Praise Science

International Space Station Achieves Something of Note, Finally!

2010-10-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today, everyone's favorite orbital doublewide trailer broke the record for longest sustained human presence in space, surpassing the previous record holder, the Russian space station Mir. Poor Mir! Now the only record it holds is for the most "OH SHIT WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!!... oh wait we fixed it... OH GOD SOMETHING ELSE WENT WRONG WE'RE GOING TO DIE AGAIN!!!" moments.

Also, the ISS will have its 10 year Space Anniversary on Halloween oooOOOooooOOoooo SPOOKY! So when you are dressed up as Chilean Miners or Snooki or Twilight or whatever and drinking 100 beers and warding off dead spirits through pagan rituals, you will actually be partying FOR SCIENCE! 10 years without any aliens attacks or space dementia is a pretty good run, but they are so asking for something SyFy to happen by having their anniversary on this day. Please let it be space ghosts!!! Or space zombies would be cool too.

DRUNK SCIENCE

2010-10-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

Suggested to us by the loyal reader, Tyanne, I present to you, Drunk Science!

... and maybe a new idea for a new Praise Science feature...

Earth II: Electric Boogaloo

2010-09-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Screw you Peter Ward, the "Rare-Earth Hypothesis" is looking more and more like a great big pile of steaming crap. Now that Gliese 581g is on the map, it seems highly likely that plenty of earth-like planets are populating the heavens.
While the Kepler team is suffering from severe eye strain trying to analyze all their data, the Kasting brothers have utterly pwned those exoplanet hunting noobs by finding the first earth-like planet in a star's goldilocks zone. Even better, the star is relatively close by, only 20 light years (basically next door). And it is a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the galaxy, with 5 other known planets that all orbit in roughly circular shapes. No crazy elliptical orbits gumming up the works, or hot jupiters laying the smack down on other planet formation. And guess what, another one of those five planets, Gliese 581d is also within the habitable zone.
Gliese 581g is a few times bigger than earth, but almost certainly made of rock. It also sits in the dead center of its parent stars habitable zone, and without an atmospheric greenhouse effect factored in its average temperature is around -10C. Of course, earth's average temp is about the same without an atmosphere, so Gliese 581g could conceivably be sunny and tropical, with 5 star resorts, and beautiful beach condos at low prices.
Gliese 581d is much larger, and is probably more like Uranus or Neptune, but still has the possibility of holding liquid water, though the surfing is most likely not as good as its sister planets.
Let's not understate how much ass this discovery kicks. Gliese 581 is the 117th closest star to earth. So out of 117 stars we have at least 2 confirmed earth like planets, earth being 1. This is a small sample with a large return rate, astronomically speaking. We have also only studied a few of these stars in any detail, about 9 of them. So let's get cracking! I am looking at you Kepler. Oh, and before anyone else asks, yes I did claim the mining rights, and no I do not tolerate claim jumpers. I will defend my space property with planetary rail guns, as is my right as an American. It is in the Constitution people!

An artist's conception shows the inner four planets of the Gliese 581 system and their host star.

Lynette Cook

PRAISE SCIENCE SCOOPS LA TIMES!

2010-09-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

No big deal.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/07/science/la-sci-brain-words-20100908

Double Trouble in Dinosaur Town

2010-09-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

... it's almost a triple meteor!

Now, everyone knows the dinosaurs were wiped out when a meteor crashed into the Yucatan peninsula at Chicxulub with the force of one hundred megatons, which filled the earth's atmosphere with billions of tons of ash, broiled the earth's surface, triggered some of the largest mega-tsunamis ever, ignited world-wide volcanic eruptions, and fractured the planet's crust with countless earthquakes, right? It's simple shit, people.

But now, some scientists in the UK have published evidence suggesting that the dinosaurs were driven to extinction as the result of not one, but TWO meteor impacts! Another meteor impact crater was discovered in Boltysh, Ukraine in 2002. Geologic and fossil remains in the crater show that this meteor impacted a thousand or so years before the Chicxulub meteor and that it created similar extinction-scale conditions. Bummer, dinosaurs. That must have been pretty rough.

Decoding Language from Brain Recordings

2010-09-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Science non-fiction: a badass lab at the, soon to be PAC 12 school, University of Utah just published a paper on discriminating between words from the part of the brain that controls face movement. This could allow locked in patients like the especially stylish one that wrote The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to communicate with the outside world using their thoughts alone. Here's a picture of the recording technology: The researchers tried to decode from the part of the brain that has been attributed with language comprehension, but it wasn't active while the patient was speaking, only while he was listening to the researcher's talk in between sessions:
Then when the patient started talking they could record the brain signals from the face motor area and discriminate between words the patient said based on the brain signals alone. Wow.

Microbes survive space for 553 days.

2010-08-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

Scientists credit their thick cell wall. I think it's their name. Either way, there is a great opportunity here to seed the galaxies with Science's greatest gift! (Well, at least the name).

Evolution

2010-08-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

While this article is certainly interesting, it doesn't explain the eggs we found last week beneath my pregnant Republican cousin's trailer in Appalachia.

Blindsight

2010-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

No longer just an abstract Dungeons and Dragons concept, a recent medical discovery shows that humans do indeed have a subconscious spacial awareness system. In a situation where a subject had working eyes but no functioning visual cortex to actively interpret what they saw(rendering them clinically blind),emotional recognition and the navigation of an obstacle course still proved possible. While "blindsight" should prove to be no surprise to anyone who has thankfully awoken in their bed after an immemorable night of drinking, it does questions our pre-concieved exemptions of taste for the person that woke beside us.

Here is the full article.

http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/seeing_in_the_dark/

Praise Science Episode VI: Return of the Blog

2010-08-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

WE JUST DID A SCIENCE!!!!

Oh my Science, it's been a long time since we've all seen each other here on the ~~World's~~ Universe's most important blog, Praise Science. Why has it been so long since we've posted anything on here? That is a good question, one that a group of the world's most renowned scientists are still struggling to come up with an answer for. Until then, it will remain a mystery (hint: it involves an incredible amount of beer, video games, and apathy). BUT WE'RE BACK NOW SO RELAX.

A lot of you suggested cool Science things for us to write about for our amazing comeback post, but shut up all of you, this thing I'm about to post is way better (j slash k we will totally write about the stuff you sent us, just not right now). So without further ado, please click this CLICKY and watch this awesome thing. MAKE SURE YOU WATCH IT WITH THE SOUND ON AND TURN DOWN/OFF THE SOUND ON THE LEFT CLIP. You will feel the Science so hard that you will probably cry (watch all the way until it finishes for a happy ending)!

This footage is from a camera/contact mic rig attached to the hull of the solid rocket booster (big white thing) used to launch the Space Shuttle during the STS-124 mission. The curvature of the earth that you see in the video is actually from the fisheye lens on the camera and not the natural curve, since the SS ditches its rocket boosters at a relatively low altitude.

p.s. Thanks for all your enthusiasm about bringing PS back from the dead. More posts are coming forthwith, really, we swear...

Who wrote "the moon rules - #1" on my car... with a key...?

2009-10-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

I hope you can see this, NASA, because I'm doing it as hard as I can.

I take back what I said yesterday NASA. We are through forever (?). NASA's LCROSS mission to bomb the Moon to hell (that I got up at 4am to try to watch) was possibly the most boring thing to do with the Moon ever. I couldn't see the impact through my 5" telescope. When I tried to find the footage that NASA promised LCROSS' 'shepherding vehicle' was going to take of the event, all I found was this lame video of the surface of the Moon getting closer and closer and then just freezing. No shaky cam to static and explosion noise or anything. They really need to hire Michael Bay to produce their next Moon bombing. The only good part was at the end when some NASA guy went for a high 5 and got totally denied. Did they even find water like they were trying to? Who knows.

I expect that some better images of the event taken by amateur astronomers are going to surface sometime soon. If they do, I will try to post them here. Until then NASA, don't call me. I'll call you.

NASA to Moon: GO DIE

2009-10-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the Moon's last night on Earth

NASA must have gotten a new PR team or something, because after months (years? decades?) of being boring they just announced something awesome out of the blue: NASA is going to bomb the moon. Yes, they are going to fucking BOMB Earth's moon, The Moon. NASA, I just can't quit you. You may have been dropping the ball pretty hard lately, but then you go and win back my heart by exploding the shit out of something in space.

Anyways, in all seriousness, NASA is going to crash an explosive probe into the the Moon's southern polar region in an attempt to uncover frozen ice that may exist within craters that never are exposed to sunlight. If you want to watch it (and see this post in time, you probably won't because Praise Science has been greatly lacking lately and you have no reason to check it on a daily basis) Gizmodo has some good tips.

NASA says people with 10 inch (or bigger) telescopes will be able to view this happen in real time. How auspicious and timely! I recently have acquired a telescope in a game of chance. It's only a 5" telescope I think, but fuck 'em, I'm going to try to see it anyway, and then report loyally back to this blog. This is supposed to go down at 4:31 AM PST (what time is that on the Moon?????????). I don't know if it is even possible to get up that early, but I've heard about people doing it before, so I am going to try. I'll let you know how it goes.

This is a big fucking horse

2009-09-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Indeed, a big fucking horse. His name is Poe. He's British.

Also, without the UK's Telegraph, my life would be void of awesome animal news.

Goodnight Moon.

2009-09-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Like this, but with a telescope (also with guitars)

Somehow I, of all people, have, through some strange twist of fate, never looked at the Moon through a telescope. Until tonight that is. I bought a telescope (a really nice one) from a thrift store today (for really cheap), and I'm pretty sure it has changed my life. I'm still in a daze right now from the thrill of it all. Stay tuned for some homebrew astrophotography once I figure things out and buy the adaptor for my camera.

Help Me Understand

2009-09-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Someone explain to me why we should bother with the ISS for one second longer and why we should put one more shuttle into orbit. According to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Human Spaceflight we don't have the cash to make it back to the moon, but for $30 Billion more we can probably do it. So why not dump the ISS already and get our moon bound asses into gear and into that cheddah?

A post for the ages

2009-08-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from Praise Science for many a moons. I blame work and lack of English skills. However, this is my triumphant return! And I give you this video, which has more than 258,000 views as of this writing. That's an exclusive for Internet standards.

That's No Moon...

2009-07-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

... it's a space station!

Hey guess what? NASA has tasked the ISS to flyover the United States for the next few weeks, in honor of FREEDOM, so you can finally see that $100 billion orbiting double-wide trailer that everyone loves to hate. I'm pretty sure it will be visible to the naked eye, but if you have a telescope, that is cool too. NASA has a sweet web applet that will tell you the times of flyovers in your area, so fucking get out there and look at it and then comment all about your amazing ISS viewing experiences, right here on PS.

Praise Science Members Unite!

2009-07-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Comfortable couch, but not so practical.

Quick shout out to brainpiece for providing me with a sensory deprivation sleep chamber while I was traveling across the earth at sub-light speeds. Could it have been a precursor to the "First Annual Praise Science Drink-a-Thon: A Night of Boozing with the Stars"?

A Gentlemans' Wager Part II: The Plot Thickens

2009-06-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

European scientists have detected salt particles within giant geysers blasting from Saturn's moon Enceladus. This could be evidence of a subterranean ocean beneath the moon's crust, and could satisfy one of the three "secret ingredients" of life, liquid water. Previous studies have shown that Enceladus already had the two other ingredients, an energy source (tidal warming), and organic chemicals.

Do Saturnian micro-lifeforms exist? Will they start a Twitter account? Will Peter buy Kyle an expensive dinner and spend the rest of his life in enduring shame? THE SUSPENSE!!!!

Evolution Hot

2009-06-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Evolution is fast when it's warm.
DNA mutations more likely, transform.
Abundance of tropical species swarm
Explained in verse form.
Praise Science don't misinform.

Neither does BBC...

Unit FAIL!

2009-06-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

On the Moon, NASA, we use the metric system.

Hey, guess what? NASA is being criticized for its decision to continue using imperial units as its standard system of measurement. O RLY? I can't imagine why. Maybe it's because pretty much every other important scientific agency/company/evil madman's laboratory in the world uses the METRIC SYSTEM.

One of the major issues NASA raises when confronted with this decision is the cost that it would take to convert decades worth of software and systems to a metric format. Is it really that hard to convert feet to meters? OKAY OKAY I guess that is kind of a good point. So, hey government, give NASA more money and we will no longer be the laughing stock of the global scientific community! Also, the Constellation Program, NASA's planned replacement for the doomed Space Shuttle, is being built on top on 30 years worth of imperial-based Shuttle technology and dimensions. Wait, so the replacement for the outdated Shuttle is being designed using outdated Shuttle technology? UGHHH! NASA, try harder!

Spaceport America Groundbreaking Begins and Construction to Be Completed... Never

2009-06-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Artists Conception: Reality Promised to Be a Lot Less Shiny

Spaceport America in the deserts of New Mexico has just begun its groundbreaking ceremony and construction will begin tomorrow. Lets hope that it takes a cue from the lovely airport hubs of our nation and constantly insists on "upgrading" roads and terminals resulting in never ending construction zones, abominable aesthetics, mind-numbingly stupid architectural layouts, and ceaseless jack hammer sounds.

A Gentlemans' Wager

2009-06-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

There can be only one.

bulltrout: I bet you that within 10 years (2019, June 13) there will be no sign of organic life discovered by humans, within a 5 light year radius of our solar system.
Guster: I accept your bet and state that by June 13th, 2019 there will be promising and verifiable signs of organic life within a 5 light year radius of our solar system.

Stakes: A Fine Dining Experience will be procured from the loser of this wager by the winner of this wager.

Additionally the winner of this wager will gain ultimate shit talking mastery over the loser for all eternity.

(Ed note: Any and all contributors/readers of Praise Science may place side wagers on this, the penultimate* of all planetary astro-biology wagers.)

So it shall be written.
So it shall be done.

*(Let us not forget the Great Sagan/Hawking wager of '84)

Palin's Hometown Acquires Giant Battlemech Superiority, No Wolf or Clear Minded Individual is Safe!

2009-06-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Giant battlemechs have been the dream of both Japanimation freaks and cooky DARPA engineers for decades. Now the dream has become a reality. But to the horror of both these esteemed groups and the rest of the civilized world the dream has been realized by an army mechanic working out of his garage in Wasilla, Alaska. This could mean that an army of buffont sporting mega robots could descend from the North to liberate the Joe-sixpacks and hockey moms (really? americans still play hockey?) that the rest of us have kept in submission for half a century. My advice, outfit your various motorcycles, dirt bikes, mopeds, motorized razor scooters, and segways with tow cables to disable the monolithic beasts, because if these Wasillians are smart they will surely make their armor to strong for blasters.

NIF may be SOL

2009-06-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

For those who have not been following the ins and outs of fusion related technologies a behemoth of precision technology is about to go online. The National Ignition Facility is set to fire its 192 precision lasers through thousands of focusing crystals, that may or may not have come from stolen lightsabers. and amplifiers. Though it could take another year (much like a big circular tube in Switzerland I seem to remember going online a while back) to actually achieve fusion capable energies. With a price tag of $3.5 billion it makes you wonder why the department of energy didn't just hire Doc Oc to complete the task in a beat up riverside warehouse, aside from the fact that he is brutally insane. Along with the worlds largest lasers the NIF boasts one of the worlds largest vacuum systems (eat your heart out Martha Stewart) to battle against the arch enemy of optics systems, dust. If successful this system could create a miniscule star in its target chamber as the lasers heat a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel to 100 million degrees fahrenheit at which point it may either collapse and produce fusion energy or end all time and space as we know it (or maybe just fizzle and pop). Lets hope that these scientists are not destroyed by government types resembling Morgan Freeman from Chain Reaction or that they are not actually building a giant battlestation with the power to destroy an entire planet.

All Your Dreams Are Coming True!

2009-06-11T15:27:00.001-07:00

Hooray! Our brand new sister-site has finally launched! PRAISE SPANDEX!!!

More "Xanadu: The Musical," thanks to the miracles of science

2009-06-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

Obviously, the world needs more spandex. Sure, it's synthetic, so it would seem we could just make more if we need it (like printing money!) and also, it's sort of a niche market fabric, mainly produced for Olympic athletes and rave kids (hey, the same markets that drugs are made for!) so I don't blame you for thinking that I am wrong, and that, in fact the world does NOT need more spandex. But science proves me right!

Such as, you know, scientists in my back yard of San Diego, who have apparently genetically engineered e.coli bacteria to excrete the key ingredient in spandex. That's right, if you think spandex looks like shit, you are right! Literally! So anyway, e.coli shit is actually a pretty cool thing, because it reduces the amount of fossil fuels used to manufacture the ingredient 1,4-butanediol. And as I'm sure you know, 1,4-butanediol (BDO) is used to make car parts, pharmaceuticals, and other things that people can buy. Like drugs! FOR THEIR SPANDEX INVOLVING LIFESTYLES!

Praise science, indeed.

News Flash: Monkeys That Bone Like Rabbits Now Glow Like Rabbits.

2009-05-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Pretty cute, except under UV light.

Congratulations to marmosets, the latest species to join mice, rabbits, cats and pigs in the glowing animal clan. These animals all have a protein (GFP, first found in bioluminescent jellyfish) attached to most every other protein in their body, which gives them an eerie neon-green glow under UV light. The green glow helps scientists visualize how complex biological systems work in live animals. Now scientists are one step closer to doing just that in higher primates. Pretty cool if you're interested in llearning about human diseases in nonhuman animals, but some people are worried. Every popular media article I've read on the monkeys features the ethical issue of experimenting with the genetics of our close ancestors. So, what do you think? Is altering inherited DNA in monkeys a step too far towards genetically engineering humans?

Science Humor: Getting Shit Done.

2009-05-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Some Ol' Nonsense

2009-05-20T12:16:00.001-07:00

Scientists got to get paid too. The lab bench is hard knaamean and scientists gotta hustle to stack papa. word up. Listen up young scientists: The best way to get paid in science: imbue your findings with unwarranted, myth-fortified meaning and promote the shit out of them. Promotional website; believe dat! History channel documentary; true. Dr. Jorn Hurum be blowing up fo sho after this one; chrome dubs on the benzo; on the real. For everyon else, put your skully on and realize that the idea of a missing link is not only not science, due to it's inability to be disproven, but that gross anatomical similarities in a single animal shouldn't even come close to satisfying the conditions for a transitional species. Enjoy your ignorace bitches.

Face Off: still not real.

2009-05-07T11:07:00.001-07:00

Remember that cool nineties movie where Nicholas Cage is a badass, and John Travolta's a sissy, but gets to play a badass the whole movie, due to a facial transplant in a (not so) clever exchange of protagonist and antagonist? Well, it turns out we actually have the technology and surgical skill to "Face/Off" people. The first face transplant in the US has been performed on an Ohio woman who got shot in the face with a shotgun. She can now breath again, and lots of people are saying she looks beautiful. I think the first transplant patient looks better, but paper bag comments aside, It's cool. This surgery, however, did not employ the super hip face removal technology in Face/Off, enabling a criminal to transplant a face in a matter of minutes, but instead took 22 hours and weeks of recovery. Previous face transplants have involved fierce dogs, bear attacks and tumors.

The guy who got the first hand transplant had it removed, because he felt like he had a dead guy's hand on his arm. I hope Connie's new face suits her.

Swine Flu Festival 2009 is Done (?)

2009-05-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

DAMN YOU MATT LAUER, I'LL CHASE YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!

Hey, remember when there was a deadly global pandemic/snoutbreak of H1N1 Swine AIDS and then everyone died, but then they actually didn't? No? That's okay, we don't either. It sure is hard to pay attention to or care about anything for longer than 30 seconds these days, what, with all the Twitters and 24 hour news cycles and such grinding your consciousness to a numb pulp. Anyways on to the next thing, right? Let's see, today's top headline on CNN is, I'm not even joking, "Obama Administration Jumps into Twitterverse". Damn it all, it's like we don't even have to try anymore with the Twitter jokes.

All jokes aside, there are still active cases of Swine Flu, and as with any virus, shit could still get real at any time. As of today, there only have been 642 documented cases and 2 deaths in the U.S. You can get a detailed breakdown of that info here, at the CDC's H1N1 Myspace page. The WHO reports that 23 countries across the world have reported 1893 cases. 942 of those cases were in Mexico, including 29 deaths. That sucks, Mexico! LAY OFF THE CARNITAS, MEXICAN BROS! That stuff sure is good, though...

Anyways, I guess PS Swine Flu coverage is basically done, since it's the most boring pandemic EVER. If anything H1N1-related develops though, check our Twitter first for the most up to date Swine-News. HA PSYCH WE DON'T DO THAT. But really, we will probably blog about it.

Mars: Hoaxes and a rare case of NASA not blowing it.

2009-05-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

My grandma sent me an email with an attached powerpoint: "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!" There is an email circulating claiming that "This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on  Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be  certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth  in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as  60,000 years before it happens again.   The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in  the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide."

This was all true in 2003 and I'm pissed I missed it. Thanks for the tease grandma.

Mars is, however, closer than ever in another way: The mars rovers are kicking ass. Opportunity, the second rover on mars, has gone 16 kilometers, about an order of magnitude further than it was ever expected to go. The plan is to send it another 16 kilometers to a big crater. Good job little guy! Thanks to some serendipitous winds that have cleared the rovers' solar panels, the rovers have done better than ever. Keep an eye on the rovers' progress.    

Swine Flu Spawns Social Gesture With Dumbest Name Ever

2009-05-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the New World Order

According to CNN, your #1 source for retarded H1N1 (pronounced 'hiney') Swine Flu news, nobody in the world is kissing or high-fiving or terrorist-fist-jabbing anymore because, duh, Swine Flu. America's favorite doctor/fake Surgeon General Sanjay Gupta recommends that if you really want to show physical affection to people during this infernal crisis, you should do an 'El-Bump' which is probably short for 'elbow bump' (?), and is also a Mexican hymn for those who have died of Swine Flu. CNN then immediately provides you with a link to Sanjay's Twitter, because we all know CNN has a huge boner for Twitter, and also wants to encourage the spread of misinformation about the 'snoutbreak' of Swine Flu. HMMM we are beginning to see a trend here: CNN + Twitter = Swine Flu!

Murs is a scientist too!

2009-04-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Twitter Will Kill You With Swine Flu

2009-04-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

APORKALYPSE NOW!

What is Twitter? I don't know from personal experience, but I've heard that it is something on the Internet where people post random things and then make random comments about other people's random things. And then they all pleasure each other anally. Apparently, since the "outbreak" of "Swine Flu" (otherwise known as BACON LUNG), people have been just cold freakin' out on Twitter about it and randomly stringing together words that may or may not form complete sentences. The result is a lot of misinformation about Swine Flu emanating from Twitter, not unlike the stink lines that come out of poop in cartoons. So basically, if you get Swine Flu, it's because Twitter, the end. This is certainly not a feather in the cap of the Internet's darling micro-blogging site. It is, however, a feather in the cap of this macro-blog, because - ummmm - Twitter is stupid?

Here is Another Informative Swine Flu Website:

2009-04-30T08:45:00.001-07:00

http://doihaveswineflu.org/

OH SHIT PS PASSES 10,000 UNIQUE VIEWS

2009-04-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

We work hard for those page views, so hard for those page views...

LOL WUT? When we weren't paying attention (between 4PM and 11PM today) Praise Science passed 10,000 unique page views. Although the awesomeness of all PS contributors and all PS articles and all PS readers is undeniable, we have to admit that many of these page views came from random Google searches. But, if we weren't so awesome to begin with, then Google wouldn't have ranked us so high in all related searches to begin with, right?

The "It's Natural" Argument

2009-04-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone familiar with the late night ads for penis engorging or age reducing herbal supplements is also familiar with the argument that objects coming from nature are in all cases beneficial to us Humans. But let's look at some things that come from nature:

Sharp Teeth: Made by Nature

Found in a Forest near you!

I'm now on the DHS blacklist for googling anthrax

Seriously people, don't listen to Rep. Bachmann. Nature is trying to kill you. At all times. Watch out.

Should You Be Worried About Swine Flu?

2009-04-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

Is this guy worried about Swine Flu? Not so much.

This website will answer this burning question for you: http://shouldibeworriedaboutswineflu.com/

Twitter to Facebook Swine Flu transmission confirmed

2009-04-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

I lol'd.

Your Praise Science Swine Flu Coverage Begins Now.

2009-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

Alt LOLCaption: I CAN HAZ PANDEMIC???

As most of you probably now, the world now has to worry about human transmissible Swine Flu along with its countless other awesome problems. It was suggested to us, by loyal reader Betsy, that Praise Science should have an on going special feature covering interesting, relevant, a funny news regarding Swine Flu and its funny name. This is an awesome idea Betsy. SWINE FLU COVERAGE STARTS NOW! So any of you contributors lurking out there, look for PS worthy news on SWINE FLU and make sure to include the SWINE FLU tag. Also, you readers, do the same and email us at praisescience@gmail.com if you come across anything good.

Earth Day Followup...

2009-04-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Comedy Central's Indecision Forever blog posted this funny (and relevant) thing entitled "Top Five Dumbest Pieces of Internet Pollution this Earth Day". Here is the best part:

Natch.

Conclusion: We need an Internet Earth Day too, where idiots and mouth-breathers are BANNED FOREVER from not only the Internet, but their computers, and summarily given a courtesy card. Hopefully, this would this help reduce the amount of soul-destroying bullshit (streaming in mainly from wing-nut message boards and comment pages) that is clogging up the Tubes. It will also single-handedly solve the global climate/energy crisis by reducing global computer usage by 95% (read: 95% of the people using the Internet are retards/Internet polluters). All problems solved, forever. BAN HAMMER FTW.

Happy Belated Birthday Hubbel

2009-04-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

The lovable billion dollar telescope celebrated its 19th birthday on Friday. Years before you transfered megabytes of info from your bluetooth enabled phone, the Hubbel was transferring terabytes of info a year from SPACE. It has traveled more than 2.8 billion miles while circling the earth. And it is one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built: scientists have published over 7,500 scientific papers from Hubbel data. Praise science. It outlasted GeoCities by 4 years and its still going strong. Here's to another 19 years and continued enjoyment at the planetarium.

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

2009-04-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

The thing about science is, it's useful for knowing things and proving things and stuff like that. Facts. Science is full of 'em. BUT RANDOMLY SAYING THINGS DOESN'T MAKE IT SCIENCE. Even if you use a fancy bar graph.

You know the one about the crazy old cat lady? Like if you don't do what girls are supposed to do and get married and have a bunch of babies, you'll end up with a bunch of cats with elaborate names, smelling like cat piss and eating microwaved dinners and watching like, Matlock?

Fast Cities came up with a hypothesis, which was something like "the cat friendliest US cities will also be the places where cat ladies dwell." They test it by comparing some data from the US Census and some other wierd ranking of "Cat Friendliest Cities" made by the "CATalyst Council." They are able to reach this scientific conclusion: "Not even close!" How do they reach this conclusion? Because more single men than single women live in these "cat friendliest" cities.

And they include a graph:

So, that means literally nothing. It is like saying sometimes it rains and also I like hamburgers. There are so many variables in this. How many cats do these single men own? How many cats do the single ladies own? Has anyone put a ring on it? Are these men moving to Tampa because they hear they treat cats real nice there? Are they in pursuit of crazy cat ladies, thus throwing off the data? Could we possibly get a psychologist in on this team of geniuses, to determine the level of crazy?

GeoCities: An Ode to Thee

2009-04-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

My homepage from 1996-1998

10 years ago (that's 1999 people, had you even heard of the Internet then? If anything defines the dotcom boom, it is this), Yahoo bought GeoCities for over 4 BILLION DOLLARS. This is fucking insane. I never realized this. Now Yahoo has announced that it is shutting down GeoCities for good, sometime later this year.

I was going to write something funny and nostalgic about GeoCities, and how in retrospect it really sucked balls but how like half of my life on the Internet was characterized by using library computers to do WebCrawler and Lycos searches for Super Nintendo cheat codes and Star Wars trivia that yielded poorly formatted GeoCities pages. Instead, I think it's appropriate to reflect on actually how fucking badass GeoCities was for being 2.0 before anyone else ever thought of that shit. It's true. Although GeoCities was/is home to 95% of the Internet's worst HTML, it also is one of the first websites that allowed users to easily create and share their own content with other people on the web. If that concept sounds familiar, it is because EVERYTHING YOU DO ON THE INTERNET TODAY IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHAT PEOPLE ON GEOCITIES WERE DOING 15 YEARS AGO. Minus the scrolling text marquees and .gifs, that is. Unless you are still using MySpace. For Science's sake, PS is Web 2.0 as it gets. Thank Science for GeoCities!

In any event, I guess it's time to migrate my My Little Pony fansite from GeoCities to AngelFire. I hear that is the new hot ish...

p.s. I wonder if Yahoo was ever able to recover the $4bill they sank into GeoCities? HAHA WE DOUBT IT. It may have been ahead of its time in some ways, but as far as dolla dolla bills go, the 21st century has got the 1990s beat. Can you say MONETIZATION???

This one goes out to a very special planet...

2009-04-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

"Earth (my favorite planet)" by woodleywonderworks

Earth! What's up! It's your day!

Yesterday, not so much. Sorry about that, but it's hard to aim for a garbage can when I'm speeding down the freeway in my Hummer. Especially since I can't roll down the windows and waste the air-conditioning that I have to blast! to the max! since it's getting hotter and hotter every year. Ha ha, global warming.

Anyway, I promise not to throw my styrofoam out the window, or my cigarettes, or the gasoline tanks that take up precious room in my awesome Hummer. Today is about you! It's the day to recycle! Even toilet paper! Literally, the sky's the limit, according to chemists. No hairspray in an aerosol can for me!

Actually, I figured out that while my carbon footprint is over twice the average in the world, for an American, I'm doing pretty good! My carbon emissions level is half the level of the average American, in fact! Find out yours, and what you can do to lower it, by using the Carbon Footprint Calculator.

Science, Protect Stephen Hawking!

2009-04-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Stephen Hawking is in the hospital and is reportedly very ill :( :( :( This is totally shitty news. Keep this true Knight of Science in your thoughts. We hope he has a quick and complete recovery!

Robot Penguins

2009-04-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I like robots. Their stiff, mechanical movements evoke nostalgia for the robots of Sci-Fi lore, and hope for the future were robots will clean my entire home, instead of just vacuuming the carpet. However, there is a strong Uncanny Valley effect with robots that replace rigidity with life-like fluid movements. The FEMA Big Dog video wherein they kick to robot, and it stumbles over itself before finding balance is one example. These new autonomous swimming penguin robots create the same weird feeling that soon enough, these robots will grow tired of being kicked, poked, and prodded, and just subjugate the entire Human Race.

March of the Bionic Penguins (Genre: Horror)

God Banned From Facebook for Violating TOA

2009-04-18T23:04:00.001-07:00

TROLLZ == BANNED!!!!1

Pirates Are Suddenly News Again to People That Aren't 10 Years Old

2009-04-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

Artist's rendition of pirate life in Somalia

Piracy is a fad that is generally considered to have gone out of style in the late 1700s and early 1800s when those that were being pirated got wise and co-opted the strategies of pirates into something that has become known as Capitalist-Democracy.

If you happen to frequent web pages such as www.newyorktimes.com or www.bbc.com or www.cnn.com or even crap like www.drudgereport.com you are more than likely aware that recently it has become trendy to lose 80 pounds and buy a zodiac boat and reenact the popular series of modern pirate documentary movies produced by America's #1 racist/fascist movie studio. Normally we wouldn't talk about crap like this on PS, but it falls into two relevant categories: the on-going Pirate vs. Ninja vs. Robot struggle (Robots FTW, duh, watch Terminator 2), as well as something that Robert Ballard might get his hands into. Anyways, you are probably being lied to about what is really going regarding this latter-day spate of Piracy. Read this to learn more.

In other pirate related news, four individuals linked to the very influential Bittorrent hosting site (aka Internet file sharing) The Pirate Bay (the site is still online. The URL is www.thepiratebay.org. You should go to it, and just, like, go crazy) have been sentenced to a year in prison in addition to significant fines. This is IRONIC because, like, Vikings from Sweden and Norway were the O.G. pirates, back in the day. This is the latest lame strategy launched by major recording studios and media companies in an attempt to remain relevant. All four of them plan to appeal, and since the trial is taking place in Sweden, they will probably be acquitted. We certainly hope that is what happens.

PRAISE SCIENCE!

2009-04-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Oh; Praise Science!

On this date, one year ago, this web-log came into existence! What began so long ago as a childish dialogue about Science-related topics over the Internet between friends has since evolved into an even greater childish dialogue about Science-related topics over the Internet between friends! But seriously, and I hope I speak on behalf of all other contributors, Praise Science has been, and continues to be, a huge labor of love for us. I am truly stoked that this silly blog has lasted this long with such great feedback and widespread contribution from all of you!

Anyways, let's get down to business. Since this blog clawed its way out of the primordial ooze and into the evolutionary cesspool known as the Internet , shit's been crazy, as far as Science goes. Tons of (non)relevant stuff has happened. Let's make a list:

Praise Science answered practically every Science-related question anyone has ever had.
NASA did awesome shit. And also sucked pretty hard.
The Large Hadron Collider, arguably the greatest invention ever created by Man, came online. Then it broke.
Tons of fools got courtesy cards, for not being SMRT.
Great fun was had, via gChat
And, uh, basically, everything. Just read the blog, and hit that 'Older Posts' button for some srs Science and lulz.

So, thanks again for a great year, all of you friends, enemies, and neutral parties. May this coming year be even more Scientific and fucking awesome for us all!

Oh, you know how girls are with sparkles

2009-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

"Decorative Sparkle" by Abby Lanes

Praise science for setting me straight. I read Twilight (for, uh, research), and I was under the impression that Vampires are beautiful and cannot go into the sun because their skin is glittery and it will sparkle too much. But you know what? That is not true.

Turns out, Vampires are dudes with rabies, and they can't go in the sun because it will give them bleeding gums and seizures. That is straight scientific fact. Wanna know what else happens to people with rabies (aka Vampires)? They become insomniacs, and also the blood-spitting seizures happen when they look into mirrors (naturally) and smell strong scents like garlic. And like, wanna know what else? Vampires started showing up (in legends) at the same time as rabies outbreaks.

Special thanks to Stephanie Meyer and Juan Gomez-Alonso, the neurologist who realized the scientific truth in 1998. Mad props, y'all, and happy one year birthday, Praise Science!

Pinnacle of Coziness Technology Achieved, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Snuggie

2009-04-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Also good for posing in, apparently.

You have probably heard of the Snuggie, especially if you are really into Harry Potter or belong to a cult.

This shitty piece of cloth with a hood and holes in it has been dubbed the 'raiment of the zeitgeist' (it's not, btw), and its creation and marketing represent one of the first stages in a growing global crisis known as the "Cold War of Comfort". Other competing blanket-garments advanced onto the stage and the resulting "Coziness Gap" between competitors destabilized the world to the brink of Global Thermo-Nuclear Blanket War, leaving millions living under a shadow of fear, uncertainty, and very comfortable lounge-wear.

As the world teetered on the edge of a comfort apocalypse, some smart fucking dudes went ahead and played their trump card: Enter the Lippi Selk Bag, the ultimate in comfort atire. I AM BECOME COMFORT, DESTROYER OF WORLDS! We are all doomed.

Oh, Here is Some News:

2009-04-15T15:06:00.001-07:00

FUCK YEAH.

On Saturday April 18th, 2009, the Praise Science web-log turns one years old. That is craziness. Things have admittedly been slower in the past 6 months than they were out of the chute, but it's cool. We are still here, Praising the shit out of Science. So expect some sort of super-rad-one-year-commemorative-retrospective-feature(tte)/Children's Treasury of PS History. Also, if anyone has any burning Science-related questions they must have anwers to, email that shit into praisescience@gmail.com BEFORE SATURDAY, and Praise Science will make all of your 1 year birthday wishes come true.

Praise and Follow Science!

2009-04-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

This could be you...

Hey, look over there, on the side of the page; there is a new thing! Use it, and become not only a true Praiser of Science, but also a follower of this blog. What does this 'following' mean, you ask? I don't really know. Something about a cloud and 'Web 2.0' and collaboration. Also it will make me happy. So show your support and pride for this blog and FOLLOW IT NOW!

Science Fair winner

2009-04-14T16:03:00.001-07:00

It looks like this child won some type of award for her project. Not only for providing excellent information on AIDS, but also including all components of the traditional scientific process: hypothesis, materials, procedure, and conclusion.

Existence of Twitter Finally Justified

2009-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Okay poop is coming out.

Here is one of the greatest questions of our time: WHY DOES TWITTER EVEN FUCKING EXIST???!??!? A man, who must be a great philosopher or something, has come up with the answer to this burning question. He has programmed his office chair to "tweet" to a "Twitter" "page" every time he farts while sitting on it. Here is a link to said Twitter page and also to a technical explanation of how this latter day renaissance man hath achieved such enlightenment. There haven't been any updates in 19 hours as of this posting. We assume this is because the creator of this device achieved Nirvana and transcended this plane of existence so he can no longer provide input to the chair.

Bacterial Communication

2009-04-11T02:24:00.000-07:00

The TED talk series has been highlighted on this blog before, but I would like to point out one specific talk on the ability of bacteria to communicate with each other. The speaker, Bonnie Bassler, speaks at a frantic pace for twenty minutes straight, so be prepared to dedicate some time to the endeavor. However, it left me quite amazed, so I would recommend the full viewing.

Bonnie Bassler: Discovering bacteria's amazing communication system

Controlling Lightning

2009-04-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Would you like to trigger lightning strikes?

Would you like to be able to choose where the bolt strikes?

Well, all you evil scientists are in luck. Scientists have developed a method that may be able to induce lighting, and best of all it involves lasers.

Full Story

Goodbye Encarta

2009-03-31T23:26:00.001-07:00

You've had a good run, but Microsoft is finally discontinuing the encarta franchise later this year: http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2328

My aging bones remember sitting in front of the computer perusing encarta to short-cut on my research paper about the Titanic. Now I can go to wikipedia and copy and paste a lot more information. Did you know that the Titanic housed both a Turkish bath and a squash court?

Goodbye Encarta, you have served us well.

Undersea Volcano Erupts

2009-03-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Boston Globe's Big Picture Series has an impressive collection of shots detailing the eruption of an underwater volcano in the South Pacific. If you have any interest in thing that go boom, and I know you do, I would recommend checking out the full gallery.

Teenage Dinosaurs hang out in swaps, cause trouble, expirement with drugs, get stuck in mud.

2009-03-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Paleontologists have recently discovered a group of teenage (juvenile, not literally teenage) Sinornithomimus dongi in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The find presents a new understanding of thunder lizard social dynamics. The adolescents stuck together and got into trouble, while the parents raised the young. Sounds vaguely familiar.

Approximation of my bedroom's appearance circa 1989

Happy Pi Day Dudes!

2009-03-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Sounds about right.

March 14th is Pi Day (3-14, get it?) If you happen to see this today, make sure to do something nerdy in honor of everyone's favorite irrational number. If you would like to know more, here is a website with lots of interesting Pi-related features such as "What do you like about Pi?" and "Pi raps on Youtube". Huh wait. Pi Diddy? lulz.

Machines Restoring Humanity

2009-03-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

Check out this 60 minutes video of developments in neural prostheses.

An Ode to Space Haters

2009-02-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

Da Moon Rulez #1

"Probably the only thing more irritating than shits that necessitate multiple wiping trips are people who hate space." Nary a truer word hath been spake. We here at PS do our best to convince readers of the virtues of Space and scorn the faithless, but it takes a true wordsmith to deliver sort of artful and scathing critique of anti-Space culture that Vice Magazine has delivered here. Homie Darren pointed this out to us. Enjoy!

MMMMM Protein

2009-02-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

NOMZ IN SPACE!

One of the problems with sending people into Space is feeding them, especially over prolonged periods of time. The Chinese, historically known for their awesome problem-solving skills (smelting pig iron in backyards 'stimulate' the economy, sending peasants off to starve on the frontier to 'avoid' famine, 'defeating' capitalism by allowing capitalism, etc.) have proposed an interesting solution to this issue: self-sustaining on-board dietary silkworm farms. Despite the lulz this idea may inspire, it kinda makes sense assuming you can get astronauts to eat them; they breed quickly, produce little waste, and are super high in protein. Some people in China actually consider them a delicacy. For the record, I would like to state that I will never consider any type of bug a delicacy. Sorry China, your food is weird. But if in order to go to space, I had to eat silkworms, I probably would.

"ViddyHo" attack

2009-02-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

There's a deady worm passing through gChat; I was attacked this afternoon! I survived by not doing anything. Don't give them your gmail information!

A phishing attack is quickly spreading through instant-messaging sessions, including Google Chat, and directing victims to a Web site called “ViddyHo.”

A link, shortened through TinyURL, directs message recipients to a ViddyHo login page. That page instructs them to enter their Google account information, which is then used to break into the victim’s account and send the link to other users in the victim’s address book or buddy list.

That’s particularly risky in the case of Google, he said, since a spammer with access to a victim’s GChat account might use it to tap his or her Gmail, Blogger or other Google accounts.

UPDATE: Kevin Gilbertson, TinyURL’s founder, said that the site is now blocking any TinyURLs from being created that point to the site.

Readers, have you been spammed by these phishing attacks yet? Have you seen them anywhere else?

via http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/24/viddyho-attack-spreads-through-chat-sessions/

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY

2009-02-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

one comet, two tails, one night left. Look up into the sky, Comet Lulin may never pass by the earth again. If you are reading PS from your unibomber cabin in the woods, you can see it with the naked eye, otherwise you may need some binoculars or an amateur telescope. Let me know in the comments if you're able to see it.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090223-green-comet-lulin.html

Hibernating Animals Face Less Extinction Risk

2009-02-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

Investigative reporting from my Gmail "Web Clips" bar uncovered this article from Discovery News. Scientists found that of the mammals around today, those that hibernate are less likely to be in danger of extinction. Makes sense. Captain Obvious, do you concur?

Happy 1234567890 Day!

2009-02-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

Jason uses UNIX.

"Happy [Science-related-topic] Day" posts seem to be a recurring theme on PS lately, huh? You better get used to it, because every day is Science-related in some way! Today is kind of a big deal, because in addition to it being Friday the 13th, it is also 1234567890. Or at least it is if you are a UNIX based computing system or a giant fucking nerd. According to the UNIX system of reckoning time and date, today at 3:31:30 PM, UNIX time will read, yes that's right, 1234567890! Cool, I guess? If you care, here is a link explaining how to express time as a numeric string, a la UNIX time.

Oh also, yesterday also happened to be Abe Lincoln's 200th bday. Cool dudes' birthdays abound!

Happy Darwin Day!

2009-02-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

200 years ago, today, Charles Darwin was born. Praise him, and Science!!! I'm not going to say anymore about this man, because if you don't already know who he is/what he did, you are dumb.

Two Papers: Yikes!

2009-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Orphan Nuclear Receptor REV-ERBalpha Controls Circadian Transcription within the Positive Limb of the Mammalian Circadian Oscillator

Ribosomal S6 Kinase Cooperates with Casein Kinase 2 to Modulate the Drosophila Circadian Molecular Oscillator

Good Riddance!

2009-01-30T08:57:00.001-08:00

Ask Praise Science: The Vacuum of Space, the Human Body, and You!

2009-01-27T23:50:00.000-08:00

This is the #3 Google image result for the search term 'total recall'. I was sure it would be the first.

1 trillion Internet years ago (Ed. note: in late November), the ever inquisitive Stuart sent Praise Science the following email:

Dear Science, Praise,

Recently I have re-watched the movie SUNSHINE. The concept of traveling to the sun in a spaceship still seems to ridiculous to me, but it's a very well-done sci-fi thriller with accurate Science in it. I suggest you see it.

However, there is one part that bugs me and I wish for everyone at Praise Science to clarify. In the movie there is a scene where two men are outside the ship for a brief moment without suits. Long story short, one doesn't make it back and his body freezes up like the T1000 (space being around -273 degrees Centigrade). Once he crosses the ship's sunshield threshold, his body incinerates within 1 second. I trust that is accurate.

However, I was always under the impression that the human body is shaped under constant atmospheric pressure on the outside, and once exposed to the vacuum of space, will immediately explode or inflate or something along those lines. Therefore, I find the plausibility of a human surviving in space without a suit for longer than .01 seconds highly unlikely.

Please do your best to clarify whether the exploding human body is just another Hollywood rumor or whether the Science of SUNSHINE is inaccurate. I'll sleep better.

Thank you,

Stu Haury

SORRY FOR MAKING YOU LOSE SLEEP STUART! Good question. What young Science-ling hasn't pondered this very scenario while lying awake at night? Indeed, this very question was asked of NASA in 1997, ten whole years before such modern and thoughtful Science-fiction films as Sunshine ever saw the light of day (lulz, was the Internet even real in 1997??). But don't read that FAQ yet, because here is our sexy PS answer:

No, Stu. Your body won't explode in a vacuum. If you really want to jump out the airlock without a suit, you probably have at least 30 seconds to a minute before any "serious" injury occurs. The human body (and its interior systems) has a certain equilibrium between porousness and airtight-ness that allows pressure to escape slowly enough to avoid violent decompression using the regular processes of respiration. Just make sure to breathe out slowly. However, things might get complicated after that short period of time because you can't hold your breath. Retention of oxygen in the lungs during rapid decompression (aka atmosphere to a vacuum, deep water to shallow water, high altitude to low altitude, etc), will lead to "the bends", or decompression sickness (then you die). Additionally, if exposed to the Sun, you will enjoy the pleasant sensation of massive sunburns while simultaneously experiencing rapid frostbite to any exposed skin. So basically, if you want to launch your body into space, do it just like they did it in Sunshine. Here is a clip of the exact scene in question. The movie gets it right on. But don't be that guy. You know, the one who fucked up and is now floating out into the void.

Hope that answers your question Stu. Sorry for lagging. Hopefully you haven't had blast out of an airlock or anything since you asked the question. Also, see Sunshine if you haven't already. It totally rules ass.

Science Forcast: Mostly Sunny

2009-01-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

With a chance of "making it rain on bitches."

Good news science fans. Geron Corporation has just received FDA approval to start a clinical trial of stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury. All indications are that the next four years should be good for science.

Internets, I Haz Them!

2009-01-22T08:56:00.001-08:00

It's very simple.

Dudes, I finally bit the bullet and got a good/real/non-pirated Internet connection at home. What does this mean for you, dear reader? It means that I no longer have an excuse to lag on bringing you the hot, sexy, steaming Science-related blogging that you crave (well after this weekend at least when I pick up a wireless router). I hope you are as excited as I am about this.

Scientific explanation please...

2009-01-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

If anyone can shed some light on why this is so funny, it'd be greatly appreciated. My mind is completely bloggled.

KHAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!

2009-01-15T12:31:00.000-08:00

.... is dead. Ricardo Montalban, famous for playing the ever sound-biteable Kahn in Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn, passed away at the age of 88 on 1/14/09. R.I.P. dude, and may flights of mini William Shatners sing thee to thy rest. And by sing, I mean scream your name really loudly over and over again.

2008 Science Grab-Bag!!! (i.e. a bunch of stuff from last year that I never got around to posting)

2009-01-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Mr. Grab Bag has something special for everybody...

Hello Dear Readers. As you may well know, if you frequent this fine weblog, last year was full of tons of rad Science-related stuff, such as the awesomeness known as the Large Hadron Collider (and its subsequent suckage), the discovery of water on Mars, Robert Ballard being a total badass, and of course, the founding of the most influential Science-Enthusiast blog EVAR, PRAISE SCIENCE!!!!! But sadly, due to ~~laziness and booze~~ events beyond our control, many PS-worthy stories fell through the cracks and we couldn't get to them before the year came to an end. So, without further ado, I present to you a prime selection from the Island of Misfit 2008 Science Stories:

Kinetic Fireball Incendiary Weapons: Basically, some sort of bouncy-rubber-fireball-nightmare-projectile straight out of the mouth of some alien in a Doom/Quake/Contra video game. The Pentagon designed this horrifying, bouncy, burninating weapon to eliminate WMDs without the risk of ejecting harmful materials into the atmosphere by ricocheting around inside reinforced bunkers and incinerating everything nearby at a temperature of 1000 degrees F. Frankly, this sort of thing just scares my shit out.
Single Person Rocket Pods: A Danish company is working towards "developing a series of suborbital space vehicles - designed to pave the way for manned space flight on a micro size spacecraft." Here is what the entire crew cabin of said spacecraft looks like:

Hope you aren't claustrophobic. But seriously, manned space travel technology has been stagnating basically since it was first developed, and this sort of innovation is exactly what we need if we ever want to stop dicking around in Earth's orbit and get somewhere cool, like the Moon or Mars, again.
The KEO Time Capsule: I love it when people think about things on a larger timescale than just a human lifetime or subsequent generations. Science, technology, and knowledge are not bound by the time-constraints that we humans are used to thinking in. The KEO is a spacecraft/time capsule that will be launched in 2020/2011. It will carry a number of artifacts (hit the wiki link for a full list) representing our species and our various cultures as they currently are, including "the contemporary 'Library of Alexandria', an encyclopaedic compendium of current human knowledge". It will complete its long orbit and return to Earth in 50,000 years as a sort of combined introduction/epitaph from us to our descendants (or whoever may be in the neighborhood). Fucking Awesome.
Copernicus' Remains Found: If you know who Nicolaus Copernicus is, good. If not, here is a courtesy card and an explanation. He was the dude who figured out that the Earth orbited the Sun, not vice versa, and basically flipped the bird to all the authority figures of his era and a bunch of other assholes by doing so. His final resting place was a topic of speculation until scientists recently matched DNA from remains found in a Catholic cathedral in Poland to that found within hairs discovered inside manuscripts written by this Champion of Science. Additionally, reconstruction of the recovered skull closely matched portraits of Copernicus, painted when he was alive. I think he would have been stoked to know that such great Science was going to be used to figure out his final resting place. R.I.P. dude.

... and now for some videos
10 Dimensions Explained in 11 Minutes: Theoretical physics is undoubtedly awesome, but due to its theoretical nature, its pretty hard for plain old Science Enthusiasts like you and me to understand. Here is a sweet YouTube that describes the 10 dimensions crucial to String Theory in a relatively easy-to-understand way:
Earth PWNED in HD by an Asteroid: If you haven't seen this already, it's a must watch. Hit the link here, and be sure to click the "watch in HD" button. I recommend you that you kick back, turn up the volume, and crack a beer. Sic transit mundus.

... and finally, a post-modern minimalist art critique of Star Wars
Star Wars, A New Heap; or; How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Death Star: This... is... just......... I don't even know what to say about this.

ANYWAYS, welcome once again to a New Year of Science. Thanks for reading, and we love you. COMING SOON, a special "Ask Praise Science!" feature, featuring a question from the ever inquisitive Stu H.!

HAPPY GREGORIAN CALENDAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION!!

2009-01-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

... because God wants it that way, heathen scum!

Happy Year of the Brain, dudes! Welcome to Anno Domini 2009 (or perhaps we should say Anno Cerebrum 2009). We hope the various celebrations and festivities were awesome for everyone. Anyways, for this New Year, I resolve to be a better blogger and Science enthusiast, which means that I will try to not be so lazy and will attempt to post more often and be more informative/lulz-ful. So expect 2009 to be a fruitful and enlightening year for PS, because when Bulltrout makes a promise, he keeps it (at least until he becomes distracted by booze or video games or whatever and forgets).

2009: Year of the Brain

2009-01-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

I'm declaring it, mostly because it in all likelihood won't be the year of the higgs boson.

So True

2008-12-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

Natural products chemistry pays off

2008-12-25T00:38:00.000-08:00

What a ridiculous job to have.

Baggage Handling: A Mathematical Model

2008-12-24T20:15:00.001-08:00

Spending an hour in the AUH airport yesterday trying to find my lost baggage, which is hopefully somewhere between Atlanta and Kuwait, got me thinking. Imagine every airport in the world as a node in a network, and bags as packets of information. In order to function properly this system needs to conform to a strict schedule to pass information between nodes (a bag can't make it to it's destination without catching its flight. Also information transfer in this system will freeze if each packet doesn't stay at a node for a specified delay period (in this case about an hour). Increase in the delay period at a node decreases the delay period at subsequent nodes, which is to say this system is dependent on time. This super complicated system may be modeled using discrete mathematics. I'm not sure how to throw down the equations here, but some pretty straightforward predictions can be made: Increase in delay time at one node fucks up the rest of your trip. Also, freezing the whole system is all too easy.

Good luck with your holiday travels.

gChat Fun: Seattle Snow Lulz

2008-12-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

manuelv19: SNOW!
liquor!
yeh!

The Beautiful Mind

2008-12-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

www.enception.org is one of the coolest sites I've seen in a minute. These photos are fare more indicative of a resemblance between the brain and the universe. Now if only I could find a well designed site explicating my roomate's face's resemblance.

Oh Yeah, I Remember That Thing...

2008-12-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, do you guys remember a few months back when some Swiss nerds turned on that big machine they built and it was supposed to figure out Science/create God/destroy the world, but then none of that happened because it broke or something? Well, they finally released some pictures of the damage (not pictured: signs of a fight between Terminators, and metal hand left behind).

gChat Fun - T.I.A., re: Jessica

2008-12-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

Mike: what the fuckrica

africWHAT?

WHYfrica?

Praise "Science Machine"

2008-12-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

This great science-related video has been gathering fame on the internets, and for good reason. This video should be watched full screen in its HD glory. It contains the following science-related things:

sea creatures

cats

pollution

the solar system

tsunamis

and many more...

The music track is "We Carry On" by Portishead off their eerie 2008 album, "Third"

Sad Sky is Sad

2008-12-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

If you missed that large dark object above us called the 'night sky' or failed to see one of 1000 news articles on that large object in front of you called the 'Internets', then you may be surprised to learn that Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon joined forces tonight to let you know what the Universe thinks of us here on Earth. Here is a photo of said phenomena (taken and edited for best effect by yours truly) as well as an article by some rag called 'National Geographic' or some such if you would like to learn more.

ED. NOTE: Click on the image for a larger, and much more visible version of Sad Sky.

Pleistoceine Park

2008-12-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

It has a nice ring to it, and is now somewhat feasible, thanks to the completion of the woolly mammoth genome mapping. The gist: Woolly mammoth DNA will be implanted into an African Elephant embryo, and a full gestation period later, out pops a woolly mammoth. Praise Science!

Science Bangers, Part 3

2008-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Underground nerd-rap operative Chris has brought this to our attention:

Although not as sciency as the other raps we have posted, this track is definitely a banger, with the tightest production and rapping by far. Peep it and be sure to STACK THAT MEMORY TO THE SKY.

(hit that 'Science Crunk' tag below to see the others, if you haven't already)

Tryptophan

2008-11-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers. If someone mentions the word tryptophan today as being the chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy. give them a courtesy card. L-tryptophan is indeed a precursor to serotonin, which is a regulatory neurotransmitter that may cause drowsiness. EXCEPT, there's way more tryptophan in eggs and soybeans among other foods. Get real turkey! So this thanksgiving, correct your family members with a scoff on me.

A New Hypothesis:

2008-11-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

It can (and should) be proven empirically that Praise Science writers comment on Praise Science blog posts with greater frequency and volume than Praise Science readers. (Ed. note: further studies to identify the root cause of this phenomena have yet to allocate funding.)

My Science Poem

2008-11-25T19:57:00.001-08:00

Praise Science Praises a Woman through a Poor Attempt at Poetry

Dear woman, you are made from beauty
because you are made from science.
For instance, your hair, a culmination of cascading light
from our yolk-sun, falls onto your accretion disks
like a proto-planet sunset. The mass and density
of your accretion disks logically suggests that gravity
and angular momentum, indeed all the laws of
physics, have cohered into the creation of
you, the equation of my desire.

Oh woman, let me know you like I know science.
Let my sine wave of passion crash against
Your primordial shore, first from above,
Then from below, and then from above,
Endlessly, like the first ocean ravaged Pangaea.
Oh woman, let me show you how the original eruption,
heart blood of a volcanic earth, spun molecules
into the shape and curve of a tectonic rift.
Let me teach you the hypotheses and postulates
of a love that can exist beyond theory. Let me add
you to the derivative of me then take the
anti-derivative eternally fusing us into a singular entity,
perhaps using a trigonometric substitution for your father.
Let me teach you the boundless volume
of my passion through the Einsteinian conception
of space and time.

Alas dear woman, we do not have forever. But in each moment
we are together the graph of our love can take
a j-curve towards infinity before we ever reach life’s limit.
Dear woman, let us prove our love exists and live a life
praising science together.

10th birthday of the International Space Station

2008-11-24T23:35:00.000-08:00

I wrote a report on the ISS in 5th grade, before it had even begun to be built. Now it is ten years old. Congratulations to manned space exploration, let's hope it continues on to the cosmos.

Pictures from the ISS

Lol. Quantum Physics. Lol.

2008-11-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

It actually sounds like a real experiment.

Toolstronauts

2008-11-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

Who's the tool now, bitches?

NASA just isn't on point like they used to be. Don't get me wrong, we love NASA here at PS, but seriously guys, FIGURE IT OUT! Go back to the Moon or make some more sweet telescopes, but don't keep blowing it! Here is the latest stupid thing that happened in orbit: Some astronauts, while space walking, lost a tool bag which NASA estimated was worth $100,000. And by lost, I mean let float away into the inky void (or more likely into its fiery doom as gravity coerced it back to Earth). The astronauts swear that they will not lose the one remaining tool bag aboard the ISS. Whatever, dudes.

And while we are talking about losing crap in space, here is another dumb thing: they lost a spider. It must be ARACHNOBOT!!!!

Feds Bust Spam Overlord ISP; In Unrelated News, Pleas For Sex From Horny 18 Year Old Virgins Troublingly Disappear From America's Inboxes

2008-11-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

After receiving information gathered during an investigation conducted by the group of B.A. Internet commandos at the Washington Post Security Fix blog, the Feds have shut down a renegade ISP called McColo, which apparently is responsible for routing up to 75% of all spam sent out globally! McColo also hosted numerous child porn distribution sites as well as tons of other vile crap that makes the Internet the most wretched hive of scum and villainy this side of Mos Eisley Cantina.

Almost immediately after the closure, spam traffic across the web plummeted:

I see what you did there.

Although this seems like a great victory in the war on Spam, it is most likely only symbolic at best. As long as the Internet remains a relatively free and unregulated space (which it should), spammers and scammers will find a way to keep doing what they are doing. Still, it is nice to see the government actually action against this sort of exploitative filth.