Category Archives: History

Painting the Moon

By thecodepounder | Published June 26, 2009

Nice profile of Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean in the paper of record.

Also posted in Arts, Space | | Leave a comment

Da Vinci Porn?

By thecodepounder | Published June 12, 2009

Did Leonardo da Vinci paint a version of the Mona Lisa as topless?

Also posted in Arts | | Leave a comment

Goodbye Seinfeld +11 years

By thecodepounder | Published May 14, 2009

The Seinfeld finale aired eleven years ago tonight.
I’m a big fan–always have been–but I don’t watch the show in syndication, probably for two reasons.  First, there’s not a single episode I haven’t seen at least a few times, and second, the show really is much better when watched sequentially. Yes, it’s an episodic sitcom and [...]

Also posted in Television | | Leave a comment

The Official White House Photostream now on Flickr

By thecodepounder | Published April 29, 2009

This is so cool: The Official White House Photostream on Flickr. The photos are all by official White House photographers–predominately chief White House photographer Pete Souza–and, as The White House Blog indicates, give a different perspective from the images we all see on television every day.
The photostream already contains a number of iconic presidential photographs, [...]

Also posted in Arts, Government / Law, Internet, Technology | | Leave a comment

Friendship 7 orbits Earth +48 years

By thecodepounder | Published February 20, 2009

On this date in 1961, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 6 (“Friendship 7″).

Also posted in Space | | Leave a comment

La Brea yields first intact mammoth skeleton

By thecodepounder | Published February 19, 2009

This is huge! (I couldn’t resist–but seriously, this is pretty cool)
New York Times:
LOS ANGELES — The excavation for a parking garage near the La Brea tar pits here has yielded the site’s first intact mammoth skeleton as well as a trove of other bones that could double the size of the site’s already large collection [...]

Also posted in Science, Television | | Leave a comment

Nate Silver takes on George F. Will

By thecodepounder | Published February 16, 2009

FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver, George F. Will Takes on Science, Loses Credibility:
And yet, according to George F. Will, many scientists were convinced in the 1970s that global cooling was a significant threat to the planet. And if those scientists were so wrong before, why should we trust them when they say that global warming is a [...]

Also posted in Environment / Weather, Politics, Science, Truth / Half-truths / Damned Lies | | Leave a comment

Hitchens on Obama and Iran

By thecodepounder | Published February 16, 2009

Insight from Christopher Hitchens, writing in Slate, Don’t Let the Mullahs Run Out the Clock: Obama must talk directly to the Iranian people:
It used to be that Bush officials, when asked about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, would reply in a dark and meaningful manner, “We will not leave this problem to the next administration.” But, as [...]

Also posted in Government / Law, Politics, Skepticism / Rational-Critical Thought | | Leave a comment

MSNBC: Seven signs of Evolution in action

By thecodepounder | Published February 12, 2009

Not bad.
(Of course, seven trillion signs are no more likely, than are seven, to convince a “true believer” who has a need to believe)

Also posted in Education, Science | | 2 Comments

Happy Darwin Day, y’all

By thecodepounder | Published February 12, 2009

I love the tagline at Darwin Day Celebration: An international recognition of science and humanity.

Also posted in Education, Science | | Leave a comment

Remembering Buddy Holly 50 years after ‘The Day the Music Died’

By thecodepounder | Published February 3, 2009

Fifty years ago today, in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), along with their pilot Roger Peterson, were killed in a small plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa. Over a decade later, thanks to the song “American Pie” by Don McLean, the event [...]

Also posted in Music | | Leave a comment

Space Shuttle Columbia +6 years

By thecodepounder | Published February 1, 2009

On this date in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed during reentry when it disintegrated over Texas, killing all seven crew members.

Also posted in Space | | Leave a comment