Scabious, aka the Pincushion Flower Quite a few of you enjoyed my post on a picture of Saturn’s rings a few days ago. Well, a new blog I’ve discovered has an excellent post on the following day’s Astronomy Picture Of… Read More ›
Science
Highway to Heaven
Brian Turner, designer of Jolly Roger, has sunk about $30,000 into his creation. His design is a variation on the fabled Archimedes death ray, which the ancient Greek mathematician allegedly devised to set enemy ships ablaze by bombarding them with… Read More ›
Our wonderful neighborhood
click on picture for larger image at APOD As regular readers know, I adore the Astronomy Picture of the Day site, and I have it as the homepage of my browser so I see every picture. This was yesterday’s, a… Read More ›
Earthlights
This is a classic composite picture which NASA first published in 2002, and which they’ve just put up again at Astronomy Picture of the Day. Click on the link for a higher resolution image, resize your browser window as large… Read More ›
Another just-so story bites the dust
There have been an awful lot of just-so stories postulated by EvPsych (evolutionary psychology) aficionados which mostly purport to show that there’s a strong evolutionary reason for [insert challenged norm here] and thus oh dear how sad we can’t change… Read More ›
Damn straight
There Is No Fucking Face On Mars. Link (and wording for link) both lifted shamelessly from the 44th Skeptic’s Circle at Salto sobrius, which as usual for the SC, had lots of good stuff to check out.
OK, that’s a wrap
The new digs seem to be working, so it is now officially time to update your bookmarks. http://viv.id.au/blog/ is the URL of the new Hoyden About Town (note no more hyphenating) From time to time posts may appear here if… Read More ›
Pluto the not quite a Planet
Lovely graphic today at one of my favourite sites (it’s my browser’s homepage), Astronomy Picture of the Day, which I’ll put up just because it gives such a clear idea of the proportions of the planets and other orbiting bodies making up our Solar System.
The first shots of the HPV vaccine
Ian Frazer, the discoverer, is doing a bit of a whirlwind tour today for the cameras – vaccinating some girls and young women in both Brisbane and Sydney on the first day that Gardasil is approved for use in Australia.
As yet there’s no government subsidy for the vaccine (which protects against the virus that causes the main form of cervical cancer), so the full course of three shots costs over A$400. There’s nonetheless no shortage of takers, and a growing number of men interested in the vaccination as well so they can be confident of not infecting their partners.
Scary!
New LP commenter tanja has a terrific blog – art and politics meet photoshop at Poligoths. If our muppets in Canberra confuse and infuriate you, head over for a point and a laugh. And my perennial favourite Chris Clarke at… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 