Apollo Astronauts Square Off

Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong have wildly differing takes on the President's plan to cut manned space exploration for the time being.  I agree with Buzz.  Focusing on making it cheaper to get to space, via public/private partnerships is likely the best way to get the ball rolling.  Let's face it: the Space Shuttle program was a white elephant, and Constellation didn't look any better.

Water on the moon

NASA has found that water exists on the moon. Preliminary results from the LCROSS mission shows that water is present on the moon in ice form and has been there for billions of years. Interesting to see that even in 2009, we can still make new discoveries like this. What this means is that we're one step closer to Mars, or a moonbase. Water can be used to make hydrogen, which is a very good fuel.

Evidence supports ban on lead ammo

As a former NRA member, I'm probably going to really piss off some current ones with this entry, but you can't fight facts: lead ammo needs to be banned in hunting application. A new study has shown that game meat contains a large amount of lead, so much that children and pregnant women should not be eating venison. What needs to be done is ban lead in ammo that is generally used outdoors for hunting. I think for now it is not necessary to ban lead ammo in handguns and in target rifles. But we need to protect the environment; lead is too dangerous let it get in anyone's food supply.

The Moon Landing, 40 years later

40 years ago, the first humans set foot on the moon. It was the fulfillment of a challenge first brought on us by President Kennedy. For a short time, the world stood still, with everyone's eyes glued to the television, watching Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong take don their spacesuits and walk on the lunar surface. And then the famous words were spoken:

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

We have not been back to the moon since, and while many say that we ought to go back, NASA's budget is better spent with unmanned probes and in studying the climate of earth. But moon landings are a bit fun.

Obama overturns Bush stem cell policy

President Obama will be ending the Bush administrations policy that banned the use of federal funds to conduct research on embryonic stem cells.  He left some additional details to Congress, on whether to fund research on testing human embryos. 

Finally, science is back. 

Darwin-Mania

Today (February 12th) is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.  Wired has a nice little story, and the history of evolutionary thought is the featured article on Wikipedia.

While there are still 1 or 2 crackpots and several million idiots who would lead you to believe that his thoughts on natural selection and evolution are still controversial today, they are not.  Modern biology has much to thank to this man, who gave us the blueprints for understanding how present day life came to be and is the foundation of modern biology.

Happy birthday Chuck.

McCain - Palin differences

McCain's campaign is a bit schizophrenic these days.  He is now promising to lift the federal moratorium on stem cell research, at least the federal funding of it.  This is a good thing and one of the few areas in which McCain disagrees with Bush.

His VP, Sarah the Hick, disagrees.  She thinks that using stem cells is the same as killing babies.

She probably is also against vaccines, as polio is "God's will."  Just kidding about that part, but I wouldn't be surprised since she comes from a religion that speaks in tongues and plays with snakes.