Lights out Saturday night!

Remember when you could see stars? Have your kids ever seen the Milky Way? For some reason we have, as a society, decided we need to keep the bulbs burning in our stores and offices when they’re empty, and illuminate things that don’t really need to be seen at night – like tall buildings.  Too many of our outdoor lights waste energy lighting up dust in the air and the underside of the clouds. That’s what causes the skyglow captured in the photo at left, and it erases the stars. It is costing us billions in wasted energy, contributing to climate change and divorcing us from our heritage in the night sky (right).

For one hour beginning at 8:30 local time Saturday night, from Baltimore’s City Hall to the Pyramids of Egypt, the lights will go out in a global expression of concern for our planet.

via Maryland Weather: Lights out Saturday night! – Sun reporter Frank Roylance blogs on meteorology – marylandweather.com.

Join in the fun and kill those lights tonight for one hour. Got candles? Birth control? I’m headed to San Francisco tonight to watch lights out. Seems like the best place, the place with the most lights visible. Hopefully I’ll post some before and after pics here from my cell phone in real time as it happens. (Check this site 8:30 PM tonight, west coast time).

UFO Examiner: UFOs near ground level in TX, NC

Three UFO low fly reports over Texas and North Carolina were recently reported to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database.

A man and his daughter at Medina Lake near San Antonio on March 25 watched as a silent, semi-circular craft with no lights or windows, hovered just 30 feet off of the ground at a distance of about 100 yards. The craft measured about 12 to 15 feet across, and 5 to 6 feet in height. The object tilted slightly before disappearing.

Four witnesses driving home from a restaurant watched a donut-shaped object at the rooftop level of nearby homes hover at a distance of 600 to 1,000 yards in Driftwood, Texas, on March 14. A peculiar sound from the object seemed to change pitch depending on the brightness of the object.

A man stopped his tractor trailer after observing a hovering object as he was driving east on U.S. Route 64 near the first exit for Nashville, Norh Carolina, on March 10. He said the object was between 75 and 100 feet off of the ground. He described it as a silent, triangular-shape, 40 to 50 feet wide, with two red lights at the rear and a bright white light in front. It was between 200 and 300 yards away. The object hovered, then moved above a shopping center for 5 to 7 minutes, and then moved away in a southerly direction. …

via UFO Examiner: UFOs near ground level in TX, NC – new reports.

Whom, do you suppose, is flying it?

What Perfumes Did Ancient Egyptians Use? Researchers Aim To Recreate 3,500-year-old Scent

In X-rays, a liquid residue can be clearly seen in the ancient Egyptian perfume bottle. (Credit: Frank Luerweg, University of Bonn)

The Ancient Egyptians cherished their fragrant scents, too, as perfume flacons from this period indicate. In its permanent exhibition, Bonn University’s Egyptian Museum has a particularly well preserved example on display. Screening this 3,500-year-old flacon with a computer tomograph, scientists at the university detected the desiccated residues of a fluid, which they now want to submit to further analysis. They might even succeed in reconstructing this scent.

via What Perfumes Did Ancient Egyptians Use? Researchers Aim To Recreate 3,500-year-old Scent.

I’d like to smell what they create from this, just out of curiosity.

Awareness Of Darwin Not Evolving

What has the public learned from the Darwin 200 celebrations?

A survey carried out by students on the newly created MSc in Science, Communication and Society at the University of Kent has revealed a disappointing level of knowledge regarding the life and works of one of Britain’s best-known scientists, Charles Darwin.

A simple survey composed of four questions was carried out on the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus and in Canterbury city centre, with surveyors approaching people at random.

Despite the fact that his portrait is on the back of a ten pound note, less than half of those surveyed were able to select Darwin’s picture from a selection of five bearded Victorians.

Knowledge of Darwin’s work was even more disappointing. The general public and university members alike scored lower than they should have done by simply guessing on questions relating to the content of his book.

For example, when asked to identify the type of animal most prominently featured in On The Origin Of Species, only 14% were able to correctly select birds from a list of five options. The most popular answer was ‘monkeys’.

via Awareness Of Darwin Not Evolving.

Read about Darwin’s finches on wikipedia. The Galapagos Islands might be fun to visit some day. Here is some BBC footage:

Vacuum sex act draws 90-day sentence

A man police caught performing a sex act with a car wash vacuum has been sentenced to 90 days in prison.

Jason Leroy Savage must also submit to drug testing.

The 29-year-old from Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday at Saginaw County Circuit Court. Savage pleaded no contest to indecent exposure last month.

via Vacuum sex act draws 90-day sentence – Criminal weirdness- msnbc.com.

Jail? Complete waste of taxpayer money. Are you telling me any homeless guy can go get 90 days free room and board at the county jail by pulling a stunt like this? If he was serious about getting hot over a max-vac, check him in to a mental hospital and get him some therapy.