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mrneoluddite

Last seen: 12 months ago

Jerry is a 41 year old guy from Santa Cruz Mtns., California, USA

It is not the critic who counts, or how the strongman stumbled and fell, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, and who spends himself in a worthy cause. If he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that he may never be one of those cold and timid souls, who knows neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

  • Darwin Loves Lucy - The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Nov 24 2008 • 1 review • evolution, history, science, creationism, darwin • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Darwin Loves Lucy
    By Amy Holzer
    Mon, November 24, 2008, 12:01 am PST

    If history does indeed repeat itself, then today we should be on the lookout for groundbreaking news in the study of evolution. Why? Well, it was on this day in 1859 that Charles Darwin published the revolutionary "On the Origin of Species," and 115 years later, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discovered the Lucy skeleton at Hadar, Ethiopia.

    "On the Origin of Species" detailed the processes of natural selection and adaptive radiation. Though the work never explicitly claimed we were descended from apes, Darwin was nonetheless attacked for that proposition. Even today, he's still a polarizing figure, as creationists try to refute what biologists and the scientific community defend -- that man evolved over time from ancient hominid ancestors. The debate continues with no likely end in sight.

    So did Lucy's discovery lend a hand to Darwin and his proponents? Most certainly. The discovery of this 40%-complete skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis offered fossil evidence of a potential human ancestor that walked upright 3,000,000 years ago. Furthermore, this evidence was supported by Mary Leakey's amazing find of footprints from Lucy's time at Laetoli.

    While it may seem that debate over scientific theory is one best left to the experts, average Americans haven't been deterred from taking it to the streets. Nothing short of a silent evolutionary war is being waged on the backsides of automobiles. From the Jesus fish to the Darwin fish to the truth-eats-Darwin fish and beyond, this once-binary argument has given birth to unforeseen allegiances and a unique forum for debate.

    With such a contentious topic at hand, it seems as though it may be risky to make a call for one side or the other. However, based on the historical significance of this day in history, the 24th of November is going to have to be called in favor of the evolutionists. So go have a banana and go for a walk, you bipedal hominids of today!"
    95 views
    Darwin Loves Lucy - The Spark of Yahoo!

  • Happy Birthday, Earth! - The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Oct 23 2008 • 1 review • evolution, religion, science, creationism, geology • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Happy Birthday, Earth!
    By Dave Sikula
    Thu, October 23, 2008

    Today is the 6012th birthday of our home planet. The old girl looks pretty good, doesn't she? What's that? You thought the Earth was, like, a million times older? Well, it's obvious you haven't studied the work of Bishop James Ussher.

    Ussher was an English archbishop who joined in the 17th-century scholarly mania of trying to figure out just how old the Earth was. Science not being then what it is today, resources were limited, so Ussher (along with such worthies as astronomer Johannes Kepler and physicist Isaac Newton) relied on the chronologies contained in the Bible. After years of comparing sources and resolving inconsistencies, Ussher announced that the world had been created on October 23, 4004 BCE -- though he didn't go as far as his contemporary James Lightfoot, who fixed the exact time at 9:00 am. (As lawyer Henry Drummond asked in "Inherit the Wind:" "Was that Eastern Standard Time?")

    Ussher's calculations may have been slightly off, but they were accepted as reasonably valid until scholars looked at the geologic, rather than theological, evidence, and determined that the Earth was anywhere from 75,000 to 96 million years old. With the discovery of radioactivity in the 19th century, scientists were able to push the date back to the generally-accepted age of about 4.5 billion years.

    Of course, humans being what they are, not everyone accepts that age. Parallel to mainstream scientific thought runs creationism, which posits that the Biblical history of the universe is accurate, the earth is only six millennia old, and dinosaurs and men once roamed the planet simultaneously -- think of "The Flintstones" as a reality show rather than a cartoon. The good folks of Petersburg, Kentucky have even opened a museum dedicated to this alternate history.

    While we have to admit we don't totally buy into their ideas, the thought of saddling up the ol' dinosaur is a pretty tempting one."
    53 views
    Happy Birthday, Earth! - The Spark of Yahoo!

  • Metal Foam - Iran Invention Could Save Lives and the...

    Rated Oct 20 2008 • 3 reviews • science, technology, iranian, materials science • trendhunter.com




    "While it's not the first metal foam, it does look like it is the most highly advanced and the most applicable to daily life. It is five times stronger and can absorb about seven times more impact than existing foams. "
    87 views
    Metal Foam - Iran Invention Could Save Lives and the Environment

  • Drowning in Garbage - The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Sep 08 2008 • 1 review • environment, garbage, science, oceans, pollution • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Drowning in Garbage
    By Michelle Heimburger
    Mon, September 8, 2008

    Litter -- from sea glass to bottle caps to remnants of fishing lines -- washing up on our beaches has become a familiar sight. It's easy to think that that debris must be all of the marine litter out there, and eventually it makes its way back to shore. We like to imagine the vast expanse of the oceans to be pristine and unsullied. But the reality is that the seas are not free from the same litter and pollution we see on land.

    In the middle of the Pacific, a circular ocean current called the Pacific Gyre swirls around a region about the size of Africa. Long avoided by sailors for stranding ships in its doldrums, today the spiraling current collects a different cargo: plastic. Everything that floats is drawn into this vortex, creating a marine dead zone twice the size of Texas, now commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

    Plastic makes up 90% of marine litter and does not biodegrade. Instead, it slowly breaks down into smaller bits of plastic that never disappear. Eventually it becomes tiny pellets called "nurdles," which cannot be digested -- but that doesn't stop animals from eating them. Birds, fish, and marine mammals in the middle of this toxic zone have a steady diet of plastic litter -- which turns deadly when sharp pieces of debris rupture their stomachs, or when the mass of cigarette lighters, bottle caps, and fishing nets grows too large and causes starvation. In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, uncontaminated food can be hard to find: Researchers estimate there are six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.

    But it's not just distant sea creatures that suffer the consequences. The floating plastic mass also collects chemicals that don't break down in seawater, like DDT, PCBs, and nonylphenols, which cause hormonal disruptions in the animals that eat them -- and the ones that eat those animals. Those of us at the top of the food chain ought to start worrying."
    134 views
    Drowning in Garbage - The Spark of Yahoo!

  • Lice and Other Gross Nasties - The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Sep 03 2008 • 1 review • health, insects, science, parasites, pests • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Lice and Other Gross Nasties
    By Amy Holzer
    Wed, September 3, 2008

    Disclaimer: Reading the following contents may result in delusions of parasitosis and an irrepressible urge to scratch your head and body.

    As you no doubt know, September is Head Lice Awareness Month. Break out your LiceMeisters and get ready to par-tay! Okay, maybe that was a bit unnecessary, but this seemingly ridiculous observance is pretty useful, after all. Being aware of common human parasites and how to avoid them is important -- even if potentially unsettling.

    So, who besides lice are the heavy hitters of human inhabitation? Well, for starters, there are Scabies, those hideous little beasts that are enough to make one hesitate before picking up an item from the Lost and Found. Then we've got Round Worms, who are responsible for trichinosis -- and many an overdone pork chop. Let's not forget Ticks, well-known and dangerous due to Lyme disease, and who doesn't love Bed Bugs? What with the nursery rhyme, they almost sound cute -- until you see what they can do to you.

    However, before we get carried away, as some members of our germ-fearing society often do, let us look a little closer. As it turns out, some parasites are our friends. You may not like that mites most likely reside in your eyelashes, but you might like even less if dead skin cells were piling up there. In fact, our bodies are full of organisms that help us to go about our daily lives effectively and efficiently. Even mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells, are guests within us without whom we could not survive.

    What to make of these parasites, then? How shall we think of them? Let's settle on this: Fend off the biters, the buzzers, and fleas, but keep to you dear those who do as you please (and need)."
    23 views
    Lice and Other Gross Nasties - The Spark of Yahoo!

  • The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Aug 07 2008 • 1 review • history, humor, science, inventions, inventing • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Inventions: The Good, the Bad, and the Antiquated
    By Amy Holzer
    Thu, August 7, 2008

    On August 8, 1869, Thomas Alva Edison was granted the patent for his mimeograph machine. This copying device was the predecessor of ditto machines and today's copiers. Such is often the story of great inventions -- they are improved upon with time. The cotton gin of old gave way to modern versions, and photographs have morphed from daguerreotypes to digitals. To improve upon a brilliant idea is understandable, but what about those inventions whose first incarnation should be their last?

    From noodle-splash faceguards to the self-twirling spaghetti fork, the world is full of pointless and unnecessary inventions. While one can usually discern the impetus for the device's creation, that doesn't mean the idea is a good one. Sadly, many inventions appear to be inspired by profound laziness or an alarming lack of reason, and knowledge of their existence persists only because of their sheer entertainment value.

    Though some of these imbecilic inventions may leave us fearing for the future (and the priorities) of mankind, we must remember that even the greats didn't always get it right."
    33 views
    The Spark of Yahoo!

  • Cryptozology - Yeti in the Yahoo! Directory

    Rated Aug 04 2008 • 1 review • paranormal, himalayas, science, yeti, bigfoot • yahoo.com

    More than you ever wanted to know about Bigfoot's abominable cousin. The Yeti is also know as the Raksha, Metoh, Kengmi, Yeh-teh, and Meh-teh. Oh, and don't forget to sign up for YETI@Home.
    89 views
    Cryptozology - Yeti in the Yahoo! Directory

  • We Interrupt This Blogcast for Hurricane Dolly - The...

    Rated Jul 21 2008 • 1 review • science, weather, dolly, hurricane, hurricanes • yahoo.com

    From the page: "We Interrupt This Blogcast for Hurricane Dolly
    By Jerry Welch
    Mon, July 21, 2008, 11:36 am PDT

    Searches are spiking and the news is starting to heat up about Hurricane Dolly. Dolly is the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season to enter the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane by the time she strikes land near Brownsville, Texas. As the storm develops, check Yahoo! News and NOAA Watch for up-to-date information. Also keep tabs on the Yahoo! Directory's Hurricane Dolly 2008 category for more sites tracking the storm. The Directory also offers Preparedness and Safety information, as well as categories for Past Storms and Satellite Images."
    13 views
    We Interrupt This Blogcast for Hurricane Dolly - The Spark of Yahoo!

  • http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=dark-knight-shift-why...

    Rated Jul 17 2008 • 10 reviews • comics, science, superheros, fitness, batman • sciam.com

    Find out more about the Batman in the Yahoo! Directory
    3,982 views
    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=dark-knight-shift-why-bat

  • Cant Change the Weather? - The Spark of Yahoo!

    Rated Jul 17 2008 • 1 review • science, weather, meteorology, beijing olympics • yahoo.com

    From the page: "Can't Change the Weather?
    By Michelle Heimburger
    Thu, July 17, 2008

    For everyone who's ever wished for the guarantee of a sunny day at the ballpark or for the end of a late-summer drought to quench a wilting garden, the idea of weather control has a certain romantic appeal. Over the last few months, we've heard hints of China's use of weather control for this summer's Olympic Games, but while everyone seems intrigued by the concept, most of us don't know much about it. Even in an age of astonishing scientific advancements, something as dramatic as controlling the weather itself still feels like it would -- or should -- be beyond mankind's abilities.

    Humans have employed various weather control tactics -- from rain dances to human sacrifices to elaborate gadgets -- for as long as we've been at the mercy of meteorology. Hail cannons, which blast sonic pulses into storm clouds to break up hail before it forms, haven't been scientifically proven to work, but some old farmers still swear by them. Since the 1940s, cloud seeding -- shooting or dropping such chemicals as silver iodide or dry ice into cumulus clouds to create an ideal environment for rain droplets to form -- has been a common practice in many states and countries. And for 20 years the U.S. government even ran a program (the amusingly named "Project Stormfury") designed to weaken the force of hurricanes by seeding the eyes of storms.

    In China, the summer rainy season will be tapering off by the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, but there's still a 50% chance of rain for that date. Officials hope to ensure a sunny ceremony by employing cloud-seeding tactics in the days leading up to the event, inducing pregnant rain clouds to drop their loads early and spare the crowds. China boasts the largest weather-modification program in the world, frequently employing cloud-seeding in arid regions and during droughts. But many scientists remain skeptical of the effectiveness of any form of weather modification. Perhaps China should get the rain-dancers ready, just in case."
    12 views
    Cant Change the Weather? - The Spark of Yahoo!