The actual location is of course ideal, Flagstaff itself is over 7000 ft above sea level, and so perched about the city on Mars hill is the Observatory. The site is a US National Historic Landmark, for this is the home of historical scientific discoveries. They have a 24-inch (0.61 m) Alvan Clark Telescope (pictured ) which is still in use today for public education. Now don’t misunderstand me, they still do real science, they currently operate four research telescopes at its Anderson Mesa dark sky site, located 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Flagstaff, including the 72-inch (1.8-meter) Perkins Telescope (in partnership with Boston University) and the 42-inch (1.1 m) John S. Hall Telescope. (But for visiting, you want the Flagstaff site).
Hitler, Stalin, Mao = Atheist mass murderers?
Hitler, Stalin, and Mao are often presented as examples of Atheist mass murderers. Was it really their lack of belief that motivated them?
Doonesbury
The latest Doonesbury has been popping up all over the skeptic/atheist Blogsphere, and not wanting to be left out, I’ll pop it up here for you to enjoy as well … its hilarious because it is so close to the reality of what actually goes on
church of file-copying!!! – Somebody is pushing the boat out on this one
A religion is a belief system with rituals.
The missionary kopimistsamfundet is a religious group centered in Sweden who believe that copying and the sharing of information is the best and most beautiful that is. To have your information copied is a token of appreciation, that someone think you have done something good.* All knowledge to all
* The search for knowledge is sacred
* The circulation of knowledge is sacred
* The act of copying is sacred.
Dreams of a Final Theory – Steven Weinberg
The Guardian has a nice book review; Tim Radford takes a look at “Dreams of a Final Theory” by the Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg. This is a book that is all about the Search for The Fundamental Laws of Nature. Now, here comes the big surprise, the book was written almost 20 years ago, yet even in the very fast moving field of high-energy physics, it still stands, and is still very readable …
Since first publication, physicists have demonstrated quantum entanglement and experiments in teleportation; they have built the once-theoretical fifth state of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate; they have used such technology to slow a beam of light first to bicycle speed, and then to a standstill; they have stopped talking about cosmic string and introduced branes instead; they have extended the idea of a multiverse; and they have identified an entirely new feature called dark energy, that accounts for three quarters of the whole detectable cosmos. So why is his book still a great read?
Boycott Richard Dawkins? – #Elevatorgate
- You can read Rebecca Watson’s take on it all here. (she also links there to many others who have also blogged)
- More can be read here … or here … or here …or here. … indeed yes, a feeding frenzy
OK, so what is all the fuss about?