Hitch

No, thankfully not that kind...

Christopher Hitchens - on being himself. I quite like Hitch!

Christopher Hitchens on The Hour (Part 1 of 2)

Part 2 is below the belt...

Christopher Hitchens on The Hour (Part 2 of 2)


Hitch has stopped smoking!? If he can do it, then I can too.
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Many thaks to [Matt] at Atheist News. Grow into these trousers... >>

Testing Intelligent Design creationism

YouTube video makers C0nc0rdance and Thunderf00t throw down a challenge to advocates of ID: "find a gene without an evolutionary heritage", let's say that again "look for a single gene that shows signs of non-evolutionary origin."

Shortened version: Put up or STFU.

Challenging the Discovery Institute to Discover

I doubt this is restricted to followers of Christianity. Anyone who believes that evolution does not occur and that speciation is divinely guided, supernatural or magic may post their hypothesis on YouTube. Or feel free to make a suggestion below, I will forward your idea to C0nc0rdance.
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HT PZ Myers. Grow into these trousers... >>

A landmark day for astronomy

The Hubble Space Telescope gets an upgrade, kudos to the crew of Atlantis, and two more space telescopes were successfully launched - Herschel and Planck.

Herschel carries the largest mirror ever on a spacecraft. At 3.5m it has twice the collecting area as Hubble (2.4m), but will examine the universe in different a different part of the spectrum. It's designed to detect long wavelength infrared, it will peer through the dust which often obscures inner detail in Hubble images.

Plank is an orbiting thermometer. Carrying a range of detectors to pick up microwaves it will scan the ubiquitous background radiation of the Big Bang. With exquisite sensitivity it will add to the understanding of how the universe came to be and how the distant future may unfold.

2009: Herschel and Planck (ESA)


The data will be amazing, but we have to wait 'till next year until they reach operational position. Herschel and Planck are not intended to last very long either. A two or three years of use will deplete their coolant systems, and their great distance means no service missions are possible. But later, the unravelling of the findings over many more years, will inspire a generation. Grow into these trousers... >>

Herschel and Planck are ready for launch

Two new space telescopes are set to launch in a couple of hours aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket. Watch it live on Mogulus.

White knuckle time again, here's hoping for a great mission.

More to follow later today.

UPDATE: Launch successful and bang on time. Grow into these trousers... >>

Chicken Town? When I heard it originally it was...

...'fucking' all the way through. Wasn't it? That's how I do it anyway! I used to have it rehearsed up as a "party piece" :)

Like this - Chicken Town.

Thanks to The Madhatters for again jiggling my grey bits and reminding me of John Cooper Clarke:

John Cooper Clarke - Chicken Town


But I done it slower, and with arm waving, and in a Yorkshire accent, and many f-words, and...

Maybe this is why the band never let me attempt 'Chicken Town' on stage. Hmmm, they've always told me it's because "it's a private function, there may be youngsters there", or "it's the middle of the afternoon man, we're playing outside", or "it's for charity", etc.

And I thought the deal was: 'we do Cocaine every night'. Grow into these trousers... >>

Pandemic? Not to spread alarm or ...

But, remember - it's just a couple of years ago when H5N1*, or bird flu from China, was all the rage. This time it's H1N1**, porcine and Mexican. In 1918 it was Spanish and human.

It's a flighty swine is the flu.

If you haven't played "Pandemic II" yet, do so now.
Then watch Laurie Garrett give this talk at TED.

Laurie Garrett: What can we learn from the 1918 flu?

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*H5N1 - the H stands for haemagglutinin, a virus protein which helps the virus bind to the outside of a host cell prior to infecting it. The 5 indicates the 5th variant to be discovered. N is for neuraminidase which enables the emergent progeny viruses to pass out of the cell. As for the 1, guess.

**H1N1 - see above, substitute 1 for 5 as needed. Grow into these trousers... >>

A song I would like to play*

Angie - The Rolling Stones


*A song I would give my right arm to be capable of playing... (Metaphorically). Grow into these trousers... >>

Red Dwarf: Series 5 -Episode 4

Hologram virus?

Red Dwarf - Quarantine 1/3

"Mr Flibble's very cross..."

Red Dwarf - Quarantine 2/3


Red Dwarf - Quarantine 3/3
Grow into these trousers... >>

A thought for a Sunday

"It's not till you're halfway through a pint that you stop drinking for the government and start drinking for yourself."


Al Murray, The Pub Landlord. Grow into these trousers... >>

Koyaanisqatsi

Francis Ford Coppola "presents" a visual treat.
Koyaanisqatsi: an ever changing, often almost iconic, disturbingly stunning series of video images with music by Phillip Glass:



I first saw this on DVD, and it's well worth seeing in higher quality. The photography is awesome. Grow into these trousers... >>