August « 2008 « One Astronomer's Noise

Archive for August, 2008

An ex-fundie speaks against moderate Christianity

Posted in atheist, religion on August 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »

I read an interesting blog post on Steel City Skeptics, passed down the Twitter from Anadart.
It’s an interesting take on the full meaning of Christianity. And it brings up some good questions about labels. Most Christians, in my experience, are decent, tolerant, good people. They choose to take the parts of the [...]

Read Full Post »

I’m not a kid anymore…

Posted in X-Files, science on August 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

And the X-Files doesn’t scare me like it used to. Now that I have DVR, I can automatically record the old episodes as they come up on the Sci-Fi Channel. I’m watching the season 2 episode “Die Hand die verletzt” and yelling at the TV, “that’s not right!” No, it’s not because [...]

Read Full Post »

Awful Waste of a Drink

Posted in SETI, Sagan, astronomy, drinking, fun, movies on August 29, 2008 | 3 Comments »

This is old, but it’s for posterity. The 2004 Socorro Summer Students present “Contact: The Drinking Game”! Take a swig any time one of these happens:

We killed the “Bad Science” rule after Ellie discovers the signal, since then it delves way too far into the unknown. Oh, and the NRAO is not [...]

Read Full Post »

Damn! Missed my chance…

Posted in sex, xfiles on August 29, 2008 | 1 Comment »

David Duchovny enters rehab for sex addiction
So he was addicted to sex and I didn’t take advantage of my teenage fantasy with Fox Mulder? Damn damn damn!
I never said I had a normal childhood…

Read Full Post »

So what IS the harm?

Posted in podcasts, skeptic on August 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »

It’s been a while since I’ve written about something non-astronomical, so here goes! I was listening to the latest, lovely Skepticality podcast where Derek and Swoopy were interviewing Tim Farley, creator of the website “What’s the Harm?” This website chronicles the deaths, injuries, and financial loss that have come about from pseudo-science, alternative [...]

Read Full Post »

Astronomy Events in Charlottesville

Posted in Charlottesville, astronomy, education on August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Poking my head out from my mire of work to write about some upcoming astronomy events in Charlottesville!
First, in an act of shameless self-promotion, please come to the Charlottesville Astronomical Society’s meeting at McCormick Observatory on September 3rd at 7pm. I will be talking about my research in low frequency radio astronomy, and [...]

Read Full Post »

Multiwavelength goodness

Posted in astronomy, pretty on August 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

More APOD fun… it MOVES!
Not really. But the overlay with the radio and x-ray is pretty sweet. The Bad Astronomer already has your science covered for this one.
I also love the VLBA images of the central parts of the jet, the very nucleus of activity:
(Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI)
Note: The scale of the VLBA [...]

Read Full Post »

For all the grad students…

Posted in grad school, science on August 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Especially for those in science. It’s OKAY to feel stupid! In fact, it’s required. The following is part of an essay that was published in May 2008 in the Journal of Cell Science, and it’s a must read for grad students who are just starting out on their thesis:
The importance of stupidity [...]

Read Full Post »

Doctor Hamlet… and chocolate

Posted in Doctor Who, Lovecraft, Shakespeare, fun on August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

I know this isn’t news, but the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet is running, starring David Tennant as Hamlet and including Patrick Stewart as Claudius. How. Awesome. Is. That! It’s like a sci-fi/Shakespeare nerd’s dream come true! Of course, it’s sold out, so I hear. And across [...]

Read Full Post »