Even though ignorance seems to be all the rage these days, science is still cool. And the coolest part of science is pictures in space. Here’s a new time-lapse video with a bit of a twist from the EPOXI mission. It’s really just a video of the Moon passing in front of the Earth. It’s cool because we’ve never really seen anything like it and also because it’s real. No CGI, just the real Moon passing in front of the real Earth.
Here’s an interesting link. It’s work safe unless you work at the Creation “Science” Museum or maybe a Mosque.
http://thefutureofourworld.ytmnd.com/ (link goes to page with sound)
It’s a little depressing, but watch until the end. I think it puts things nicely into perspective. Just remember that you only get this one life, so don’t be afraid to do the things you want to do. You won’t get another chance.
So you want to win every argument? Good. But I’m not talking about those emotional knock-down, drag-outs you might have with your significant other. I’m talking about making and proving your point. This little “tutorial” will give you the tools to put together a good argument and will help you determine if someone else’s arguments are sound.
Step 1 - Be right. If you are trying to convince someone of something, it always helps if you are actually correct.
Step 2 - Be specific. Don’t get bogged down in broad generalizations or abstract concepts.
Step 3 - Be thorough. Do your research and make sure you’ve covered every angle.
Step 4 - Check your assumptions. Sometimes you make an assumption and don’t even know it.
Step 5 - Avoid logical fallacies. Make sure you are using your powers of reason and logic.
That last step is very important. You should not only avoid logical fallacies, but look for them in your opponent’s arguments. A logical fallacy instantly invalidates an argument and can really make someone look bad.
For those of you who don’t “believe” in evolution I suggest you check out this blog entry about Podarcis sicula. It’s no Crocoduck, but it’s a great illustration of what evolution is really all about. Take a population, isolate it, change the environment, et voila, something new and different. I wonder what will happen if they introduce some of the new lizard variants back into their original environment. Will they interbreed with the old population? Will they change back to their insect eating ways? Will they revert back to their original configuration? An interesting scenario no matter how you look at it.
Now it comes down to finding out if this is “true” evolution, meaning actual genetic variation. That’s the next step. Hopefully there will be a followup article to let us know the results of that research. Here’s a link to the original article.
I have a t-shirt (pictured below) that I bought at the VLA gift shop. It states the following: “The universe exploded out of nothingness 14 billion years ago and all I got was 100 trillion interconnected cells, a self-aware consciousness, and this lousy t-shirt!”
Today I went to Chicago Style Gyros to get lunch and I wore this t-shirt.
The cashier said, “That’s not true is it?”
I said, “What’s not true?”
He said, “14 billion years. That’s not true?”
I said, “Oh… well, current theory has it at about 13.7 billion years.”
He said, “But that’s not true is it?”
I said, “Who knows what’s really true?”
The cashier gave me a satisfied nod. My transaction was complete and I walked out of the store with a gyros sandwich, side of rice, and Diet Coke.
What I really wonder about is his questioning. He kept asking if it was true. What if I had told him it was true. Would he have accepted it as true? Would he have tried to witness to me? Would he have asked for my sources? I don’t know. Now I wish I had probed a little more to find out his motivations.
And now for that picture I promised.
The launch on August 8, 2007 of the Space Shuttle Endeavour went well. I had a pretty good viewing area right across from the cape in Titusville, FL. They won’t let you get very close to the pad. I messed up because there are two launch pads that the shuttle is launched from. It was hazy and they were just on the horizon, so I didn’t know which one to look at. I picked the wrong one and missed about the first second. The launch happens very quickly. That thing was up and out of sight in about 3 minutes and that’s with high power binoculars. The exhaust is also much brighter than it seems on TV. When it was low to the ground it almost hurt my eyes through the binoculars. The sound is odd too. Since you are far away the thing is pretty high before you hear anything, then it is a low rumbling that gets louder and shakes. It’s hard to describe as I’ve never heard anything like it. It is at a very low frequency. Here is a slideshow of the few pictures I was able to take.
After reading this article, I decided it was time to let everyone know exactly what Science really is. Science is merely a method for solving problems. Many of you might remember studying the Scientific Method in school. For those that don’t, it has its own website.
Now I’m not saying that Evolution is the be-all end-all of scientific theories, but it has been arrived at logically and in a wholly scientific kind of way through observation, hypothesizing, and experimentation. My beef is with these religious zealots who insist on teaching school children the “Theory of Creationism” in a science class. Creationism is not a scientific theory. As far as I know there is not one shred of evidence that even comes close to proving that creationism is a valid theory. There are plenty of Creationism websites out there, but don’t bother reading them. Let me just say that proving Evolution wrong does not make Creationism right.
The big point I’m trying to make here is that we should look at what we are teaching and why we are teaching it. The purpose of science in K-12 education should not be the teaching of theories as fact. On that point I actually do agree with the creationists. What we should be teaching children is a reasonable and critical way of thinking about problems, i.e. the scientific method.
And this applies not only to science, but to every field of scholastic endeavour. Too often we teach children a mass of facts and theories, and completely miss the concepts. It amazes me how many people do things and have no idea why they are doing it. It is because they don’t know the concepts. If we teach concepts then children can apply them to every situation and it would improve their life many more times than a bunch of random trivia.
