Magnifying the Universe Embed this infographic on your site! <iframe width="500" height="323" scrolling="no" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Copyright 2012. <a href=" the Universe</a> by <a href=" Sleuth</a>. The above is an interactive infographic. We have also developed a complimentary poster that you can view here: Sizes of the Universe poster. If you're technically inclined, here's a look at the references we used to construct these infographics: Facts About The Universe. Introduction: This interactive infographic from Number Sleuth accurately illustrates the scale of over 100 items within the observable universe ranging from galaxies to insects, nebulae and stars to molecules and atoms. While other sites have tried to magnify the universe, no one else has done so with real photographs and 3D renderings. How To Use: Credits:
The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine Across Our Blogs: Mars Curiosity Rover Moonrise, New Rover, Billion Pixel Marsscape Seems the Mars Curiosity Rover has been a busy little six-wheeled fellow these past few weeks. Here's a roundup of news related to the rover, from top Technorati listed science blogs... From ArsTechnica - Curiosity rover shoots video of Martian moonrise - NASA released a time-lapse video of the Martian moon Phobos, as it ascends into view. From GizMag - Curiosity begins long trek to uncover Red Planet's secrets - the rover has begun a multi-month journey to Mount Sharp, where it will dig in to find signs of past life. During its travel time, it will likely celebrate it's first year anniversary of being on the red planet's surface. From The Huffington Post - Mars Water? From Engadget - NASA makes billion-pixel Mars panorama out of photos captured by Curiosity - NASA stitched together almost 900 images to create a 1.3 billion pixel landscape panorama of the Mars surface, as taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover. image credit: NASA/JPL
Last Week At Science-Based Medicine Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine. NIH funds training in behavioral intervention to slow progression of cancer by improving the immune system (James Coyne) The NIH is funding training in psychoneuroimmunological interventions for cancer, questionable treatments based on flawed studies. This highlights the pseudoscience and heavy-handed politics in this field. Andrew Weil/AAFP Article Rejected by Slate (Harriet Hall) Slate magazine asked Dr. Cyborg Therapeutics (Steven Novella) There are promising new developments in the use of computer controlled robotics for therapeutic purposes.
collect space space history and space artifacts news Long before the first Instagram from space, the first check-in from orbit, or even the first astronaut's tweet, John Glenn sent an email to Bill Clinton. The reply it prompted was the very first email transmitted by a sitting U.S. president — it just happened to be to space. April 18, 2014SpaceX launches science-packed Dragon capsule on space station supply run A commercial cargo spacecraft loaded with more than two tons of scientific experiments and equipment lifted off for the International Space Station on April 18, after more than a month of delays. April 17, 2014John Houbolt, NASA engineer who fought for Apollo moon landing method, dies Were it not for John C. April 14, 2014NASA signs over historic Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX One of NASA's most historic launch pads is now under new management. April 9, 2014Houston, we've got an auction: Apollo 13 astronaut's mementos to be sold April 7, 2014Mercury space capsule shipping overseas for German art exhibition
topical index: critical thinking From Abracadabra to Zombies | View All critical thinking The goal of critical thinking is to arrive at the most reasonable beliefs and take the most reasonable actions. The items below are listed in alphabetical order. 1) several essays I've written on the difficulty of changing minds: Belief Armor, Evaluating Personal Experience, Why Do People Believe in the Palpably Untrue? 2) the following entries: confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, communal reinforcement, motivated reasoning, backfire effect, memory, and perception deception.
The Planets Today : A live view of the solar system Resources CSI collects resources of interest to skeptics from around the web. If you maintain a website or know of one we've missed, feel free to contact us! CSI Fellows Stephen Barrett M.D., psychiatrist, author, consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. Andrew Fraknoi Astronomer, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, Calif. Henri Broch Physicist, Univ. of Nice, France Paul Kurtz Chairman of CSI, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo. Elizabeth Loftus Professor of Psychology, Univ. of Washington. John Paulos Mathematician, author, Temple University. Massimo Polidoro Science writer, author, executive director CICAP, Italy. Richard Dawkins Ethologist and evolutionary biologist, Oxford University Robert Sheaffer Science writer. Richard Wiseman Public Understanding of Psychology. Astrology and Astronomy Astrology & Science Articles covering scientific, historical and philosophical issues, and the results of scientific research. Bad Astronomy Corrects misinformation about astronomy. Creationism UFOs
Solar System Scope (65) Facebook DeepAstronomy.com Universe Grows Like A Brain | Social Networks The universe may grow like a giant brain, according to a new computer simulation. The results, published Nov.16 in the journal Nature's Scientific Reports, suggest that some undiscovered, fundamental laws may govern the growth of systems large and small, from the electrical firing between brain cells and growth of social networks to the expansion of galaxies. "Natural growth dynamics are the same for different real networks, like the Internet or the brain or social networks," said study co-author Dmitri Krioukov, a physicist at the University of California San Diego. The new study suggests a single fundamental law of nature may govern these networks, said physicist Kevin Bassler of the University of Houston, who was not involved in the study. "At first blush they seem to be quite different systems, the question is, is there some kind of controlling laws can describe them?" By raising this question, "their work really makes a pretty important contribution," he said. Similar Networks
Universe Today — Space and astronomy news The Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule stand ready for launch prior to the detection of a helium leak in one of the engines forcing a scrub of the launch attempt on April 14. 2014 – now reset to April 18, 2014. Credit: nasatech.net NASA and SpaceX are marching forward towards a Friday, April 18 liftoff attempt for the Falcon 9 rocket sending a commercial Dragon cargo craft on the company’s third resupply mission to the International Space Station following the scrubbed launch attempt on Monday, April 14 – forced by the discovery of a Helium gas leak inside the rocket during the latter stages of the countdown. An on time blastoff of the upgraded Falcon 9 sets the stage for an Easter Sunday rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon resupply spacecraft at the massive orbiting outpost packed with almost 5000 pounds of science experiments and supplies for the six person crew. However the weather prognosis is rather [click to continue…] The newly-confirmed extrasolar planet has been dubbed Kepler-186f.
Reciprocal Space | Occam's Typewriter The internet was all aflutter last week because Elsevier has sent thousands of take-down notices to Academia.edu, a social networking site where many researchers post and share their published papers. This marks a significant change of tack for Elsevier. Previously the publisher had only been sending a handful of DMCAs a week to Academia.edu (the notices are named after the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act), but now it appears they have decided to get tough. There was the predictable outrage at the manoeuvre though, as several commentators acknowledged, Elsevier is acting entirely legally. It is simply enforcing rights that were handed to it — for no compensation — by the authors who have now been affected by the takedown demands. The company is behaving rationally. The problem, and it is a fundamental one for legacy publishers as a whole, is that what seems reasonable in this market is changing. There is a sense that the company knows the ground is shifting beneath its feet.