Dr. J. wrote on this subject over a year and a season ago, that is that new life begins at conception. That is scientific fact. It has stronger evidence than global warming, and certainly stronger evidence than man-made causes of … Continue reading →
Msgr. Lemaitre, “anti-science” priest, works on his mathematical formulae explaining the origins of this universe as pointy-headed anti-Catholic bigots look on, dumbfounded. Some of ‘Puter’s left leaning friends have rediscovered the age-old anti-Catholic canard that the Roman Catholic Church is … Continue reading →
“Dr. J. would return that $400M to the taxpayers. ‘Puter would be a better government steward of it than the Democrats.” – Confucius (The Notorious OEV) Gentle Readers, Dr. J. has been hideously busy of late, and as a consequence, … Continue reading →
It’s true, but today the Czar will take a little help from our good friend and frequent Castle visitor (and more frequent plumbing jammer) Uncle Jay. The Big Guy sends the Czar a fun little story from UK.News.Yahoo, which you … Continue reading →
Today is the coldest day in Earth history, and none of us are expected to survive. Not really, but you get the idea. It’s in all the papers. ‘Puter and Mrs. ‘Puter, along with the boys, go down the driveway … Continue reading →
As the resident physician, scientist and dabbler in economics, Dr. J. was most amused by this joke matrix: Yo mama so fat, Ben Kenobi said, “That’s no moon, that’s yo mama!” Dr. J.
Continue reading →Q. What do you call a liberal who can do math? A. An ex-liberal. This old saw is still true for some very basic reasons: if the country pulls in x revenue, and spends 2x on programs, pretty soon you … Continue reading →
Dr. J. was sent this infographic yesterday: He found it quite informative, except for the lack of bias. He took to Adobe Illustrator and made some minor corrections in the name of balance; something we Sith Lords excel at: Back … Continue reading →
Are you at risk for immediate death? You could be, and you might not even know. Most doctors agree that dying is the single leading cause of fatalities in the US right now. Take our helpful quiz and assess your … Continue reading →
By now, our readers should know where GorT stands with regards to Global Climate Change – if not, go do some research. Ok, ready? Over the past few years skeptics of the anthropogenic climate change theories have raised the issue … Continue reading →
A handy dandy flowchart to bashing your least favorite research studies: This sort of thing helps us out with Saturday posts. h/t geeksaresexy.com Dr. J.
Continue reading →The Czar has read and consumed your publication since the April 1979 issue. He has subscribed without fail since 2000, but is compelled to conclude he will not be renewing his subscription. In that time, he has seen the publication … Continue reading →
This was posted on the ‘Being Liberal’ page on Facebook today: Ironically, gay marriage is closer than high pressure to being a cause. Think of the butterfly effect. The Spanish word for butterfly is mariposa, which is also a gay … Continue reading →
The mighty Borepatch pulled a chair up by the lobby bar, took a sip of his freshly made Yoo Hoo mojito, and told the Czar: About your latest missive, I couldn’t help but think that while large parts of the … Continue reading →
Long-time reader BG let us know via Twitter that HuffPo is reporting “Scientists Create Zombies in Lab,” and adds that this should be like shooting fish in a barrel for us. This story is not at all limited to HuffPo, … Continue reading →
The MSM is at it again. Or rather, still. A physics guy familiar with the recently discovered (?) Higg boson said that the mass of the particle is about 126GeV, which potentially leads to instability in its mass. As a … Continue reading →
Dr. J.’s seen a few of his former schoolmates who are far less attractive than Jenny McCarthy (and from a tony Quaker prep school, no less) waxing philosophic regarding the public menace of forced vaccination on that intellectual echo chamber … Continue reading →
Bowties are cool… “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan Dr. J. always softly chuckles when the left tries to portray the right as a group of backwards thinking Luddites because a … Continue reading →
There isn’t a redeeming website attached to the Gawker tree. Of course, this is what happens when you have a bunch of under-educated 20-somethings trying to educate themselves through the Internet. Today’s io9 website, which seems to deal mainly with … Continue reading →
It takes a special gift to write a scientific news story about something so unscientific that the author, Joel N. Shurkin, clearly thinks is stupid as well. And he has a model example for you to read. A professor—what is … Continue reading →
Operative DM points out that tornadoes can do weird things, like put straw through trees and stuff. What are the weirdest things we’ve seen tornadoes do? Well, in no particular order, here are some of the incredible things a tornado … Continue reading →
Uh-oh! The Los Angeles Times has a science article written by Louis Sahagun, who appears to be in junior high school. Success! You found liquid water in the steam of your laser! Now shut down, before you uncontrollably use your … Continue reading →
Didja know that President Obama and Mitt Romney already had their first debate? Yes, it was a science debate, which candidates responded to in writing. The Czar heard the Mitt Romney thumped the President pretty hard, so he went to … Continue reading →
Professional nice guy EC writes in: Your Czarness: As I recall their used to be a third and common form of bond: the metallic bond, in which the nuclei shared an electron cloud. Wikipedia seems to remember it also. Have … Continue reading →
Science writer George Dvorsky has a really fascinating and informative piece up at io9 cleverly titled “Intense Magnetic Fields Around White Dwarfs Reveal an Entirely New Class of Molecular Bonding,” in which he reviews how the incredible magnetic fields around … Continue reading →
Seen this story from Gizmodo that the TSA is rolling out a secret new scanner that can completely detail everything about you from 164 feet away??!!!Eleven+y one111?? Not coming soon to every airport or street corner you can think of. … Continue reading →
All of you tend to remember the Czar’s writings better than he does, so there is probably little value in reminding you about the Czar’s skepticism regarding life based on arsenic biology. We suggested you assume—unlike the press—that this was … Continue reading →
In a landmark pop psychology study that took over 10 minutes, “researchers” have concluded that pre-teen girls like Justin Bieber, which will surprise no one who has even remotely heard of children. Hey, Beliebers: ask your mom if she loved … Continue reading →
The great and wonderous Borepatch writes into the Czar (and jeez, we hope we had his permission to reprint this; ah well, not much we can do about it now) to say: Your outstanding post covered the subject of Dr. … Continue reading →
For the record, and right up front, the Czar is a significant proponent of evolutionary theory. For him, the evidence is overwhelming and consistent. But when Richard Leakey says that the debate will soon be over, the Czar rolls his … Continue reading →
Are you ready for SuperMoon? Oh, you gotta be ready for SuperMoon! “Supermoon alert: Biggest full moon of 2012 due Sat.” screams FoxNews! “Weekend ‘Supermoon’ Will be 2012’s Largest” promises KSEE, Fresno. “That’s not just a full moon this week, … Continue reading →
As I started writing this I noticed that the Czar just penned a post on climate change so this one is timely and the two together are strong points to consider. As my middle school and early high school children … Continue reading →
If the Czar could wish anything for your survival, it would be the gift of skepticism. When someone runs up to you with a stunning claim (“I just saw Bigfoot! And eleventy!”), your first response really should be “How good … Continue reading →
If the retirement of the shuttle fleet, and with it American manned spaceflight for the foreseeable future isn’t one giant leap (backwards) for mankind, our friends at the Udvar-Hazy center are rubbing salt in the wound. They’ve decided to display … Continue reading →
We’ve debated various aspects of Anthropogenic Global Warming here for years. Largely the AGW models identify the increase CO2 contribution to the environment by industrialization and fossil fuels by humans as the primary factor in the change to global climate. … Continue reading →
Long-time readers of this grand site, which is probably most of you by now, understand there are a few things which continually peeve the Czar. One of these is bad science reporting. Nearly every story of even slight scientific interest … Continue reading →
Sigh. Okay, a science update. Pssh. You already know where this is going. So the Cassini spacecraft has detected a thin layer of oxygen around the Saturnian moon Dione. If you are into these sorts of things, that is interesting … Continue reading →
You probably heard that Russian scientists in the Antarctic drilled through the ice and reached a mysterious, under-the-ice freshwater lake not seen in 20 million years. This was an amazing effort. You probably did not hear, of course, that a … Continue reading →
Pro-evolution thinkers are happy: scientists have confirmed that Aegisuchus witmeri, a fossilized creature, neatly fits into a parallel arrangement with Aegyptosuchus peyeri, a 95-million year old cousin of both crocodiles and alligators who all sprang off the Eusuchia line. No … Continue reading →
The Czar has already received questions about an extraordinary claim that there are signs of life on Venus. Specifically, a Russian scientist says he has photographic evidence of a disk, a black “flap,” and a scorpion-like creature. The scientist is … Continue reading →
Logically-minded people all over the UK are celebrating a rare (for the Brits) victory. The government has largely decided that schools there will teach evolutionary theory, and that creationist new-agery will not. Further, any school that does promote creationist thinking … Continue reading →
GorT, Sr. passed on a note pointing out a visual effect that is amazing to witness first-hand and scary when you apply it to real-world situations. The effect is termed “Troxler’s fading” after Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler who discovered it … Continue reading →
Subtitled: It is very likely that this report likely means very little for many with medium confidence. The UN’s IPCC began releasing an update recommending that countries prepare for “weird weather”. Seriously. They are “virtually certain” (which, apparently means a … Continue reading →
The Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association were this week. This is one of two times a year where the medical news is dominated by things cardiovascular. But, before we begin, Dr. J. must errat the errata that The Czar … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin would like to take a moment to provide an important public service announcement and award the coveted Boot in the Gut™ award. Apparently water does not provide the health benefits that we have all been led to believe … Continue reading →
'PuterAlways right, unless he isn’t, the infallible Ghettoputer F. X. Gormogons claims to be an in-law of the Volgi, although no one really believes this. ’Puter carefully follows economic and financial trends, legal affairs, and serves as the Gormogons’ financial … Continue reading →
And now, your science news roundup! Once believed to be an ancient, surviving plant from millions of years ago, we sadly now realize that cycads only date back about 12 million years. They are descended from the same plants dinosaurs … Continue reading →
Dr. (KN)J provides the Czar a refreshing look as to how science really works. Or should work. He provides an actual scientific paper, which you can read by clicking here. It’s a PDF, so you may need to save the … Continue reading →
You know, we rarely talk about our Spaceflight Practical Jokes Department, which is too bad because they’re doing some really cool stuff over there. Funny—dreadfully funny stuff, but still cool. And Nightfly (who doesn’t wear nearly as weird a costume … Continue reading →
You remember how the media had to change their collective pants when scientists reported that neutrinos appear to have moved a short distance at velocities faster than the speed of light? The media went nuts, stating that Einstein was wrong … Continue reading →
More science news. Which is good news, because ‘Puter can sleep a little later knowing he can skip anything with learnin’ in it. This NPR headline caught our eye: Messenger Reveals Mercury Is Not What Scientists Theorized. It’s not a … Continue reading →
Minion #462.5 writes in with something that almost succeeds, except it fails, and fails quite badly. Oh most dread and awful Czar (may thine enemies low-crawl naked across a mile of broken glass to pay homage to your shadow), Fearing … Continue reading →
Boy, the press drives one mad. Bonkers, even. Especially the complete fantastic extrapolations when it comes to science. They have happened here too many times to list, even, but there is yet another new one today. Scientists at CERN have … Continue reading →
Thanks to the magic that is Twitter, we have seen some retweeting of our post on Dr. Oz’s inability to understand science, despite the fact he somehow functions as a freaking heart surgeon or something. Evidently, lots of you have … Continue reading →
Uh-huh. So Dr. Oz warns that certain brands of apple juice contain dangerously high levels of arsenic. FDA sends him a nasty note back that his researchers evidently do not know that organic arsenic is safe, and that no apple … Continue reading →
Wow, did Michael Potemra totally nail it today. Basically, he demonstrates that anyone with a sensible reading of Genesis (the book, not the Gabriel/Collins group) must conclude that Darwinian evolution is actually in the interest of religion. In fact, not … Continue reading →
Readers here know the Czar has some pet peeves. One is the notion that Republicans hate science, and Democrats/Liberals are its most ardent supporters. And these same readers know that the Czar likes to list every example of Liberals or … Continue reading →
Some of you wrote in supporting the Czar’s tirade against the volunteer head of religious education at his local Muscovy church. As you recall, the Цесаревич, and now sigh the Царевич as well, must attend religious education over at Наша … Continue reading →
Wow, we have the smartest readers in the world. Thank goodness you readers wind up writing half the stuff on here. Check this bad boy out from NR: Dread Czar, Nice post on the Higgs – much better than most … Continue reading →
All right, enough. The media is already all over the road like a drunk driver with this Higgs Boson particle. Proof of parallel universes? Time travel? The God Particle? Give us a break. Actually, here is a hint. If the … Continue reading →
The Czar thinks he speaks for a lot of conservatives when he says he would like to be convinced about Global Warming. After all, there is nothing more conservative than preserving what we have; if it turns out that the … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin is once again flabbergasted by the inability of people to understand what science can and cannot do as evidenced by the manslaughter charge leveled against a group of seismologists by Italian government officials. This criminal charge against Italy’s … Continue reading →
AH writes a nice, thoughtful transmission: Esteemed Czar of Muscovy: I hope you will indulge me with something of an answer to your recent piece on natural selection. I too find it refreshing to discuss the issue using familiar products. … Continue reading →
GD writes in: Dread and awesome Czar, I thought “natural selection” and true “evolution” were two different things? Related, but different. Moths adapting their coloring, weeds naturally selecting to resist a herbicide, etc. are all “natural selection”. Isn’t evolution more … Continue reading →
An astonishing number of people reject evolution. This rejection is always of interest to the Czar, because there is (a) a widespread perception that evolution lacks clear evidence despite (b) a tremendous amount of it. Many in the scientific community … Continue reading →
This is officially cool. Check out the Photopic Sky Survey: it is a 360° x 360° photograph of the entire night sky, minus planets and moons. You can view it with information (click on the link), or optionally turn it … Continue reading →
I did notice that the “M” (Math) was missing in the PSA. I did find it interesting because Math is at the core of sciences, technology and engineering. Personally, I’ve seen an improvement in the math curriculum at my own … Continue reading →
ElJay, who must never be teased, touched, or messed with, wrote in to GorT and the Czar to say: Most vainglorious Gormogons (or words to that effect)! Remember back in ancient history (several years ago) when STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, … Continue reading →
The Czar is completely behind the message, but is a little bemused that we have an actress, who is not scientist or engineer, telling kids to become scientists and engineers, and using Iron Man, about a fictional engineer using non-existent … Continue reading →
Yes, it’s a pet interest to me so I’ll take a second and put this up: GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the … Continue reading →
Actually, all of the Czar’s suspicions were largely confirmed about AF447. Basically, here is a simplification of what occurred. The plane disappeared off radar, which is natural over the Atlantic Ocean because radar cannot follow the Earth’s curvature, and there … Continue reading →
You know, the Czar is so tired to pointing out the many ways the President has hurt the scientific community in this country that he isn’t going to bother listing them anymore, or even posting links to them. But Obama … Continue reading →
A NASA astrobiologist claims that he has found fossilized evidence of alien life on a microbe. So why hasn’t the press been busting into your regularly scheduled viewing? Perhaps it is because the scientist, Richard Hoover, has done this before, … Continue reading →
GorT has been a bit busy with the whole time traveling thing (summary notes on the most recent trip to the future are forthcoming) but here are a few random thoughts while I’ve locked onto our internet connection – this … Continue reading →
Now hold on a minute. I thought there was evidence that when the poles switch, the field is “disorganized” or non-existent for some period of time. Not to take issue with your overall point, but rather to ask you to … Continue reading →
Oh brother. Okay, for those of you wondering, no: the earth’s magnetic field is not going to shut off, ending life on earth as it is bathed in violent solar radiation. This nonsense is starting to go around the internet. … Continue reading →
Of course, you all remember the terrible anthrax scare that hit the United States in late 2001. Like most Americans, you might be asking “Yeah, whatever happened with that? Didn’t they catch the guy?” Actually, no, they didn’t. Alas, the … Continue reading →
The Czar loves stories like this. Three high school students discovered a radio pulsar in the constellation Ophiucus. Way to go! Above, the students receive official confirmation of their discovery. Hannah Mabry, center, hopes to become a radio astronomer and … Continue reading →
The Czar has an idea for GorT. Take a current Time magazine story back to the year 1936, and let the editors of that era read and comment accordingly. Bet that will be entertaining. In case you did not know, … Continue reading →
Your Czarness: You are, once again and unsurprisingly, entirely correct. Dosage is everything. Just because we can measure something, does not mean we understand it. (Although it may be a start.) humbly, erc And Czar, An enjoyable read. I thought … Continue reading →
Can you imagine anything so horrible? A University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study has found in a survey of 268 pregnant women that virtually 100% of them have dangerous, cancer-causing chemical in their blood and urine! OMG! Pregnant women, … Continue reading →
No, not the entertainer – the neutrino sensor array in Antarctica was finished last month. It’s comprised of 86 tubes drilled over 2,000m into clear ice with over 5,000 basketball-sized detectors placed in the tubes. The “telescope” will observe neutrino … Continue reading →
Dear Czar, Shouldn’t the title of this article be ‘PANIC WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIEEEEE’: I am confused. However, I am coherently grateful for all of the recent Gormogon posts. Keep up the good work! God Bless, JS, Operative and … Continue reading →
Care of small dead animals and Fox News: 1. Within a few years “children just aren’t going to know what snow is.” Snowfall will be “a very rare and exciting event.” Dr. David Viner, senior research scientist at the climatic … Continue reading →
And all this time the Czar has been saying that President Obama has completely failed to fulfill his promises on increasing the role of science in politics! Because we learn that Obama science advisor John Holdren will be appearing on … Continue reading →
Say it ain’t so, Joe Biden! In yet another example of (a) the failure of the Stimulus, (b) the failure of this administration creating those magical “green jobs” and (c) another example of the failure of this administration to deliver … Continue reading →
Our beloved GorTechie says: A number of scientists have begun grumbling that the administration isn’t holding to its promise to be guided by science. Yup. Sore spot with the Czar. Ah, how the liberal scientists all blamed Bush for hating … Continue reading →
The Czar produced one of these once, but it was centuries ago before we knew much about the atmosphere. Basically, we had it divided into Oceans of Blood of the Disloyal, Stuff you Breathe, Smoke From Fire of Burning Lands, … Continue reading →
Astonishing silence appears to the response of the scientific community regarding Harold Lewis’ spectacular resignation letter. Of course, the anti-AGW crowds are eating this up. The Czar thinks that might be too eager a reaction: if the Hadley CRU incident … Continue reading →
Global-warming J’accuse?Read the whole thing. Seriously. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →For a long time people were pointing the finger at “climate change” for the decline in the bee population. The decline is concerning as the ecosystem relies upon them for pollination. There were minor side targets such as cell phone … Continue reading →
This chaps the Czar’s buttocks. Sorry, but it does. For eight years, the Czar (and millions of others) endured continual critical comments about President George Bush, and how he ignored science when it disagreed with his policies, and how he … Continue reading →
Dearest Czar, Since you so recently debunked all I knew regarding West Virginia and her educational system, I thought you might have knowledge of another dearly-held area: the ocean. Many people state that we have only explored “5% of the … Continue reading →
Who can ‘Puter turn to? Well, Gormogon operative T.G., of course. T.G. writes in with praise and criticism for ‘Puter’s post regarding Ms. Jenny McCarthy’s heartfelt yet profoundly stupid campaign against childhood vaccinations. Thus spake T.G.: Point taken, but you … Continue reading →
With apologies to Jane Curtin, who is certainly far wiser than Ms. Jenny McCarthy. Heck, Czar’s chia sofa is brighter than Ms. McCarthy. Why the attack on Ms. McCarthy (and by extension, her current man toy Jim Carrey)? As we’ve … Continue reading →
One of the unfortunate souls at the East Anglia Hadley CRU (motto: “No fact too inconvenient to bury”) tries to explain away the looming email scandal in today’s Times of London. See, we’re all morons in thinking that Phil Jones’ … Continue reading →
Without wading into the philosophical weeds, Karl Popper’s famous principle that a theory, hypothesis, or principle is metaphysical, not scientific if it is not, in some way, falsifiable (i.e., testable), seems to apply here. Whether it’s a Kuhnian paradigm or … Continue reading →
Today, top scientists at Gormogon University released the results of a study thought up and funded by Czar and ‘Puter. It turns out that drinking up to NINE DRINKS A DAY is good for men’s heart health. ‘Puter and Czar … Continue reading →
Normally, tricking the Czar results in a stare down with our Imperial firing squads, who remain undefeated against unarmed people with their hands tied behind their back. But the Czar delights in bringing you this bit of optical chicanery. Enjoy. … Continue reading →
