I'm talking about an assault on the internet of Olympic proportions. Literally. The Olympics could possibly bring the internet infrastructure to its knees. Or not. Experts say 60% chance of no-problem, vs. 10% chance of total crisis. According to this discussion, the over 300 channels of live internet feed from…
I recently read Nuggets of Knowledge by George W. Stimpson, first published in 1928. It is a compendium of hundreds of commonly asked questions and well researched brief answers. I got this cloth-bound hardback — a “Pathfinder Edition” — at a church sale, and it came with a vintage silk Bible-quote bookmark. Yes, some small fraction of the questions are Biblical.
Two particular types of questions in this book fascinate me most. First, the questions to which we now have better answers, because of the subsequent 80 years of thorough research and documentation. Back in 1928, there was only one galaxy (the milky way), continents were static in relation to each other, germ theory was beginning to catch on in the popular consciousness, and that British beer company had not yet compiled an authoritative list of World Records.
Secondly, there are the numerous questions that were obviously couched in terms that everybody knew, but I’d never heard of. For example: “What was the occasion of the remark made by the governor of North Carolina to the governor of South Carolina?” From reading the answer about interstate negotiations about slavery before the onset of the war between the states, the remark alluded to was, “It’s a long time between drinks.” Okay. Now remember that the 18th amendment to our constitution was in force at the time this was written. I infer that one might have commonly alluded to the remark by said Governor to imply that one hadn’t …
There was to have been a broadcast debate today between a Creationist and a Biologist. Ray Comfort (of the Banana Proves Creationism fame) against PZ Myers (a.k.a Pharyngula). But the station wimped out, and broadcast Comfort in relative quiet comfort today, and will allow Myers to respond tomorrow morning (Weds.…
The July 11, 2008 edition of Science (available only to subscribers on line) includes an article entitled “Modernizing the Modern Synthesis,” by Elizabeth Pennisi, regarding a group of scientists who call themselves “The Altenberg 16.” They have gathered together to explore the need to revamp the modern synthesis. What is the “modern synthesis”? According to Wikipedia, the modern synthesis “bridged the gap between experimental geneticists and naturalists; and between both and palaeontologists, stating that”:
There is yet another story going around about dinosaur and human footprints found together in ancient (maybe 4,000 years old!) rock. Here is the local credulous Texas take on the find. All the previous pictures of contemporaneous dinosaur and human footprints provided by these people showed that humans used to…