I Can Do Science Me

Bored? WoW no longer wowing you? run out of quests in Everquest? Second Life constantly crashing? Then why not do a bit of gentle galaxy spotting. There are millions of galaxies out there and still the best technology for identifying them is the human eye and brain in conjunction, more fun than looking at badly composed pictures on flickr and with the potential to give a warm glow of a job well done, please sign up for Galaxy Zoo



It's useful it's adding to the sum of knowledge and you don't have to wear one of those silly yellow tee-shirts.

HT to The Register.

Linkage and Learnage

Or Elementary my dear particle. As you may know I like to consider myself, basically, at heart, a scientist. I didn't get my degree but that's another story. Although I now slave away at the coalface of government contracting I still like to keep my finger on the pulse of what is going on out there in the world of hard science.

There are some fantastic science blogs and pods out there, for astronomy I've bigged this up before but Astronomy Cast is an excellent non mathematical discussion about our current understanding of the universe. Not only that their podcast archives are developing into a resource for anyone who wanted to know more than the popular science level but didn't want to/have the time to learn with the mathematics included.

Over the last few weeks I've begun to discover the rational thinking/sceptical blogisphere out there, it's a refreshing change after reading some of the brain melting numptiness of the American fundamentalist blogs that I read for the shear WTFness of them (no links I don't want you to damage your brains). If you are not already reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre you should be, also highly recommended is Respectful Insolence.

But to the proper linkage - via Cosmic Variance - The Hunt for the Higgs Boson

Linky Links

Astronomy Cast - Newly (relatively) started series of podcasts about Astronomy, I'm enjoying them on the bus it's science without the hard maths but none the worst for that.

I really really dislike Yahoo ugly and avaricious is my feeling about the site still, I shouldn't get a feeling of grim satisfaction when they post iffy results.

One of those clever chaps from B3ta's been directing videos, sweet, geeky and very in the spirit of C86. The Gay Train

The Dwarf Planet Formally Known As Xena

Has been renamed Eris. The Bad Astronomer has the gen

I would have said more but I'm still stunned at the wonderment that is Extras the second series and The Michell and Webb Look on BBC2. Highly recommended both of them

Mrs Vokes Eats Many Jam Sandwiches Until...

They changed their minds: Pluto has been demoted.

Finally after last weeks slightly idiotic idea this makes sense and is quite logically thought out.

Shock As Rumours Of Ceres Being Promoted To The Big League Appear To Be Confirmed (To be read with a Motty style voice)

A draft proposal by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) if ratified will see Ceres, currently considered the largest asteroid, Charon, currently Pluto's moon and UB313, formally not yet named but known as Xena to her friends a large object in the Kuiper Belt all becoming planets in the solar system.

Which will sort of bugger up Holst's The Planets even more.

Radio 4's Front Row team commissioned Scanner to compose 4 suite-lets for the 3 soon to be planets and Pluto. As they are only minor planets Plutons the music took the form of jingles which was nice if very silly.

I can't get too worked up about it but I bet my old Astronomy Lecturer David Hughes will still be saying "Pluto is not a planet"