Josephine's Notebook

Carl Sagan’s “Does Truth Matter” (by C0nc0rdance)

Happy Carl Sagan Day :-)

knowledgehoover:

Quantum Levitation by Tel Aviv University

Can I just say…

HOLY FREAKIN’ SHIT! THIS IS AMAZING. LITERALLY AMAZING. I AM SERIOUSLY NOT KIDDING, IT’S AMAZING.

(via trademark)

Seconded.

Ben Goldacre: Battling Bad Science (by TEDtalksDirector)

Every day there are news reports of new health advice, but how can you know if they’re right? Doctor and epidemiologist Ben Goldacre shows us, at high speed, the ways evidence can be distorted, from the blindingly obvious nutrition claims to the very subtle tricks of the pharmaceutical industry.

Psychology of Belief Part 9: Agenticity (by AntiCitizenX)

Answering the question of why people keep seeing “God” in perfectly natural phenomena. 

zackarooo:

kl0vis:

lacunamatata:

This is incredibly relevant right now. 

Everyone should watch this. Brilliant words from an unbelievably brilliant man.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is my spirit animal.

Ditto

Miss USA 2011 — Should Math Be Taught In Schools? (by mackenziefegan)

So good!

Tides - Sixty Symbols (by sixtysymbols)

Tide goes in, tide goes out. They can explain it.

Carl Sagan: The Frailty of Knowledge [Carl Sagan Tribute Series, Part 13] (by callumCGLP)

SOHO watched as a fairly bright comet dove towards the Sun in a white streak and was not seen again after its close encounter (May 10-11, 2011). The comet, probably part of the Kreutz family of comets, was discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov. In this coronagraph the Sun (represented by a white circle) is blocked by the red occulting disk so that the faint structures in the Sun’s corona can be discerned. Interestingly, a coronal mass ejection blasted out to the right just as the comet is approaching the Sun.

Scientists, however, have yet to find a convincing physical connection between sun-grazing comets and coronal mass ejections. In fact, analysis of this CME using images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that the CME erupted before the comet came close enough to the solar surface to interact with strong magnetic fields.

Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty (by TEDtalksDirector)

This is an interesting theory and definitely a fascinating topic!