This is not fringe science: One of Hibbing’s pioneering papers on the physiology of ideology was published in none other than the top-tier journal Science in 2008. It found that political partisans on the left and the right differ significantly in their bodily responses to threatening stimuli. For example, startle reflexes after hearing a loud […]
Science!
Posted inScience!
Drones: Not Just For Killing People Anymore
Here’s “the first documented drone flight through ice caves” (Alaska’s, in particular), and while you’ll probably need to turn the cloying music off, the visuals are fantastic. Between stuff like this, NASA’s daily image, and a weekly dose of the new Cosmos, we’re in a pretty good era for science-y eye candy. YOU GUYS ARE […]
Posted in?!?!?
Plane vs. Ocean
It sounds like the search for the missing flight 370 may be shifting west, into the Indian Ocean. So how hard is it to find a Boeing 777 in the Indian Ocean*? Since we humans are so bad at contemplating things at massive scale (the solar system, for example), Rob Cockerham has helpfully translated this […]
Posted inReligion
Which Hillbilly State “Accidentally” Edited “Evolution” Out of Cosmos?
A TV station in one of the following states “accidentally” and verrrry clumsily inserted a news promo into the first episode of Cosmos—right when host Neil deGrasse Tyson was talking about evolution. COINCIDENCE? Probably not. But let’s see if you can guess which state it happened in. The answer is after jump (no peeping!)—and as […]
Posted inFood and Drink
What Portland’s Whole Foods and Kentucky’s Creation Museum Have In Common
I end up going to Whole Foods for lunch maybe once every two or three weeks, because there’s one pretty close to Mercury HQ and their avocado/cucumber rolls are very good and sometimes the salad bar’s worth a shot and then there’s a kind of apple juice I really like there and SHIT I JUST […]
Posted inTech
:D No, wait. :(
The short version: HUMANS HAVE NO NEED FOR HUMAN FACES ANYMORE. When you see a colon and a parentheses, you know exactly what it means. The smiley face has become ubiquitous online, and psychologists have even looked into the ways it’s used in emails. Now, researchers say that not only do we know what the […]
Posted inTV
Here’s Patrick Stewart As a Lunar Rover, You’re Welcome
China’s Jade Rabbit lunar rover is having some problems, and The Daily Show has employed the best possible person to imbue said rover with the melancholy befitting such an occasion. (You can totally skip to about the three-minute mark to avoid the majority of Jon Stewart’s shtick.) The Daily Show Get More: Daily Show Full […]
Posted inReligion
The Science Guy vs. The Creationist Guy
Did you watch? Salon says the Science Guy won. The Daily Beast says the Creationist Guy won. The National Center for Science Education says the Science Guy won. Who do you think won?
Posted inTV
The New Trailer for Cosmos: the Reboot!
While the inclusion of executive producer Seth McFarlane (Family Guy, Ted, part of the reason why the world is a terrible place) makes me want to go screaming into the night, I will hope and pray that his involvement is minuscule and Fox’s reboot of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos is going to rock it. It’s hosted […]
Posted inFood and Drink
OMSI’s Food Luminary Dinners Re-Launch This Week
No offense, but the concept of OMSI as a dining destination is going to take some getting used to. I don’t actually recall having ever eaten at Theory, it’s main culinary option, but it seems to offer cafeteria-style standards like pizza, mac ‘n’ cheese, sandwiches, etc. If it’s any indication, I have partaken of the […]
Posted inEvents
The Cabinet of Wonder Festival
Need a new hobby? Get a load of Portland’s latest movement: The first annual Cabinet of Wonder Festival is inspired by the pre-museum renaissance days when wealthy folks would assemble their own collections of specimens in the fields of “science, nature and archaeology and ethnography,” like taxidermy, minerals, mounted insects, foreign art pieces, etc. These […]
Posted inReligion
Bill Nye the Science Guy to Debate Creation Museum Founder About Evolution
Now more than ever, science needs defending, so thank God for Bill Nye, who’ll take time out of his busy Science Guy schedule to publicly debate Ken Ham, founder of Kentucky’s Creation museum, on the subject of evolution vs. creationism. As Ken Ham writes on his website: Most of you will recall Mr. Nye as […]