Month: October 2007
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Al Gore’s Candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize
Incoherent letters to the editor are expressing outrage over the rumors about Al Gore’s nomination. Damian Thompson brought up the tired old argument that Al Gore produces greenhouse gases by existing (which are preferable to the plague of mind-numbing stupidity Thompson’s columns invoke in his readers). Faux News commentators were practically falling over one another…
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Powers of 10 Day
Today is Powers of 10 Day, 10/10/2007, which is a famous film made by Charles and Ray Eames in 1977 that takes the viewer from a picnic scene, off of Earth, out of the Solar System, galaxy, and into deep space. It’s a film concept that has been often repeated in films like Men in…
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National Metric Week
First a list of resources for teachers. Base number system and culinary complaints aside (Hat tip to flyingsirkus), the English Imperial System is a complicated, verbose, bloated system of measurement that contributes to mathematical and scientific illiteracy in America. Using dual systems, standard for commoners, metric for scientists, cost us a $125 million Mars orbiter…
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Review of “In the Shadow of the Moon”
Got to check out this inspiring documentary last week, just in time for the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1. The film wisely skips the Cold War dimensions of the Space Race, an historical context today’s generation can’t really relate to, and probably shouldn’t bother to considering the U.S.S.R. turned out to be a paper tiger.…
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Ecological Debt Day
Today, October 6th, the world has used up all the natural resources the Earth can produce to sustain us for the year. This means that, until January 1, 2008, we are spending resources from our future and the future of our children: Global Footprint Network today revealed October 6 is Ecological Debt day – the…
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50th Anniversary of Sputnik
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky When I was a toddler, my parents lived in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Cape Canaveral was just 70 miles south of us. From there, we could watch NASA’s rocket launches from our balcony. I can vaguely remember…
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An Age of Science
The Awesome Phylotaxis Seed Portal Seed Magazine, probably the most philosophical of science periodicals, has Announced the Winners for it’s essay contest on the topic of Science Literacy. I do need to take a moment to agree with this complaint about Seed’s failure to acknowledge submissions being pretty rude; with that being said, I did…
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Computer Learning Month
October was once Computer Learning Month, supported by the Computer Learning Foundation between 2000 and 2002. Apparently it’s now defunct, but I’m upset that I missed out on the fun, and, if you haven’t figured this out by now, I’m a sucker for modern-era holidays that serve as a celebration of scientific thought and Enlightenment…