TRAILER TRASH!

You ever seen science done in a trailer?

Well, you won't see it in this video. You'll just have to imagine. The good news is that I'm going to be in a better situation eventually. In fact, for the first time in nine years, I'll have more than one sink. Check it out, but keep in mind that all through the country science educators are working in inadequate, sub-standard facilities. I'm about to become one of the lucky ones.

WEBCAM TO THE APOCALYPSE?

In a few hours, the world may end.

But probably not.

Seriously, as I type, the LHC is about to go on-line, or so my sources tell me.

Here's a live webcam feed.

*********UPDATE**********

Well, the webcam feed didn't work for the first few hours last night. It appears demand exceeded supply. But that's up and running now.

Also, the world hasn't ended yet. But give it time, my friend. Give it time.

IT'S NOT ABOUT ME

I had a nice afternoon attending the 'Heretic's Barbecue' sponsored by CVASS. My good buddy Richard had a good assortment of food on hand, and both he and Mark had a nice presentation on the strange world of ghost hunters in the Fresno area:














After that, we had a few giggles making our own UFO photos:




Some books and other prizes were auctioned off to help defray our expenses, and then there was a business meeting of CVASS that touched on a variety of subjects, among them the impending visit of James Randi to CSU Fresno and the launching of Valley Cafe Scientifique's second season this evening (Monday) at the North India Bar and Grill in Clovis.

Shoot, this event even got some media coverage in the Fresno Bee! So...why am I a bit put off about the whole thing, if I had such a good time? Simply put, it's a little strange how my participation in CVASS was framed in the article. The impression I received from it was something along the lines of, 'this group's not so bad, they even had a Christian participating.' I would've much rather that I had not even been mentioned in the article. Atheists don't require the approval or participation of Christians in order to legitimize themselves as citizens or members of the community. Atheists are citizens, taxpayers, consumers, parents, husbands and wives...in other words, not much different from the other human beings I know.

Everyone of us stands to benefit from cultivating a habit of skepticism, of thinking critically about the claims we will encounter in life. Science education, which is my racket, is not just about developing the next generation of scientists, it's also a means of promoting scientific literacy and critical thinking in the general population. Science may not be the only way of knowing, but scientific literacy leads to citizens, consumers and community members who are better-informed and who are more likely to think critically about things. I would've liked to see more about that, and less about me and what I privately believe. As Rick Warren might've said in a different context, it's not about me.