Is it ice?

NASA's astronomy picture of the day (APOD) gives a tantalising look underneath the Phoenix lander.

Hi-res is here.

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Edit: just after I posted this I learned that the robotic arm has delivered soil samples to both the optical microscope and one of the gas analyzer ovens. GO, GO Phoenix.

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Weeing down my trouser leg #1

I'm thinking of having a new category called "Weeing down my trouser leg" for those posts I make under the affluence of incahol.
There will always be a point to these posts - I'm just blown if I can remember what it was.

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Thanks as ever to PZ Myers for the link.

What if scripture really did foretell science?


I agree, and I quote from 'The Book of Astropithicus" ch.5

1And it will come to pass that understanding will sweep the land, for weight is not always, though the spirit of weight continueth.

2And the motion of the spirit perpetuates, though it is often lazy.

3Yet those without that spirit will have fastest motion and they will light the world, though their time will be measured. Others will follow to expand the world.

4But the barter will be bright, the spirit of weight and the weightless twice themselves give bountiful reward.

5And some will call it the egg and some will call it the mushroom.

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This should be our National Anthem

The current tune is a bit of a dirge isn't it? And few know all the lyrics. There's also talk of dumbing it down. What we need to do is change it.


Many peoples choice for a replacement would be Jerusalem, but in today's politcal climate, that would be misunderstood.


So: there can be only one.


On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at
Now then we would live in a country to be proud of.

Or maybe you prefer...


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Evolution disproved

You may stop listening before your ears melt if you wish.

Now hang on my fast-talking friend, evolution can be readily disproven. As JBS Haldane is reputed to have dismissively observed, “a rabbit fossil in the Cambrian.”

Oh bugger…

Read the full article here.

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See also: Thunderf00t's video rebuttals of Shawn aka VenomfangX

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A blast from the past

Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk, usually just known as Melanie.
Often imitated, never bested:









Brand New Key



Look What They've Done To My Song Ma


Ruby Tuesday


Spears and Winehouse should be ashamed.
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I want one of these

Forget lava lamps and oil wheels, I want one of these:

Time Fountain - Optical Illusion
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We're all going to Hell {:Dung Ding Dong:}

And the end of the world is nigh:
Well, speaking as a drunken, lying, thieving, blaspheming, money-loving, atheistic, gambling, porn-loving, pot smoking, fornicating, masturbating, evolutionist; I'd better get the BBQ sauce ready.

Er, hang on ... SPORTS FANS? Come on, what sport is that bad?

ALF: "I'd like to go bowling this afternoon Deirdre."

DEE: "I'll come and watch Alfred"

GOD: "TO HELL WITH YOU BOTH!"



Cue The Bastard Fairies



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The caress of a tentacle to PZ Myers Grow into these trousers... >>

Biology or Physics?

Take this quick quiz : Biology or Physics?

Me? 12/12 easy-peasy, but I've worked in biochemistry and have a lifelong love of astronomy.

Let's see how you do.

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Via Pharyngula, and PZ is quite right. Physics should be the correct answer for them all. Biology is an expression of chemistry is an expression of physics. Grow into these trousers... >>

Old style comedy, the best, and some music

After my last post on music and the brain I found my web butterfly flitting onwards...

Amusia, where a person has no perception of tone or rhythm in music and just hears a cacophony, must be difficult in the modern world. Music is everywhere and some great moments in comedy would be incomprehensible.

Les Dawson, playing the piano


MORECAMBE & WISE : Andre Previn (1/18)

(Eric: “I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order”)


To the amusic why would this be funny? This got me thinking even more about the perception of music. It's not just tapping your foot. People's voices have tonal changes, when asking a question for instance. How do the amusic hear this?

I would also love to know the amusic’s feelings about Karlheinz Stockhausen*.

Now I was just going to cite some trivial piece by Philip Glass when I remembered Koyaanisqatsi and web butterfly goes off at a tangent.

Koyaanisqatsi is amazing. If you haven’t seen it, get it now. The whole movie seems to be on YouTube but you've got to view it in hi-res on a big screen with loud music.

Sorry, I do feel a deep emotion for anyone who cannot enjoy music so here is some more comedy.

Shirley Bassey & Les Dawson

(Les: "He was an atheist for years but he was getting no holidays")

MORECAMBE & WISE : Elton John (7/18)

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* Karlheinz Stockhausen

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Here's a book I'd like to read - (hint, hint)

While I was scanning the news headlines today I came across this article - Neurologist, choir explore music's healing power

Noted neurologist Oliver Sacks has found common ground with the pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church: Both men believe in the healing power of music.

[Sacks] shared the church stage Saturday with the famed gospel choir as part of the inaugural World Science Festival, a five-day celebration of science taking place in New York this week.

"It should be an exciting and unusual event," Sacks said in an interview this week. "I will talk about the therapeutic and beneficent power of music as a physician, and then their wonderful choir will perform. ... And the audience will make what they can of it."

Oliver Sacks is Professor of Clinical Neurology and Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. His latest book is called Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. I was intrigued. A few clicks later having had my memory jogged by The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, remembering having heard Oliver often on the radio and no longer confusing him with Jonathan Sacks, I found a few YouTube gems.


Sacks is promoting his book with some video shorts. In no particular order here's:

Oliver Sacks - Musicophilia - Amusia*


And the rest:

• Amnesia and Music
• Bolt from the Blue
• Brainworms
• Music Therapy and Parkinson's
• The Power of Rhythm

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*amusia - see Wikipedia, BBC news
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