"To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime." -- Romain Rolland
This is really impressive. The sense of scale and our tiny footprint in just the extent to what we have mapped to date, is astounding. This is why science rocks!
Sarychev Peak in the Kuril Islands exploded earlier in June and the ISS luckily was passing over it and was able to take the pics here. It's a fantastic photo but what will really bake your noodle is to see the 3D version made from multiple exposures.
Notice something else, how the clouds parted due to the rising cloud of vapor. Pretty cool!
Love or hate Dawkins, he presents some of the clearest arguments out there for the value of the scientific outlook (with apologies to Hitchens, Dennett, and Harris, who aren't scientists). In his essay below, he outlines our human tendencies to find purpose in the universe where there is no evidence of it. One of his better presentations (if nothing else, for the Expelled parody!).
Ladies and Gentlemen, I was asked again today how I can have ethics or morals if I do not believe in a God or Gods. Aside from the obvious reply "You saying without God you would have no morality? That's scary!", I find that this is a continuous broadsides to non-believers that lacks any real understanding of our view of religion and our issues with it.
Leave it to the acerbic and brilliant Christopher Hitchens to so succinctly state the issue at hand from my perspective. I certainly do not know if there is a higher power, but if there is, it's not at all like it's argued for. Below is Mr. Hitchens' opening argument (in two parts) to address this. For those who believe (and possibly find this offensive..though I would wonder why dissenting views are threatening to them), I ask that you come to understand the non-belief position before rejecting or arguing against it. As a ex-believer, its only common courtesy to see both sides as I am forced to do.
There is a nice documentary from Australia about atheists. For those of you who are not Atheist, it's a fantastic expose on their rationale and thinking. If you disagree with Atheists, best to know how they feel as opposed to assuming (bad sound in this video, but a scathing rebuttal to not actually caring what athiests "believe").
