Daily Link Splurge

'The Silent Minority' by Cenk Uygur - RichardDawkins.net

Posted: 19 Apr 2009 10:26 AM PDT

http://richarddawkins.net/article,3749,n,n

Posted: 19 Apr 2009 09:20 AM PDT

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US lifts some restrictions on embryo stem cells

Posted: 19 Apr 2009 06:20 AM PDT

When President Barack Obama eased limits on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.

The View Near a Black Hole

Posted: 19 Apr 2009 06:06 AM PDT

The View Near a Black Hole In the center of a swirling whirlpool of hot gas is likely a beast that has never been seen directly: a black hole. Studies of the bright light emitted by the swirling gas frequently indicate not only that a black hole is present, but also likely attributes. The gas surrounding GRO J1655-40, for example, has been found to display an unusual flickering at a rate of 450 times a second. Given a previous mass estimate for the central object of seven times the mass of our Sun, the rate of the fast flickering can be explained by a black hole that is rotating very rapidly. What physical mechanisms actually cause the flickering -- and a slower quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) -- in accretion disks surrounding black holes and neutron stars remains a topic of much research.

Ram Dass, on "Experience"

Posted: 19 Apr 2009 04:49 AM PDT