The i-Limb myoelectric arm

Electric cars available now or in the near future

I put together this list for use elsewhere and I thought I'd toss it up here as well.

CityZenn: 200 mile range, $30,000.

Th!nk auto: 124 mile range, $31,000.

The Alias: "100+" mile range, $32,000.

The Aptera: 120 mile range, $27,000.

The Tango: 80 or 200 mile range (lead acid or li-ion) starting at $18,700.

The Miles Sedan: 120+ mile range, $35,000 - $39,000 depending on features.

The Triac: 120+ mile range, $20,000.

The Reva: 80 mile range, $18,000.

Hope this helps anyone in search of electric transportation. =]

Modern miracles of science

This is what the psychological abuse of children looks like.

The Retreat from Copernicus

I posted this short summary of the concept (originally set forth by Carl Sagan) elsewhere and it was so well received that I've decided to reproduce it here.

Think of science as a spotlight on a map of knowledge. As time passes, the spotlight gradually grows, illuminating more and more. Historically there was no worry that science would discredit theism as God's roles were things like weather, the movement of the heavenly bodies, the origin of our planet, life...all questions which for a very long time were thought impossible to answer except through supernatural means. But the spotlight kept growing, eventually encompassing the water cycle and the other natural forces behind weather. So God was moved back a bit, just behind the border of light and darkness, just beyond science's reach. Those who moved him felt terribly modern. "Look, ours is a theism compatible with science and which always will be!" they said.

But the spotlight kept growing. Soon it encompassed the movement of the heavenly bodies. Believe it or not if you care to research it this was an enormous controversy in the middle ages. It was thought atheistic heresy to suggest that the heavenly bodies were actual worlds one might go to, and that their motion was not divinely controlled. Those who conceded that natural processes drove the planets felt terribly modern and enlightened, because their faith was not in conflict with the science of the day, so they could feel both men of science and of God.

But the spotlight kept growing. Charles Darwin's discovery of evolution unseated God as designer of life, and the controversy rages to this day. Some shifted God yet again to a removed creative position at the point of singularity, just beyond the reach of science. "Look," they said, "our faith is compatible with science and which always will be!"

...Meanwhile, the spotlight continues to grow larger every day.


=]

Legal drama over doomsday scenarios involving Large Hadron Collider

Link

"In what can only be considered a bizarre court case, a former nuclear safety officer and others are suing the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermilab, the National Science Foundation and CERN to stop the use of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) until its safety is reassessed. The plaintiffs cite three possible 'doomsday' scenarios which might occur if the LHC becomes operational: the creation of microscopic black holes which would grow and swallow matter, the creation of strangelets which, if they touch other matter, would convert that matter into strangelets or the creation of magnetic monopoles which could start a chain reaction and convert atoms to other forms of matter. CERN will hold a public open house meeting on April 6 with word having been spread to some researchers to be prepared to answer questions on microscopic black holes and strangelets if asked."


Pretty sobering when you realize that we're the only species on the planet capable of understanding and manipulating the fundamental driving forces of the universe. Perhaps it's playing god.....but in the absence of one, doesn't someone have to?

Evangelical corruption of the Air Force

CNN

ThruthDig

Washington Post (1)

Washington Post (2)

Huffington Post

For anyone who would be dismissive of our irreligious men and women of the armed forces, I suggest a visit to Atheists in Foxholes.