THOUGHTBOX

Buzzfeed today posted a list of 22 questions posed by creationists to Bill Nye the Science Guy. I was appalled by the utter lack of general literacy and basic knowledge of the world, as well as basic understanding of evolution itself that these people lack before even criticizing it. Before Bill answers them, here's my take: 1.Yes. Depends on how you define positive, but teaching scientific literacy and the capacity for critical thought is always a positive influence, especially in my mind. I don't know of the guy in the picture agrees though 2.Well, to be scared of it he'd probably have to believe in a Divine Creator. Refusing religious doctrine is not something he does out of fear of a creator. This is a fallacy called "begging the question": it implies Bill Nye believes in a creator to be able to fear it. Since he does not, it is a moot question. 3. It's not illogical. We as humans create things that are "mature", ...

Remember when I said Eratosthenes was a total boss ? Well, here's the one and only Carl Sagan telling us why.  Watch the video to find out more about how Eratosthenes discovered the Earth's spherical nature in the 3rd century BC.

We're smart people. We live in a world where information is literally at our fingertips, and pretty much any answer can be found online, yet how much do we educated people know about facts and phenomenons we take for granted? Source: Wikipedia Sure, nobody's asking you to know everything - with Google, after all, you don't have to. Yet there are some things we do take for granted. Imagine you were alone in the middle of a green field - no internet, no help - and a curious child asks you a simple question: why is the Earth round ? What would you say? These little questions in life that have big implications - this is what this series is about. I've asked a few friends to answer a simple question: Why is the Earth Round? Here are some of their answers: And here are some of their (and other) answers, quoted: Andrei said: "The Earth is round because it's on an elliptical path around the Sun. Moreover, it is not completely round, it...

Supermoon in stanga, supermoon in dreapta. Supermoon pe facebook, supermoon pe twitter. Inainte sa incep sa combat lucrul asta, sa va spun un lucru scurt si va puteti opri aici din citit: THERE IS NO SUPERMOON. De ce? Pai, in primul rand, orbita lunara nu este un cerc perfect. Are momente cand este mai aproape de Pamant, si momente cand este mai departe de Pamant. Acuma, se intampla uneori ca acele momente cand se afla mai aproape de Pamant sa coincida cu faza de luna plina. Iata nasterea Super Moon-ului. Dar uneori se intampla si altfel: unde sunt Super-Secera, Super Eclipsa, Super-Primul-Patrar, Super-Ultimul Patrar? Desi SuperLuna de pe 23 a fost MAI MARE decat dimensiunea aparenta, diferenta reala este de 7%. 7%. Adica  359.000 km fata de 384.000 in medie, o diferenta de sub 6%. Mai mult, in ciuda acestui fapt, evenimentele de apropiere sunt supercomune ( da da stiu, bad joke). Dar va stiu. N-ar suna bine sa iesiti la geam sa strigati: "dar h...