Category Archives: Science

Celebrating the life… and evil lies… of Charles Darwin

By Mark | January 28, 2013

Had a vengeful God not struck him down for heresy, the famed naturalist Charles Darwin would be turning 204 years old on February 12, and literate folks around the world are marking the occasion by planning celebrations in his honor. I had forgotten that “Darwin Day” was upon us until earlier this evening, when a [...]

Also posted in Other, Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Tagged anti-science, Charles Darwin, Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, creationism, Darwin Day, dino nuggets, Dinosaurs in Eden, evolution, Hitler, humans coexisting with dinosaurs, Kirk Cameron, Mark Chancey, Michigan Skeptics Association, Origin of Species, Phylum Feast, public education, religious fundamentalism, Science, separation of church and state, Texas, Texas Freedom Network, the rapture, threats to public education | 35 Comments

According to the new math of global warming, we’re as good as dead already

By Mark | July 19, 2012

I think I may have neglected to mention it, but, a few months ago, while attending the Netroots Nation conference in Providence, I had the opportunity to meet environmentalist and author Bill McKibben. I’d like to say that we spoke, but, really, we just nodded at one another and said “hello.” He’d just come off [...]

Also posted in energy, Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged carbon, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, Copenhagen Accord, fracking, Global Warming, hurricanes, Ivan Fyodorovich, James Hansen, Kerry Emanuel, Netroots Nation, oil, Thomas Lovejoy | 34 Comments

On Nikola Tesla’s birthday, I think it’s important to remember that he invented the world’s first cotton candy machine…

By Mark | July 10, 2012

…Unfortunately, the device never made it in the marketplace, as it was as big as a fucking house. I made this stupid joke to someone today, after stumbling across the above image of Tesla, who, had he not died at the hand of Edison, would have turned 156 today. Unlike most of my stupid jokes, [...]

Also posted in History, Mark's Life, Other, Uncategorized | Tagged 1904, conspiracy theories, cotton candy, dentists, fairy floss, inventions, John C. Wharton, Joseph Lascaux, Nikola Tesla, rewriting history, sugar, Thomas Edison, William Morrison, World's Fair | 8 Comments

My thoughts on the heat wave… Do we continue to sit in this pan of water as it begins to boil our flesh from our bones, or do we leap out, and go for the throat of the man holding the pan?

By Mark | July 6, 2012

The last that I heard, over 4,500 communities had experienced record high temperatures this week. Apparently, streets are literally buckling in some places, like in St. Louis, where they’ve now surpassed the 100-degree mark for eight consecutive days. Several dozen people have died already and it looks as though the nation’s corn crop, among others, [...]

Also posted in Environment, Michigan, Predictions, Rants | Tagged AC, air conditioning, Al Gore, cherries, corn, global climate change, Global Warming, global warming denial, heat, Hiero's Journey, high-fructose corn syrup, St Louis, Sterling Lanier, Traverse City, Traverse City Mango Festival | 23 Comments

Something to think about as you’re lighting up Chinese fireworks in celebration of our country’s unsurpassed greatness

By Mark | July 4, 2012

Following up on our conversation about the purposeful dumbing down of America, I though that I’d share this tweet, sent out today by renowned American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is in reference, for those of you who don’t know, to the fact that, earlier today, physicists near Geneva, at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, officially [...]