The three major monotheistic religions all have holy books that date to a minimum of 1400 years ago. This makes the relevance of these supposed Divine rules somewhat suspect.
A Jewish cartoon that I enjoy reading has an interesting take on Jewish bioethics, including links under the cartoon to discussions of same. Among some of […]

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The Turing Test, as we are all aware, I’m sure, is a test to see if a computer can convince a human that it is human. Now, since I name my computers (and car), I may not be the best judge of such a test. The results of Turing Tes seem to me to be […]

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I got emotional when I saw this picture (and read the revelation in this press release):

Goodbye, Mars Global Surveyor, you served us well.
Does anyone else get weepy over science, or am I just crazy that way?

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There is beauty enough in this universe. The distant Cassini probe has opened a tiny window on the glory within our own solar system. Click on them to see higher resolution versions at the NASA site. The first image taken from Saturn’s shadow. You can spot the earth as a tiny […]

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Richard Dawkins (yes, that Richard Dawkins) will be speaking on his latest book, The God Delusion, this Saturday (10/28) at 2pm at CalTech. I will be there (if tickets haven’t sold out by 10am tomorrow). Contact me if you want to do coffee or supper afterwards in the Pasadena area.
[Update (2:00pm): I just […]

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One of the problems with controversial movements is that they tend to be defined by their enemies. By this I mean that the common perceptions are crafted by those who feel most threatened by these groups. Think of stereotypes of illegal aliens, feminists, gays, and devout Muslims in our society. This especially […]

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This just in: we lost Pluto.
Pluto has been demoted.  That nine planet solar system that served you well as a kid now has only eight planets.
Maybe I’m the only one that thinks this is a big deal.¬† Well maybe not big.¬† A medium-sized deal.
Nothing Earth (or even Pluto) shattering has occurred here.¬† This tiny ball […]

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