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I made a trip to DC to take in some science a while back, and I’m just getting to posting the photos.

Today we take in Mammals from all over the National Zoological Park and the Amazonia exhibit there as well.

Red Panda From my Mammals Photo Set

I see zoos as a sort of bank for preserving species. It’s too monumental a task to prevent short-sighted people from destroying their environments, so we shelter these animals in reserves in anticipation of a time when more enlightened minds take charge.

Arapaima From my Amazonia Photo Set

The Energy Bill managed to pass in the Senate, but only after Democrats removed renewable energy incentives and a repeal of Oil Industry tax-cuts. The Oil Industry put intense pressure on Republicans, arguing that without the tax-cuts, they wouldn’t be able to afford investing in alternative energy strategies. So companies raking in profits the world has never seen in before in history, of which they have invested diddly-squat in alternative energies need Corporate Welfare to maintain the status quo. (See Republicans? This is exactly why we say you just want to help the rich get richer.)

Of course, in the interest of keeping scientific debate dignified, Michael Savage wants us to know that, “90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies.” Thanks Fred, for being the dignified voice of Conservatives everywhere.

NASA has released a few e-mails in Lisa Nowak’s case. I’m really tempted to dress up in drag and do a screaming and crying youtube video begging people to leave this poor woman alone all ready.

Could this be my new favorite charity web site? Check out ChangingThePresent.org, which let’s you choose what you specifically think are the most important problems and the best way to solve them.

Howtoons brings something new to an old school favorite, Laser-Sighted Spitballs, the original first-person shooter!

Bake for a Change has a challenge to build a sustainable Gingerbread House.

Redneck Gingerbread House

George’s Secret Key to the Universe

George is a restless child. His parents are well-meaning, but oppressively strict environmentalists. They are so anti-technology, that they won’t even let George have a computer. One day George’s pet pig gets out, leading him to meet his strange next door neighbor Annie.

Annie’s father, Eric, is a scientist, who invites George to join the Order of Scientific Inquiry for the Good of Humanity, and learn about the amazing Universe surrounding him through the most powerful computer in the world, Cosmos, which can open portals in time and space to anywhere in the charted galaxy.

But first George must take The scientist’s Oath:

I swear to use my scientific knowledge for the good of Humanity. I promise never to harm any person in my search for enlightenment.

I shall be courageous and careful in my quest for greater knowledge about the mysteries that surround us. I shall not use scientific knowledge for my own personal gain or give it to those who seek to destroy the wonderful planet on which we live.

If I break this oath, may the beauty and wonder of the Universe forever remain hidden from me.

Annie and George take a ride on a comet through the solar system, where they find both danger and enlightenment in this extremely well-told tale that has many twists and turns, villains and heroes, all told with scientific accuracy only one of the world’s leading physicists can provide.

Lucy & Stephen Hawking have written a Hard Science Fiction children’s book, and it’s awesome. I highly recommend it.

I managed to pick up a copy autographed by Lucy Hawking at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum a few weeks back:

Lucy Hawking’s Autograph

Available at Amazon

Irony Alert!!! James Watson, who recently said that Africans are genetically inferior has 16 times the African Genes of an Average European, which is common for someone who has an African grandparent.

There are lots and lots of health reasons not to eat meat, namely Cancer, Cancer, and Cancer.

China is softening its stance toward carbon emissions caps, while the European Union threatens to boycott next month’s U.S. Led talks if Bush doesn’t stop being such a stubborn meathead jackass.

…Luckily, members of the Senate and Congress, led by Al Gore, attended the conference as a Shadow U.S. Delegation, in order to assure the world that the Bush Whitehouse does not represent America, citing 700 U.S. cities that have signed up to meet Kyoto Protocol-style carbon cuts and California’s mandating 25% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020.

…and to top it all off Early Data puts 2007 at 7th Warmest Year on Record (Possibly the 5^th), meaning the ten warmest years since 1850 have occurred since 1995.

World Wide Web inventor Sir Timothy Berners-Lee makes some great talking points that we must continue cultivating Web Developers to promote technological and cultural innovation.

Innovations like Make magazine’s awesome Solar Kit Gift Guide, and a Energy-Conserving LED Throwie that only turns on in the dark.

New term for desktop software like Google Earth that runs on numerous servers all over the world: Cloudware.

This is trippy, although the comments indicate most people don’t get it, play these two videos at the same time. One explains creationism using scientific jargon, the other explains evolution using catholic ornamental flavorings (HT Clint).

Intelligent Design VS Evolution Videos

“Chosen One” Archtype

The Science Creative Quarterly has posted an abrieviated version of my Science Fiction VS Fantasy article. The picture to the right didn’t make the cut, neither did 90% of section II for being contradictory, and neither did some of my more juvenile, however insightful observations about Conan not wiping his butt. So maybe I’ll post the full version here one day in the future.

It’s awesome to have my work appear in such an intellectual and ingenious web site regardless.

Roborally

Allow me to introduce you to one of the coolest board games you’ve never heard of. In RoboRally, players steer robots around a factory filled with lasers, pits, and conveyor belts in a race to reach the finish line. Each round, players are dealt a random set of instruction cards, with which they must program their robot with the five moves that will best get them closer to the finish.

I’ve set up a little demonstration of how a typical round plays out. Here are Spinbot (red) and Twonky (purple), racing for the first goal post (green).

Twonky VS Spinbot

Players controlling the robots Spinbot and Twonky are dealt seven random cards, and each pick out five to lay face down in the sequence they think will best serve their goals.

Twonky	Spinbot
1. Move 1	1. Move 1
2. Move 2	2. Rotate Left
3. Move 1	3. Move 1
4. Rotate Right	4. Rotate Left
5. Back Up	5. Move 1

Spinbot’s Program

So Spinbot is programmed to move one onto the conveyor belt (1), which will then move it downscreen one square. Spinbot will then turn right (2) and the cog wheel will rotate it another right turn. Spinbot moves forward one, conveyor belt moves one. Spinbot turns left (4), conveyor belt pulls it to the left, forward one (5) and goal!

Twonky’s Program

Twonky’s going to move one (1), get pulled downscreen one, move two (2), get turned right, move one (3), get pulled left one, turn right (4), get pulled left one, back up one (5) and goal!

So what happens when these programs execute simultaneously?

Programs Execute

How this actually plays Out is Spinbot and Twonky move, they both get pulled downscreen one, Twonky is facing Spinbot, so it shoots Spinbot for a point of damage (the more damage a robot takes, the less programmable it becomes), then Twonky moves forward two, pushing Spinbot into the pit, gets turned right, and is free to carry out the rest of its programming code to reach the goal. Twonky wins.

Now consider this scenario with four factory layouts (in the core set), eight goals, and eight robots running around shooting and pushing each other, with factory layouts confusing the mix and players mis-programming their robots (I am a master at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with a mis-programmed move into a pit right in front of the finish line). It’s easy to see why this game becomes an exercise in out-thinking chaos.

There are also plenty of free resources online too, as fans have made their own boards that people can print out and add to their collection. So not only is the game a great learning experience in spatial problem-solving, computer programming, and forward-thinking, but it has a strong DIY aspect as well.

So enjoy some “computer-driven chaos!”

ISS

dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit. Zoom!!! Ping!!! dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit. Amature Radio Fans Bounce Morse Code off ISS.

An energy bill that would increase fuel standards and removed tax-breaks for the oil industry that are crippling alternative-energy innovation has stalled in the Senate because of a G.O.P. Filibuster. Gee. I bet they’re really glad they didn’t pass the legislative Nuclear Option in 2004, huh? Nice to see Republicans have some prescience, even if it’s only for maintaining political power.

Right-wing bloggers will believe anything, including the urban legend that Hummers are more eco-friendly than hybrids, well they can suck it.

Mammographers miss an average of 2 in 10 positives for breast cancer, but, depending on the doctor, this can be as high as 7 in 10.

We leave DNA everywhere we go, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the DNA you leave behind is “discarded,” and therefore subject to anyone’s use. This still leaves the Ethics of DNA use pretty gray.

Discover Magazine has 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Snow. Like that thing about no two snowflakes being identical? Total B.S. Are you reading this Mrs. Brown, my third grade teacher??? Liar! Liar! Pants on fire! Go stand in the corner and wear the dunce cap! Nyah!!!

w00t! Crowned word of the year! w00t!

Kav has an insider’s view of the £80m UK Physics research shortfall (See also here).

Pregnant women can thank natural selection for evolving backs that Don’t Tip Over.

An online poll successfully named Greenpeace’s whale “Mr. Splashy Pants.” The organization is now asking supporters to save it.

Humpback Whale

This week marks the 10th Anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, and guess which country is the only one not to sign it? I’ll give you a hint, it’s the one in red:

Kyoto Protocol Participation Map

I resisted posting the Human Evolution Speeding Up meme until I read the National Geographic’s coverage, which explained its significance.

Mitt Romney slapped Atheists in the face, when he said, “freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom…freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.” The Economist explores the frustration Atheists feel at their lack of representation in American politics, despite being 30 Million strong.

In arguing that Whaling is their “cultural right,” Japan is arguing that their culture is backwards and barbaric.

Van Baak is a Timehacker who took a few atomic clocks on a hiking trip with his kids in the mountains to demonstrate they lived 22 nanoseconds longer than those on the ground, keeping with Einstein’s Theories about gravity affecting time.

“You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely,” The Story of Stuff explores the way our government and corporations use tactics like planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence to convert us from empowered producers to sheep-like consumers.

The Story of Stuff

howtoons.com Cloud of Legends

I was all about Do It Yourself (DIY) as a kid. I built a crossbow out of tree branches that shot bamboo arrows, a boat out of an innertube and piece of plywood, and was forever tricking my dirt bike out. Inventors Dr. Saul Griffith and Dr. Joost Bonsen and comic artist Nick Dragotta’s new comic book Howtoon’s, The Possibilities are Endless totally takes me back to those good old days.

If you’d like your kids to know the nine different types of saws, six different types of pliers, how to make PVC marshmellow shooters, two-liter bottle rockets, electric motors out of a ordinary office supplies, count to 1023 on their fingers using binary, knot tying, terrariums, turkey-baster flutes, on and on, the possibilities truly are endless in this great big comic, which inspires kids to pursue their own DIY adventures.

But it doesn’t stop there, the the Howtoons website is a veritable perpetual engine of DIY ideas including Mechanical Toys, Wedgie-proof underwear, Virtual Cannon Balls, and Circus Science. These are just some of the topics covered at Howtoons.com.

My LOL Michael Crichton made it to LOL Quacks. : )

Snap Circuits Junior Set

I picked up a Snap Circuits Junior kit online, and it is undeniably fun. This is like an erector set for electronics.

There are 101 experiments listed in the instruction manual, and I managed to run through most of the experiments over two nights of playing with it. I did come up with a few additional experiments of my own, and so will your child.

Project #6: Lamp & Fan in Parallel

Children aren’t limited to what’s in the kit, and the instruction manual encourages using glasses of water, paperclips, and even your own body in experiments conducting electricity. So an inquisitive young mind will certainly try connecting other foreign parts into their designs.

I did experience on problem with the kit, as the “space war” component only worked erratically, and after much troubleshooting with the kids at Earth 383, we finally concluded that it was a dud. Luckily, individual parts may be ordered from the Elenco Website. I will first try to get a free replacement.

Project #92: Water Space War

Although I nicknamed the toy “Baby’s First Breadboard,” this educational toy is for children “8 and Up.” At the same time, the Junior kit is too simple for anyone over the age of 12, and will only leave your teenager hungry for more components.

So if you can afford it, and you think your teenager would really take an shining to the possibilities Electrical Engineering holds in store for the inquisitive mind, I would recommend the Snap circuits Extreme for $85, which includes a solar panel, the ability to build a digital voice recorder, and computer interface applications.

Project #51: Reflection Detector

I did enjoy the Junior model enough that I plan to purchase an Extreme kit as a stepping stone to eventually building my own breadboarding hobby kit.

Parents take note: If I had this toy when I was a kid, I would’ve had a much happier childhood.

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A Word of Warning! The kit is not idiot proof. Your can wire the battery pack right back into itself, creating a short circuit, and quickly burn out some parts (but no fire hazard). Just like I’ve run a copper wire right back into a battery a have it heat up.

Is it hypocritical of Bioartists to grow flesh sculptures and genetically engineer glowing rabbits to protest the Biotech Industries doing the same?

For $130 you can get a DNA Test for your Dog to find out its breed. (HT TGAW)

A dumbo-eared mouse-like mammal that hops like a kangaroo called a long-eared jeroba has been caught on film for the first time.

The pentagon is Closing three NORAD Early-Warning Radars because the ground beneath them is melting and becoming unstable due to Global Warming.

An event 30 years in the making, Voyager Two has reached the “Termination Shock” Boundary of Solar System, where the Sun’s solar wind falters as it competes with the rest of the galaxy.

A group of doctors in Italy have stripped for a calendar to raise funds for the Pascale Foundation, a cancer research institute in Naples. Hubba. Hubba. And I mean that in a purely heterosexual way.

Doctors Strip for Cancer

LED Holiday Tree at Port Discover

LEDs are the future of light, and may soon overtake Compact Fluorescent bulbs as the best choice for efficient home lighting. LEDs don’t have filaments, the part that easily burns out in ordinary bulbs, and they do not product heat like incandescent bulbs.

LEDs also last far longer than standard bulbs, usually 50,000 hours, but sometimes up to 100,000 hours (that’s 30 to 40 years in normal service), compared to Compact Florescent bulbs’ 3,000 to 10,000 hours. Unlike Compact Florescent bulbs, LEDs do not contain mercury, and therefore do not pose as much of an environmental problem in disposal.

The Light Up the World Foundation is using the energy efficient nature of LEDs to bring reading light to Third World Countries all over the world. With the energy it takes to power a single 100-watt Incandescent Bulb, they are lighting up 100 LEDs using the solar, wind, or pedal power.

See Also: Blue Marble’s article Deck the Halls with LEDs

Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!!! That #$%&ing fuel sensor has prevented the shuttle from launching again!!! Now it won’t launch until January, meaning we won’t make the four launches hoped for this year. I’m gonna go pout in the corner after blogging this.

Glucoboy

This is awesome. Glucoboy is a blood glucose meter for kids and is integrated with games to reward kids for maintaining healthy blood-sugar levels. It requires a drop of blood per test, which might scare many kids away, but I think more kids would get over the needle fear.

Microsoft has taken down its online A.I. Santa Claus for talking lewdly to children when badgered too much.

Surprise. Surprise. Saudi Arabian and Oil Industry stooge George Bush still won’t commit to greenhouse gas caps at the conference in Bali. 406 days left and counting.

“Dickens appropriated many of the elements of evolutionary theory into his work,” is a quote from the interesting article, Of Dickens and Darwin, which explores the crossbreeding of ideas between literature and science.

My video game playing days are over, but the trailer for Afrika really piques my interest: