Absurd. That is how I summarize my thoughts about the upcoming Discovery Channel "documentary" "The Lost Tomb of Jesus". If you've missed all the hoopla over this, here's the story in brief: Archeologists discover a tomb near Jerusalem. People who are buried there have names such as Yeshua (Jesus), Maria, and Joseph. Movie producer James …
Month: February 2007
Stewart Brand, builder of the world’s slowest computer
There's an interesting story in today's New York Times about a man named Stewart Brand. Brand was the publisher of the original Whole Earth Catalog, and an early leader of the environmental movement. Stewart Brand has become a heretic to environmentalism, a movement he helped found, but he doesn’t plan to be isolated for long. …
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Guatemalan sinkhole
Pictures of a recently-formed sinkhole in Guatemala City can be found here. By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala - A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed at least two teenagers as it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood. Officials …
Nerve Gas
Books and Culture has an fascinating review of two books about nerve gas: War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda by Jonathan Tucker Chemical Warfare: A Study in Restraints by Frederic Brown Some quotes from the review: My favorite of Tucker's tales is the story of Boris Libman, a native of …
Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness
More important science news, from the Onion: NEW YORK—Millions of eyewitnesses watched in stunned horror Tuesday as light emptied from the sky, plunging the U.S. and neighboring countries into darkness. As the hours progressed, conditions only worsened. At approximately 4:20 p.m. EST, the sun began to lower from its position in the sky in a …
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U.S. Hardiness Zones and Climate Change
The National Arbor Day Foundation has released maps with revised "hardiness zones." These zones can be used for determining which plants can be grown in certain parts of the United States. For example, a Norway spruce grows well in zones 3 through 7, but would not grow well in much of the South. These maps …
Sea Level Rising
Sea level is rising! Coastal areas are going to be inundated! Billions of eco-refugees are going to be knocking on your door! Or maybe not. Here's some perspective on sea level rise: The recently-released IPCC Report (Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis Summary for Policymakers) does not portray catastrophic sea level increases. Their projection …
Misc Science News
The global consumption of plastic bags is in the 500 billion to 1 trillion range. Many of these end up in landfills or in nature. The solution according to bringyourown.org and reusablebags.com: BYOB -- Bring Your Own Bag. For a square-wheeled bicycle, click here. Supervolcano in Washington state. This one erupted 3.7 million years ago, …
Geology and the scientific method
Here's a quote from geologist John D. Winter on how geologists think as they go about their scientific investigations: Geology is often plagued by the problem of inaccessibility. Geological observers really see only a tiny fraction of the rocks that compose the Earth. Uplift and erosion exposes some deep-seated rocks, whereas others are delivered as …
Predator-Prey Relationships
What happens when the street dog population decreases? The cat population increases. Here are a few of up to fourteen cats we have counted behind our apartment in Bucharest. We still have a few street dogs around, but they are old and lazy, and don't seem to bother the cats too much. We don't really …
Confusion
Ever feel confused? Sometimes we just don't know what to do, and the messages we receive don't help. For instance, check out the arrows on this bike path: Grace and Peace
State Quarters, Presidential Dollars, County Cents?
The Montana state quarter should be out. They won't be showing up here in Romania any time soon, but it looks like they picked a nice design. Presidential dollars. They look nice but will anyone use them? Have you heard about County Pennies? Read about it at U.S. Mint Gears Up To Issue Commemorative County …
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Successor to Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope is ailing -- its main camera stopped working a few weeks ago, and several of its stabilizing gyroscopes have failed. One more space shuttle servicing mission is scheduled for September 2008. The HST has not only been a marvelous scientific tool, it may well be the best public relations tool astronomy …
Creationist earns PhD
A man named Marcus Ross recently earned his PhD in geology from the University of Rhode Island. The unusual thing about this is that he is a young-earth creationist. With his views on the age of the earth, I was very surprised that the university awarded him his doctorate, and there are secularists out there …
The great train wreck
Here's a great photo for a physics lesson on inertia or kinetic energy: And here's the description of this accident from Wikipedia: On October 22, 1895, the Granville–Paris Express train overran the buffer stop at Gare Montparnasse station. The engine careened across almost 30 metres (100 feet) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60 …
Scottish parliament
Here is the Scottish Parliament debating chamber. It is a beautiful room, with lots of wood and natural light. I like things that are well done. Christians sometimes debate about aesthetics, with some saying our buildings should be built with bare-bones budgets, while others build elaborate cathedrals. Each side in these sorts of debates usually …
Mars and Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day is just four days away, which makes me wonder... Is Mars the planet of war? After all, Venus was the Roman goddess of beauty and love, while Mars was the god of war. This Valentine's day, let us resolve to think better of the red planet! Mars is really a happy, loving place, …
Galaxies
The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 8, 2007: Most of the objects in this image are galaxies, even many of the small specks. The only objects that are stars within our own Milky Way Galaxy are those that have spikes. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How …
Viewing Mercury
Most people have never seen the planet Mercury, but it has been known since ancient times. Being close to the sun, it is never found high in the night sky; rather it is viewable only shortly after sunset or before sunrise. This week, Mercury will be visible in the western sky after sunset. Mercury is …
GeoChristian 