May 04 2009
Scenes from an unfortunate dinner party
More from the incredible Tim Minchin, well worth a listen
May 04 2009
More from the incredible Tim Minchin, well worth a listen
Jul 24 2006
Nasa has quietly changed its mission statement to eradicate any mention of its original responsibility to understand and protect our home planet.
Old Version
“To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers … as only NASA can.”
New Version
“to pioneer the future in space [...]
Jul 03 2006
Taking a leaf from the Daily Show I thought I would point you towards some interesting articles. Prospect magazine has a great article on the rise of Islamic rationalists who are seeking to pursue change from within Islam. Over at the unintentionally hilarious conservative voice, Rob Hood explains that you can only be a Christian [...]
Jun 10 2006
Continuing with Everest, University College London is looking for 200 volunteers to climb to Everest base camp as part of a study into how scarce oxygen resources affect the human body. Any takers?
Apr 16 2006
Professor Steve Jones lives down the road from me in Camden Town and this year was invited to lecture to the Royal Society. His talk was forthrightly entitled ‘Why Evolution is right and Creationism is wrong‘. It’s bloody brilliant. Jones contrasts Western and Chinese creation stories (the Chinese one sounds more fun) but doesn’t spend [...]
Apr 06 2006
Huge news for those interested in evolution. Scientists combing Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic have found Tiktaalik, the missing link between marine and land-based animals.
Mar 28 2006
Robert Sungenis is on a mission. In a bid to dislodge that uppity duo Galileo and Copernicus, he has just finished a book in which he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the earth is at the centre of the universe, that it does not rotate and that the sun goes around the [...]
Mar 25 2006
Scientists in California are studying a woman with perfect recall. This would be quite a handy skill for our tent lecture series in Antarctica.(Via)
Mar 24 2006
An interesting piece on how the body has evolved to handle acute stress. We’re pretty amazing when it comes down to it.
Mar 24 2006
In another big day for the private space industry, Spacex is to launch their Falcon 1 rocket today. Fingers crossed!
Update: looks like they lost it. Remember, there is no such thing as failure, only results.
Mar 23 2006
An event I was gutted to miss was the recent Selfish Gene: Thirty Years On at the LSE, which had such luminaries as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennet riffing on each other’s work. Luckily the transcripts and recording are now online. (Via).
Mar 21 2006
After mishandling the homosexual clergy debate, Archbishop Rowan Williams gets it right and hits out at schools teaching creationism.