"...So I was gunna dress up as Ariel Castro, but, you know, wanted to keep it classy for opening day."

The consequences for this thing's identity are pretty minimal. Saying it is indeed a meteor means this guy gets a pretty great story out of it and he has nothing to lose, so there's a strong danger of a confirmation bias.

The world's only tank that could be taken out with a broomstick.

To be sure, we should test this again in a vacuum on the next EVA. We should make this a priority. Mind you, I request we do this a control to make sure our data is accurate, and not just because seeing somebody launch a boomerang into space would be fucking awesome.

Am I the only one who is deeply suspicious of Twitter activism? The problem I find with an argument crammed into 140 characters is that it is never an argument. There is no way to make a compelling argument that is genuinely persuasive in so short a space. The form is perfect for shouting a slogan to be mindlessly…

"Either a word is offensive or it is not." That's the False Dilemma fallacy. Reducing the significance of words to an either/or binary opposition is intellectually lazy. Words, like all symbols, are inherently neutral and are dependent upon context to give them meaning. For further elaboration:

This is why I have no choice but to shake my head and laugh when Stanton Friedman throws around his credentials as a nuclear physicist (MA, not a terminal degree) to help support his bullshit theories.

That blend of flexibility and strength is a particular concern with container ships on the Great Lakes. On the Great Lakes the swells can be as large at sea, but they're further apart. So, if you get a swell at the bow and a swell at the stern, you can get a section of the middle hull with no water beneath it. That…

He seems disappointed with the distance the young lady was able to shoot the ping-pong ball.

To be fair, these pictures look like they were taken by someone who happened to be on the set with a camera snapping around as opposed to being framed for action by the director/cinematographer. I'm basing this on the fact an assistant director holding a light meter and some pneumatic FX guys are most of the stills.…

This got the philosophy minor in me going. What you're talking about is the post-modern problem. This is a philosophical problem, not a scientific one. Science basically says what is (x is y). Philosophy tries to answer "If this is what is, what then?" (x is y, so we should z). If science—or anyone, for that…

Absolutely! His teaching of science is the teaching of the Scientific Method. It isn't just teaching facts, it isn't just throwing out theories or some other theories "for balance." What NdGT is teaching is "Here's a hypothesis. Here's an experiment—a repeatable experiment that anyone can do and get the same…

They should sing about the dude at 1:25 rocking the Captain Morgan pose as he casually looks upon the titanic, burning maw of doom as if he's bored.

A fitting tribute as Oderus Urungus is called to Valhalla. I fear for the gods, now that he walks their heaven!

Density is destiny?

Straight Outta the Uncanny Valley.

"Hmm...What's this? A neat stack of manuscript pages for your thesis that you're about to submit to your committee for review? I think I'll be an asshole and shred a few. Good luck with your defense, by the way!" —My Cat

The craziest part about the Cleveland salt mine is that, for the most part, it's actually underneath Lake Eire.

This makes me think of the Malthusian limit. Anytime a major advancement in technology allows the population to grow exponentially (e.g. the High Middle Ages) that population is sustainable only as long as the technology that supports is. Catastrophic corrections have often followed eras of unprecedented growth.

The scary thing about a lot of explosives is that as they degrade they become more unstable and more likely to detonate. The degradation means that they don't release as much energy when they explode, but anything more than absolutely nothing is still way too much energy coming out of an artillery shell when you are…