Life cycle of ants

Click the image above to learn about the life cycle of the ant!

Whole Lotta Love

Led Zeppelin cover by Elise Testone on American Idol

Sperm Whale Encounter

Short but absolutely awesome video.



Click photo below for full size

Naturalism Explained

Here's a brief description, a paraphrased version of The Center for Naturalism's Statement On Naturalism:

Naturalism is the view that nature exists as a single domain or substance, without resort to obscure notions of the supernatural. While open to all logical possibilities and the many surprises the universe has for us, naturalism is supported by evidence, ongoing empirical observations and common experience. It recognizes that we as humans are fully connected to the rest of the natural world, that we are, on many levels, caused by perceptible and logical natural forces, and through that insight, we are empowered while encouraging the realization of compassion and humility.

Kennt's Pix

Beautiful shots Kennt! Awesome!

(Click on any pic to view larger image gallery)

Political Update

Here's an article in the Washington Post on Santorum's Opus Dei connections. I can just imagine a President Santorum press conference, "Mr President, are you going to renounce the use of torture, including on yourself?"

Not to worry though, "Frothy" will probably take a good whipping at the primaries before that happens.


And in a sign that the end is nigh for his campaign, Santorum bubbled over on camera.
--Thanks to Kennt for the heads up!

Mulcair by more than a whisker
And speaking of self-torture, here in Canada, the NDP finally finished up their botched convention with the election of Thomas Mulcair.

Correction on the family tree

When I was explaining the human family tree I was relying on outdated information. I looked for family tree charts and this one was the clearest. According to this one, homo erectus was not the common ancestor to neanderthals and us, but homo ergaster was the common ancestor to erectus and, via heidelbergensis, eventually to neanderthals and us. Keep in mind that a few of these relationships are not well established and the diagram will likely be adjusted again according to further research.

Still, it doesn't do justice to the fact that homo erectus was spread out throughout the world for almost 2 million years, while we have been around for just 150 to 200 thousand years. Seems hard to believe that they simply died out without leaving some unique genes behind.