Nothing that we despise in the other man is entirely absent from ourselves. If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. Grace and Peace
Satellite images in real time
Most satellite and aerial imagery that is available on the internet (such as at Google Earth) is several years old. That is fine for most purposes. The USGS now has a site with live, real-time imagery from the LANDSAT satellites at earthnow.usgs.gov. It won't be useful for finding your house or planning a hike, but …
Viewing Mercury
The next few days are an opportunity to view Mercury in the eastern sky, up to an hour before sunrise. Click here for the story. Most people have never seen this elusive planet, but it isn't all that difficult if you just know when and where to look. Grace and Peace
PETA strikes again, again
Headline: PETA mistakenly targets Alaska church. PETA was targeting this church for having a living nativity, but it turns out that the "animals" will all be played by living humans. So I guess it is acceptable to have humans crawling around in the dirt, but not cows and sheep. Grace and Peace
PETA strikes again
Welcome to The GeoChristian. Out of over 600 posts on my blog, this one on frog dissection is in the top five in terms of how many people view it. The purpose of The GeoChristian is twofold: 1. To enhance science literacy within the Evangelical Christian community. 2. To present a Biblical Christianity that is …
Giant excavator
This 200 meter (600 foot) long excavator looks like something out of Star Wars. I got the image from Astronomy Picture of the Day, November 22, 2006. Here's the description from APOD: The machine pictured above is a bucket-wheel excavator used in modern surface mining. Machines like this have given humanity the ability to mine …
Unicorns, the Bible, and education
What do you make of a statement like this comment by a person who calls themself "kwatson?" It is from a discussion on World Magazine Blog regarding extraterrestrial life: [I]n the case of aliens and extraterrestrial life, far less crazy than talking about a mythical being who looks like us, who created the universe in …
Stem Cells and Muscular Dystrophy
The headline is "Stem cells help dogs with dystrophy." Someone who sees this headline but doesn't read the article might think, "Oh, isn't it wonderful what can be done with those embryonic stem cells?" Wrong. Reading the article, the researchers did not use embryonic stem cells, but stem cells derived from adult dogs. Here's a …
Stop that lava flow!
Perhaps the sign should have been facing the other way: Photo by J.D. Griggs, US Geological Survey Grace and Peace
A Good Quote
People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of …
Go Cardinals!
Cardinals 7 Tigers 2 (Not televised in Romania, but I was up with a sick kid, so I followed the play-by-play on the internet starting at 3:30 AM) Cardinals 1 Tigers 3 (What was that stuff?) Cardinals 5 Tigers 0 (A convincing win in the first World Series game at the new Busch Stadium) Cardinals …
Missions Update
The following is from our e-mail update, sent this week to those who support us with their prayers and giving. Dear Family and Friends in Christ, “But the Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of …
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula, from Astronomy Picture of the Day, October 26, 2006.
National Mole Day
Are you celebrating National Mole Day? National Mole Day—no, moles are not mammals that make tunnels under your lawn, nor brown spots on your skin, nor spies working within an organization—is a celebration of the chemical concept of the mole. So, what is a mole? Here's my Chemistry textbook definition: Mole: "quantity of a substance …
Population #3 — European Demographics
Being that we live in Romania, here are a few thoughts about European demographics: The population of many Eastern European countries is declining. This is due not only to low birthrates but also to high emigration rates. Many young, educated Romanians, for example, desire to move either to Western Europe or to the United States. …
The Orbitron
I just finished teaching about electron configurations and orbitals (quantum mechanics stuff) in Chemistry -- you know, the 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d6 stuff. Well, maybe you don't remember. Don't worry about it. If you do remember quantum mechanics, you'll appreciate the graphical depictions of orbitals at The Orbitron, a gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals. Even if …
Population #2
The previous post was about the U.S. population hitting an estimated 300,000,000 this week. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I read The Population Bomb by Paul Erlich back in the 1970s. Among its predictions: The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions …
300,000,000
The population of the United States is hitting 300,000,000 today (Tuesday). US Census Bureau Population Clock (11:30 AM Tuesday Morning, Eastern European Time Zone) A few observations: The United States is not overpopulated. Even relatively high-density areas, such as the Northeast and southern California have lower population densities than much of Europe and Asia. High …
Ununoctium — Element 118
Ununoctium (element 118, symbol Uuo) has been created by a lab in Russia, as part of a joint U.S.-Russia project. They created three atoms of ununoctium-294 by colliding nuclei of californium-249 with nuclei of calcium-48: I've already added it to my classroom periodic table: Comments: The creation of Uuo has been announced before. In 1999, …
North Korea Atomic Bomb Test
The basic USGS information regarding the near-surface 4.2 magnitude earthquake in North Korea, including location maps, can be found here. USGS Grace and Peace
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