psychohistorian

It's not just the Young Earth Creationists who sprout rubbish (see here, here or here) - a study funded by the Indian government suggests that the movements of the planets influences cardiac health, diabetes and mental disorders.

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Following the recent talk on the Maties campus (University of Stellenbosch) by Creation Ministries International's Dr Emil Silvestru on Noah's Flood, I analyzed his use of language and rhetorical strategy. Some interesting findings turned up.

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Herschel School in Cape Town was built on the site where Sir John Herschel established his southern observatory in the first half of the 19th century. During a recent visit to the school, I noticed their sensible canine policy:

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The Bible reveals just how many homosexuals there are. Read the full story here.

In the mood for shopping? Pick up a copy of "The Talking Snake Theory" here - highly recommended.

 

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Since it's New Moon, the plan was to spend a few days in Sutherland. Carol would be using her 'scope for some deep sky observing, and I was going to attempt some wide-angle photography with some binocular observation on the side. And we'd pay a visit to Chris Middleton who is up at SAAO on an observing run. Good thing we didn't go...

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The fundamentalist Christian church Shophar, active on the campus of the University of Stellenbosch, recently organized a talk by Dr Emil Silvestru, Young Earth Creationist and member of Creation Ministries International. A transcript of the talk appears below. For a content analysis, see the article "Rhetorical strategy of a creation science talk: A case study".

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In June 2008, the WASP (Wide-Angle Survey for Planets) team announced the discovery of two new massive exoplanets. One of these, WASP-10b, is a gas-giant planet three times more massive than Jupiter, orbiting a 12.7th magnitude star in Pegasus. From time to time, the planet moves across its parent-star's disk, causing an eclipse. Anthony Ayiomamitis, a regular contributor of cool astropics (browse his gallery), caught the action.

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Verbatim

" It is a curious thing that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilised taste. "

Evelyn Waugh

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Rosetta press conference live

Four years into its ten-year journey en route to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Rosetta will investigate asteroid (2867) Steins from up close on 5 September 2008. The press conference will be streamed live on the internet.

Cassini images ring arcs among Saturn's moons

Cassini has detected a faint, partial ring orbiting with one small moon of Saturn and confirmed the presence of another partial ring orbiting with a second moon.

Last two shuttle launches Oct 10 and Nov 12

NASA has adjusted the target launch dates for the two remaining space shuttle missions (one to the Hubble Space Telescope, the other to the International Space Station).

M83 in hi-res

ESO's Wide Field Imager has captured the intricate swirls of Messier 83, a barred spiral galaxy also known as the Southern Pinwheel.

LSST Mirror Blank revealed

The single-piece 8.4-metre primary and 5-metre tertiary mirror blank, cast for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, has come out a success.

Minimum mass for galaxies

By analyzing light from small, faint galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, scientists believe they have discovered the minimum mass for galaxies - 10 million times the mass of the Sun.

Our leaky atmosphere

Oxygen is constantly leaking out of Earth's atmosphere and into space. ESA's CLUSTER satellite quartet has discovered the physical mechanism driving the escape.

Crab pulsar update

Another piece of the jigsaw in understanding how neutron stars work has been put in place following the discovery by scientists of the origin of the high energy emission from rotation-powered pulsars.

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

NASA's newest observatory, the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, has been renamed the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The spacecraft and its instruments have begun their mission of exploring the universe in high-energy gamma rays.

How do galaxies grow?

Astronomers have caught multiple massive galaxies in the act of merging about 4 billion years ago. This discovery, made possible by combining the power of the best ground- and space-based telescopes,
uniquely supports the favoured theory of how galaxies form.

 

Proxima: The Nearest Star (other than the Sun!) by Dr Ian S. Glass (2008) Available from the author [glass.ian(@)gmail.com] or from the SAAO bookshop. R82.50 (incl.postage).

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