I read this story:

http://www.physorg.com/news135003243.html

and thought others might find it interesting/amusing.

Global Warming researchers in Argentina are equipping cows with backpacks designed to trap the cows' methane emissions. Check out the link for an awesome cow pic...

Wild Facts:

With over 55 million cows, Argentina is among the top beef producers in the world.

The average cow produces 800-1000 liters of "emissions" PER DAY (mixed gasses, not just methane).

Methane is 23 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Initial results indicate that 30% of Argentina's green house gas production could be from cattle.

Our friends down south have managed to do what many states have failed to: Pass a bill which opens science class rooms to Intelligent Design and other religious craziness.

The Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA) claims to promote "Academic Freedom" and:

"assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories."

However, the true intentions of the Bill are revealed in the power it grants schools to use "supplemental classroom materials specifically for the critique of scientific theories", and the particular attention it pays to the theories of "evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

Oh you aren't familiar with the Scientific Theory of Human Cloning? What's that you say, those other things are more topics or hot political issues? Wait, you're confused by the fact that there is no SCIENTIFIC controversy on any of those topics, just politicians and business people trying to benefit and pander to stupid people?

Well, luckily the completely neutral Discovery Institute, a pro-ID group who not only helped write and push the bill, but also happens to sell alternative "Scientific" Textbooks, may yet provide you with a proper science education where dinosaurs coexisted with humans (didn't you watch the flintsones??) and the earth is only 6,000 - 10,000 years old.

Proponents of the bill point to section 1d which states that the bill:

“shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion.”

Ohhhhh! I feel so much better now... thanks for TELLING me how the bill should be construed... wait... what does that even mean? It almost sounds like "We're going to put religion in the classroom, but you shouldn't SEE it that way". And if the purpose of this bill is not to slip religion into the science curriculum, why was this Bill required in the first place and why did Discovery Institute help so much?

It's like a thief opening your wallet, taking all your money, and waving his hand in front of you uttering the words "I am NOT stealing your money"... That's right, the authors of this Bill are attempting a Jedi Mind trick... Except they're destroying science education and the force is weak with the people of Louisiana.


Sources:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080627-louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.html

http://www.au.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr009=p677zibu94.app7b&abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=9913&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241

http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/discovery-institute-spinning-louisianas-anti-evolution-law/

Hi There,

I recently created a playlist with the same name as an existing playlist and a bizzare thing happened: the sift let me do it. Beyond the fact that this was a stupid thing to do, is this a bug or a feature?

The problem that arises is that even though you can add videos to both play lists separately, you can only access one of them (the first created). The only way to remove the videos from the playlist dupe is to delete all the videos from the original list, delete the original list, and then you can access the duped list.

Am I making any sense here? Am I missing some voodoo-siftery?

Those familiar with the web comic xkcd already know that it's a masterpiece, but #386, to me, captures what makes this community (and arguably the Internet) such a wonderful place.

Duty Calls

That hit home for me, so I got a good laugh. I think it also speaks to the Awesomeness of the Sift community where there is often disagreement on what's 'right', but more often then not, we end up with a good discussion instead of random hate or degenerate garbage.

So I say, Kudos to all Sifters who stay up late composing a post worth reading! Even if you're wrong, I've enjoyed reading your comments! (kidding...)