Saturday, November 21, 2009
LHC back online
CERN's Large Hadron Collider has officially started up again. For those not familiar with the LHC, it fires proton beams at light speed into collisions in an effort to find the Higgs-Boson particle in the wreckage. Ironically, this particle has been nicknamed "The God Particle" when its discovery would go a long way towards proving that the universe didn't need a god to create it.
Smarter already
I just finished reading Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World: Science as a candle in the dark. And to my surprise, it was more a book on social philosophy than science. But what a book it was. The thing I love most about Sagan is his willingness to ask the hard questions. His insistance on using his brain, not his 'gut instinct'. His acceptance of 'I don't know' as an intellectually valid answer.
This is one of those books you have to read before you die.
This is one of those books you have to read before you die.
"Biblical" Floods?
I'm so sick of having Christian culture forced down my throat at every turn. It gets subtely ingrained in our very language, like in the headline of this article: "Policeman killed in 'biblical' UK floods."
Ok, what? I don't get it. These floods were imaginary? Some deluded people think it covered the whole earth? It was literally an action of the Judeo-Christian God, sending down his wrath due to his distaste of his own creation?
There's only one reference to the word "biblical" in the whole article, a quote which was basically inserted in an effort to justify the headline:
Can't they just not cheapen this by calling the floods 'catastrophic' or 'devastating'?
When I go to the ABC, I expect news, not proselytizing. They disappoint, every time.
Ok, what? I don't get it. These floods were imaginary? Some deluded people think it covered the whole earth? It was literally an action of the Judeo-Christian God, sending down his wrath due to his distaste of his own creation?
There's only one reference to the word "biblical" in the whole article, a quote which was basically inserted in an effort to justify the headline:
Tony Cunningham, the MP for Workington, told Sky News television that the flood was "of biblical proportions" and seen "once every 1,000 years."
Can't they just not cheapen this by calling the floods 'catastrophic' or 'devastating'?
When I go to the ABC, I expect news, not proselytizing. They disappoint, every time.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Human Rights Campaigns
Just got some emails from Amnesty International today, highlighting a few human rights issues. The first is about the chemical spill in Bhopal, India which hasn't been cleaned up in 25 years. For more info, check here.
The second is an Australian issue, highlighting the unacceptable living conditions of Indigenous Australians. To help, go here.
The second is an Australian issue, highlighting the unacceptable living conditions of Indigenous Australians. To help, go here.
It has begun
The Trekkies are finally taking over. Scientists in America have utilised technology very similar to phaser guns in the Star Trek series. There is a slight catch though. The technology only works on near-microscopic worms called nematodes. But nematodes sounds sinister, right? You could imagine an alien species called nematodes invading the earth. And when they do, we'll be prepared with phasers. So long as they only allow themselves to be exposed to UV light. You know what? Just read the article.
The plus side to all of this is that if the technology is sufficiently developed, we could see the end of the rather unpleasant taser weapons being used in law enforcement.
The other, more practical and likely outcome of this research is cancer treatment through photodynamic therapy.
And really. Phasers. Sweet.
The plus side to all of this is that if the technology is sufficiently developed, we could see the end of the rather unpleasant taser weapons being used in law enforcement.
The other, more practical and likely outcome of this research is cancer treatment through photodynamic therapy.
And really. Phasers. Sweet.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Well, call me a skeptic...
I got a request to write about something here on my blog (here's my shout out to you, Eric). And, well, I never disappoint. Or I hope not, at least. The topics I was asked to address are the theories surrounding 9/11 and the question of UFOs and aliens.
Let's start with 9/11. I'm going to make the bold assumption that this doesn't refer to the CIA funded military coup of Chile on September the 11th 1973. Rather, I assume this is about the more recent attacks on the World Trade Centre, New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The conspiracy theories surrounding these attacks, I think, were greatly propped up by the climate of secrecy during that time. But, a lot of the evidence doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I don't want to flood the page going through every point of evidence, so I'll point any readers who are interested to the SkepticWiki page on the matter. The most important point though, is that the American government didn't do what it should and could have done to prevent this. There are several reports that President Bush was given advance warnings of the attacks, on the day of the attacks, emergency channels were being used for training exercises instead of dedicated channels, family members of the suspects were flown out of the country instead of being held for questioning. Etc, etc, etc. It really was just a complete mess of unintelligence. But really, isn't it enough of a conspiracy that religious extremists hijacked planes to fly into buildings?
As for UFOs, I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World: Science as the candle in the dark. One of the major points addressed in this book is that UFOs and aliens are largely a product of the same neurological and social factors which lead to reports of apparitions of the Mother Mary, demons, sea monsters, ghosts etc. The evidence for alien visitations is shakey at best, but more often than not, they turn out to be complete hoaxes. Many other cases, such as the Roswell conspiracy, seemed to be more about protecting technology from the Soviets than protecting the people from aliens. It'd be nice to be visited, but it seems we're all alone for now, at least.
Don't I just take all the fun out of the world?
Let's start with 9/11. I'm going to make the bold assumption that this doesn't refer to the CIA funded military coup of Chile on September the 11th 1973. Rather, I assume this is about the more recent attacks on the World Trade Centre, New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The conspiracy theories surrounding these attacks, I think, were greatly propped up by the climate of secrecy during that time. But, a lot of the evidence doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I don't want to flood the page going through every point of evidence, so I'll point any readers who are interested to the SkepticWiki page on the matter. The most important point though, is that the American government didn't do what it should and could have done to prevent this. There are several reports that President Bush was given advance warnings of the attacks, on the day of the attacks, emergency channels were being used for training exercises instead of dedicated channels, family members of the suspects were flown out of the country instead of being held for questioning. Etc, etc, etc. It really was just a complete mess of unintelligence. But really, isn't it enough of a conspiracy that religious extremists hijacked planes to fly into buildings?
As for UFOs, I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World: Science as the candle in the dark. One of the major points addressed in this book is that UFOs and aliens are largely a product of the same neurological and social factors which lead to reports of apparitions of the Mother Mary, demons, sea monsters, ghosts etc. The evidence for alien visitations is shakey at best, but more often than not, they turn out to be complete hoaxes. Many other cases, such as the Roswell conspiracy, seemed to be more about protecting technology from the Soviets than protecting the people from aliens. It'd be nice to be visited, but it seems we're all alone for now, at least.
Don't I just take all the fun out of the world?
Another act from a religion of peace
I can't stress this enough. Sharia law is bad. End of story. Any religious law, any dogmatic law, is a terrible thing and should be opposed by anyone who considers themselves civilised.The BBC reports:
This is the very real danger of religion. If you require no more evidence than faith for the entire philosophy of life, then how can you require more evidence than faith that a woman broke an arbitrary law?
Thank God I'm an atheist.
I really want to know. Who out there thinks this is a good idea? Who thinks that the tragedy of a still-born child constitutes evidence of adultery? Who thinks that people's private lives should be punishable by death? Who are you people?A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people.A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man.
He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.
This is the very real danger of religion. If you require no more evidence than faith for the entire philosophy of life, then how can you require more evidence than faith that a woman broke an arbitrary law?
Thank God I'm an atheist.
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