Symphony of Science 5: The Poetry of Reality

The fifth installment of this wonderful series was just released today:

"New Symphony of Science Music Video

Bonjour Symphony of Science fans!

I am pleased to announce the release of a new Symphony of Science music video today. It's titled "The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)", and it features 12 different scientific thinkers, promoting science through words of wisdom. Keep reading for more.

"The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)" is the fifth video in the Symphony of Science series. This new video differs slightly from previous ones, in that it features many more scientific thinkers than usual. It includes (in order) Michael Shermer, Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Carolyn Porco, and PZ Meyers, all contributing their personal views on what science means to them and how important it is in our daily lives.

You can find the video on the website, http://symphonyofscience.com, or on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cd36WJ79z4. The new song is also downloadable on the website in MP3 format.

Special thanks are due to The Sagan Appreciation Society (http://www.youtube.com/user/SaganAppreciationSoc) and Connie Barlow (http://www.youtube.com/user/ghostsofevolution) for their huge help in finding source materials. Check out their Youtube pages! Thanks also to all of you who suggested footage that I have not mentioned, I really appreciate it.

In addition to the new music video, there are also new remixes available on the website in the downloads section.

I hope you enjoy this new video as much as I did making it. If you have any feedback to give I would love to hear it. Thanks for listening, and cheers!

John Boswell
john@symphonyofscience.com
symphonyofscience.com

Click here to see our web site"

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas NV

Took some time today and made the loop around Red Rock. I was born, have lived and visit Vegas often and I always try to get to Red Rock when I'm here. Having the Raptor made this trip all too sweet.

This isn't an offroad park. In fact there's barely any offroading at all, with the exception of Oak Creek Canyon; its a group of roads/trails that runs from the back of the canyon out to Pahrump. These "roads" are what I would call a "fire trail plus", meaning there are spots that are tight and technical, and you'll definitely need a lifted offroader like the Raptor go get over the boulders that dot the route. And when its icy you really need to be careful, as there are some dramatic dropoffs within a foot of the trail. But none the less there's a few ways to go back in there and have some relaxed and causal offroad fun for a few hours. If you're ever in the area, check it out.

Here's a handful of shots from the lower, smoother wide open Red Rock side of the route:

Anza Borrego & Ocotillo Wells, CA

I just spent the whole day out at Anza Borrego and Ocotillo Wells behind the wheel of this monster. There are only two words I can think of to describe this truck:

IN.SANE.

Here's the breadcrumb trail from my GPS:

Tons of soft powdery sand. Tons of mud. Tons of rocks and boulders. Tons of climbs. Tons of descents. This truck handled them in stride. LadyNilla and I just giggled the whole day. This thing took everything we threw at it, and threw it back at us with a scoff.

Here's some pics from the day:
Never send a Chevy to do a Raptor's job (he didn't make it even after several attempts

Here's a three pic sequence of one of the (8 total) Raptor's that made it out today. We all got thru this with no problems.

The aftermath:

That last one was a little embarrassing. We thrashed through some mud (guys told me I was throwing 20ft roostertails) and, of course, I forgot to close the moonroof :duh:

Maybe the most impressive thing of the day was the response we got. We couldn't get by a group of bikes or ATVs without snapping a few necks, and answering a few "Is that a Raptor? Is it everything they say it is?"

Nope... its more.

Ever wanted to download a YouTube video? Here's how

1) Open any YouTube video
2) In the video's URL, switch out the "Y" in "Youtube" for a 3
3) Select your video format preference and that's it!

Thanks Gizmodo!

A working Phaser. No, seriously! Look!

A working Phaser. No, seriously! Look!



Here are the DIY instructions

New Star Trek sequel has a 2012 release date! | SCI FI Wire

Now that its been "reinvented", I hope we can get back to what makes Star Trek, Star Trek.

New Star Trek sequel has a 2012 release date! | SCI FI Wire

DC Cops Can Arrest You for Carrying More Than Two Condoms

Now the prostitutes get to choose between safe sex and going to jail. But wait... that last part... if they were worried about jail, would they be prostitutes in the first place? So...

La Figa � Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady of the Night: DC Cops Can Arrest You for Carrying More Than Two Condoms

-People suck

Symphony of Science: The Unbroken Thread

I'm really loving this project.

Neandertals Were Homo Sapiens's Mental Equals?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neandertal-art-human

A 'friend' of mine apparently found himself offended by this scientific discovery.  As a creationist, he felt he needed to try and dismiss it as nothing suprising, saying it fit perfectly well within the framework of "Gap Theory".

Being geniunely curious, I asked him how it was that the discovery Neanderthals understood symbology related to an attempt at reconciling the age of the earth with a story in the bible?

His response?  

"The Gap Theory holds to an old earth.
It also holds to a creation where there was an intelligent creation prior to Adam, referred to as the pre-Adamite earth.
The Bible only addresses the earth from the time of Adam forward (which amounts to around 6000 years thus far).

So, I believe that there were intelligent people prior to the creation of Adam.  I believe that there is evidence of their work on earth today, e.g., the Egyptian Pyramids"

Remember... his vote counts just as much as yours.

Kim Peek, the real "Rain Man" died

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27peek.html

Just when he starts to flourish, he dies. Life can be a real bitch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hello World

Hello blogosphere!

I've felt the need to rant lately, and rather than talk to myself I figured I'd treat you all instead. So here we go :)