Man of Science / Man of Faith

A Gentleman and a Scholar

"To be a scientist is to commit to a life of confusion punctuated by rare moments of clarity. When I leave the office at night, the confusion comes with me. Ruminating over these equations, seeking patterns, looking for hidden relationships, trying to make contact with hidden data, it's all uncertainty and possibility engaged in an endless chaotic dance. Every so often the blur resolves, but the respite is short lived; the next puzzle demands focus. This, really, is the joy of being a scientist. Established truths are comforting, but it is the mysteries that make the soul ache and render a life of exploration worth living."

- Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, from the new issue of Wired, guest-edited by Lost co-creator and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams.

Evidence of the 'Lost World' -- did dinosaurs survive the end Cretaceous extinctions?

"The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's account of an isolated community of dinosaurs that survived the catastrophic extinction event 65 million years ago, has no less appeal now than it did when it was written a century ago. Various Hollywood versions have tried to recreate the lost world of dinosaurs, but today the fiction seems just a little closer to reality. New scientific evidence suggests that dinosaur bones from the Ojo Alamo Sandstone in the San Juan Basin, USA, date from after the extinction, and that dinosaurs may have survived in a remote area of what is now New Mexico and Colorado for up to half a million years..."

Read more at EurekAlert!

Rise of the Machines: Robot attacks Swedish factory worker

"The incident took place in June 2007 at a factory in Bålsta, north of Stockholm, when the industrial worker was trying to carry out maintenance on a defective machine generally used to lift heavy rocks. Thinking he had cut off the power supply, the man approached the robot with no sense of trepidation.

But the robot suddenly came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim's head. The man succeeded in defending himself but not before suffering serious injuries.

'The man was very lucky. He broke four ribs and came close to losing his life,' said Leif Johansson."

Read more at TheLocal

Spider "Resurrections" Take Scientists by Surprise

"Like zombies, spiders in a lab twitched back to life hours after "drowning"—and the scientists were as surprised as anyone. The spiders, it seems, enter comas to survive for hours underwater, according to a new study.

The unexpected discovery was made during experiments intended to find out exactly how long spiders can survive underwater—a number of spiders and insects have long been known to be resistant to drowning..."

Read more at National Geographic

A Jabba the Hutt Cake the Green, Slimy Way It Should Be


"My four year old is reallly into Star Wars now and Jabba is his favorite character (which is a bit weird to me). After I promised him a “Jabba cake” (with no real plan on how to get one) I turned to every geek’s best friend, the Internet. I found a fairly simple recipe for fondant and my wife made it. I mixed in food coloring to make the various pieces.

My favorite part was Jabba’s slime. I used green food coloring mixed in Karo syrup, then applied it generously. For the eyes I took two Whoppers candies, applied them in the hallowed out sockets then applied fondant eyelids to make the eyes more squinty..."

Read more at Great White Snark

Fossil of 43-foot super snake Titanoboa found in Colombia

"At 2,500 pounds and as long as a school bus, Titanoboa could eat crocodiles. It lived after dinosaurs died out, and changes scientists' ideas about 'how big a snake can be.' Researchers excavating a coal mine in South America have found the fossilized remains of the mother of all snakes, a nightmarish tropical behemoth as long as heavy as a Volkswagen Beetle.

Modern boas and anacondas, which average less than 20 feet in length and reach a maximum of 30 feet, have been known to swallow Chihuahuas, cats and other small pets, but this prehistoric monster ate giant turtles and primitive crocodiles..."

Read more at Los Angeles Times

The Discipline of DE: A Short film by Gus Van Sant