tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66159415434855890092012-02-28T22:36:39.250ZScientific, Skeptical and Secular (and often downright atheistic)! Every day I hear or read something interesting and surprising. Here are some of those things.Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.comBlogger5001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-19352307536577335552012-02-28T19:00:00.027Z2012-02-28T19:00:00.168Z

Thomas Paine, author of The Age of Reason, had an 'interesting' involvement in the French Revolution.  At the time he was living in France and although he was an English born 'Founding Father' of USA, he was acting as an elected member of the French National Convention when the revolution happened.  Things did not go well for him, but at least he escaped with his life. Thomas Paine - an

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-21052854038265069902012-02-27T21:30:00.001Z2012-02-27T21:35:40.177Z

Following on from yesterday's post about finding the Ugaritic Texts in Musée du Louvre last weekend, here are some more detailed pictures of the tablets.  You can find more about these tablets in a post last July about The Ugaritic Texts. The first picture is of a tablet which says in the French commentary to the right that Baal was presented as the greatest adversary of Yahweh.  I will not

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-47295963580621005752012-02-26T19:00:00.001Z2012-02-26T19:03:33.430Z

Last July I wrote a series of articles about the gods of the Old Testament including a post about The Ugaritic Texts.  Yes - I said 'gods' rather than God.  It seems very clear that there was 'pantheon' of gods at the time and God (a.k.a Yahweh) was just one of them as you can read at that link. Finding myself in Paris on a Saturday afternoon with no other commitments for a few hours, I took the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-60384142624558843862012-02-25T23:16:00.000Z2012-02-25T23:16:23.808Z

A weekly series of responses to the things christians say to atheists, based on the video reproduced here on 30th January 2012.  The aim is to tackle one every weekend, to give both a moderate, polite response to each question ('Piano'), followed by a more forceful rebuttal of the same question ('Forte').  These so-called atheists are just rebelling against god. Piano This is an

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-55581144930862362482012-02-24T21:00:00.000Z2012-02-24T21:34:04.871Z

The is a guest blog post written by a friend of the creator of Something Surprising.  I think you will like it. The day that John Lennon said "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity", he caused a bit of a stir. Many of our friends in the bible belt of America decided to burn records and publications having already paid good money for

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-41858107957690805492012-02-23T23:00:00.023Z2012-02-23T23:00:00.145Z

At the recent London Rally to Defend Freedom of Expression, the author of the delightful Jesus and Mo cartoons asked for his words to be read out aloud, and Maryam Namazie of One Law for All obliged by doing it for him. When was the last time you rushed into a place of worship while a service was taking place, and told the preacher to shut up? My guess is that you have never done this while

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-89209179068475169952012-02-22T23:00:00.044Z2012-02-22T23:00:03.509Z

From my own point of view, Peter Atkins was the star guest on a panel in the Grove Auditorium of Magdalene (pronounced 'Maudlin') College, Oxford, on 21st February.  He had the general approval of the audience to a greater extent than the other members. The splendid 'Grove Auditorium' (complete with a piano that was not visible yesterday). Stephen Law was the other atheist, being part of '

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-54235214734635776052012-02-21T23:28:00.000Z2012-02-21T23:28:24.502Z

Oxford Think Week 2012 got off to a good start last night, with an event called 'In Conversation with Richard Dawkins'.  The other gentleman in the conversation was Benjamin Krishna, Chair of Oxford Atheists, Secularists and Humanists and student at Oxford University.  Oxford Town Hall was nearly filled to capacity, with an audience of about 600 people - which was said to be a larger audience

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-11664875176492601092012-02-20T23:00:00.001Z2012-02-20T23:04:39.676Z

When Britain and France teamed up to build the supersonic airliner, Concorde, they had a practical problem to solve.  Which language would be the official language of the project?  In a typical European compromise they concluded that they would use both languages. Concorde - the result of a good compromise.  Image from here. It is said that it was official policy for all the engineers to

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-85086826573320451392012-02-19T21:00:00.017Z2012-02-19T21:00:01.151Z

Have you ever been advised to go and read your bible and reflect?  Sometimes this is an example of christian pastoral care.  When it is said very earnestly it leaves you with a faint aroma of cognitive dissonance. Dusty bible!  (sourced from this site which advises how to read it - a 'Test Message' being one of the options, surprisingly delivered by 'text message'). For me, there are a few

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-83308352357197234692012-02-18T13:01:00.000Z2012-02-18T13:01:03.486Z

A weekly series of responses to the things christians say to atheists, based on the video reproduced here on 30th January 2012.  The aim is to tackle one every weekend, to give both a moderate, polite response to each question ('Piano'), followed by a more forceful rebuttal of the same question ('Forte').  If evolution were true, we'd see dogs giving birth to cats Piano Lots of people

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-6410015083741131942012-02-17T05:00:00.003Z2012-02-17T05:00:00.477Z

Following on from yesterday's interesting revelations from the Ipsos Mori poll carried out on behalf of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, let's examine the results of part 2, which can be found in full here. There is a thread of discussion about the topic here.  Note that this report includes the questions from part 1 which I discussed yesterday in 50% of UK christians 'not

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-39003697779841976382012-02-16T00:01:00.004Z2012-02-17T05:56:59.116Z

Results from a survey of people who would have ticked the 'Christian' box on the UK 2011 census have been in the news this week.  Sponsored by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, the detailed results of the first part of the survey to were revealed at the link in this sentence.   I found some surprising numbers about the way the church is crumbling. The church is crumbling -

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-21312371139831406472012-02-15T00:55:00.001Z2012-02-15T01:15:32.167Z

A somewhat desperate article entitled "St Valentine's massacre in religion wars as Dawkins forgets full name of seminal Darwin book" can be found at this link.  Just glance at the original to get the context before you read this parody. Originally written by someone called Tim Edwards, it was full of irrelevant claims.  A new corrected version is featured here on Something Surprising. .........

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-15394052958101925072012-02-14T19:00:00.004Z2012-02-14T19:00:02.763Z

Apparently the glass is half full according to an optimist, but the glass is half empty to a pessimist. Glass completely full.  (Image ethically sourced from here.) Some actually regard this a a serious philosophical question, but to me it  represents a logical fallacy that I can't exactly name.  It is something like the fallacy of the missing middle, but not exactly the same.  There are

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-92147008500149886732012-02-14T00:49:00.001Z2012-02-14T00:52:36.569Z

As had been suggested, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science has made an announcement and if you want to hear Richard speak about it on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow morning you can find all the details here. RD.net promised that there would be an announcement 'after midnight' and the world waited . . . and waited.  What they said was true of course.   It was just a little longer after

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-67502942973680386052012-02-13T07:00:00.003Z2012-02-13T09:40:24.206Z

I saw this announcement on Facebook recently, written by someone who is always worth listening to: If you're a Twitter fan, you might want to follow @RDFRS_UK. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (UK) has opened a Twitter account - and we are expecting to be in the news soon ... Soon means Tuesday (apparently). All I can say is that I immediately started following and I'm

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-25883497427726780512012-02-12T19:00:00.000Z2012-02-12T19:00:00.405Z

The Intelligent Design (ID) community has pushed the boat out and made an entertaining little movie which they think will help to promote their cause.  In actual fact it simply demonstrates rather well why their claims have been largely ignored by the real scientific community.  Some of the descriptions of evolution are presented by Michael Flannery, who might be a professor of something from the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-39773843143051708492012-02-11T19:00:00.001Z2012-02-11T19:00:00.288Z

A weekly series of responses to the things christians say to atheists, based on the video reproduced here on 30th January 2012.  The aim is to tackle one every weekend, to give both a moderate, polite response to each question ('Piano'), followed by a more forceful rebuttal of the same question ('Forte'). You're a WHAT? Piano Yes I'm an atheist, and I hope you can respect my lack of

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4334900217484384002012-02-10T22:00:00.021Z2012-02-10T22:00:03.905Z

What could be the connection between the story of The Versailles Time Slip and the bible?  Read on. In typical style, Brian Dunning's excellent Skeptoid podcast covered the account reported by two highly educated and respected English women, Charlotte Anne Moberly  and Eleanor Jourdain, the principal and vice-principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford.  They claimed that they had slipped back in

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-48161616524371243472012-02-09T19:00:00.002Z2012-02-09T19:00:00.640Z

How often do we hear about the harm caused by violent video games?  Apparently they are likely to affect our young people's views of right and wrong.  They are going to make them accustomed to cruelty and violence.  As such, they will not be able to cope with ordinary peaceful life in the real world. If you have ever seen people playing some of these games they do certainly get involved pretty

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-42809002339135776182012-02-08T19:00:00.004Z2012-02-08T19:00:01.921Z

This is the best example yet of Poe's Law in action on Something Surprising. I honestly can't tell whether the barely literate ramblings left yesterday on an earlier post, "Evolution video - Jack Szostak", are meant seriously or not. However I thought it was worth posting them here for your amusement. micro evolution exists macro evolution not so as different species can not mate to

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-41733468625253045652012-02-07T19:00:00.001Z2012-02-07T19:00:02.810Z

Cartoon mice might have been singing to us for a few decades. But a recent finding suggests that real mice sing to each other too and that they choose mates on the basis of their songs. Male house mice pro­duce me­lo­di­ous songs to at­tract mates, not un­like many birds, ac­cord­ing to new re­search. The dit­ties are too high-pitched for hu­man hear­ing, but sci­en­tists at Vi­en­na's

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-2088934695668977692012-02-06T19:00:00.010Z2012-02-06T19:00:01.954Z

One of the things that I found most trying about Christmas Day last year was the presence of a Golden Retriever.  This lovely-natured dog belongs to some visiting relatives who came to lunch (and kindly provided part of it).  Much as I like dogs I prefer them to be somewhere other than in my house, and particularly somewhere other than my kitchen.  I find that it is like having a bear in the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-66457258416819108892012-02-05T22:00:00.001Z2012-02-05T22:00:03.417Z

Never having been a great fan of Steve Martin, I was surprised to hear this entertaining song. The link was kindly contributed by regular reader, Tony. As they say: "In their songs they have a rule, The 'he' is always lower case!"

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4384969952570199902012-02-04T13:00:00.002Z2012-02-18T11:32:11.093Z

A weekly series of responses to the things christians say to atheists, based on the video reproduced here on 30th January 2012.  The aim is to tackle one every weekend, to give both a moderate, polite response to each question ('Piano'), followed by a more forceful rebuttal of the same question ('Forte'). The fool hath said in his heart that there is no god Piano Psalm 14 verse 1.  Atheists

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-88547442678600914642012-02-03T20:51:00.000Z2012-02-03T20:51:24.963Z

The classic historical parody, 1066 and All That  carries an "Important Note" The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets) and vice versa. It is essential to keep these distinctions clearly in mind (and verce visa). I hope you have

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-41088171299230392252012-02-02T19:00:00.001Z2012-02-02T20:22:50.828Z

I run Google Analytics on the Something Surprising blog and it tells me a bit about how my visitors found me.  Strangely enough, I even believe some of it (although not quite all).  It is more like a weather vane than a weather forecast, but a great service, and free, and informative. Sometimes it is entertaining to see what search terms had been used in Google to get to Something Surprising. 

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-19691115582522130342012-02-01T12:00:00.002Z2012-02-01T12:00:01.165Z

As a fellow skeptic, (are you?), have you ever been irritated by some supercilious twit telling you Don't be so negative! Usually in my experience they are saying this because they have failed to understand the situation properly they are trying to be motivational to other people (or sheeple) who are listening, they think it makes them sound positive and they think that is always a good thing.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-52554384372964488912012-01-31T11:00:00.009Z2012-01-31T11:00:02.114Z

Sometimes you come across a site that achieves many of the things that you always thought you might strive towards.  Although tempting to be disappointed that someone else has done it already, the inner pragmatist encourages me to enjoy reading the good material that has been collected there and to share a link with my readers. I recommend a visit to NoBeliefs.com.  Among the highlights you

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-17417140788107718802012-01-30T12:23:00.000Z2012-01-30T12:23:19.533Z

I came across this video recently and found it both insightful and delightfully presented by a lady who should be a professional actress.  (The only thing I didn't really like is the title.)  The odd thing is that I have heard almost all these arguments used in my presence here in UK too (with the exception of those relating the the US 1st amendment - the separation of church and state).  I can't

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-1155433123826623022012-01-30T10:05:00.001Z2012-01-30T10:05:46.497Z

If you read Up with which WE will not put on Saturday, and even one of you signed the petition linked from there, then we can each feel justly proud of our small part in influencing public life in UK. Hints that Hester might have a conscience! The breaking news this morning is that Royal Bank of Scotland boss, Stephen Hester, has done the honourable thing and turned down the bonus that he was

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-36470990954978993202012-01-29T12:00:00.027Z2012-01-29T12:00:00.860Z

We have all heard the Victorian term 'the missing link' used by anti-evolution campaigners and we have all heard it used as a puerile and pejorative put-down. The odd thing is that so many missing links have been found in the line between us and our last common ancestor with the apes.  Setting aside the Piltdown Man hoax - a masterpiece of mischief or a disastrous prank - there are a lot of

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-24841000714537486482012-01-28T00:01:00.006Z2012-01-28T00:01:00.390Z

Following on from yesterday's dose of humorous prepositional pedantry, here is an example of one thing 'up with which we will not put'. Bankers bonuses!  Specifically the bonuses for the Royal Bank of Scotland! The corpulent Mr Hester - not many lunches missed Here is an image of a man who clearly hasn't missed many lunches while fighting to make his company profitable on behalf of its

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-9318637437527063092012-01-27T19:00:00.008Z2012-01-27T19:00:03.732Z

First reported in Plain Words (1948) by Sir Ernest Gowers, it is said that Winston Churchill once made this marginal comment against a sentence that clumsily avoided a prepositional ending. "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put". What a good job he never read the following sentence as it ends with a surprising FIVE prepositions! "What did you bring that book that I didn't

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-73430665566658687662012-01-26T19:38:00.000Z2012-01-26T19:38:36.410Z

'Cognitive dissonance' is a term that I hear surprisingly often these days. It is sometimes described as the discomfort we feel when we hold two ideas that clash or conflict with each other.  It can also describe the difference between an attitude we hold and a behaviour that is inconsistent with the attitude. As Lewis Black once said, "When an environmentalist buys an SUV they might as well be

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-74327487167550218352012-01-26T00:01:00.020Z2012-01-26T00:07:44.559Z

Have you heard about the fuss that erupted in London a couple of weeks ago?  It was all about the use of a Jesus and Mo cartoon on a poster created by an student atheist group at University College London. You can find the whole story here on Richard Dawkins' web site. The strange and simple Jesus and Mo cartoons have an appearance that belies their cleverness, and I can now say that I am a

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-24574901769585897502012-01-25T19:15:00.000Z2012-01-25T19:15:20.201Z

Let's assume that Scotland does get independence from UK within the next few years.  That would be great from the English perspective.  Would it be good for Scotland? It all boils down to the question of whether Scotland is a single nation.  Having lived there for 4 years and enjoyed the friendship of many Scots, some of whom probably read my ramblings here, I notice divisions in Scotland that

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-13434436984192095572012-01-24T19:00:00.001Z2012-01-24T19:00:01.758Z

At last the new millennium is establish in speech!  Ever since the beginning of the century people in England have been divided. Initially there was a great debate about the true date of the beginning of the 21st century, with one side claiming January 1st 2000, and the opposition claiming 2001.  Well obviously the latter is strictly correct, and as a permanent pedant I could hardly be expected

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-43944371471419102282012-01-23T19:00:00.002Z2012-01-23T19:00:02.411Z

Among the geological wonders of New Zealand, the Moeraki Boulders (see Wikipedia article) are surprisingly spherical in shape. See this Youtube video - one of many but it has nice music. Some regard these remarkable stones as proof of the existence of a god - presumably their own particular God. Geologists who are aware of similar septarian concretions all around the world have theories

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-76504143770243171122012-01-23T19:00:00.001Z2012-01-23T19:00:04.266Z

I happened across a silly question while surfing the web "Does anyone know if it's possible to use a background that would essentially turn my computer monitor into a mirror? Scanning a mirror doesn't work." That sounds as though he actually tried it.  As a matter of fact though, you might like to think about what you actually would get if you scanned a mirror.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-15853951780124389662012-01-22T11:00:00.019Z2012-01-22T11:00:04.524Z

This is an unusual post today - drawing together some interesting feedback from an earlier article and a bit of a plug for the Reddit community. One of my posts about the gods of the Old Testament from earlier in the year was submitted to the Reddit site recently, and for whatever reason it took off as a success for a day.  Reddit is a great site and I recommend it highly, whatever topic you

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-45646033134959705282012-01-21T14:15:00.019Z2012-01-21T14:15:15.509Z

The topic of Scottish Independence from the rest of the UK is rumbling around the news and will continue to rumble for the next year of two. At the bottom of the whole story is the question about who has the power to call a referendum.  There is a false assumption that the Scots want one thing and the English want the opposite.  The (barely elected) UK Prime Minister, David Cameron (pardon me

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-52607552680334223562012-01-21T14:00:00.007Z2012-01-21T14:00:00.889Z

I will shortly post a an opinion about Scottish Independence.  As you might know, I'm English and I am all for Scottish independence.  The sooner the better.  Then we can get on with our lives in mutual respect. Aside from that will refer to a classic (and humorous) song from the comic duo Flanders and Swann, recorded half a century ago.  This is not the characteristic self-effacing English fare

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-11257863638610293062012-01-20T11:28:00.000Z2012-01-20T11:28:54.935Z

For the last couple of hundred years 'Creationists' have used variants on the theme of 'the argument from incredulity' to explain how the complexity of life demonstrates the existence of a god.  Or should I say usually it is the 'God'?  William Paley's famous watch is at the heart of one of the best known versions of this story.  (Read about it here in the unlikely event that you are not familiar

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-34897914343252524952012-01-19T19:00:00.007Z2012-01-19T19:00:00.986Z

There is a story as old as the hills about a question that might have been set in a finals exam for a degree in Philosophy at Oxford University (once upon a time). The question was : "Is this a question?" You can imagine the convolutions that under-graduate philosophers might get into.  For three years they have been trained to think tangled thoughts and to back up their reasoning with

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-48438756275273044762012-01-18T22:07:00.000Z2012-01-18T22:07:06.973Z

A simple myth is more attractive than a complex reality. So says John Cook in his Debunking Handbook, which is a guide for skeptics who are tempted to challenge the world-views of the credulous people around them.  By 'credulous' you might think I mean only the people who believe in their own local religions, but in fact I use the term much more broadly. All of us are credulous.  I myself have

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-77430952127910406332012-01-17T22:00:00.005Z2012-01-17T22:00:02.840Z

Sharia law is becoming much more widely used in UK, or so we are told in the news this week. It seems that it is much cheaper to resolve legal disputes in a religious court than in a real court. It is not new news that there are at least 85 Sharia courts operating in UK, because this surprising revelation was made in a Civitas report in 2009.  However it is about time we had an update on this

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-73754636490005750402012-01-16T20:00:00.003Z2012-01-16T21:29:48.760Z

Anyone working in a large organisation for a couple of  decades will see patterns of recurrent nonsense.  This decade is no different from any other, and we see many of the old traits re-emerging for another airing. As a naive young engineer I always assumed that the senior management of every organisation had risen to its position of power through some sort of meritocracy.  These must be

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-42759873564102357842012-01-15T21:15:00.001Z2012-01-15T21:36:30.607Z

A kind person calling himself @MAXTRACkX on Twitter sent me a message which included a link to a Youtube video.  The Twitter account was only set up today and by now it has probably been reported for spam.  Anyway, I wouldn't recommend you to bother watching the video as it is half an hour of bearded men** talking about how they were converted to Islam, in German, with mulitple sub-titles. 

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-13638146794593968942012-01-15T09:00:00.000Z2012-01-15T10:43:29.728Z

Studying evolution of the tree of life is like doing a jigsaw. Some of the pieces are missing and some do not yet fit, but they will in the end!

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-34897389176010236272012-01-14T20:18:00.000Z2012-01-14T20:18:01.600Z

Those of us who follow the argument about the teaching of evolution in schools realise that there is an ongoing battle around the world.  In USA the Intelligent Design (ID) movement uses rhetorical skills to push forward the idea of 'Teaching the Controversy'. Teach all the controversies (source) It seems that, in a recent poll, 80% of American adults agreed that schools should 'teach the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-51711648587306199532012-01-13T21:09:00.000Z2012-01-13T21:09:10.846Z

In yesterday's news, it was reported that a new portrait of the eminent physicist Robert Hooke FRS was to be unveiled in London's Institute of Physics. What, you might ask, is unusual about this?  Surely famous physicists - and there really have been some famous physicists - are commemorated in this way all the time aren't they?  Hooke was one of the greatest experimentalists of the 1600s

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-44974769376187794172012-01-12T21:00:00.003Z2012-01-12T21:00:02.701Z

It is often said that in order to master anything completely, you must put in 10,000 hours of effort.  Those who are naturally skilled or suited to some activities have an advantage over others, and of course some people do not have the required aptitudes at all.  Therefore I think the figure of 10,000 hours applies to those who have a reasonable affinity for the activity but simply need to

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-25206424987558564242012-01-11T07:00:00.022Z2012-01-11T07:00:10.125Z

If you have listened to as much of the oratory skill of Christopher Hitchens as you really ought to have done, you can hardly have failed to notice how often he mentioned a few characters from ancient history and quoted their sayings.  Like me, you might have always intended to find out more about some of them, and like me you might have been out and about, in the car, listening to a podcast or

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-89314063684824176002012-01-10T20:31:00.000Z2012-01-10T20:31:18.409Z

Today marks the end of the first year in the life of the Something Surprising blog which has been an adventure in many ways. Apart from anything else the blog is a chronicle and collection of the reasons why I have nearly recovered from Christianity.  It is also a collection of some of the fascinating and surprising, scientific and skeptical topics I find out day-to-day. This time last year I

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-61780698355149742282012-01-09T21:10:00.000Z2012-01-09T21:10:26.616Z

The General Confession is part of the Eucharist service in the Anglican Church.   It is one of those Protestant compromises which serves the same purpose as the regular personal confession that Roman Catholics are expected to make to their priest (even though we all know that some of these priests have more extensive personal experience of sin than their parishioners).  Over many years of

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-22557808700072339942012-01-08T19:00:00.000Z2012-01-08T19:00:03.940Z

The miracle of iron is one of the Qu'ran's claims to contain some science - which let's face it is a ridiculous claim that cannot stand any serious scrutiny.  The Qu'ran, to give it its due, is at least an iron age text, unlike the Old Testament of the bible who's stories clearly date from the bronze age. But to claim that “And We also sent down iron in which there lies great force and which

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-44124412696704780082012-01-07T23:32:00.000Z2012-01-07T23:32:19.345Z

Seen outside a nice little shop in Chapel Stile, Cumbria. At least someone has a sense of humour there.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4574961860536585412012-01-06T19:00:00.023Z2012-01-06T19:00:03.181Z

I'm not saying that I completely dread the annual excesses and triviality of Christmas, but I'm glad to have survived to the end of another one and escaped, largely unscathed.  Even the New Year nonsense is more-or-less over.  All those questions from colleagues about whether I had a good break and whether I went away at Christmas can be put behind me for another year. Although the holiday

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-46285264944345826292012-01-05T20:00:00.003Z2012-01-06T05:43:41.653Z

How many 'wise men' (or kings or astrologers or whatever you like to call them) were at the manger at the time of Jesus' birth? I'm sure you thought the answer was so obvious that it would be beneath contempt to say "Three".  Actually, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that the answer is quite surprising. In fact the Bible never mentions the presence of three (or any other number of) wise men

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-66300432467830544282012-01-04T19:00:00.001Z2012-01-04T19:00:06.293Z

How often have you heard a Christian apologist express incredulity that you don't believe in an all powerful creator god who intervenes in the world to answer prayers? They tell me that the evidence for god is overwhelming - and the moment I hear that expression I know that the last thing I am going to hear from them is any actual evidence whatsoever. You hear: the evidence of the bible the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-14406821666772539882012-01-03T19:00:00.002Z2012-01-03T22:08:38.657Z

I never could get the point of celebrating New Year, and this year is no different. Apart from the fact that the household was disturbed by fireworks as late as 02:30 and that the phone rang a couple of times, we woke this morning to find the drains blocked by some kind and generous neighbour pouring liquid fat down their sink.  (You guessed it - it didn't remain liquid for long!) The New Year

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-88187815631049394252012-01-03T00:41:00.000Z2012-01-03T00:41:13.931Z

Priests and monks in the church at the spot that is alleged to be the birth place of Jesus have always had a hard time. For a start, it is nearly obvious that Jesus wasn't born there at all, and that they have to convince themselves and the public that this form of 'lying for Jesus' is not a sin. But the different denominations have also had to cooperate with each other to keep the place clean,

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-989234963351587422012-01-02T16:00:00.006Z2012-01-02T16:00:09.160Z

Until the last 2 or 3 months I had never noticed the term 'Gish Gallop'.  That is not to say that I was unaware of the debating technique, either in writing or in person.  I'm sure we have all seen it happen, where one of the contributors to a debate tries to drown their opponent with a stream of barely relevant drivel in order to prevent the opponent from getting a word in.  In a parliamentary

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-21338491172213151922012-01-01T10:00:00.001Z2012-01-01T10:39:15.785Z

An old university friend pointed me to a web site campaigning for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom a little while ago.  Reading One Dynamic Nation  I find myself wondering what is in this for the English. I find that it is disproportionately aimed at convincing the Scots to remain part of the Union because they get such a good deal out of the arrangement, and I think that is only

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4625394930773219442011-12-31T17:00:00.002Z2011-12-31T17:00:04.038Z

Some time during the last year I heard a story about a short black and white British comedy film which is played on German TV every New Year's Eve. I heard that it was a tradition to watch it, and I knew that almost nobody in UK had ever heard of it. So I didn't really believe a word of the story - at least not until I had asked some of my German colleagues. And sure enough, each and every one

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-5556318415406631352011-12-30T11:33:00.000Z2011-12-30T11:33:32.483Z

Have you ever noticed how some people just need to believe something about everything.  There are no areas of knowledge where they are content to know that they don't know. Of course, as with everything in the world there is a spectrum of people.  It is often said that the world is made up of people of two types - namely those who divide people into two types and those who do not.  I am in the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-87901773825105167282011-12-29T19:00:00.008Z2011-12-29T19:00:04.037Z

John Maynard Keynes, 1883-1946, was a British economist who overturned the earlier ideas of neoclassical economics and worked to replace them with modern macroeconomics. We are all doubtful about economists these days and would do well to remember the adage that: "The economy depends on economists about as much as the weather depends on weather forecasters." However, surprisingly, Keynes

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-58802874890208129582011-12-28T18:00:00.001Z2011-12-28T18:17:51.516Z

A few days ago, on the post 'Long live the legacy of Hitch' one of my most regular and popular commentators, @Hilary, wrote a paragraph.  As you know - I like to engage with the topics that people leave as comments, and this one is worthy of further inspection because it gets to the very heart of the difference between those who have faith and those who do not because the faithful simply find it

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-12720504229664255772011-12-27T19:00:00.005Z2011-12-27T19:00:02.170Z

I had planned to conclude the series about the chalk figures of England, with two human figures carved into the hillsides.  However, people have kindly been sending me links to other objects and I have not had chance to investigate them.  For now this is a tentative conclusion, but I might follow up in future weeks with some additions. The Long Man of Wilmington, in East Sussex.  (See on

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-33743153621524428552011-12-26T19:00:00.000Z2011-12-26T19:00:01.666Z

This moving and amazing aerial footage of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon forest says more than any words I can imagine. <p><p><p><br>&

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-59323678618829606222011-12-25T00:00:00.000Z2011-12-25T00:17:34.648Z

If I had the power to produce exactly what I want for next Christmas, I would have all the kings and emperors resign and allow the people to govern themselves. I would have all the nobility crop their titles and give their lands back to the people. I would have the Pope throw away his tiara, take off his sacred vestments, and admit that he is not acting for God -is not infallible - but is just

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-42972940200406907852011-12-24T12:00:00.003Z2011-12-24T20:08:45.181Z

Following the theme of the strange forms of art found in the chalk uplands of England (having covered horses in the first post, other animals in the second), and with human figures to come in the next, this one is about some other shapes that can be found. Bledlow Cross - pretty hard to find due to the unfortunate lighting!  (See on Google maps).  Whiteleaf Cross (See on Google maps). The

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-46570349145016038932011-12-23T17:00:00.013Z2011-12-23T17:00:07.699Z

So . . . there is a war on Christmas.  Or so we are told by so-called Christians who seem to think that their 'ancient traditions' are being eroded away by honest questioning in the free-thinking blogosphere.  It seems that demands from secular organisations for fairness to people of all-faiths-and-none are being twisted into an attack on Christmas. This claim of the 'new war' does make me ask

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-91515213150646973762011-12-22T14:09:00.000Z2011-12-22T14:09:19.117Z

A priest greets a Higgs Boson and welcomes him into the church. "We haven't seen you here before" The Boson replies "You might not have noticed me before, but you have mass don't you?" Small note:   Any more boson jokes?  Feel free to put them in the comments.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-64173394042657547542011-12-21T11:00:00.001Z2011-12-21T11:23:22.081Z

Remember a few years ago - amazingly it was 2001 when it was published - when this advert went 'viral'?  I don't think the word viral meant the same thing then, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't see it for a couple of years after that.  I wonder how much of the world it touched, being a French product?  Anyway - it is due for revival due to its ssurprisingly subtle but highly entertaining

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-84044160644307910582011-12-20T13:00:00.027Z2011-12-20T13:11:17.821Z

We are now 6 years on from the historic Kitzmiller vs Dover Trial in which brave parents challenged a US school board's decision to teach 'Intelligent Design' (ID) as if it were part of some sort of scientific controversy.  By doing this the ID movement neatly tried to sidestep the obvious truth that ID is not science in any real sense. Kitzmiller et al were pointing out that ID's backers had

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-63454693866514043262011-12-19T11:30:00.000Z2011-12-19T11:30:39.587Z

Why has there been so much negative news about fusion energy this month?  I suppose it is because the EU has finally committed itself to spending some extra funds on the ITER project, and a few people still try to pretend that 1.3 billion Euros is a lot of money. Is it?  What can you buy for a few billion? How much did CERN's LHC project cost?  I have heard figures up to 10 billion Euros spent

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-22363416232372287982011-12-18T20:01:00.001Z2011-12-18T20:02:53.368Z

'Poe's Law' is one of those expressions that seem to have arrived in vernacular English from nowhere.  There are several variations on a theme and another altogether independent option here.  One possible application is: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing." In other

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-26104175717601127652011-12-18T11:35:00.000Z2011-12-18T11:35:49.644Z

Just an innovative Advent Calendar

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-32616166907838482402011-12-17T19:00:00.011Z2011-12-24T20:03:33.585Z

Following on from the surprisingly successful post about White Horses in England, here are some other animal figures. The Whitehawk Hawk, near Brighton in East Sussex, (see on Google maps). Whipsnade Lion, close to Whipsnade zoo (see on Google maps). And now two figures from areas where the geology is not based on chalk.  The flora have been cleared away to reveal quartz-like rock near

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4373489687281972832011-12-16T20:00:00.000Z2011-12-16T20:00:05.860Z

Christians often ask atheists a question that they seem to think is the blockbuster that proves that their faith is well founded.  "How do you know what is right and wrong if you don't believe in (our) god?"  It is not unusual to hear them ask what stops us from killing and stealing and raping, and it is not even unusual to find people - christian people! - who will claim that if there was no

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-40451135104629337002011-12-16T08:16:00.000Z2011-12-16T08:16:19.929Z

Sadly, the news this morning tells us that Christopher Hitchens has finally lost his battle with cancer.  I wonder whether anyone could replace his wit and wisdom, his drive to achieve justice across the world and his sheer energy. Jut grabbing a few examples of his work from my collection of notes: We often heard him claim about religions: "What can be asserted without evidence can be

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-31164880474319453522011-12-15T19:00:00.006Z2011-12-24T20:05:49.890Z

Real white horses make me sneeze and wheeze, but the horses you see here don't have that effect on me.  I was browsing around the superb resources of Google maps the other day and looking at some of the amazing figures carved in the chalk hills of England.  Some of them are quite ancient and others are positively modern.  Several were quite hard to find.  All are a little eccentric. Chalk has

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-70403278217198835832011-12-14T19:00:00.001Z2011-12-14T19:08:18.448Z

I have nothing to add except that the concept that it might be a fake need not prevent you from smiling!

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-8075054761027528452011-12-13T19:00:00.002Z2011-12-13T19:00:05.609Z

As I publish this post a strong wind is blowing across the whole of UK, and it seems appropriate to think of the destructive power that it has.  I remember being astounded when I first saw this incredible footage. Even now, the movie never ceases to amaze. This was the famous collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, known even during its construction as Gallopin' Gertie, in Washington

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-81177087430227564562011-12-12T21:00:00.001Z2011-12-12T21:00:00.574Z

Christians will answer that question easily.  It is obvious that we get it from the bible.  Muslims will be equally certain.  It is certainly from the Qu'ran. And every other religion will have a similar answer and all of them are wrong. How do I know this? Well I just know. ****************** Oh - you are expecting more? What do you mean, that isn't enough?  It seems that it is enough

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-7633280981473888372011-12-11T19:00:00.016Z2011-12-11T19:15:13.379Z

I was entertained to see a link to this article about how to get back at junk-mail providers. Now admittedly I often stuff all their advertising material back into the postage-paid envelope and post it back to them, sometimes with a kindly "No thank you, I thought you might like this back so that you can re-cycle it" But even I had never thought of using their own envelope to post a brick back

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-70311666059511368422011-12-10T23:55:00.010Z2011-12-11T12:24:46.215Z

Bloggers who consistently seem to attack religion can find themselves criticised for their efforts.  They are sometimes labelled 'aggressive' or even (believe it or not) 'sanctimonious' by people who do not seem to know the meanings of the words.  Typically I am asked why I spend so much time attacking Christianity when it is obvious that the religion brings comfort to people in times of need.  I

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-54853163405693931112011-12-09T19:00:00.002Z2011-12-09T19:00:05.018Z

You all deserve a nice suprise. It made me chuckle, however fake it might be.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-44864658108800094712011-12-08T19:00:00.004Z2011-12-08T19:00:05.567Z

God works in mysterious ways! So we are often told.  This is one of those phrases that we all know.  Those of us who can't decide which god we believe in the least find that the expression is used with monotonous regularity by christians whenever you ask them a question that they find impossible to answer. Where does this phrase come from anyway?  It seems that it is not to be found in the

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-4517517772968228172011-12-07T19:00:00.006Z2011-12-07T19:00:03.752Z

Some famous basketball player's Youtube video has gone viral recently.  He appears to jump over a speeding car.  You can find that for yourself - it shouldn't be difficult and it has been viewed over 5 million times. On the other had this guy, Aaron Evans from Milwaukee, does it for real as you can see from the fact that Youtube has plausible videos from different angles. Even my darling

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-51784503387194983622011-12-07T11:00:00.000Z2012-01-07T10:04:40.509Z

Published on Michael Nugent's blog, this map by Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michegan and Christian Welzel of Jacobs University Bremen seemed quite interesting and surprising.  I like maps! Maybe it runs in the family.  My father was a surveyor and loved maps too.

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-72509543062956122782011-12-06T19:00:00.012Z2011-12-06T19:00:02.855Z

Regular readers will know that I like to follow up on comments that people have made on earlier posts, and that is what I am planning for today.  This comment was left anonymously on my recent post "The Fallacy of the Taxi Cab Fallacy" "You all do realize that the Bible is not a singular work, but a collection, right? There are certainly cases where Christians will engage in circular reasoning

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-44690245571451551652011-12-05T19:00:00.025Z2011-12-05T19:00:00.916Z

The North Yorkshire town of Masham (pronounced (Massam) is famous for its beer, and in particular a brew from the original Theakston's Brewery, called 'Old Peculier'.  It is a strong dark and unusually sweet beer, perfect to comfort you in the winter (and indeed not unpleasant in the summer). On the label there is a strange symbol, the Seal of the Official of the Peculier of Masham. You might

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-84478375847802494782011-12-04T19:00:00.000Z2011-12-04T19:00:03.544Z

HMS Belfast is the only surviving light cruiser from the 1930s.  It is moored on the River Thames, close to Tower Bridge in London. Not many people know that the guns of turrets A and B are aimed at a specific place, namely at Scratchwood Service Station (now renamed as London Gateway Services) on the M1 motorway on the northern edge of London.  The 'target' is over 12 miles away. Having

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-41564089838643200672011-12-04T09:15:00.004Z2011-12-04T10:42:10.728Z

John Titor first appeared on the Time Travel Institute forums on November 2, 2000, under the name TimeTravel_0. He described his time machine saying it contained the following: Two magnetic housing units for the dual micro singularities An electron injection manifold to alter mass and gravity micro singularities A cooling and X-ray venting system Gravity sensors, or a variable gravity lock Four

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-63930107835570395462011-12-03T22:00:00.002Z2011-12-03T22:00:01.878Z

If you like Something Surprising, you will also enjoy some of the extra items that I have started to share on Facebook along with posts about new entries on the blog.  Then you can comment and share your surprising finds with your Facebook friends at the click of a button. Just follow this link to the Something Surprising's Facebook page.  You don't even need to be a member of Facebook to

Plasma Engineerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02891736950166421184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6615941543485589009.post-87788131452151053142011-12-03T00:30:00.002Z2011-12-03T00:30:00.052Z

A guest post by C. Stuart Hardwick This is the third of the guest appearances by other readers of Something Surprising to celebrate the first 50,000 page views.  It comes from USA written especially for publication here, inspired by a conversation on Facebook.  Some people reading this post outside USA might be perplexed about aspects relating to the First Amendment to their constitution which

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