My favorite funny R&S post of 2011
So many good things have been written this year about the sometimes-contentious, sometimes-mind-expanding, sometimes-hopeful relationship between science & religion. But there’s humor too, and the best funny thing I saw all year may be this strip. I found it at James McGrath’s Patheos blog, Exploring Our Matrix, but it has been featured by PZ Myers and [...]
This Advent, do not assume a spherical Jesus
Spherical Cow, from Abstruse Goose via The Last Word on Nothing. Creative commons 3.0. You know, I thought I had just coined the phrase, “spherical Jesus.” But no. UPDATED 12/7 I woke up this morning and realized this post, as it was, made no sense. So I dropped the Harold Camping business and added Jesus. [...]
Twinkle, twinkle, little nonradially-pulsating delta Cepheid
Radial equations from the analysis of convection within pulsating variable stars. You should see the nonradial equations. Stars are pretty, sure. But when you stop to think about them, they get all complicated and stuff. Image source: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series A friend of mine told me a story recently, and it made me laugh: [...]
From the Dept of Too Funny to Not Share: Jon Stewart on atheists’ Ground Zero suit
It’s a few days old, but still plenty funny. We can’t believe that Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, said that atheists might want to install a symbol of an atom at Ground Zero “because we’re all made of atoms.” Susan Jacoby, an atheist of a less publicity-seeking kind, wonders if he’s being deliberately obtuse. [...]
Keep your eye on the story
As Scott at Scotteriology says, this must be what drove Noah to drink after the flood. WARNING Part 1 (above) is fantastic but Part 2 gets really tedious and features some harsh language Henry, my 11-year-old son, has a new hobby: magic. He’s getting pretty good at it, too. Whenever I take our toddler out [...]
On upper-class medieval persons, Bronze-Age goat herders, and semi-enlightened Englishmen, featuring full-color illustrative proof of the Bronze-Age Goat Herder Conceit
Almost enlightened, but not quite: Sir Frederick William Herschel, artist unknown. Image source: Wikimedia Commons “Imagine we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matters of faith. His beliefs about geography, astronomy, and medicine would even embarrass a child, but he would [...]
On making stuff up, featuring Michael Shermer on Colbert
When I first read this I laughed out loud. Courtesy of Jesus and Mo Once again, Jesus is right: Science is limited by its refusal to make stuff up. That is: He’s right if by “make stuff up” he means taking seriously ideas that do not have their grounding in the natural sciences. But, as [...]
Speaking of atheists and the periodic table, which we have been lately
Periodic Table of Atheists and Antitheists, courtesy of Michael at Ungodly News. He missed Nietzsche, Bill Nye, H. L. Mencken, and Ayn Rand, and I’m not sure Darwin belongs in there, but it’s a fine effort nonetheless. Look closely — there are some nice touches, like giving Ian McKellan the symbol “Gf.” Thanks for the [...]
Introducing 114 and 116. Watch those shifty scientists
Back a few years ago Cobb County, a major suburban county in metro Atlanta (my hometown and current address), posted stickers in high school biology books that read, “This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open [...]
And now for a little perspective
This, for all Alert Readers to enjoy and share on this beautiful Wednesday afternoon: a video, chock-full-o-coolness and guaranteed to amaze. It appeared yesterday at APOD, which is our home page and should be yours too. Our thoughts on this mind-blowing piece of work? We can do no better than to recall the closing words [...]
