Massachusetts-based amateur historian Jim Hamilton, who developed the Free Fall Research Page — an online database of nearly every imaginable human plummet, documents one case of a sky diver who, upon total parachute failure, was saved by bouncing off high-tension wires. Contrary to popular belief, water is an awful choice. Like concrete, liquid doesn’t compress. Hitting the ocean is essentially the…
Tag: Belief
Happy birthday to Galileo, born February 15
One of our greatest astronomers, Galileo Galilei, was born February 15, 1564. His discoveries with the improved telescopes he made changed the way we view the universe – and got him in trouble with the church. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/galileos-birthday-feb-15-1564…
Parler CEO John Matze Says Company’s Board Fired Him
John Matze, CEO and co-founder of far-right friendly social media platform Parler, said on LinkedIn Wednesday that he has been terminated. Axios reports: Parler has been at the center of controversy since Amazon Web Services, Apple and Google unplugged the network last month for its lack of content moderation related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In a memo obtained by…
Update on the 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby TRAPPIST-1
A new study of the seven Earth-sized exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1 indicate that all 7 planets are extremely similar to each other in makeup, but potentially quite different from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/7-trappist-1-planets-similar-composition-unlike-earth…
Sri Lankan minister drinks ‘magic potion’
A politician who consumed a potion said to ward off coronavirus has since tested positive for the disease. In a striking example of how blind belief c… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/343293/sri-lankan-minister-drinks-magic-potion…
Online Far-Right Movements Fracture, as ‘Gullible’ QAnon Supporters Criticized
“Online far-right movements are splintering,” argues NBC News: Users on forums that openly helped coordinate the Jan. 6 riot and called for insurrection…have become increasingly agitated with QAnon supporters, who are largely still in denial that President Donald Trump will no longer be in the Oval Office after Jan. 20… [QAnon adherents] have identified Inauguration Day as a last stand, and…
Capella Space Defends High-Resolution Satellite Photos Described as ‘Eerily Observant’
“A new satellite from Capella Space was described as “pretty creepy” by Bustle’s technology site Input: Like other hunks of metal currently orbiting Earth, the Capella-2 satellite’s onboard radar system makes it capable of producing ludicrously high-resolution visuals from its data. More unconventional is the service Capella has launched to match: the government or private customers can, at any time, request…
The Pope Praises Medical Workers, Criticizes ‘Personal Freedom’ Protests
More Americans travelled Wednesday than on any other day in the last eight months — 1.1 million Americans — continuing the country’s long-standing annual tradition of gathering to give thanks. The same week the Pope apparently felt compelled to publish an opinion piece in one of the country’s largest newspapers to share his own thoughts about the pandemic. First, the Pope…
Is belief in God a delusion?
As the pandemic raged in April, churchgoers in Ohio defied warnings not to congregate. But what do psychologists have to say about strong beliefs in a god? Source: https://www.livescience.com/is-belief-in-god-a-delusion.html
How Powerful Forces Collaborated to Peddle Misinformation about the Origins of the Coronavirus
There’s “an overwhelming body of evidence” for scientists’ belief that the coronavirus originated in an animal before making the leap to humans, reports the New York Times. (Alternate URL here.) They add that U.S. intelligence agencies also “have not found any proof” for a fringe theory it somehow leaked from a lab. Yet as recently as September, a Hong Kong researcher…