Interesting Stuff Thread

wretcheddomain

[-0-] wrote: »

I really think it's time we moved to another planet.

Any suggestions?

Sarky

Comment sections could probably be safely renamed "Ignorant tosspot" sections and nobody important would care. That's an exciting article, very much interested in whatever statements they have to share. Also, heat maps are beautiful.

Beruthiel

[-0-] wrote: »

I really think it's time we moved to another planet.

I hear that Gliese 581g (reportedly a Class M planet) is quite nice this time of year.

[-0-]

Beruthiel wrote: »

I hear that Gliese 581g (reportedly a Class M planet) is quite nice this time of year.

Lets go! I have a towel and everything!

Obliq

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/where-the-wild-things-are/?smid=tw-share

These are amazing photos! I like number 13 best.

robindch

Obliq wrote: »

These are amazing photos! I like number 13 best.

My votes are for numbers 7 and 8

I'm surprised that there are no photos from Russia which, in Siberia at least, still has a few shamans left who engage in this kind of slightly nutty fun.

Obliq

robindch wrote: »

My votes are for numbers 7 and 8

I'm surprised that there are no photos from Russia which, in Siberia at least, still has a few shamans left who engage in this kind of slightly nutty fun.

True - perhaps it was a bit of a trek! These are all in Europe aren't they? Goes off for another look.....

recedite

#19 The Angry Badger rocks. Are "the wren boys" anything to do with this stuff?

Obliq

You'd think so alright. Seems pretty pagan to me! Maybe because the ritual has been associated with St. Stephen it didn't get a look in, Y'kno, like with all our ancient celtic customs having been taken over by B*ST*RD religion :mad:

kylith

Now that's the kind of religion I could get behind!

legspin

[-0-] wrote: »

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21828202

I may be wide of the mark but this seems to be related material.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/03/signals-from-before-the-big-bang-patterns-glimpsed-in-the-cmb-todays-most-popular.html

legspin

And more of the same.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/21/planck-telescope-light-big-bang-universe

TheChizler

legspin wrote: »

And more of the same.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/21/planck-telescope-light-big-bang-universe

Damn it! Reading that made me think of Monty Python's universe song and now it's stuck in my head. Thanks a lot :-P

robindch

The Wee Frees worry about other people with silly beliefs muscling into the marriage game:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21842269

BBC wrote:

Proposed changes to marriage would open the way for Star Wars Jedi to perform ceremonies, a church has said.

The Free Church of Scotland said the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill will allow groups promoting a belief to marry couples. The government said the change was relevant to bodies such as humanists, who are classed as religious rather than non-religious at the moment.

A spokeswoman said the reputation of Scottish ceremonies would be protected. The Free Church of Scotland has raised concerns about religious and civil partnership ceremonies being joined by a third category. Church spokesman, the Reverend Iver Martin, told BBC Alba: "The third category is quite astonishing because it is the so-called belief category without really defining what belief means.

"There are loads of people in a diverse society like this for whom belief can mean virtually anything - the Flat Earth Society and Jedi Knights Society - who knows? "I am not saying that we don't give place to that kind of personal belief, but when you start making allowances for marriages to be performed within those categories then you are all over the place."

The Scottish government is holding public consultation on bill. A spokeswoman said: "Our current consultation covers not only the introduction of same sex marriage but also the detail of important protections in relation to religious bodies and celebrants, freedom of speech and education. "As part of the consultation we have outlined the reason for suggesting a third type of ceremony.

"At the moment, marriage ceremonies by bodies such as humanists have been classed as religious, even though the beliefs of such organisations are non-religious." She said that the bill made clear the government's determination to ensure the continued reputation of Scottish marriage ceremonies. The spokeswoman added: "We are proposing the introduction of tests which a religious or belief body would have to meet before they could be authorised to solemnise marriage."

The Flat Earth Society encourages discussion on a theory that the Earth is a flat disk centred at the North Pole. The society also archives literature on the theory. Founded in the 1800s by English inventor Samuel Birley Rowbotham, the society's theory is largely based on literal interpretations of passages in the Bible.

Jedi knights are characters in the Star Wars franchise, which includes books, comics, toys and films. Disney, which owns the rights to the franchise, is preparing to release new movies. Various groups promote interest in the Jedi and include the Jedi Knight Society - which offers lessons from Master Yoda - and Temple of the Jedi Order. Training in Jedi skills - such as use of light sabres, are also offered at a knights' school in California.

The Black Oil

Pretty slick ad for atheism here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ZqQznblZo

Turtwig

The Black Oil wrote: »

Pretty slick ad for atheism here.

x0ZqQznblZo

Lord Xenu called He wants His ad back.

legspin

legspin wrote: »

And more of the same.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/21/planck-telescope-light-big-bang-universe

Another bit from the Grauniad from the same day.

robindch

For anybody on facebook who's not seen it, there's a great page called "I ****ing love science" which produces one or two interesting, well-written science-related articles per day and currently has around 4.5 million followers:

http://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience

It's run by Elise Andrew who was interviewed yesterday with Michio Kaku on CBS:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50143686n

ShooterSF

Started following it initially for my shared love of both science and the liberal use of swear words. Then realised the science stuff is very good.

joseph brand

Gay online porn popular in conservative/ homophobic nations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4u_c87_w9A

This video is a must see, if only for the second most popular search words, used by Kenyans, @ 1:04.

Web users are defying legal bans on homosexuality to enjoy an array of gay pornography on their computers in countries where same-sex relations are prohibited.

Sex searches compiled by country reveal appetites for gay activity in African countries where homosexuals are stigmatised and hounded by the law.

In Iran, gay porn searches litter the top of the XXX search charts.

Porn searches in some countries revealed startling gaps between public social attitudes and private tastes, according to figures by PornMD.

In Kenya, homosexuality is a crime and an overwhelming 96 percent of Kenyans think it is unacceptable. Yet the second most popular search in the country was "gay monster cock".

Nigeria has similar homophobic attitudes woven in to its criminal justice system. However, web users there sought out "gay South African" on their computers and made it the fourth most popular search.

In Iran, search terms revealed a burgeoning appetite for gay pornography, despite protests by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that there were "no gays" in the fundamentalist Islamic state ruled over by strict shariah law.

Yet the presence of "daddy love" at No 4 in the search chart belies the president's bombastic denial.

Tastes in the United States were not so strongly based on nationality and showed a surprising penchant for hardcore gay pornography in religiously conservative southern states.

Kentucky emerged as the gay porn capital of Amercia, with browsers sending "free gay porn" to the top of the search charts. In Mississippi "black gay porn" was the second most popular sex search after "ebony".

Although this article is slightly amusing, it also highlights the fact that there are many gay men living in homophobic nations and communities, whose only outlet is on the net, behind a locked door.

In the case of Iran, Ahmadinejad is either lying or is in denial. Qualities I would associate with being religious. Britain’s leading Catholic homophobe, Cardinal Keith O’Brien springs to mind.

PopePalpatine

Just imagine the Tooters' search history.

Nolars

Welcome

joseph brand

Plastic-eating mushrooms discovered in the Amazon?

The Amazon is home to more species than almost anywhere else on earth. One of them, carried home recently by a group from Yale University, appears to be quite happy eating plastic in airless landfills.

Sarky

That Commander Hadfield chap has had the funniest gag so far today: https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/318745732213522433/photo/1

Pherekydes

martoman wrote: »

Here's an article I recently wrote on the reactions have towards hot-button topics: http://martoman.blogspot.ie/2013/04/hot-button-issueslooking-at-more-than.html

I thought this was the interesting stuff thread?

Turtwig

Pherekydes wrote: »

I thought this was the interesting stuff thread?

Emphasis on the 'was'.

Hotblack Desiato

martoman wrote: »

Here's an article I recently wrote on the reactions have towards hot-button topics:

Why don't you set up a thread for pimping your blog, it'd be so much easier to ignore then.

martoman

Here's an article I recently wrote on dealing with reactions towards hot-button topics: http://martoman.blogspot.ie/2013/04/hot-button-issueslooking-at-more-than.html

robindch

martoman wrote: »

Here's an article I recently wrote [...]

A+A is a discussion forum. If you'd like to talk about something with everybody else, then it's best to post the text of your article, or the main points, here as original (not quoted) text, and not out there on the internet somewhere.

For the moment, this post has been moved to the "interesting stuff" thread.

cheers

Turtwig

Ahem.

Getting this thread back on topic, it's time for another installment Jernal's super awesome desktop background fodder. Only this time if any of yez have a monitor capable of producing this resolution!:eek: