We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
I missed one, darn the luck. I thought a bald eagle sounded just like they're always pictured, then it turns out they sound exactly like a cross between a squeaky toy and a seagull. Who knew? The only one I hadn't heard of was that biz about there not being a Nobel prize for mathematics because of his wife's affair. And it's pure coincidence that Barrie's post below on 'Correlation vs. Causation' ties in with the last point.
And it's an important point, and one we see abused every day. Flatbush, Arkansas, just experienced its rainiest June in history? Climate change. Hortence Abernathy's garden in Deepfrost, Maine, produced beautiful geraniums for the first time ever? Climate change. A barbecue at a company picnic in Drycrik, Arizona, caught some nearby weeds on fire and they didn't get it put out until half the field had burned down? Climate change. The entire globe stops warming for 20 years? Climate change.
After all, stopping is a form of change, right? Proof positive that climate change exists.
Ah, there you are, the master dog trainer. Not only have you taught Sparky to sit up, stay and fetch, but now he's learned 'speak'! "Arf-arf!", he responds with pride. What a smart little feller!
Of course, it's possible the two of you still have a ways to go.
The long jumps are especially impressive. With their poor eyesight and lack of stereoscopic vision, when a dog hears "Jump!" from some blurry object fifteen feet away, he's basically wildly leaping into space on nothing but trust.
And then there's the art of shadow dancing.
Without further preamble...
What's particularly striking about this art form are scenes like the jet fighter, where you expect to see them lower a bunch of cardboard props at the next change, yet nothing like that ever appears to happen.
They have a handful of vids on YouTube, and I have a solo artist performing here. When I originally posted it in my art gallery years ago, I hadn't seen anything else like it and called it a "wonderful, if dying, art form." It's nice to see artists like the Attraction Theater Group bringing this beautiful genre back to the fore.
I missed so many on the science quiz I'm almost embarrassed to report in. :)
The dog one was terrific, and you're right about those jumps. Both were extremely impressive. And, seriously, skateboarding? Scootering??
As for the shadow dancing, mere words seem to fall short. What an outstanding job on their part. I'm off to watch the others. Thanks for a fun Sunday post.
The first time I typed the words, after only seeing the vid once, I put "ten feet" for the distance. Then I watched it again and this time went "Holy shit!" when I actually focused on how far away the guy was. Even discounting the whole 'trust' factor, it was still a helluva jump for a dog.
I missed three, the water draining thing, John Glenn, and the bald eagle. From what I can tell, this means I've never heard an actual bald eagle in my entire life outside of today. The thing is, after hearing a red-tailed hawk's cry spliced into it in every TV ad and movie since forever, if suddenly you did hear the real cry of a bald eagle in some documentary, it'd really stand out. Well, that, or you might just think it has the hiccups. Or swallowed a squeaky toy.
The dog vid was terrific, the shadow dancing was great!
There were a lot of liberties taken with that "myths of science" thing. Some of that wasn't even "science" in a way.
And gravity is relative to position in both the Newtonian universe and Einstein's universe - the difference is Newton viewed gravity as a force while Einstein posited that gravity is a function of space/time or Fourth Dimension. In any case, gravity can indeed be thought of as pulling "down" just as it can be thought of as "pulling up".
And of course stars twinkle - what enters the eye and reaches the brain via the optic nerve is perceived as "twinkling" - thus, they twinkle. Sheesh - kill joy.
Well, that's an easy one. I'm the type that likes to add a little something to the narrative and pass along a compliment when a post is particularly well done.
And....the dark side of the moon is dark.
The absence of light is not the only definition of dark.
It can also mean not known or explored because of remoteness.
de Grasse does this kind of thing all the time - science isn't just about "facts" and "truth". It's a also about the harmony of numbers, or fascination of the unknown. Yes, stars don't "Twinkle" but where is the beauty in that when you look at the night sky? It was known for a long time that Pluto wasn't really a "planet" as such, but it was known as such, why not leave it that way - what was the harm? No, can't do that - it isn't "truth". In some ways, de Grasse, and this guy who did the video, can't see the forest for the trees.
It wasn't until 1924, a mere eighty eight years ago when Hubble discovered that the universe wasn't just the Milky Way - that a lot of those light twinkling lights were actually galaxies and pretty damn big ones at that. "Twinkle Twinkle Large Galaxy Stellar Nursery Creating Fusion Reactions In Space" just doesn't have the same ring does it... :>)
"I thought a bald eagle sounded just like they're always pictured, then it turns out they sound exactly like a cross between a squeaky toy and a seagull."
There's rather more to it than that. The sound cut he played sounded like a young bald eagle begging for food. Adult bald eagles have several different calls, a few of which can be heard here:
I have also heard a bald eagle giving a defensive screech, and it sounds like ... well, like an angry, defensive screech.
As for the rest of his facts... I lost count halfway through, but pretty sure I got about 45 out of the 50.
Although he's right that the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is the default "bird of prey" call in movies and TV shows, just as the Common Loon's laughing yodel is the default sound of a lake at night.
Very interesting. Yeah, the full clip was better than the vid example -- still kinda wimpy, tho'.
And I like what you said about the loon. Take any movie where there's twilight shot of a beautiful lake, and there'll be a loon in the background. 7,000 feet up in the Tetons in the dead of winter with two feet of snow on the ground -- and there's your loon. It's nice to know there are some constants in life.
