Teabagger Terrorists

I haven't seen much of Fiore's work lately; his animations can be funny, but not consistently enough for me to go looking for them. This one is kind of not bad.

But he's getting death threats over it. Teabaggers, a sincere question: How is this different from the Islamic extremists you claim you oppose? It's wrong for them to levy death threats, or carry them out, in the name of their religion, but OK for you?

I just wish people would think a little before opening their yaps, or putting fingertips to keyboard.

What A Deal!

Via Pharyngula, and for sale at ebay

The photo is of a Cretaceous dinosaur track stepping on a human track. A Cat Scan and other methods have proven they are not carvings, but genuine fossil tracks. See the article. Our Interactive Internet magazine researches subjects like: Are dinosaurs alive today? Did an asteroid or comet trigger the Genesis Flood? Cracking the Satanic Code of 666, 276, and 23. How did dinosaurs become extinct? Was there an advanced civilization in ancient times destroyed by a worldwide cataclysm? What are UFOs, why are they here? Were there giants? Does the Da Vinci Code reveal the linage of the Antichrist from Gilgemesh? Is there evidence that dinosaurs became extinct 5 thousand years ago in a worldwide cataclysm triggered by an asteroid? Do you have any questions, or would like some specific research? Our team of 133 members will help.

Biblical Science News is an Interactive Internet Magazine that answers these questions from the Bible and Science. Well known paleontologist Jeremy Auldaney is the Editor. Professor Auldaney has published 9 technical papers on research. Five of them as Senior Paleontologist for the Creation Research Society's project on human tracks found with the tracks of dinosaurs near Tuba City, Arizona. One on the Asphalt Seeps at Rancho La Brea proving it was not a trap site, and that identical and similar sites are found worldwide during the Post-Flood Period. And another on Asteroids as a Trigger to the Flood of Noah. He has discovered and visited and studied almost every fossil site in California, archaeological sites, and fossil/meteorite sites in several other states. He has excavated dinosaurs with Dr. Carl Baugh in Texas, and Joe Taylor in Wyoming.

Subscribe to the Interactive International Internet magazine: Biblical Science News. Money returned if not satisfied.

At first I thought they were selling the rock itself (or a cast) for $5.00, but I think they're selling photos. There are more than ten left, but they're only going to be available until January 15th. So act now!

It looks so realistic! I love the square edges between the walls and bottom of the print, and the way there's a pressure ridge pushed up by the middle toe into the "human" print, but not by either of the outer toes. I wonder if that CAT scan (Co-Axial Tomography is an acronym or intialism; all the letters should be caps, or none of them. In this case "Cat" is not a proper name) told them what species of dinosaur it was.

Looks like granite to me. Putzes.

Helmcken Falls

Last Saturday, I posted this picture of a waterfall:
...with a request for an identification. Earlier today, Silver Fox had the presence of mind to go back to the source blog, TYWKIWDBI, and found that a commenter had identified it as Helmcken Falls, north of Kamloops, British Columbia. More pictures here, Wiki here.

The reasons I was so curious are that this very much looks like my home ground in terms of rocks, landscape and trees, and I know my home ground, particularly Oregon, well. Second, this is clearly a big waterfall; I would have guessed several hundred feet minimum. It turns out to be 463 feet. And third, while similar to a number of other falls I've seen, in detail, it didn't quite match any of them. I've been to Kamloops twice, but not to the falls; in fact, I'd never heard of them.

Others that I considered or were suggested included South Falls at Silver Creek Falls State Park, Tumalo Falls near Bend, Salt Creek Falls, and Snoqualmie Falls in Washington.

Thanks to Silver, Minnesotastan for bringing this to my attention, and everyone who left comments or sent emails. Though I've not seen it in person, this may be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in North America.

The Apocalypse Will Be Greeted With Candy And Flowers

Krista Huot: "Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse" 2009, via Phantasmaphile. This is one of quite a few paintings in a show that will open at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco tomorrow (January 9), and be on display until January 30. Unlike about half the others, this one hasn't been bought yet. Out of my price range, but I like the simplicity and humor of this. Ms. Huot's website is here; I haven't looked through it thoroughly yet, but there are lots of paintings there.

Space Food

I love those cans...
There's a fun and interesting article in Der Speigel on a German Chef who has been involved in creating new menu items for astronauts on the International Space Station. The above is from a short photo gallery accompanying the article. Though the article is not long, and doesn't go into a lot of detail, there were a couple of points that were new to me: space food needs to be low in salt, because salt accelerates bone loss. Also, (and I'd love to see an explanation for this) the sense of taste is dulled during space travel, so space food must be heavily seasoned. I doubt "Thanksgiving dinner" is served in the way it's illustrated, and honestly, I think I'd be thankful not to have to look at it.

But mostly, I just gotta love cans labeled "Space Food."

Aliens Planned Woolworths' Locations

Matt Parker, a mathematician writing a guest piece for the Times Online (UK), responds to a bit of archeological "analysis":

I was inspired by articles in the national press on the 5 January 2010 about Mr Tom Brooks’ analysis of 1500 prehistoric sites in the UK that revealed some amazing geometric patterns.

While Tom Brooks looked at prehistoric ruins, Parker applies a similar technique to ancient... Woolworths stores.

Using the locations of the 800 ancient Woolworths stores as my data, I found that they also followed precise geometrical patterns with the same level of accuracy.

For example, three Woolworths sites around Birmingham form an exact equilateral triangle (Wolverhampton, Lichfield and Birmingham stores) and if the base of the triangle is extended, it forms a 173.8 mile line linking the Conway and Luton stores. Despite the 173.8 mile distance involved, the Conway Woolworths store is only 40 feet off the exact line and the Luton site is within 30 feet. All four stores align with an accuracy of 0.05 per cent.

So did aliens help our ancestors plan the locations of these stores with such uncanny accuracy? Maybe. Or maybe not.

No one does dry, snarky humor with such gut-busting effectiveness as the British. Hat tip to Al Frank, who sent me an e-mail with this link.

Two Great Pictures From Space

One looking up... (Click to astronomify; most of those little starry dots are actually galaxies. Info and other sizes here.)
...and one looking down.
(Info here, and again, click the pic for full resolution, 3400X4400 pixels) A lot of people (space and geology bloggers especially) have been posting the second picture today; it really is beautiful. Well, from space, anyways. But from the perspective of someone who lives on that landmass, maybe not so much. I'll forward you to Julia, The Ethical Paleontologist. Spoiler: weather that's mild to one person can be a complete fubar to someone who lives in a different climate. And there is concern that this weather may be a portent of Great Britain's future climate.