A 40-page House report (prepared by Henry Waxman) finds that the Bush Administration consistently misuses science data to buttress their political goals. But what can you really expect from a President who believes “the jury’s still out” on evolution?
Tag: Science
Napoleons rejoice.
Y’know, I’ve been waiting to hear this type of news for years. Apparently coho salmon and quail males also affect an ironic distance and disaffected world-weariness that make them the apple of females’ eyes.
Failing Sight.
Astronomers and scientists at NASA contemplate the end of Hubble. “One astronomer compared it to the fate of the faithful dog in the movie ‘Old Yeller.’“
Death of the Party.
More good news on the gaming tip – Apparently, gamers aren’t only more spatially aware, they’re social multitaskers, too. All this validation for gamers is going to end up getting me in trouble…the last thing I need right now is another Civ binge.
Spiders and Bots.
Two stories from the Welcome to the Future dept: NASA and the European Space Agency send dueling rovers to Mars in search of life, while scientists perfect gecko tape technology to create real-life “Spiderman” gloves. There’s a few origin stories in here somewhere.
Better Living through Death.
Meant to blog this last week but forgot: FPS games increase brainpower. Experienced players of these games are 30 percent to 50 percent better than nonplayers at taking in everything that happens around them…They identify objects in their peripheral vision, perceiving numerous objects without having to count them, switch attention rapidly and track many items at once. Glad to hear my endless logged hours of Day of Defeat have not gone to waste. And considering I rented Enter the Matrix over the weekend and spent an unhealthy amount of time beating it, I must be operating on a Zen plane right now.
Worth a Thousand Answers.
Big news and bold statements are issuing forth from Greenbelt, MD. “We’ve now laid the cornerstone of a unified cosmic theory…We have not answered all the questions. But we’ve certainly turned a corner.” Thanks to NASA and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), scientists now have visual evidence of the universe’s origins with which to test out all the prevailing cosmological theories. Great news! Not only is any new empirical data in this field a boon to science, but, if ridiculous amounts of new information are gleaned from just this one little probe…well, it won’t help NASA in the manned space department, but the agency could still use a few unmitigated victories these days. On another note, looking at this map brings back some old memories. For my high school science thesis (required at SCGSSM), I used similar COBE DMR data to figure out that early galaxies displayed a fractal distribution. (Hey, it was the early ’90’s – fractals were the rage.) I wonder if this new data bears out that old rinky-dink thesis.
Supastar!
Anthropologists create a new face of Jesus, and, no, he doesn’t look like Ted Nugent. (Via Follow Me Here.)
Mind-Reading Mutts.
Take that, cat lovers. Scientists delve deeper into the inextricable links between humans and dogs. But, if this is true, why can’t I convince Berkeley to stop chewing the comforter?
It’s Alive!
Scientists attempt to create new life, which is fascinating but a bit unnerving, particularly considering how long they spend in this article declaring, “Don’t worry – absolutely, positively nothing will go wrong.” Don’t these people ever go to the movies?