Lawrence Krauss gives a talk on our current picture of the universe, how it will end, and how it could have come from nothing. Krauss is the author of many bestselling books on Physics and Cosmology, including "The Physics of Star Trek."
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
1 comments
Course Description :
This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.
1. Introduction to Astrophysics
2. Planetary Orbits
3. Our Solar System and the Pluto Problem
4. Discovering Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters
5. Planetary Transits
6.Microlensing, Astrometry and Other Methods
7. Direct Imaging of Exoplanets
8. Introduction to Black Holes
9. Special and General Relativity
10. Tests of Relativity
11. Special and General Relativity (cont.)
12. Stellar Mass Black Holes
13. Stellar Mass Black Holes (cont.)
14. Pulsars
15. Supermassive Black Holes
16. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang
17. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang (cont.)
18. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang (cont.)
19. Omega and the End of the Universe
20. Dark Matter
21. Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe and the Big Rip
22. Supernovae
23. Other Constraints: The Cosmic Microwave Background
24. The Multiverse and Theories of Everything
An out of this world event, Cosmic Quandaries, held at The Palladium in St. Petersburg.
Jerry Coyne explains 'Why Evolution is True' (also the title of his excellent new book) at the Atheist Alliance International 2009 conference, sponsored by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.
Labels:
Evolution,
Featured - Others
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comments
Tom Abel of Stanford University discusses how supercomputer simulations allow us to visually show the origin of the first stars, their ultimate demise and the impact on their future, which is our past.
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
0
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Prof. Ramamurti Shankar, J.R. Huffman Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, gives an introduction to Einstein's Theory for a lay audience. The only preparation needed is an open mind.
Prof. Shankar presented this lecture at the Association of Yale Alumni Reunion Weekend on May 29, 2010.
Labels:
Einstein,
Physics and Quantum
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1:45:16
Matter of Heart. Documentary about the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung
Labels:
Great Minds,
Psychology
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comments
52:11
This film is one of a three-part series of films produced by PBS, on the life and work of the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Labels:
Great Minds,
Psychology
0
comments
We are bad at making decisions. According to science, our decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice.
And that’s assuming that we haven’t already been hijacked by our surroundings or led astray by our subconscious!
Featuring exclusive footage of experiments that show how our choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future, Horizon presents a guide to better decision making, and introduces you to Mathematician Garth Sundem, who is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil!
Part 1
Part 2
Labels:
Human Behavior
0
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This is the extraordinary story of how Albert Einstein spent the last years of his life. Battling to destroy the consequences of his own work. It was a quest that would end in his failure and isolation. The dramatic sections in this film are interpretations of Albert Einsteins final hours.
Labels:
Einstein,
Great Minds,
Physics and Quantum
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1934 Explanation of the creation and end of the Moon.
About this talk
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
About Alain de Botton
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday.
Labels:
Human Behavior
0
comments
Join the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's James White as he discusses how we think the universe appears, and more importantly, how we know that. Presented by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Series: "Eyes on the Universe"
Journalist Robert Wright visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book, "The Evolution of God." This event took place on June 8, 2009,
God at the end of the knowledge.
From: Beyond Belief 2006
Join Mario Di Maggio, the Thinktank astronomer, to hear about the facts and the fantasies about Aliens on Earth. Determine the likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence and learn how to track it down.
Minute 1 OFOs
Minute 23 Life
Minute 33 Life out side Earth
Minute 37 Milky Way photo size scale
Minute 39 Elements of Life
Minute 40 Drake Equation estimation
Interactive Periodic Table
The docudrama, which first aired in 2005 and which boasts an all-star cast, spans 250 years, and tells the human story behind the science.
The youthful romance of Einstein and his future wife Mileva is intertwined with some of the great scientific discoveries of the 19th century, which Einstein ultimately combined in his astonishing theory of relativity.
Labels:
Einstein,
Physics and Quantum
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comments
About this talk
Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.
About Michael Merzenich
Michael Merzenich studies neuroplasticity -- the brain's powerful ability to change itself and adapt -- and ways we might make use of that plasticity to heal injured brains.
Labels:
Forums - TED Talks,
Our Brain
0
comments
"Richard Dawkins of Oxford University discusses his book "Unweaving The Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder", an investigation into the world of mysticism and science."
Labels:
Religions... opinions
150
comments
About this talk
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
About Alain de Botton
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday.
Professor Jim Al Khalili delves into over 50 years of the BBC science archive to tell the story behind the emergence of one of the greatest theories of modern science, the Big Bang.
The remarkable idea that our universe simply began from nothing has not always been accepted with the conviction it is today and, from fiercely disputed leftfield beginnings, took the best part of the 20th century to emerge as the triumphant explanation of how the universe began.
Using curious horn-shaped antennas, U-2 spy planes, satellites and particle accelerators, scientists have slowly pieced together the cosmological jigsaw, and this documentary charts the overwhelming evidence for a universe created by a Big Bang. (Excerpt from bbc.co.uk)
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
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Documentary unfolding the science behind the idea of six degrees of separation. Originally thought to be an urban myth, it now appears that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association. Six degrees of separation is also at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough; that there might be a law which nature uses to organize itself and that now promises to solve some of its deepest mysteries.
Labels:
Societies and Cultures
0
comments
Summary
Professor Ian Morison discusses time, one of the most mysterious concepts in our Universe. It is easy to describe how we define its passage and how we can make exceedingly accurate clocks but questions as to what determines the arrow of time and whether time travel is possible can tax the most brilliant minds!
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
1 comments
About this talk
Cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff looks at happiness -- the ways we try to achieve and increase it, the way it's untethered to our real circumstances, and its surprising effect on our bodies.
About Nancy Etcoff
Nancy Etcoff is part of a new vanguard of cognitive researchers asking: What makes us happy? Why do we like beautiful things? And how on earth did we evolve that way?
Labels:
Forums - TED Talks,
Human Behavior,
Psychology
0
comments
Acclaimed writer and political scholar Christopher Hitchens may just be the only writer to have recently visited Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Hitchens - known for his keen wit, sharp political insight and often controversial opinions - examines the differences between the countries once linked as the "axis of evil," while revealing intriguing connections between the nations.
Labels:
Our Real Blue Dot
0
comments
The True story of the Screaming Eagles: 101 Airborn Division - 1:32:02 Incorporating in-depth interviews with extensive never-before seen footage, this fascinating True Story of the Screaming Eagles: The 101st Airborne, is a powerful first-hand look at the first strike force used in World War II, Vietnam and Desert Storm and Shield.
Labels:
History - Military
0
comments
About this talk
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.
About Dan Ariely
It's become increasingly obvious that the dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In "Predictably Irrational," Dan Ariely tells us why.
Labels:
Human Behavior
1 comments
Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Kip S. Thorne. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Wendy L. Freedman. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Inside 9/11 (Episode 1: War on America) - 1:44:51 National Geographic - "War on America" opens with the dramatic 1993 World Trade Center bombing and tracks terrorist activities aimed at U.S. targets throughout the 1990s leading up to the horrific morning of September 11, 2001. With each successful attack, terrorist networks become more emboldened. The organization and the legend of Osama bin Laden grow. Meet Osama bin Laden as a young Saudi businessman who arrives in Afghanistan to raise funds to help those hurt by the war. Follow this wealthy and privileged son of a self-made billionaire as he rises through the ranks of Islamic terrorist society and remakes himself into a mujahedeen warrior. Hear how bin Laden is schooled in the teachings of radical Palestinian leader Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam as Azzam calls for violent jihad, or holy war, against all enemies of the Islamic state, including the United States, most Western nations and Israel. The extreme hatred for those outside the Islamic faith becomes the cornerstone of al Qaeda's ideology from the mid 1990s until today and is the basis of bin Laden's power. As terrorist activities and organizations continue to increase in power and strength, "War on America" charts the response of the U.S. intelligence community and details the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Council, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and at least two U.S. presidents. Featured in the program are interviews with terrorism experts from the intelligence community, including former CIA and FBI agents who witnessed the growing threat. Listen as U.S. government whistleblower Bodgan Dzakovic recounts how he—as part of the FAA'S "Red Team"—was able to breach airport security almost 90% of the time with very little problem in the months prior to 9/11. Feel the frustration mount as bin Laden, time and time again, keeps a step ahead of U.S. intelligence efforts to capture him. With each new attack—the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S.S. Cole—the numbers of dead and wounded grow. It becomes obvious that al Qaeda's goal is to stay under the radar, attack with small numbers and kill on a large scale. Follow the trail and review the evidence that led former CIA Director George Tenet to remark in hindsight, "The system was blinking red… [the danger] could not get any worse."«
Inside 9/11(Episode 2: Zero Hour) - 1:44:54 -
National Geographic - www.myspace.com/pchoutx
It is a beautiful morning. Nathan Goldwasser is starting his usual day at work in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as are Ed Nichols and Stanley Praimnath in the South Tower. Sheila Moody arrives at her office at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, the 19 terrorists are boarding planes in Boston, Newark and Dulles, Virginia. They monitor the flight crews, waiting for the right moment to execute their evil plan. At 8:14 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 is hijacked. Relive the last precious moments as flight attendants call their supervisors on the ground to report the murders of fellow crew members. Listen as they describe the scene on board. Then go back to the North Tower as Nathan Goldwasser hears an enormous explosion when American Airlines Flight 11 crashes just a few floors above him. The building sways. Listen as Ed Nichols watches the tragedy unfold at the North Tower from sky lobby on the 78th floor of the South Tower. Firefighters are dispatched to the scene. But this is not a case of fighting fire; this is a mission to save as many lives as possible. Evacuations begin in the North Tower, but, in the confusion, people in the South Tower don't know whether to leave the building or return to their desks. Stanley Praimnath makes it down to the ground lobby of the South Tower, only to be told by security that it is safe and he can return to his office. Then in what seems to be the blink of an eye, United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower. Praimnath sees the plane as it heads toward his office. There's no longer any doubt-this is an attack on America. "Zero Hour" then takes viewers to the Pentagon as Sheila Moody hears the roar of a plane rapidly descending. American Airlines Flight 77 hits the Pentagon and bursts into a ball of fire. A fourth hijacking is taking place on United Airlines Flight 93. Likely targets include the White House or the Capitol building. Listen as Lyz Glick retells how her husband Jeremy and three other men planned to overtake the hijackers. "Zero Hour" captures the horror and the heroism witnessed on September 11, 2001, and takes viewers into the last moments of those who died that day and the thousands of others who survived the tragedy.
Inside 9/11 (Epilogue) - 42:50 -
National Geographic -
The final part of the Inside 9/11 series that focuses on the events of 9/11, alternating between the various hijacked aircraft and the ground targets. It also includes interviews with survivors and relatives of victims, and has a narrated still-photo gallery.
A Summary of News Coverage from September 11, 2001 - 27:04 - Jun 30, 2008
Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Sylvester James Gates Jr. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Summary
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and director of the Greater Good Science Center, demonstrates that humans are not hardwired to lead lives that are "nasty, brutish, and short" - we are in fact born to be good.
He investigates an old mystery of human evolution: why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe, and compassion that promote ethical action are the fabric of cooperative societies?
Born to Be Good is a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life and how the path to happiness goes through human emotions that connect people to one another.
Michael Lewis is without peer in his understanding of market forces and human foibles. He is now our jungle guide through five of the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the crash of '87, the Russian default (and the subsequent collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), the Asian currency crisis of 1999, the Internet bubble, and the current sub-prime mortgage (and more) disaster.
With his trademark humor, Lewis paints the moods and market factors and, with the luxury of hindsight, analyzes what actually happened and what we should have learned from experience
Labels:
Human Behavior,
Psychology
0
comments
Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns and parades as the U.S. raced the USSR to the Moon in the 1960s, but few know that both superpowers also ran parallel covert space programs to launch military astronauts on spying missions.
Labels:
Military
0
comments
Jonah Lehrer is editor-at-large for Seed Magazine and a contributing editor at NPR`S Radio Lab.
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate or we blink and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the minds black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, theyre discovering this is not how the mind works.
Jonah Lehrer, author and editor-at-large for Seed Magazine, suggests that our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation. The trick is to determine when to lean on which part of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.
Join Jonah as he looks to answer two key questions: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?
Labels:
Human Behavior,
Psychology
0
comments
Speaker: Tom Barnett, Senior Managing Director, Enterra Solutions. LLC
Location: Middlebury College, Rohatyn Center for International Affair
Labels:
Military
8
comments
Seeing the Universe - 29:00 - Feb 28, 2008
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
0
comments
Google Tech Talks. May, 6 2008
ABSTRACT
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. ... In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons ... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind." -- Edward Bernays, founder of the public relations industry.
Billions of dollars are spent each year in the United States alone on public relations, a little-understood profession that has become a modern propaganda-for-hire industry. "Publicity" was once the work of carnival hawkers and penny-ante hustlers smoking cigars and wearing cheap suits. Today's PR professionals are recruited from the ranks of former journalists, retired politicians and eager-beaver college graduates eager to rise in the corporate world. They hobnob internationally with corporate CEOs, senators and U.S. presidents. PR wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony "grassroots" front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy. In today's electronic age, they use 800-numbers and telemarketing, advanced databases, and "video news releases" -- entire news stories written, filmed and produced by PR firms and transmitted electronically to thousands of TV stations around the world. Canned news from PR firms is designed to be indistinguishable from real news and is increasingly taking its place, used as "story segments" on TV news shows without any attribution or disclaimer indicating that what viewers are seeing is in fact subtle paid advertisements. On the internet as well, PR firms have created slick websites that promise to inform the public while pushing hidden agendas. Example include:
the Greening Earth Society (funded by the coal industry), which claims that global warming is actually good for the environment the Foundation for Clean Air Progress (which opposes regulations to control air pollution)the African American Republican Leadership Council (a conservative organization headed by white Republicans)
Working Families for Wal-Mart (secretly funded, of course, by the Wal-Mart itself)
Project Learning Tree (sponsored by the logging industry)
PR firms create front groups as part of what they call the "third party technique." The basic idea, as described by one PR executive, is to "Put your words in someone else's mouth." They realize that their messages are more likely to persuade the public if they come from seemingly independent "third parties" such as a professor or a pediatrician or someone representing a nonprofit citizens' group. The problem is, these third parties are usually anything but neutral. They have been handpicked, cultivated, and meticulously packaged to make you believe what they have to say--preferably in an "objective" format like a news show or a letter to the editor. And in some cases, they have been paid handsomely for their opinions.
Speaker: Sheldon Rampton
Sheldon Rampton researches deceptive PR firms for the Center for Media and Democracy and is the co-author, with John Stauber, of books including "Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damned Lies and the Public Relations Industry"; "Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With your Future": and "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq." He will discuss the Center's work including its website, Sourcewatch.org, a wiki-powered collaborative research project to document the "names behind the news."
Google TechTalk
April 24, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Seth Shostak
The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now into its fifth decade, and we still haven't uncovered a confirmed peep from any cosmic company. Could this mean that finding aliens, even if they exist, is a project for the ages -- one that might take centuries or longer?
New technologies for use in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) suggest that, despite the continued dearth of signals from other societies, there is good reason to expect that success might not be far off -- that we might find evidence of sophisticated civilizations within a few decades.
Why this is so, what contact would tell us, and what such a discovery would mean, are the subject of this talk on the continuing efforts to establish our place in the universe of thinking beings.
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
0
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Series abouth the entire deployment of the USS Minitz
2005-2006
Labels:
Featured - Others,
Military
0
comments
Discovering Psychology: The Power Of The Situation with Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D.
This powerful documentary takes us on a journey of self-discovery. We learn just what humans are capable of through the study of our responses to commands and leadership. How is it that dictators are so easily able to manipulate the masses? Are humans pre-programmed to carry out any actions necessary to our group acceptance?
Specifically, this documentary takes a close look at the Milgram Experiment that were carried out in the early '60s. Wiki quotes Dr. Milgram and the results of his experiment...
The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' [participants'] strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' [participants'] ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.
Labels:
Human Behavior,
Psychology
1 comments
Summary
Why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe and compassion?
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, offers a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life.
Labels:
Human Behavior,
Psychology
0
comments
Hailed as powerful and quietly unflinching,Patricia Foulkrods searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that will stir audiences. The filmmakers subjects are patriotic young Americans - ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq - as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home – with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all - the truth. (Excerpt from thegroundtruth.net)
Watch the full documentary now
Labels:
Military
0
comments
Summary
Relying on recently declassified documents, Jeffrey Richelson, Senior Fellow with the National Security Archive, reveals how NEST operated during the Cold War and how the agency has evolved.
Richelson also describes its current efforts to reduce the chance of a nuclear device decimating an American city.
Jeffrey Talbot Richelson - Jeffrey Talbot Richelson is an American author and academic researcher who studies the process of intelligence gathering and national security. He has authored ten books and many articles about intelligence, and has directed the publication of several of the National Security Archive's collections of source documents.
Michael Shuster - Mike Shuster is a diplomatic correspondent and a roving foreign correspondent for National Public Radio in the United States.
Labels:
Military,
Our Problems
1 comments
Summary
FORA.tv Studios and Whole Earth Films present Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, speaking to Blaise Zerega, President and CEO of FORA.tv, about his book Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
For twenty-five years SETI has been looking for proof of extraterrestrial life, and as the program's senior astronomer, Shostak explains it's entirely possible that before long conclusive evidence will be found.
Labels:
Our Mysteries,
Space
0
comments
Created in 1962, a now infamous document was issued in secret to bishops. Called Crimen Sollicitationis, it outlined procedures to be followed by bishops when dealing with allegations of child abuse, homosexuality and bestiality by members of the clergy. It swore all parties involved to secrecy on pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church.
This document was reissued in 2001 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and sent to all bishops. Yet rather than ordering more openness and cooperation with the authorities as demanded by both law enforcers and the victims, he reiterated its policies and ensured that the Code of Silence be applied to all cases of child abuse involving a priest. Cardinal Ratzinger also instructed that all cases should now be referred to his office directly and that he would maintain ‘exclusive competence’ over the handling of allegations. This is the Catholic Church’s policy to this day and Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.
The policy laid out in the above document has led to systemic failure by the result that a significant number of priest have, in effect, been allowed to abuse again, and further children have been put at risk.
As the documentary explores, Colm O’Gorman is the man responsible for breaking open decades of abuse by Catholic Priests in Ireland in the BAFTA award-winning BBC special Suing the Pope. He links international ’systemic evidence’ to argue the Vatican has a policy to cover up the sexual abuse of thousands of children across the world.
In Sex Crimes and the Vatican O’Gorman explores four separate cases internationally of widespread clerical abuse, putting the Roman Catholic Church on trial for the reckless endangerment of children. O’Gorman raises the question, ‘Is the Church in default of its obligation as a signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child?’ (Excerpt from news.bbc.co.uk)
Labels:
Religions... opinions
0
comments
Credit & Copyright: Ralf Vandebergh
Explanation: These two frames, taken with a video camera and a telescope, reveal remarkable details of the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting some 350 kilometers above planet Earth. Recorded during last month's visit by the crew of shuttle orbiter Discovery on mission STS-119, the pictures show extended solar arrays glinting in bright sunlight against a dark sky. They also likely capture the blurred image of a spacewalking astronaut during the mission's EVA-2 (Extravehicular Activity-2)! The astronaut is installing equipment along one of the station's truss assemblies. Astronomer Ralf Vandebergh, who often images the ISS during its favorable passes through Dutch skies, comments that no other bright ISS structures occupy the position indicated in the inset, and that a reflective, white-suited astronaut would be visible against the truss and correspond to the bright blur. Vandebergh notes that the timing and location further suggest the spacewalker is STS-119 astronaut Joseph Acaba.
Labels:
Pictures,
Space - NASA
0
comments
Medieval Astronomy from Melk Abbey
Discovered by accident, this manuscript page provides graphical insight to astronomy in
medieval times, before the Renaissance and the influence of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho de Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo.
The intriguing page is from lecture notes on astronomy compiled by the monk Magister Wolfgang de Styria before the year 1490 at Melk Abbey in Austria.
The top panels clearly illustrate the necessary geometry for a lunar (left) and solar eclipse in the Earth-centered
Ptolemaic system.
At lower left is a diagram of thePtolemaic view of the solar system and at the lower right is a chart to calculate thedate of Easter Sunday in theJulian calendar.
Text at the upper right explains themovementof the planets according to the Ptolemaic system.
The actual manuscript page is on view at historicMelk Abbey as part of aspecial exhibition during the International Year of Astronomy.
Chart of distances and sizes of the Universe.
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
1 comments
he Authors@Google program welcomed Neil deGrasse Tyson to Google's New York office to discuss his book, "The Pluto Files".
About the Book:
"The New York Times best-selling author chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto, man's best celestial friend.
In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted Pluto out of planethood. Far from the sun, tiny, and eccentric in orbit, it's a wonder Pluto has any fans. Yet during the mounting debate over Pluto's status, Americans rallied behind the extraterrestrial underdog. The year of Pluto's discovery, Disney created an irresistible pup by the same name, and, as one NASA scientist put it, Pluto was "discovered by an American for America." Pluto is entrenched in our cultural, patriotic view of the cosmos, and
Neil deGrasse Tyson is on a quest to discover why.
Only Tyson can tell this story: he was involved in the first exhibits to demote Pluto, and, consequently, Pluto lovers have freely shared their opinions with him, including endless hate mail from third graders. In his typically witty way, Tyson explores the history of planet classification and America's obsession with the "planet" that's recently been judged a dwarf."
This event took place on February 9, 2009.
Labels:
Astronomy and the Universe
0
comments
Robert Llewellyn attempts to discover which of the world's top four monotheistic religions has the most money. His journey takes him from Canterbury Cathedral to Vatican City and Israel, as he bids to calculate the income and assets of the Anglican Commune, the Catholic Church, Judaism and Islam.
“As an atheist, I’ve always wondered how much money the faiths keep stuffed under the mattress,” says Robert Llewellyn. In this time of financial crisis, when billions of pounds are being coughed up to support struggling banks, Robert feels it is time to discover the financial interests of the world’s great monotheistic faiths – Anglicanism, Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.
Robert’s first stop is Canterbury Cathedral, where he is surprised to learn that financial figures for the Church of England are readily available. Robert then travels to Westminster Cathedral to learn about the Catholic Church’s status in England. Part of the Catholic Church’s income in the UK goes to fund the Vatican, so Rome is Robert’s next destination. It soon becomes apparent that Vatican City is a financial black hole, and no one wants to admit how much money the Pope actually has.
Labels:
Religions... opinions
0
comments
Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, speaking at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Sep 9, 2005
Labels:
Societies and Cultures
0
comments
The Great Debate: Dinesh D’Souza v. Michael Shermer 2008.9.1
The Skeptics Society (Michael Shermer) - www.michaelshermer.com
In this debate on what are arguably two of the most important questions in the culture wars today — Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? and Can you be Good without God? — the conservative Christian author and cultural scholar Dinesh D’Souza and the libertarian skeptic writer and social scientist Michael Shermer, square off to resolve these and related issues, such as the relationship between science and religion and the nature and existence of God. This event was one of the liveliest ever hosted by the Skeptics Society at Caltech, mixing science, religion, politics, and culture
Summary
Michael Ruse, philosopher of science, recounts the history of Darwinism by explaining the theories of evolution and natural selection.
Ruse questions whether these theories are as valid today, 200 years after Darwin's birthday.
Michael Ruse - Michael Ruse is a philosopher of science, working on the philosophy of biology, and is well known for his work on the argument between creationism and evolutionary biology. He was born in England, took his undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol (1962), his master's degree at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (1964), and Ph.D. at the University of Bristol (1970). Ruse taught at the University of Guelph Canada for 35 years. Since his retirement from Guelph, he has taught at Florida State University and is, since 2000, the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy. In 1986, he was elected as a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Bergen, Norway (1990), the McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2003) and most recently the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada (2007).
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Evolution
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(16 minutes) A conversation with astronomer and professor of science, Robert Kirshner of Harvard University, about his book "The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos" which provides an overview of the exploration of the universe and the existence of dark energy.
(aired May 20, 2004)
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Astronomy and the Universe
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The first sci fi film made in the u.s. and first attempt at technical accuracy in manned rocketship launch to the moon.
How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax
Joe Rudy and Chris Russo
In this video, Chris and Joe show the supplies used to construct their UFOs and try to verify the dates and times to prove they, in fact, set up the balloons.
In this video, Chris and Joe let go of the flares in the woods. The first part shows their test launch on January 4, 2009.
In this video, you'll see the reactions of eyewitnesses to the "UFOs", plus various clips from news programs, footage from an "Alien Sale" at a car dealership, and the producers' final thoughts on the experiment
The Reactions - 29:06
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Our Real Blue Dot,
Pragmatism
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Picture series representing the scale and location of the observable universe.
The Observable Universe
Dava Sobel, the best-selling author of "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter", uses her rare gifts for weaving difficult scientific concepts into gripping stories in this lecture about the planets. Sobel's talk explores our place in the universe.
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Astronomy and the Universe
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Science and Tech
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