I don't know if this has ever been more timely than it is today.

Did you ever take a moment to appreciate the true size of Africa?

Courtesy of io9: 

We've seen this comparison made before, albeit never as lucidly as this. Behold: major countries of the world, overlaid atop an outline of the positively giant African continent. 

If this is your first time seeing this comparison, you might be surprised by Africa's immensity. If that's the case, there's a decent chance you can trace your warped view of geographic scale back to a "compromise projection" – map projections so-named for their tendency to sacrifice things like accurate geographic size and shape in exchange for, say, nice, straight lines.

Oh and it's a continent too, not a country. Just in case you were confused by that like somebody we could mention. 

Just a reminder that often things are simply not as they seem.

For instance that is NOT where Alaska is located.

Nor Hawaii for that matter.

My sentiments exactly.

Apparently there is a traveling Creationist Museum and these are the pamphlets they hand out.

Click to make bigger.

Evolutionism is the dominant religion in the world today. Masquerading as a scientific theory, evolutionism is an atheistic theory that random chance and matter somehow brought about the amazing variety of life that we see today, even though all of the evidence from true science makes clear that such a belief is absurd. 

I am not sure what "true science" is supposed to be, but nuh uh!

Click to enlarge.

By the way in case you are confused "Evolutionism" is a term Creationists use to relegate Evolution to the same category as every other religion.

In other words they claim it is based on faith, and not on critical thinking.

I would like to believe that even in Tennessee that most parents would refuse to sign a permission slip allowing their kids to be subjected to this garbage.

But what I would like to believe and what is in fact true, are not always the same thing.

(Click here if the images do not enlarge for you.)

P.S. This seems like a good place for this. 

Words to live by.

For larger image click here

Socrates remains one of my favorite philosophers.

Which is really saying something since I don't have much use for philosophers anymore.

Truer words were never spoken.

Are you ready to be amazed by the wonders of science yet again this evening?

From what I can gather tonight's episode is about comets and the orbits of the planets.

"When Knowledge Conquered Fear" - Ep 3 of Cosmos: A SpaceTme Odyssey premiers tonight 9pm on @FoxTV. Be there or be a sphere
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 23, 2014

My only question is, how many religious people will THIS episode piss off?

As usual I will DVR the show, and watch it after my Sunday night visit to the zombie apocalypse is complete.

Feel free to leave a comment about your impressions. And I will add mine after TWD.

9 year old explains the universe. I suggest that people take notes.

This 9 year old is light years ahead of many grownups on this planet and has the kind of rational thinking skills that often do not develop until well into a persons late teens.

I am of two minds while watching this:

First why is it so hard for adults to fathom the simplicity of his explanation?

And second how soon can we send this kid to Congress? Because this is exactly the kind of intelligence that we desperately need to run our country.

Damn I wish when I was nine years old and questioning the universe, and my place in it, that I had met this kid. It would have saved me years of lonely research and solitary quests for knowledge.

(Source)

An homage to the light that science now shines on the universe around us, and a look back at the darkness from which we emerged.

"It was science that brought us out of the darkness, and showed us what we needed to know. That opened our eyes to reality. That gave us everything the gods denied us."

And yet today science and education are under constant attack. NOT because they are failing to do their jobs, but because they are doing it too well.

We owe it to our children, our country, and our species to constantly learn and discover, so that we may someday truly understand from whence we came, and to where we are going.

Sometimes I really love my kid.

This was posted by my daughter on Facebook late last night.

You know when her mother was making her go to church youth groups three times a week, homeschooling her with Creationist centered "learning" materials, and exposing her to people who told her that her father was an agent of Satan, I really used to worry about how my daughter would turn out in the end.

For my part I never told her that those people were nuts or made her choose between MY views on religion vs her mother's. I simply waited, believing that with my genes there had to come a day when she would cry bullshit.

And when that day came all I did was give her access to the information and told her that it was her journey and that I would meet her at the end.

It took awhile but eventually I looked over my shoulder and there she was walking a path very similar to my own. Which is very nice, because sometimes it can be so very, very lonely.

It is time that the Right Wing was forced to take their medicinal dose of reality.

I think this is something worth sharing with every crazy Fox News watching uncle, Right Wing radio listening co-worker, and conspiracy minded cousin.

Personally I think it is our duty as reality based information devotees to spread the truth as far as wide as possible. In fact the future of our country may depend on it.

By the way somebody on Reddit posted this rather helpful guide to help translate Right Wing rhetoric into English:

Freedom = Tax Cuts for the rich; viewing the planet as a profit opportunity; having the unrestricted right to own guns; not having to contemplate other people's offensive lifestyles 

Oppression = no Tax Cuts for the rich; failure of government to enforce the Laws of Jesus 

Laws of Jesus = ask Glenn Beck 

Rights = Tax Cuts for the rich; federal benefits for Real Americans 

Socialism = no Tax Cuts for the rich; other people's federal benefits 

Communism = having to buy health insurance from for-profit businesses 

Tyranny = no Tax Cuts for the rich with a black President 

Freedom of Speech = The right to make offensive comments without consequences 

Life = a short period of exalted human value beginning at conception, ending at birth, and returning when someone wants to die 

Liberty = Tax Cuts for the rich; enforced conformity to 1950s social norms 
Pursuit of Happiness = crusading for Tax Cuts for the rich; accumulating stuff; firing guns; feeling superior to someone 

Big Spending = money spent on things they don't profit from 

Legitimate Government = money spent on things they profit from 

Deficit = really big number used to scare voters; irrelevant when Republican is President; existential threat when Democrat is President 

Tax Cuts = magic engine of prosperity and growth; signal to job producers to make more jobs; certainly not about the rich getting richer; reduction in federal revenue irrelevant to National Debt 

National Debt = bad; a black hole destined to destroy everything good in the world that mysteriously loses its power and significance when Republicans are in control of the budget; result of Democrat Big Spending. 

Private Debt = good; a mechanism by which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer 

Class Warfare = a discussion of wealth that might be heard by members of the middle class; mentioning growing wealth gap 

National Defense = see Legitimate Government. 

National Security = secret activities that would otherwise be illegal 

Homeland Security = secret Legitimate Government 

Nation Building = Democrat foreign wars 

Defense of Freedom = Republican foreign wars 

Government Waste = see Big 

Spending Jobs = something voters want that becomes significant around elections 

Job Creators = future aristocrats 

Small Business = Koch Industries 

Growth = increasing corporate profits and capital gains 

Privatization = turning public functions into profit opportunities 

Voter Fraud = Democrat victory 

Fair Election = long lines only in cities; working class people losing a day’s pay in order to vote 

Racism = historical social problem that ended in 1968 

Reverse Racism = belief that Racism still exists 

Justice = to be defined 

Judicial Activism = court decisions they don't like 

Judicial Restraint = court decisions they like 

Constitution = piece of paper sometimes useful for Judicial Restraint; source of 2nd Amendment and a bunch of words 

States’ Rights = justification for returning programs, regulations and the enforcement of civil rights to states 

Return to States = eliminate 

Illegal Alien = brown people who have recently come to America 

Immigrant = white people whose grandparents came to America 

Real American = white people who don't know how they got here; Republican 

Those People = descendants of slaves who don’t vote Republican 

Morality = Laws of Jesus as applied to other people 

Abstinence = the practice of every sexual act except one in order to remain a virgin (women); a cover story for closet cases (men) 

Jesus = someone really powerful who loves them no matter what they do and who will someday punish people they don't like 

Lip Service = all Jesus asks of us; see also Abstinence

You know the truly frightening part of this list is that most of it is NOT tongue in cheek but rather a completely accurate description.

Hubble telescope discovers ancient galaxy that should not exist, but does.

Courtesy of i09: 

This galaxy is so large, so fully-formed, astronomers say it shouldn't exist at all. It's called a "grand-design" spiral galaxy, and unlike most galaxies of its kind, this one is old. Like, really, really old. According to a new study conducted by researchers using NASA's Hubble Telescope, it dates back roughly 10.7-billion years — and that makes it the most ancient spiral galaxy we've ever discovered. 

"The vast majority of old galaxies look like train wrecks," said UCLA astrophysicist Alice Shapley in a press release. "Our first thought was, why is this one so different, and so beautiful?" 

Shapley is co-author of the paper describing the discovery, which is published in the latest issue of Nature. She and her colleagues had been using Hubble to investigate some of our Universe's most distant cosmic entities, but the discovery of BX442 — which is what they've dubbed the newfound galaxy — came as a huge surprise. 

"The fact that this galaxy exists is astounding," said University of Toronto's David Law, lead author of the study. "Current wisdom holds that such ‘grand-design' spiral galaxies simply didn't exist at such an early time in the history of the universe." 

The hallmark of a grand design galaxy is its well-formed spiral arms, but getting into this conformation takes time. When astronomers look at most galaxies as they appeared billions and billions of years ago, they look clumpy and irregular. A 10.7-billion-year-old entity, BX442 came into existence a mere 3-billion years after the Big Bang. That's not a lot of time on a cosmic time scale, and yet BX442 looks surprisingly put together. So much so, in fact, that astronomers didn't believe it at first, chalking their unusual observation up to the accidental alignment of two separate galaxies. But further investigations, conducted at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, revealed BX442 to be the real thing.

You know for me this is the beauty of science, and why I prefer it over faith.

Here is a situation where a bunch of scientists are confronted with evidence that their presuppositions are incorrect, but rather than deny the existence of the new data and cling to the faith that they were right all along, they simply turn to the other astronomers and say. "Hey guess what guys? We were wrong! Now let's study the crap out of this new evidence."

And forward we go.

Just a little something to ponder as you slowly drift off to sleep.

Meteor shower over Denver, Colorado

“... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of nothing have neither looked for, nor stumbled upon, the boundary between what is known and unknown in the cosmos.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution
 

Just a final thought as you drift off to sleep.

The Eagle Nebula

“Again and again across the centuries, cosmic discoveries have demoted our self-image. Earth was once assumed to be astronomically unique, until astronomers learned that Earth is just another planet orbiting the Sun. Then we presumed the Sun was unique, until we learned that the countless stars of the night sky are suns themselves. Then we presumed our galaxy, the Milky Way, was the entire known universe, until we established that the countless fuzzy things in the sky are other galaxies, dotting the landscape of our known universe. 

Today, how easy it is to presume that one universe is all there is. Yet emerging theories of modern cosmology, as well as the continually reaffirmed improbability that anything is unique, require that we remain open to the latest assault on our plea for distinctiveness: multiple universes, otherwise known as the “multiverse,” in which ours is just one of countless bubbles bursting forth from the fabric of the cosmos.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge

I am never in fear of the great unknown, only that in our desperate need to cling to superstitions or comforting fables we may be too ignorant to recognize it once it is revealed to us.

These are the thoughts which trouble me and create concern for the future of our planet, and the future of our species.Yet if we can allow our minds to open, and welcome new information in, then there are no limits to what we can achieve.

Namaste my friends.

Just a reminder to take a moment to allow your breath to be taken away by the universe. You're welcome.

This close up, false-color image of the Eagle nebula captures one of its stellar nurseries. The Eagle nebula is about 6,500 light-years from Earth, making it one of our closest stellar nurseries. The XMM-Newton, imaging X-rays, worked in conjunction with Herschel’s far infrared seeing capabilities to capture this stunning image.

Part of why I sometimes share these incredible pictures of our world, and the universe that surrounds it, is to remind us that we do not need to view everything through a religious filter to admire its beauty. In fact, at least in my opinion, its beauty is only diminished by assigning a supernatural force to explain its existence.

(Source)

There is not much that is more entertaining than watching a a bunch of undereducated idiots celebrating their ignorance.

To see bigger image click here.

In order to understand what the discovery of the Higgs boson REALLY proves click here. And then what it means for the future of science here.

Or if you are simply in too much of a hurry, let Peter Higss clear up for you with a few strokes of his pen.

This is the kind of thing you can show your fundamentalist family members and friends just to watch their pointy little heads explode.

You know the more you learn, the less any of what you have been told in church makes sense.

Scientists at CERN believe they have discovered the "God Particle."

Courtesy of Fox News:

To cheers and standing ovations from scientists, the world's biggest atom smasher claimed the discovery of a new subatomic particle Wednesday, calling it "consistent" with the long-sought Higgs boson -- popularly known as the "God particle" -- that helps explain what gives all matter in the universe size and shape. 

"We have now found the missing cornerstone of particle physics," Rolf Heuer, director of the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), told scientists. 

He said the newly discovered subatomic particle is a boson, but he stopped just shy of claiming outright that it is the Higgs boson itself -- an extremely fine distinction. 

"As a layman, I think we did it," he told the elated crowd. "We have a discovery. We have observed a new particle that is consistent with a Higgs boson." 

The Higgs boson, which until now has been a theoretical particle, is seen as the key to our understanding of why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give an object weight. The idea is much like gravity and Isaac Newton's discovery of it: Gravity was there all the time before Newton explained it. But now scientists know what a boson is and can put that knowledge to further use. 

Yet another incredible step forward for science out of the darkness of ignorance. This is an amazing time to be alive, and one that I hope truly signifies a  new era of enlightenment.

Just imagine how much we can learn about our origins and the building blocks of the universe with this new knowledge to guide us?

Update: I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson is undoubtedly happy with the discovery but less happy about what it ways about our country.

Remember parents, only YOU can prevent thinking.

I still remember my high school philosophy teacher with much fondness.

Mr. Lowery was a rabble-rouser who LOVED to shake people's faith and challenge their perceptions of why they believed what they believed.

My favorite days were the ones that sent some poor Bible student running for the door before they accidentally heard something which might shake the foundation of their belief system.

I took his class twice.

Today when I reflect on my experiences in that class I am always reminded of the words of the Buddha as written in the Kalama Sutta:

• Do not believe anything on mere hearsay. 
• Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places. 
• Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it. 
• Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage. 
• Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being. 
•  Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true. 
• Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests. But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it. 
• Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire. 

The dangers of taking the Bible, or any religious book, too literally.

Boy this guy is really the poster child for Christian tolerance, love, and acceptance, isn't he?

We keep hearing from the Far Right that the Qaran is this horrible, hateful book, just chock full of calls for murder and the mistreatment of women.

However the facts are that compared side by side the Bible is actually the more violent of the two books:

"By the standards of the time, which is the 7th century A.D., the laws of war that are laid down by the Quran are actually reasonably humane," he says. "Then we turn to the Bible, and we actually find something that is for many people a real surprise. There is a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide." 

It is called herem, and it means total annihilation. Consider the Book of 1 Samuel, when God instructs King Saul to attack the Amalekites: "And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them," God says through the prophet Samuel. "But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."

In fact just in the first four books of the Bible, the cruelty and violence is sickening. And don't think the violence ends before the  pages of the New Testament begin.

I am not trying to pit one Abrahamic religion against another, and I certainly do not think the Qaran is much better. I am just reminding people that these books were written a very long time ago, by people who were not nearly as evolved or as highly educated as the people living today.

We are less violent, less misogynist, and less intolerant, not BECAUSE of the teachings of Islam and Christianity, but DESPITE the teachings of Islam and Christianity.

Just in case you think I am only picking on these two religions, let me just point out that my beloved Buddhism has also done little to reduce the number of wars fought by its adherents. And in Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" we see Taoism interwoven into the very fabric of the military instruction within.

Remember, man will always be man, regardless of how they worship, or to which God they send their prayers.