French observer Stéphane Lamotte Bailey created this animation of the Whirlpool galaxy’s new supernova using images he took with his 8-inch telescope on May 30 and June 2, 2011. / Stéphane Lamotte Bailey For the second time in six years, a star has exploded in the iconic Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51), and — good news! […]
An American ‘armchair astronaut’ claims to have discovered a mysterious structure on the surface of the red planet – by looking on Google earth. David Martines, whose YouTube video of the ‘station’ has racked up over 200,000 hits so far, claims to have randomly uncovered the picture while scanning the surface of the planet one […]
Russian efforts to make electricity available to isolated areas with a planned class of floating nuclear reactors could represent the most potentially disastrous idea to sweep the atomic power industry in years, due in part to the threat such plants would face from extremists and entities interested in tapping their technology for military use, Reuters […]
Who is Michael Dowd? He calls himself an evangelist. Not surprisingly, he can be found in churches preaching. But Dowd’s gospel is not one where sin is rebellion against God, but rejection of Darwin. Likewise, salvation doesn’t come from Jesus on a Roman crucifix, but merely embracing the emergent Universe. Thus, we should Thank God […]
By Hal McKenzie March 31, 2004 The Supreme Court last week took up the question of whether the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional. The suit was brought by atheist Michael Newdow, who argues that the words must be deleted because they are offensive to atheists. “It’s indoctrinating children,” he […]
A tiny world of molten rock, orbiting scorchingly close to its host star, is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system, NASA announced today. And it’s likely only the first in a parade of planet discoveries to be announced this spring by the Kepler Space Telescope team. Kepler-10b, as the new world is […]
In the past 10 days, Christian churches have been attacked in Egypt and Nigeria and improvised explosive devices have been placed on the doorsteps of Christian families in Iraq – which events, taken together, could mean a co-ordinated assault on Christians by Muslim holy warriors. …. [However] As U.S. political scientist Walter Russell Mead observed in […]
By Huma Imtiaz, Jinnah Institute Aasia Bibi, a mother of five, has been sentenced to death under the Blasphemy Law by a court in the Nankana Sahib district of Punjab. She has been languishing in jail for one year. Aasia, a labourer and a resident of the Ittanwalai village, is reportedly the first woman to […]
Pakistanis hold candles in commemoration of slain governor of Punjab Salman Taseer in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Jan. 7. / AP /Mohammad Sajjad LAHORE: When Punjab Governor Salman Taseer stepped out of the Table Talk restaurant in Islamabad, after having lunch with his hotelier friend Sheikh Waqas on January 4, he was most likely aware of […]
Rings produced by a computer model of a stellar merger (left) mimic those of supernova 1987A (right) / Illustration: T Morris/P Podsiadlowski; Image: C Burrows/ESA/STScI/NASA A merger of two stars and the deadly dance that preceded it produced the distinctive triple ring system of supernova 1987A, a new study says. SN 1987A exploded in the […]
