Originally shared by Icarus Anne Riley

Originally shared by Icarus Anne Riley

Hope and Religion
"Religion." Few things evoke so much passion as that word. Not even "sex" or "guns" or "gummit" evokes such passions as "religion." Largely because people are Stupid. ("Stupid" being a natural force and/or a willful state of mind, while "stupid" is merely a...

Worth remembering.

Worth remembering.

Originally shared by Joanne Manaster

Last week, Urschel got his latest paper, "A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians," published in the Journal of Computational Mathematics
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8277021/john-urschel-math

Originally shared by Susan Stone

Originally shared by Susan Stone
https://twitter.com/lynn0468/status/568916784482365440

Originally shared by Penny4NASA

Originally shared by Penny4NASA

On March 22, 2010, communication with NASA's Mars rover Spirit was lost.

Originally designed for a 90 Sol mission (a Sol, one Martian day, is slightly longer than one Earth day) few would have expected Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to operate as long as 2210 Sols - that’s 24.5 times the planned mission duration!

“It’s an incredible testimony to engineering that this plucky little craft survived 3 winters, when it wasn’t designed to survive any such weather conditions at all,” said Neil Mottinger, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Landing on the opposite side of Mars from its twin, the still operating Opportunity rover, Spirit was part of an effort to answer important questions surrounding the history of the Martian environment and its suitability for the formation of life. Understandably, one central element of these questions was to better understand the history of water on the planet - from its current status to what early Martian topography may have looked like.

One of many discoveries that Spirit made included finding supportive evidence suggesting rocks from the plains of Gusev had been slightly altered by tiny amounts of water. As the rover had observed, outside coatings and cracks within these samples had suggested water deposited minerals.

While Spirit delivered troves of valuable data home during its activity, it became irrecoverably obstructed in soft soil on Sol 1892 (May 1st, 2009), an incident that would spell the end for the rover. Attempts to free the rover ended on Sol 2155 (January 26, 2010), when NASA reclassified the mission as a stationary research platform. It continued performing science operations from its current location until communication with Spirit was lost on Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010). Attempts to reestablish communication with the rover have been unsuccessful.

Watch this short video, “The Legacy of Mars Rover Spirit”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_G3qUoCWtA

To read more about Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its findings:
http://goo.gl/qaryNF
http://goo.gl/GNgPJ7
http://goo.gl/tC0ILR
http://goo.gl/sNbz3I

Celebrate the accomplishments of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit by writing to Congress to let them know you support doubling funding for NASA: http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/

#Penny4NASA #NASA #Space #Science #Mars

"Think of the collectibility"...

"Think of the collectibility"...

Originally shared by Charles C Dowd

#Kidthulhu : Tales of Madness #1 has been printed and is on it's way through Chinese customs. The comic has also been approved by comiXology and will be available for you digital fans very soon. w00t!

#Comics

Social functions of faith and ritual...

Social functions of faith and ritual...

Originally shared by Eric Michael Johnson

God is an evolved organizational strategy that made people think they were being watched: http://j.mp/1MRil7U  
http://j.mp/1MRil7U

Street vendor, Avignon

Street vendor, Avignon

Thinking about Frank Zappa. I don't think anyone would say his music is "easy listening". It takes a bit of work. But the rewards are worth it :-)

Thinking about Frank Zappa.  I don't think anyone would say his music is "easy listening".  It takes a bit of work.  But the rewards are worth it :-)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOeCjZHzGOI

Street vendor's table in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Provence, France

Street vendor's table in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Provence, France

Forgive me for indulging the probably vain hope...

Forgive me for indulging the probably vain hope...

Originally shared by G.K. Nelson

For the love of God, please share this!

Originally shared by Edward Morbius

Originally shared by Edward Morbius

Leaked Email Reveals Who's Who List of Climate Denialists

A network of pundits and scientists is consulted about stopping release of "Merchants of Doubt," a documentary film that exposes their work.

In the months before the debut of the new documentary film "Merchants of Doubt," long-time climate denialist Fred Singer contacted more than two dozen bloggers, public relations specialists and scientists asking for help in derailing the documentary’s release.

"Can I sue for damages?” Singer asked in an email last October. "Can we get an injunction against the documentary?"

Among the shills uncovered is Judith Curry, whom AGW denialists have been eager to trot out as a plausibly moderate skeptic with legitimate-sounding credentials.

Curry is a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology. During a January 2014 hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Curry said the problem of climate change has been "vastly oversimplified." She said scientists should pay more attention to the role of natural variability in the climate system and the uncertainties in climate modeling. She also said the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is overly confident in attributing most of the warming to human activity.

Others on the list:  

1.  Ron Arnold (Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, Liberturdian think tank)
2.  Timothy Ball (University of Winnipeg)
3.  Joseph "Joe" Bast (president and CEO of the denialist Heartland Institute, )4.  Joe Bastardi (denialist WeatherBELL Analytics LLC)
5.  Michael Bastasch (denialist The Daily Caller)
6.  William Briggs (Cornell University) 
7.  Russell Cook (denialist GelbspanFiles.com)
8.  Joe D'Aleo (denialist Icecap.us)
9.  James Delingpole (British denialist climate writer)
10.  David Paul Driessen (denialist Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, Liberturdian think tank)
11.  James Enstrom (denialist Scientific Integrity Institute)
12.  Steve Goddard (real name: Tony Heller, denialist Real Science blog)
13.  Pierre Gosselin (NoTrickZone.com denailst blog)
14.  John Ray (Greenie Watch denialist blog)
15.  William Happer (Princeton University)
16.  Jim Lakely (denialist Heartland Institute, Liberturdian think tank,
17.  denialist blog Somewhat Reasonable)
18.  Patrick J. Michaels (denialist Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, Liberturdian think tank)
19.  Steven J. Milloy (Murray Energy Corp, coal extractor, JunkScience denialist blog, American Petroleum Institute)
20.  Christopher Monckton (denialist Science & Public Policy Institute think tank)      
21.  Marc Morano (Where to start:  Rush Limbaugh, "Swift Boater", denialist Senator Inhofe staffer, denialist blog ClimateDepot, denialist Center for a Constructive Tomorrow, Liberturdian think tank, ExxonMobil / Cheveron sponsored) 
22.  Joanne Nova (Australian climate denialist)
23.  Roger Pielke (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies)
24.  Thomas P. Sheahen (Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, chairman of Fred Singer's Science and Environmental Policy Project BoD)
25.  S. Fred Singer (one of the earliest and most vocal scientists in the climate denial campaign.)
26.  Wei-Hock (Willie) Soon (received hundreds of thousands of dollars from fossil fuel interests to publish "deliverables" in the form of articles about the solar-warming theory in scientific journals)
27.  Roy Spencer (former senior scientist for climate studies at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)
28.  James Taylor (denialist Heartland Institute, Liberturdian think tank)
29.  Anthony Watts (denialist blog Watts Up With That)


At reddit:
  https://www.reddit.com/r/climatechange/comments/2yub25/leaked_email_reveals_whos_who_list_of_climate/

https://www.reddit.com/r/climate/comments/2ysvaa/leaked_email_reveals_whos_who_list_of_climate/




http://insideclimatenews.org/news/12032015/leaked-email-reveals-whos-who-list-climate-denialists-merchants-of-doubt-oreskes-fred-singer-marc-morano-steve-milloy
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/12032015/leaked-email-reveals-whos-who-list-climate-denialists-merchants-of-doubt-oreskes-fred-singer-marc-morano-steve-milloy

Terry Pratchett, Author and Satirist, Passes Away at Age 66 | Tor.com

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2015/03/terry-pratchett-obituary

I'm afraid that I have finished "Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso".  It will take several days to recover :-(

Craig Brittain, a name and a face to remember...

Craig Brittain, a name and a face to remember...

Originally shared by The Bitchy Pundit

Revenge porn purveyor Craig Brittain, meet karma. You worthless piece of crap. Here's the full story on this asshole:

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/owner-of-revenge-porn-site-asks-google-to-remove-links-to-his-own-photos/ar-BBhYORx

I think that in order to propagate and worsen Craig Brittain (make sure you use his name as often as possible, for SEO purposes) embarrassment and rage, we should all share by adding our commentary. Here's mine:
After seeing this picture of Craig Brittain, I'm relieved that his face is all I've been subjected to. Seeing as much of him as he showed of his victims would only bring more ugliness to the world.

Originally shared by ****

Originally shared by ****

Found this on Twitter and it gave me a little tingle. On the other hand, you might meet a nice girl/guy at church. Or the gym.

Originally shared by David Brin

Originally shared by David Brin

Are you kidding me? This comes as a surprise? “The Bank of England has joined the growing ranks of those warning of the financial risk posed by a "carbon bubble," which will occur if urgently needed climate change regulations (and efficiency improvements) render coal, oil, and gas assets worthless.” This is, of course 100% the reason why the coal barons and petro-sheiks have funded the Denialist Cult, which strenuously blocks even moderate-compromise efforts at energy efficiency.  Why else would the Fox-line be “absolutely no science and no compromise, ever!”

"As the world increasingly limits carbon emissions, and moves to alternative energy sources, investments in fossil fuels and related technologies—a growing financial market in recent decades—may take a huge hit."  Moreover: “Leaving aside the ethics of divestment and pursuing a purely rational economic analysis, the cold hard numbers of putting money into fossil fuels don't look good."

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/03/bank-england-issues-warning-over-looming-carbon-bubble-threat
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/03/bank-england-issues-warning-over-looming-carbon-bubble-threat

Another from Varenna, Italy

Another from Varenna, Italy

Oh frabjous day!  Some free time and media to consume...

Originally shared by ****

Originally shared by ****

Unbelievable wildlife image captured by photograher

Originally shared by Bridget Wolfe (Pan Incarnate)

Originally shared by Bridget Wolfe (Pan Incarnate)
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/27/living/atheist-hot-line-help-line/index.html

This is a really beautiful image.

Originally shared by Friends of NASA

Mars Guide: Cerberus Fossae - In the Relay Zone | NASA MRO
These trenches or “fossae” are about a kilometer (0.62 miles) across. This area shows where two segments have joined up and are close to a third section. The fossae are probably areas where the surface has collapsed down into voids made from faults (huge cracks with movement on either side) that don’t extend up to the surface. In structural geology, when multiple faults are closely spaced, we call that a relay zone. These zones have much higher stress built up in the crust and consequently tend to be more fractured. These fractures can serve as “pipes” for fluids (water, lava, gases) to flow through.

This area corresponds with the youngest of Mars’ giant outflow channels, Athabasca Valles, that is only 2 to 20 million years old and shows geologic evidence of having been formed and modified jointly by water and lava.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Caption Credit: Kirby Runyon
Release Date: February 18, 2015

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

#Mars #NASA #Cerberus #Fossae #MRO #JPL #HiRISE #Martian
#Geoscience