Apollon Rising

Happy Earth Day

Clavinicus — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:24:29 +0000

Happy Earth Day everyone! Earth–it is the only planet we have. Please take care of it.

The Danger of Science Denial

Clavinicus — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:30:58 +0000

Science journalist Michael Specter speaks on the danger of science denial at TED2010. I would encourage everyone to watch this.

Click here for more TED Conference videos.

A.C. Grayling: Religion is Dying

Clavinicus — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:42:27 +0000

British philosopher A.C. Grayling, author of twenty some odd books and fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, has these most enlightening words to say on the topic of religion, and specifically, of the fact that religion is dying (sort of).

Part I

Part II

Deconversion, One Man’s Jounery

Clavinicus — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:34:47 +0000

This man should write a book about his journey from true, devout, born-again Christianity to the enlightened awakening of reason and scientific understanding. These videos are excellent, very well done, highly articulate, and interesting. I encourage everyone who reads this blog to view these videos.

You may see all the videos on YouTube at this link and view them in order. Or, to see his concluding video where it is all summarized and broken down, you can simply watch this one.

If you do not have a lot of time, I recommend you at least begin with episode 2.3. Otherwise you should begin with the first video and progress through all of them to the end. Again, to see all the videos please go to this YouTube page.

Symphony of Science: The Unbroken Thread

Clavinicus — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:41:58 +0000

I have not posted in a while, so to make up for it here is the 4th Symphony of Science video-mix which was released last week. This one features Carl Sagan, David Attenborough, and Jane Goodall, on the subject of life, bio-diversity, and evolution. beautiful. Keep it up, Symphony of Science!

Symphony of Science: Our Place in the Cosmos

Clavinicus — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:09:52 +0000

Here’s a new Symphony of Science re-mix called “Our Place in the Cosmos”. This one features Carl Sagan, Robert Jastrow, Richard Dawkins, and Michio Kaku. Once again, hats off to John Boswell of symphonyofscience.com for another wonderful video.

Why Believe in a Designer?

Clavinicus — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:45:47 +0000

While I am on the subject of the Creationism vs. Evolution controversy (and really, there is no controversy except the one fabricated by the Creationists), I would like to point you to this brilliant article, which is actually from 1996 Usenet posting, which I found while combing through the talk.origins Usenet archive at TalkOrigins.org. It concerns the question of “Why Believe in a Designer?” After all, Creationists often argue that there must be a Designer (or Creator) because everything in the universe, and especially life on Earth, show every indication of having been designed. This article makes a thorough (and quite humorous) examination of how insane such a Designer would have to be if, in fact, there was a Designer.

You can read the article here: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/ce/4/part2.html

Why Evolution is True

Clavinicus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:09:31 +0000

There is an excellent video from the AAI 2009 conference on why evolution is true and the evidence for evolution, given by the professor of genetics at the University of Chicago, Dr. Jerry Coyne, and is introduced by Richard Dawkins. Thus, for anyone and everyone who thinks “evolution is just a theory”, here’s your answer. Yes, evolution is fact.

Please also check out Dr. Coyne book, “Why Evolution is True”, and his blog which I am adding to my list of blogs I should visit daily (particular interesting is his post on Pseudoscience in the News).

The Symphony of Science

Clavinicus — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:33:40 +0000

The follow music video is a composition of sampling from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Richard Feynman’s interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and many others, with excellent visuals from various documentaries. According to the video’s creator, John Boswell (of symphonyofscience.com), “It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.” Bravo!

(get the MP3 of this song here).

Here’s another musical tribute by John Boswell to Sagan and Hawking, also very inspiring:

(get the MP3 of this song here).

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to President Obama

Clavinicus — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:05:30 +0000

It is all over the news, and by now everyone knows, but President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

This is of course not a political blog, but this event is nevertheless highly noteworthy. See below for Obama’s speech after having received the news.

To read more, see this article on CNN.com.