Just watched Phil “Bad Astronomy” Plait’s new Discovery Channel Show Bad Universe. Great stuff! He’s an enthusiastic and engaging host. We’ll be watching the whole series. Minor quibble: Phil uses his signature phrase “Holy Haleakala!” about six times too many during the hour. Maybe it’s just me. Overall, though, a thoroughly entertaining show. Check it out!
Archive for the ‘astronomy & space’ Category
Bad Universe is Good TV
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Podcast #99 – Mary Roach (Packing for Mars)
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
We interview Mary Roach, author of the bestselling science-humor book Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. She’s also the author of Stiff (about human cadavers), Spook (the scientific inquest on life after death), and Bonk (the science of human sexuality). Packing for Mars is both educational and laugh-out-loud funny. It’s available in hardcover, audiobook, and for Kindle.
If you can’t get enough of Mary Roach (and let’s face it, who can?), John interviewed her back in 2005 at SciFiDimensions.com, and reviewed both Stiff and Spook.
NASA flies religious artifact aboard shuttle Discovery
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009Of all the things that NASA has flown into space over the years–including a Buzz Lightyear action figure–this is one of the weirdest. The shuttle Discovery is in orbit right now, delivering several tons of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. Also aboard, according to the Los Angeles Chronicle: “a piece of an airplane that crashed in Ecuador in 1956 that carried members of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship.”
Intelligence Without Design: A Third Way?
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
by John C. Snider © 2009
We’re all familiar with the debate: either the universe was created by an intelligent creator, or it’s the result of natural forces and random happenstance, with no purpose or direction except that which we give ourselves. In other words, Intelligent Design vs. Scientific Naturalism.
But maybe there’s a third way. Maybe it’s all the result, not of Intelligent Design, but of Intelligence without Design. That’s the central thesis of an essay by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad, published last month in Guernica Magazine. Joel Kramer is the author of the 1974 self-help book The Passionate Mind, and describes himself as “an early innovator in the modern American physical and mental yoga.” Kramer’s life partner Diana Alstad is a feminist and teacher of women’s studies. The essay “Intelligence Without Design” is part of their new book The Passionate Mind Revisited: Expanding Personal and Social Awareness, an update of Kramer’s book.
Podcast #61 – Adventures in Cobb County
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
“Ufologist” and Young Earth Creationist Gary Bates of Creation Ministries International presented “Aliens, UFOs and the Bible” on July 18th at the Sewell Mill Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. We (John and Allison) were there, but the building did not spontaneously burst into flame, nor were there any clear-skies lightning strikes to manifest the ire of YHWH at the presence of infidels. As for Bates…thanks a LOT, Australia! For general creationist debunkage visit TalkOrigins.org. [Late-breaking Bonus: If you can stomach it, you can listen to Bates's entire baloneython in podcast format at the church's website--including the very session we sat in on!]
American Atheists president Ed Buckner delivers the invocation before a meeting of the Cobb County (Georgia) Board of Commissioners in Marietta. Yes, we know that “atheist invocation” is an oxymoron, but Ed used the opportunity to go meta, delivering a four-minute invocation on the idiocy of invocations. Go get ‘em, Ed!
A total eclipse…of reason
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Well, the upcoming solar eclipse (visible in Asia) will be accompanied by the usual superstitious blither-blather.
Hopefully there won’t be any harmful consequences associated with astrological predictions and other dire portents.
Podcast #60 – 40th anniv. of Apollo 11 with Seth Shostak
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
We celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11! On July 20, 1969 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to set foot on another world. Our special guest this time is Seth Shostak, senior astronomer with the SETI Institute, co-host of the Are We Alone? radio show, and author of the book Confessions of an Alien Hunter (available at Amazon.com and/or Amazon.co.uk).
Podcast #60 - 40th anniv. of Apollo 11 with Seth Shostak [56:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4481)LRO images Apollo sites
Friday, July 17th, 2009As hard as it is to believe, in the four decades since the six Apollo missions landed on the moon, nobody has had the capability to actually take pictures of the landing sites from orbit. None of our telescopes–not even Hubble–has been powerful enough to actually “see” the remains of the Lunar Modules or any of the other tell-tales that human beings once walked on the moon.
Boy hit by meteorite? Maybe…
Sunday, June 14th, 2009Telegraph.co.uk reports that a boy in Germany claims to have been struck in the hand by a small meteorite, which “knocked [him] flying” before leaving a foot-wide crater in the ground.
I’m not an astronomer, but the story sounded fishy to me (including the “fact” that the meteorite was travelling at an incredible 30,000 mph). Luckily, Phil Plait IS an astronomer (albeit a “Bad” one), and he throws some great analysis towards this questionable tale.
Hawking expected to recover
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Physicist Stephen Hawking is expected to recover from a chest infection, his family reports. Hawking was admitted to a hospital in England yesterday. For regular updates on Prof. Hawking’s condition, visit his official website at http://www.hawking.org.uk.