Solar Cycle 24: The Death of Us All

Today I learned that the Mayans were right and we're all going to die in 2012 during solar Cycle 24. Although we probably wont die of that. Solar cycles are regular 11 year fluctuation in the Sun's magnetic field. The next one coming is going to be the biggest one in the recorded history of Sun (or as I like to call them, FUN cycles)! What this means is that starting around 2010, don't trust your compass, and keep your eyes trained on the night sky for the Northern Lights (probably as far South as Brazil).

The solar Maximum is the period we are concerned with.That is when the Sun's magnetic field is at it's strongest, and sunspots appear due to inconsistencies in said field. The field gets all fucked up and collides with Earth's field causing phenomena such as the Northern Lights and the Loch Ness Monster.

Anyway, if you want to read more about how we're probably going to die go here:
Physorg
Wikipedia: Solar Cycle
Wikipedia: Solar Maximum

the God Experiments

These took place back in the 80's. I couldn't remember who conducted the study, so I looked it up. The studies were conducted by Dr. Michael Persinger. The results of the tests found that 80% of the subjects tested sensed an "ethereal presence" which differed depending on the subjects cultural background. I.E. God, aliens, angels, Buddha, Vishnu, Allah, or whatever else helps you get to sleep at night. IN effect this reveals that "religious experience" is nothing more than human experience. Read these for more:

Discover: God Experiments
God and the Temporal Lobes
Wikipedia: God Helmet

Klezmerized

Today I decided to learn about Klezmer music, because last night I was blown away by the band Golem from New York who play an amped up brand of punk rock infused Klezmer. The band was fantastic. I stand in awe of their musical proficiency, and also in their connection to their own cultural heritage. Being an atheist Anglo mutt from central Indiana, I posses no such thing, it's alright, I'm fine, I don't miss it, I just admire it when I see it.

Klezmer came about in around the 150's (that's it) in reference to the Klezmorim (like the Rohirrim in Lord of the Rings) who were traveling musicians who would make merry at Jewish weddings. They were mostly frowned upon by the church but eventually, like most things, got subsumed into the culture at large. It's a very rich and storied development, that I'll let you read more of on your own.

from Wikipedia

Single. Female. 33. Gorilla.

Today I learned that people are stupid and sensitive enough to file sexual harassment charges against a gorilla. This is older news apparently, but went under my radar. Allegedly Koko, the 33 year old "talking" gorilla who has a vocabulary of over 1,000 ASL words, pressured some of the foundation employees into exposing their nipples to her. The gorilla in a transcript (yes) is admittedly preoccupied with nibbles, but also for candy. Her keeper clarified that she refers to people as nipples. Thankfully all the claims have been permanently dropped as of November 21, 2005.

I hope this case leads the way into a new era where animals can be sued for all their worth for discrimination, harassment, and battery charges. It might be just the thing we need to illustrate the ridiculousness of our very own human legal system.

From the St. Petersburg Times
Wikipedia