No. Really?

Here is an entirely unsurprising story about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from the Beeb. Guess what? Apparently, it's perfectly safe, and they're to be allowed to switch it on.

A good rule of thumb for the conspiracy-minded and half-witted for future similar situations: physicists are neither stupid nor terracidal. No one is going to rush to build something which, on the off chance, might happen to... oh, let's say destroy the planet. Because, at the end of the day, even if you have found the Higgs boson, if you can't write up your paper on your notebook over a mochachino in the café afterwards, it's not going to do you a hell of a lot of good.

Yet another sign, in short, that we need to do a better job of educating and communicating about science.

The Pelican State Propelled Perilously Toward the Precipice

I'm behind the curve on this news as well, but it's time to put my oar in regarding the Louisiana creationist legislation, Senate Bill 733, which has somehow made its way to the desk of Governor Bobby Jindal (R).

The danger of this bill is just like that of every other "science education" or "academic freedom" bill proposed: it is concerned with precisely the opposite of "education" and "freedom".

The Louisiana Coalition for Science has more details on their site, and Barbara Forrest's calls for assistance have also appeared in any number of locations, including Richard Dawkins' site and a large number of blogs. An editorial in yesterday's New York Times also makes the case against this bill. Dr Forrest has called for assistance, asking that anyone who does not want to see their own state or county or province be next should write to Governor Jindal. Jindal holds a degree in biology and public policy from Brown University, so it could be hoped that he would know the difference. But if he has forgotten, it may be a good idea to remind him.

Here, for the sake of interest, is the text of my email to him:

Governor Jindal,

I hope that you will neither sign nor allow to pass into law unsigned the piece of legislation before you known as SB733.

You have no doubt heard many arguments against this legislation already. If you should retain any vestige of your academic training, you will know that these objections are fundamentally correct. You will also understand that those who sympathise with the goals of this legislation do so from motives which are less honourable than they would claim. You've heard of the Wedge Strategy. You know the real motives of the Discovery Institute. If you don't, these things are easily discovered.

If you fail to veto this bill, not only will you demonstrate yourself to be sadly unworthy of the academic honours which you hold, but you will have shown your disdain for the real world and for the reputation of the State of Louisiana.

It will take work to undo the damage wrought by creationists acting in America and around the world. It will take time. Do you really wish to distract in the least from the work of saving this country - and possibly the world - from the bloody-minded follies of the last seven years to have to once again hash out this point?

I would urge you - do not allow this to pass. If you have any sense at all of the weight of this decision, you have but one choice: you must veto. Now. Do please locate your veto pen, Governor: the world is waiting.

I have little else to say on this matter. But you can do your bit too: email Governor Jindal today. Let him know that you do not intend to let this go unremarked and unchallenged.

Sunday Viewing Options

Here's the quintessential brief entry: if you have access to the Science Channel in the US, and have nothing else to do today (Sunday 22 June 2008), there's a marathon running of one of the best science documentaries of all time, Carl Sagan's Cosmos. I've watched the whole series several times and own it on DVD (having replaced my videocassette versions, if that tells you how important this show was and is to me), but I have it on as background at the moment (skipping through some of the most irritating commercials ever). This presentation features some updated graphics from the original 1980 version, and linking narrative by Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan. Here's the link to the inevitable associated website.

You can, of course, watch much of it on You Tube, Google Video, and elsewhere. I've included an example, Episode 1, part 1, below. But if you want to just sit in front of your telly and do something useful for your brain and yourself, you could do far, far worse than this.

Enjoy.

Water on Mars? Looks that Way...

I'm behind on mentioning this, but it's too cool not to bring up here. NASA's Phoenix mission, digging in the tantalising surface of the Martian Arctic plain, has been cutting a trench into the surface. And, as predicted, beneath the surface, there is a bright white reflective substance which looks a lot like ice.

More compelling, however, is this photo:

Circled at lower left is what you need to see: these appear to be ice crystals, dislodged by Phoenix's digging tool. The photos, taken on 15 June (left) and 19 June (right) appear to show that the ice crystals have evapourated. If they were rock, or crystalline, after all, where might they have gone?

The BBC report can be found here.

Le Feu et Les Pompiers

EDIT: Regarding this entry, the first commenter rightly points out that what I describe doing (ie; staying in the house to fight off even a small fire) was incredibly stupid. Although I responded in the comments, let me take the time to say this here at the beginning of the entry as well: In the interests of safety, please do NOT follow the example described herein. If you take anything away from this entry, then take away ten minutes (or an hour, or a day, whatever it requires) to review your own fire safety procedures, to make certain that you and your family know EXACTLY what your plan in the event of a fire is, and to inspect your own fire suppression plans (ie; extinguishers everywhere). Have a mock fire drill. If you have any doubts about your house's electrical system, consult an electrician. Above all, be safe. Sorry to sound trite, but if I am of the belief that you have one life, and no more, then I would not wish to say anything which might inspire someone to risk that sole life for no better reason than a stubborn indifference to personal danger. (21 June 2008)

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In case you're wondering about the silence on the blog front over the past couple of weeks, well, it's been an eventful time Chez Improbable.

Saturday afternoon, having returned from my first outing at presenting my talk on Roy Chapman Andrews at the Beagle, we were planning to move some furniture about the house, in conjunction with our "Grand Design", by which order and harmony and delight will be established - or so the hypothesis goes.

Without warning - but how else do these things begin? - there was a hideous bleating noise from upstairs. In the back of my mind, I knew that it was the fire alarm, but I didn't expect anything to come of it. Seeing the smoke at the top of the stairs, and the tell-tale flickering of firelight, however, immediately told me otherwise.

The next few moments are a blur. I remember surveying the fire in the upstairs bedroom, to which I had been headed with furniture, for what seemed an eternity, then dashing for the bathroom and filling first a cup, then the bowl from which the dog and the cat drink. Our chemical fire extinguisher was mysteriously not where I remembered putting it - I assume that I moved it again, in a fit of misguided tidiness. The curtains to the left of a window had caught fire, which in turn had caught the cushions and a chair which sat beneath the window. I started throwing water on the fire, then running back across the hall to refill the bowl in the sink, which I left running, as the twins and GHR made their exit and phoned the fire department. Of course, the Dear Wife was also shouting at me to get out, because no doubt that's what was being said to her. But I was damned if I was going to let the fire spread. Here perhaps I should mention that I've had a life-long horror of fires starting from electrical outlets shorting (no doubt due to some misguided attempt at fire safety education from my childhood): this is, however, the first time that I have experienced it in real life.

The fire crew from neighbouring Pleasant Valley arrived quickly, and were thoroughly competent and professional in ensuring that the fire was really out. A thermal imaging camera was used to ensure that the fire had not spread, and a section of ancient plaster-and-lath wall was opened up to verify that the fire had not gotten through. Then they brought in a fan to help to vent the smoke (thanks to the cotton batting in the cushions, and the curtains, there was some smoke still lingering, but I had ensured that the windows were open so some had already been vented). And then they were gone, and it was all over.

We shut off the breaker for the upper floor and went to grab dinner, as a way of making it up to the twins (who, I should emphasise, did exactly what they were supposed to do, unlike their bloody-minded father). They were shaken, but unharmed and basically fine. The evening went on, with us watching a movie and dining in front of it before packing them off to bed, with only a little of me waking up in the night to check things over, once again.

To cut a long story short, I was lucky - I didn't end up like Manuel in that episode of Fawlty Towers. Although it was an electrical fire, it was out quickly, with minimal damage. The eighty-odd years old house has survived. The insurance adjustor has been, and so has the electrician. Things are largely back to normal (or will be, once repairs to the wall and window frame are complete). But it's been, on top of everything, an interesting few days.

So that's my excuse, just in case anyone was wondering.

Back Again, Ready to Be Embarassed

A quick opening post: today has been a busy day of trying to put order back into our lives following our return from a largely enjoyable holiday in beautiful Colorado (more on that later). There's more to come, including pictures from the newly road-tested digital camera (which I am really quite pleased with).

However, in browsing around this evening, I came across a science quiz. Which, being the science-y type that I am (and the quiz-y type too, I guess), I of course had to take... In the interests of full disclosure, I now reveal my score, with a link:

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Some of the questions are somewhat confusingly worded, or at least, they were to my still holiday-softened brain, but it's interesting to find out what you think you know and what you don't. Over all, I missed three out of twenty-six, so while I could have done better, I could also have done far worse. Take it yourself, and let me know how it went.

Vacation Time

Vacation begins tomorrow. Remember those days before the 'net, before mobiles and laptops and GPS, when you had to read a map and just bloody drive? Well, that's what we're trying, minus the mobiles and the GPS, if you can count GHR's new toy, which doesn't include maps (it's for tracking her mileage walking and running). But, practical upshot, we're going to be doing some tourism, sans laptop. After some deliberation, we've decided that it just isn't worth the extra effort to take it camping.

So off we go, with the twins, to Colorado tomorrow morning. I'll be reporting back when we return (it's only for a few short days), hopefully with something interesting to tell. Thanks for looking in, and there will be more to come.

Brian Greene's Op-Ed in the Sunday NYT

Just in case, if for some weird reason you read here but not at places like Pharyngula, you might not have caught Brian Greene's Opinion piece in the Sunday New York Times (may require a free login). But if you're interested in science at all, then you should read this. And if you're short on time, you should certainly read the second from last paragraph, which sums up my feelings as succinctly as possible:

"Science is the greatest of all adventure stories, one that’s been unfolding for thousands of years as we have sought to understand ourselves and our surroundings. Science needs to be taught to the young and communicated to the mature in a manner that captures this drama. We must embark on a cultural shift that places science in its rightful place alongside music, art and literature as an indispensable part of what makes life worth living."

Here's a word I don't often use: amen.

Sunday Nature Hike 2: Canterbury- Westboro Greenway

Time to post a quick recap of our walk yesterday morning... we're getting ready for our holiday, so time is running short, and I'm not sure if I'll blog in absentia or not. But as to the day yesterday. Woke up about a quarter past seven, and almost decided that I'd rather sleep. Glad that I decided to go for the walk instead. Gorgeous weather, a bit hazy, but not too warm to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning...

Hike Breakdown

• Location: Canterbury- Westboro Greenway and Environs, Liberty and Glenaire, Missouri


• Weather Conditions: Fair and clear, 75 to 80 degrees fahrenheit


• Distance Covered: 3.8 miles

There are always so many things to observe, especially birds and trees, that I tend to get carried away with the photography (using my trusty little digital camera, now replaced by a larger digital SLR, which is of course bulkier to carry); as a result, our walks sometimes are slowed up, but GHR doesn't mind, or at least pretends not to mind.

Apart from spotting some wild roses that we want to go back and takes cuttings of for our own evil ends, and deciding that some Missouri Primrose might work well in our gardening efforts, went through the usual observation of what other people have done with their gardens. Also, pictured at right above was one of my favourite summer effects: cottonwood seeds coating the ground like snow.

We've also decided that once we sort out how to use GHR's new GPS, we're going to make an accurate map of the Canterbury - Westboro Greenway trails, with all of the various distances involved, maybe illustrated with some attractive photos, and post it online for all to enjoy. Well, when I say all, I mean all in our area, of course - everyone else will have to settle for either costly travel or vicarious enjoyment.

The last stretch of the Greenway heading west also featured a hawthorn tree putting on new berries, and the planting bed included several late dwarf iris. After the Greenway, it's back to neighbourhoods and strolls along sidewalks, where there are still flowers and trees of interest to see.

All in all, about a four mile walk for a Sunday morning. The only thing that would make it complete would be a nice café on the way home... which may yet happen. I'm not generally in favour of pointless new building, but I'd make the exception for a good tea shop or café. Which shows, I guess, that we all have our price.