likely source of all conflict in world: believing what you want or what feels good, rather than what is objectively true.

@neiltyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson

I’d go gay for Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Can we get a Neil deGrasse Tyson auto-reblog going?

Climate Change Doubters don't have the science to back them up says Stanford Researchers

underpaidgenius:

Stanford researchers’ analysis: Scientific expertise lacking among climate change ‘doubters’

An analysis of the scientific prominence and expertise of climate researchers shows that the few who are unconvinced of human-caused climate change rank far below researchers who are convinced. Most news media accounts fail to include that context when reporting claims from the doubters.

The media failing again, all in the pursuit of ‘both sides of the story’ even when there is really only one side plus a collection of kooks.

Big surprise here.

Isn’t this a little like saying you’re shocked that Phillip Morris execs don’t believe smoking is bad for you?

If you're not an expert STFU. Apparently.

Got this from contrararian, who, normally, I agree with, but militant orthodoxy of any kind is dangerous, IMHO:

Would You Like Fries With That Theory? | The BioLogos Forum

“Anti-Darwinists love to ridicule the concept of “scientific orthodoxy,” suggesting that it represents the unsupported collective opinion of many scientists who are basically just “voting” on things. Going against it is considered to be evidence of independent thinking and even courage.

< snip>

To confront scientific data “on our own” would imply that we have scientific training and experience in whatever area we are looking at. If you say you can interpret fossil data on your own, for example— as biochemist Duane Gish and legal scholar Phillip Johnson tried to do—I would like to give you a brief quiz on fossils: Where might you find a fossil if I asked you to go fetch one? How much of a fossil skeleton is typically present? How do you figure out the age of a fossil? What exactly is a fossil? What parts of a skeleton are most likely to be missing or incompletely fossilized? How do you decide if bones found together are from the same organism?

If you cannot answer simple questions like these then you cannot confront fossil data “on your own.” And fossils are the simplest part of the evolutionary picture. Interpreting genomic data, with its complex biochemical, statistical, and historical underpinnings is not remotely possible without the relevant expertise.”

But what if I can answer those questions but haven’t had any actual training?  What if I’m not, a moron and read books and learn things?

Because I don’t have a degree and “scientific colleagues” or “peer reviewed papers,” my opinion should be ignored?

Trusting financial “experts” hasn’t seemed to help our economy at all—in fact—it’s what got us here.

How is trusting science (or any other single discipline) completely any different from trusting the high priests of an ancient religion?  In their day, they were the experts.

I’m not saying we should trust everything any moron without a degree says, but either side of the above argument is in the wrong.  You can’t summarily dismiss the opinion or judgment of a religious zealot or a scientific one.

It’s all about the provable facts and short of those, it becomes about the most logical explanation (if there is one). Isaac Newton was definitely not an atheist (in fact, he was kind of a nutbag for God) but do we blow him off just because he thought he was chosen by God to decipher the true meaning of scripture?

To suggest all issues boil down to “it’s a science thing, you wouldn’t understand.” is just as bad as saying “because God works in mysterious ways.”

I think Pons and Fleischman would have been big fans of this attitude.

“DON’T QUESTION US!  WE’RE SCIENTISTS!!”

Thankfully, other scientists questioned them—but if they hadn’t, would it have been OK for someone else to?

"Without scientific progress the national health would deteriorate;" Interesting words from a man you've probably never heard of.

Found this while looking for information (ANY INFORMATION) on Ponds and Fleischman*:

Without scientific progress the national health would deteriorate; without scientific progress we could not hope for improvement in our standard of living or for an increased number of jobs for our citizens; and without scientific progress we could not have maintained our liberties against tyranny.

— Vannevar Bush, presidential science adviser in Science: The Endless Frontier, 1945

via time.com

I’m sure I could write something huge about how unbridled capitalism/free marketeering actually stymies the progress Vannevar Bush said is so necessary—what with Apple, lauded as a hub of innovation, consistently hobbling their mobile products, seemingly as part of a plan to give us something else to buy next year.

Yeah, I could write something huge. ;)

Of course, Vannevar Bush was one of the minds behind the Manhattan Project and he also envisioned one of the earliest versions of the Internet.

And no, he’s not related to George W, George HW, or Prescott Bush—I looked hard for a connection, I really did but ironically only discovered a family connection of my own to one of his best friends.  Yep, a distant cousin of mine was involved in the bomb. :(  I would have so given him crap at the next family reunion… you know, if he was alive and if I went to family reunions.

*UPDATE: yeah, I figured out that the reason I couldn’t find anything on “Ponds and Fleischman” was because it’s actually “Pons and Fleischman” but when I Googled the first phrase, Google didn’t ask me if I meant “Pons and Fleishman”.  GOOGLEFAIL!

I ended up digging through old Time Magazine cover stories to find an article I remember reading back in 1989 to find out how B. Stanley Pons spelled his name.

HA! As if SCIENTISTS never made a mistake before!!

From sierrarein:

Phew! RT @AMNH: Neil deGrasse Tyson assures us there will be no apocalypse in 2012 http://nyti.ms/csWXqU @neiltyson

SCIENCE GETS IT WRONG AGAIN! Stupid science. This is like that time they lost a WHOLE PLANET.  I think I’ll read the Bible now. It hasn’t changed in two thousand years!!!  THAT’S HOW RIGHT IT IS.

/ sarcasm

Right, so this story popped up in my Tumblr stream and like an addict to crack, I can’t not reblog it since it’s right up Website666.com’s alley!

Found via brentbillock:

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is not only a very well written critique of the way this story has been misinterpreted. It’s also a cogent examination of the way nearly all news is now consumed. The headline IS the story, because no one has the attention span to click through and read what the facts behind the poorly-written headline really are.

Case in point, the Time cover, suggesting abuse of women would be the consequence of our leaving Afghanistan. Even though the abuse pictured took place during our stay there. Even though the story itself does not predict greater or lesser abuse of women based on our presence or absence.

dancomono:me3dia:

successisnotanoption:

Puppies Never Existed!

So this little item made me mad all day yesterday, and continues to do so, so I’m just going to get this out here.

Let’s get this straight. Triceratops existed. It totally did. That’s why we have all those fucking bones. I’ve seen them. They are real. The news is that there is evidence that Triceratops was not a distinct species, but a juvenile form of Torosaurus. As illustrated so convincingly above, bitty, sweet puppies can turn into massive, drooly, jowly dogs. But that doesn’t mean there’s no such thing as puppies.

This is not hard to understand. Nor is it hard to explain. Which brings me to my point.

The way popular media report on science, even simple and relatively trivial stories like this, is entirely fucked.

The headlines to these stories are not borne out in the actual content in any way. In this particularly egregious example from the consistently egregious Daily Mail the ‘Triceratops never existed’ bit is included in the headline to look as if it’s a quote from a source in the story. Of course that quote doesn’t appear in the story, and isn’t attributed to anyone. As far as I can tell, no one connected to the story has made any categorical pronouncements about the non-existence of Triceratops. But that’s the part anyone reading it will retain. “Oh, now these “scientists” say my favorite dinosaur wasn’t even real. What the fuck, science?” It might as well have been written by a Juggalo.

And what’s sad is that a really interesting opportunity to explain how science actually works has gotten trampled by a stupidity stampede. What really happened is that scientists have taken a look at existing evidence and have come up with a hypothesis that may better explain what they are looking at. So now ideas are being adjusted, and other scientists will look at the evidence and see if what’s been hypothesized can be disproved or explained in a more compelling way. And there will be some disagreements, and new facts will come to light, and there will be further hypothesizing and we will eventually end up closer to the truth than we were before.

BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT SCIENCE DOES, BITCHES.

But instead the idiotic report on this has only led to confuse and irritate and, worst, give stupidly false ammunition to science-deniers. Creationist whackaloons are going to be shouting “what about the Triceratops that never existed?” going forward for years now. And they’ll just confuse the issue for the general public who doesn’t have time or inclination to think this shit through and then we have endless “teach the controversy” school board bullshit and the whole world gets stupider again. (And if you don’t believe me, I dare you read even a small sample of the comments on that Daily Mail story.)

In other news, Pluto also still exists.

Sure, sure—Pluto still exists, but Pluto the planet does NOT.

Speaking of which, the brain dead HuffPo headline isn’t inaccurate—it’s just not specific enough.  What they should have said was “Triceratops species never existed.”

But that’s HuffPo for you—pretending to be a real news source just like Drudge and Fox News—only with 90% more celebrity cleavage.

The rest of the reblog is spot-on, though.  The media is a joke.