Holy Office

2013-06-12

50 Years of Progress - Science vs Religion

A comparative timeline of progress in science and religion over the last 50 years, brought to you by Crispian Jago on The Reason Stick:

2013-03-31

Easter, from the... other side

2013-03-14

Habeant papam - they have a new pope

Our sources at the (other) Holy Office transmitted us the otherwise classified information that the new Pope chose his name in sign of appreciation and reverence for a historical character which inspired him in his youth. Some are talking about a certain Saint Francis of Assisi, but this is obviously a ploy intended to distract from finding the true source. It stands to reason that a Jesuit like the ex-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio wouldn't even begin to think about using the name of the founder of a competing religious order! And if that isn't enough, we are proud to present a copy of the top secret first sketch of the poster announcing the election of the new Pope, drafted on the very table where the pope elect sat during the conclave. It gives certain subtle hints as to his secret muse, but we'll leave to you, dear reader, the pleasure to discover them:

2012-12-01

Doomsday Calendar

I've taken a little time to put together dates when the end of the world should have taken place, and here's the result. This way you'll never again have to wonder whether the world has already ended on a given day, and when!

(Click on the entries to see details, and use top left arrows and drop-down menu to switch months, or top right link to switch layout.)

UPDATE:
The calendar is, and will remain, a work in progress.

You can access it directly at bit.ly/doomsdays-html (opens in new browser window/tab).

Users of Google calendar can add it as an third-party calendar by entering the Calendar ID "caveatlector.eu_ltah6dpenkivhhvf710bveio14@group.calendar.google.com" in the text input field marked "Add a coworker's calendar" under "Other calendars" in the side menu of their calendar page on Google:

To import/add the calendar to a calendar management application (e.g., Outlook or the Lightning extension for Thunderbird), please use the following addresses:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/caveatlector.eu_ltah6dpenkivhhvf710bveio14%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
(iCal format)

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/caveatlector.eu_ltah6dpenkivhhvf710bveio14%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic
(XML format)

If you would like to embed the calendar on a page on your website or blog, please use the HTML code:

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?title=Doomsdays%20Calendar%3A%20So%20you'll%20know%20each%20day%20when%20the%20world%20ended&showCalendars=0&height=600&wkst=2&bgcolor=%23FFFFFF&src=caveatlector.eu_ltah6dpenkivhhvf710bveio14%40group.calendar.google.com&color=%23182C57&ctz=Europe%2FRome" style=" border-width:0 " width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

for an 800x600 embedded calendar, or:

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?title=Doomsdays%20Calendar%3A%20So%20you'll%20know%20each%20day%20when%20the%20world%20ended&showCalendars=0&height=480&wkst=2&bgcolor=%23FFFFFF&src=caveatlector.eu_ltah6dpenkivhhvf710bveio14%40group.calendar.google.com&color=%23182C57&ctz=Europe%2FRome" style=" border-width:0 " width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

for an 640x480 pixels calendar.

2012-08-12

The body of Christ

2012-08-07

Curiosity landing on Mars

Curiosity landed 6 August 2012 at 05:32 GMT near the foot of a mountain almost 5 km tall and 155 km in diameter inside Gale Crater, on Mars. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

This is the raw footage of the EDL (Entry, Descent, Landing) as transmitted by NASA TV, starting 1 minute before entry and ending when the first photos are received from Curiosity, after the landing.

And a view of the rover's descent captured by the the Curiosity Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). The instrument shot 4 fps video from heatshield separation to the ground.