Islamic protesters throw eggs at a speaker in an attempt to silence him during a lecture on freedom of speech.
Islamic debate: Islamic protesters throw eggs at a speaker in an attempt to silence him during a lecture on freedom of speech.
Year: 2012
A motorized skateboard you operate with your feet
A motorized skateboard you operate with your feet.
Scientists have found an iron-based crystal that can superconduct electricity at a new record high temperature of 48 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero.
Scientists have found an iron-based crystal that can superconduct electricity at a new record high temperature of 48 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero.
Peter Gleick’s “truly flabbergasting” lapse of judgement.
Peter Gleick’s “truly flabbergasting” lapse of judgement.
Gleick has done enormous damage to his cause and his own reputation, and it’s no good to say that people shouldn’t be focusing on it. If his judgement is this bad, how is his judgement on matters of science? For that matter, what about the judgement of all the others in the movement who apparently see nothing worth dwelling on in his actions?
When skeptics complain that global warming activists are apparently willing to go to any lengths–including lying–to advance their worldview, I’d say one of the movement’s top priorities should be not proving them right. And if one rogue member of the community does something crazy that provides such proof, I’d say it is crucial that the other members of the community say “Oh, how horrible, this is so far beyond the pale that I cannot imagine how this ever could have happened!” and not, “Well, he’s apologized and I really think it’s pretty crude and opportunistic to make a fuss about something that’s so unimportant in the grand scheme of things.”
After you have convinced people that you fervently believe your cause to be more important than telling the truth, you’ve lost the power to convince them of anything else. [emphasis in original]
As I’ve said repeatedly, until the climate community stops circling the wagons to protect the liars and frauds that pepper their field, no one is going to believe anything they say, even when they are right. Worse, their dishonesty is continuing to do serious harm to the field of science itself.
Buckyballs in space
Buckyballs in space. And they’re solid too!
GOP front-runner Mitt Romney said Tuesday that cutting government spending would hurt the economy.
Shooting himself in the foot: Mitt Romney said Tuesday that cutting government spending would hurt the economy.
Though Romney clearly was trying to make a more subtle point, this is the kind of statement that is killing him with Republican voters.
A Jewish congregation’s letter to George Washington welcoming him to Rhode Island in 1790.
On Washington’s birthday: A Jewish congregation’s letter to George Washington welcoming him to Rhode Island in 1790.
Washington had come to Rhode Island in celebration of that state’s ratification of the Constitution. This paragraph, written by these immigrant Jews, speaks directly to today’s far less tolerant government and society that now believes it has the right to squelch religious freedom:
Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free Citizens, we now with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty disposer of all events behold a Government, erected by the Majesty of the People ~~ a Government, which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance ~~ but generously affording to all Liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship: ~~ deeming every one, of whatever Nation, tongue, or language equal parts of the great governmental Machine.
One private religious company explains why it can’t go along with the Obama administration’s mandate on contraceptives.
One private religious company explains why it will refuse to go along with the Obama administration’s mandate on contraceptives.
The administration’s supporters say that by opposing the rule, religious employers like EWTN are guilty of trying to coerce our employees and impose our values on them. But we are simply choosing not to participate in the use of these drugs. Our 350 employees, many of whom are not Catholic, freely choose to work here and can purchase and use contraception if they want to. They are aware of the values we practice, and I hear regularly from Catholic and non-Catholic employees alike how much they love working for an organization that is defined by its Catholic beliefs — beliefs that we think result in a better workplace and more expansive benefits over all.
Instead, it is the government — which does not accept EWTN’s religious choice and can punish that choice by imposing fines — that is coercing us. But under the Constitution and federal religious liberties law, we cannot be forced to give up our beliefs as the price of participation in the public square. That is why the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has filed a lawsuit on our behalf seeking to overturn this illegal mandate.
Once again, whether or not you agree with the Obama administration’s policy, the mandate is unconstitutional. The federal government is expressly forbidden from imposing its will in this manner by the 1st Amendment.
Documents show Obama’s FCC used regulatory muscle to destroy LightSquared’s competition
A culture of corruption: Documents show that Obama’s FCC used its regulatory muscle to destroy LightSquared’s competition.
On the way to Albuquerque
I’m on the way to Albuquerque this morning, on the real Washington’s birthday, to give a lecture on the history of the Hubble Space Telescope before the Albuquerque Section and student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics tonight. Though I do expect however to be able to post throughout the day, there might be some gaps.
An inherited comic book collection is expected to fetch $2M at auction tomorrow.
Don’t throw them out! An inherited comic book collection is expected to fetch $2 million at auction tomorrow.
A New Hampshire man was arrested for firing his gun into the ground in order to catch a suspected burglar.
The world turned upside down: A New Hampshire homeowner was arrested for firing his gun into the ground in order to catch a suspected burglar.
Parahawking
An evening pause: Training a Harris’s hawk to fly with a paraglider. Or maybe vise versa.
Russian scientists have resurrected a plant from 30,000 years ago, using fruit tissues that had been frozen in the Arctic.
Russian scientists have resurrected a plant from 30,000 years ago, using fruit tissues that had been frozen in the Arctic.
The streets of Rome — in Jerusalem
The streets of Rome — in Jerusalem.
More than 2500 religious leaders released a letter yesterday condemning the Obama administration’s healthcare mandate as ““a severe blow” to religious liberty.
More than 2500 religious leaders released a letter yesterday condemning the Obama administration’s healthcare mandate as ““a severe blow” to religious liberty.
Orbital Sciences has delayed until late June the first test launch of its Antares rocket, which in turn will delay until late August the first flight of its Cygnus cargo freighter to ISS.
Orbital Sciences has delayed until late June the first test launch of its Antares rocket, which in turn will delay until late August the first flight of its Cygnus cargo freighter to ISS.
Uncovering the underwater remains of HMS Investigator and the sailors who survived its loss in the Arctic ice to discover the Northwest Passage
Uncovering the underwater remains of HMS Investigator and the sailors who survived its loss in the Arctic ice to discover the Northwest Passage.
A world made of water
A world made of water.
And it ain’t in our solar system.
John Glenn – the first American in orbit
An evening pause: On the fiftieth anniversary of John Glenn’s orbital flight.
After putting a chimpanzee into orbit in November, NASA finally felt ready to send a man into orbit to answer the Soviets and their two manned orbital missions of Gagarin and Titov the previous year.
After Glenn’s mission and for the next few months, it looked like the U.S. was catching up with the Soviets in space. That would change before the year was summer was over.
The video below gives a nice summary of key moments in Glenn’s flight, though the special effects of the “fireflies” is poorly done. And we now know that the “fireflies” were nothing more than frozen particles of condensation coming off the capsule.