Religious beliefs – how they trick believers into spreading the belief

I’ve been having a dialogue with several Muslims who are busy conducting what some Muslims might refer to as an internet Jihad. In this context that basically means that they have established Facebook groups designed to reach out and convert non-Muslims, and have invited in all and sundry. Why do they do this, what motivates … Read more

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps pic of Curiosity Rover’s Descent

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured an impressive picture of the Curiosity rover’s nail-biting and extremely successful descent. This was no accident, the MRS team had been planning this since last March, they reckoned they had a 60% chance of getting this shot. Now leat you wonder, MRO is a satellite flying high above … Read more

17 Cameras and one complete Chemistry Lab on wheels … successfully landed on MARS

If you don’t by now know, there where the heck have you been for the last 24 hours … on MARS? Well we have a slightly higher resolution image now (left) taken by one of the vehicle’s lower-fidelity, black-and-white Hazard Avoidance Cameras – or Hazcams. “Curiosity’s landing site is beginning to come into focus,” said John … Read more

Curiosity … touchdown looms

Hopefully you know all about “Curiosity” … well, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and its Curiosity rover are in the final stages of preparing for entry, descent and landing on the Red Planet at 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). -Translation for UK folks … that will be 06:31 on Monday … Read more

Believing Crazy stuff costs lives: 13 year old girl dies during Islamic exorcism

I’m happy for people to believe  whatever they wish, but I am not content to leave such nonsense unchallenged because it often leads to utterly tragic consequences. The latest example of this concerns the utterly pointless death of a 13 year old girl, Salma, in Pakistan. The story is that her parents became convinced that … Read more