Via NYT

Source:
NASA Has Its Closest Look at Geysers on Saturn Moon
KENNETH CHANG
NYT August 15, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/science/space/16cassini.html

Posted at 08:18 AM in Science | Permalink

Interesting to a Lefty like me:

Posted at 07:04 AM in Humor, Science | Permalink

A Complete list of articles responding to the talking points circulated by the Global Warming Denialists:

"How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic," a series by Coby Beck, contains responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming.

There are four separate taxonomies; arguments are divided by:

Stages of Denial,
Scientific Topics,
Types of Argument, and
Levels of Sophistication.

The full linked set is at Gristmill, but here is a flavor of all the subjects covered:

Stages of Denial

1. There's nothing happening

a. Inadequate evidence

There is no evidence
One record year is not global warming
The temperature record is simply unreliable
One hundred years is not enough
Glaciers have always grown and receded
Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
Mauna Loa is a volcano
The scientists aren't even sure

b. Contradictory evidence

It's cold today in Wagga Wagga
Antarctic ice is growing
The satellites show cooling
What about mid-century cooling?
Global warming stopped in 1998
But the glaciers are not melting
Antarctic sea ice is increasing
Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
Sea level in the Arctic is falling
Some sites show cooling

c. No consensus

Global warming is a hoax
There is no consensus
Position statements hide debate
Consensus is collusion
Peiser refuted Oreskes

Thats only the first 10%. At Gristmill, the list is quite exhaustive, and is fully linked and cross referenced . . .

Posted at 06:28 AM in Science | Permalink

Very cool:

About a third of all the Sun-like stars in our galaxy harbor modestly sized planets, according to a study announced Monday by a team of European astronomers.

At a meeting in Nantes, France, Michel Mayor of the Geneva Observatory and his group presented a list of 45 new planets, ranging in mass from slightly bigger than Earth to about twice as massive as Neptune, from a continuing survey of some 200 stars.

All of the planets orbit their stars in 50 days or less, well within the corresponding orbit of Mercury, which takes 88 days to go around the Sun, and well within frying distance of any lifelike creatures.

Among the bounty is a rare triple-planet system of “super-Earths” around the star HD 40307, about 42 light-years away in the constellation Pictor. The planets are roughly four, seven and nine times the mass of Earth and have orbital periods of 4, 10 and 20 days, respectively.

Source:
A Bounty of Midsize Planets Is Reported   
DENNIS OVERBYE
NYT, June 17, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/science/space/17planets.html

Posted at 08:06 AM in Science | Permalink

Warning: Huge time suck:

1.Build a Fire – Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living.  At some point in your life this knowledge may be vital.

• How to Build a Fire
• Wilderness Survival Firecraft
• Build a Fire Without Matches or a Lighter (video)

7.  Tell a Story that Captivates People’s Attention – If you can’t captivte their attention, you should probably just save your breath.

• How To Tell a Great Story
• How To Give a Great Speech
• Presentation Tips for Puplic Speaking

12.  Manage Time – Not doing so is called wasting time, which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.

• How To Manage Time and Maximize Effectiveness
• Managing Your Time
• 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world
• Time Management Tips and Exercises

17.  Handle the Police – Because jail isn’t fun… and neither is Bubba.

• What to Do If You’re Stopped by the Police
• How To Handle the Cops if They Knock on Your Door
• How To Handle the Police

Source:
50 Things Everyone Should Know
June 2nd, 2008 @ 7:56 am 
http://www.marcandangel.com/2008/06/02/50-things-everyone-should-know-how-to-do/

Posted at 06:55 AM in Science, Web/Tech | Permalink

Very cool -- the science behind digital fakery detection:

Sources:
Digital Forensics: 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo
Hany Farid
Scientific American, June 2, 2008
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=5-ways-to-spot-a-fake&sc=rss

Digital Forensics: How Experts Uncover Doctored Images    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=digital-image-forensics

Tampering with History
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=photo-tampering-throughout-history

Posted at 08:24 PM in Photo Caption Contest!, Science | Permalink

Wow, Ben Stein is an even bigger jackass than I ever imagined. I swore off mentioning is crackpot economic analysis, but the guy has now completely jumped the shark:

Posted at 06:41 AM in Religion, Science, Video | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Reuters:

Astronomers have found some matter that had been missing in deep space and say it is strung along web-like filaments that form the backbone of the universe.

The ethereal strands of hydrogen and oxygen atoms could account for up to half the matter that scientists knew must be there but simply could not see, the researchers reported on Tuesday.

Scientists have long known there is far more matter in the universe than can be accounted for by visible galaxies and stars. Not only is there invisible baryonic matter -- the protons and neutrons that make up atoms -- but there also is an even larger amount of invisible "dark" matter.

Now about half of the missing baryonic matter has turned up, seen by the orbiting Hubble space telescope and NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE.

Source:
Missing matter found in deep space
Maggie Fox
Reuters, Science Tue May 20, 3:17 PM   
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080520/sc_nm/space_matter_dc_1

Posted at 06:13 AM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Poodwaddle.com

Posted at 06:49 AM in Science, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Poodwaddle.com

Posted at 06:46 AM in Science, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack