Religion Backed by Science!

Well... No.
In this story on Reuters. Some people are claiming that scientific evidence (specifically carbon dating and molecular genetic analysis) has been used to prove that bones found in 2010 belonged to John the Baptist. He's the guy that supposedly dunked the head of Jesus under water (baptising him). Thus making him even more holy?

Anyway. They dated the bones to the first century CE (common era) which is when John the baptist would have died. And the genetic analysis concluded that the individual was most likely of middle eastern origin.

The first issue I have with this is one of how likely it is to be true based on probability and the evidence. One of the scientists is quoted as saying that it was 'obviously impossible to say with any certainty that the remains belonged to John the Baptist. But it could not be ruled out.' Yeah it cannot be ruled out in the same sense that you cannot rule out that there is an invisible, trans-dimensional dragon living in my apartment. You can't rule it out. But you have so little evidence for it and it is so incredibly unlikely. That for all practical purposes you consider it not true. The same is true with these bones. First, it is highly unlikely that the biblical John the Baptist existed at all. Secondly, there are thousands of individuals who were living at that time whose bones these could be. And thirdly, the evidence is so thin as to be almost non existent. So the evidence is too thin, and the probability so low, that for all practical purposes we can consider it to be false.

Then there is the issue of using science in an attempt to provide evidence. The two techniques used in this case are the same ones that provide evidence for the earth being more than 6000 years old (radio carbon dating), and that all species on the earth are related through the process of evolution (molecular genetic analysis). This is a wonderful example of how the religious mind subjectively screens and accepts information. On the one hand they want to deny that these two scientific disciplines are correct in the findings they make. That the earth is billions of years old and that evolution is a fact. Then on the other they want to use those same findings to support their claims when it suits them.

Now I'm not saying anyone involved in this particular case is a science denying young earth creationist. But think about this. If the analysis had shown that the bones were older than 2000 years. Do you think they would have immediately accepted the fact that they were not holy relics and announced this to the world? I don't think so. First because they would have lost all the income they are currently enjoying from pilgrims coming to visit the bones. And secondly they would be setting a dangerous (from the religious view point) president where scientific facts are valued over faith.

    

Disappointed

I'm rather disappointed by the chiefs.
Not because of anything they have done on the field. Or because of any off field conduct of the players.  
No, I am disappointed because they are sponsored buy fraudsters. EKEN Power Bands was one of their recent Match day sponsors and they list EKEN as one of their official sponsors on their official sponsors page. Shame.
I have written about EKEN power bands before here. And I wrote more generally about the magic bracelet scam here.

The original purveyors of this scam, Power Balance, went bust in Australia after they were forced to provide refunds to their customers. The ruling was made after it was found Power Balance made claims for their product that were obviously false and couldn't be supported with any evidence or testing. Claiming that the bracelets could boost strength, flexibility and balance. When in reality they were a dollars worth of silicone with a 5c hologram attached.

These products do not and cannot do any of the things the sellers claim. It's the modern day equivalent of snake oil. Or be it on the more harmless side as the only thing they are likely to take is your money and they probably won't cause any physical harm.

So why do I care. Because these people are making money selling a scam. Because it is a lack of critical thinking that allows people to be taken in by scams like this. Because I expect a professional sports franchise to exercise even a small amount of good judgement and critical thinking when accepting sponsors. And Because I just do.      

Bye Bye Voyager

The Voyager 1 space probe is leaving our solar system.
When it does. It will be the first human constructed space craft to travel out into interstellar space. Traversing the vast, unimaginably empty and massive, void between stars. Pretty kool. 

Voyager was launched on September 5 1977, with it's mission being to study Jupiter and Saturn, then go on towards the outer solar system and out into interstellar space. And it's done a remarkable job. Returning some of the most iconic images of the gas giants and their moons and providing invaluable information about the two systems.

Now it is reaching a point in its journey where the flow of particles from outside our solar system seems to be getting the upper hand over the particles streaming out from the sun. You can imagine it like a river flowing into the sea. At the mouth of the river there is only the fresh water flowing out. But the further out into the sea you go the more the salt water takes over. Until, eventually all the you can detect is the ocean. Where the two flows meet and battle it out marks the Heliopause. Which is the edge of the Heliosphere (the bubble around our star that marks out its influence in space). Once Voyager passes through the Heliopause it will then be in installer space. Voyager 1 is is currently more than 17.8 billion kilometers from earth and moving at a (relative) speed of 17km/s. It takes 16 hours and 38 Minutes (on average) just for the data to get from the there to here. 

It seems amazing to me that it is still functioning so well after all this time. The power source is expected to provide usable power up until 2025. So if the instruments keep functioning, we can expect to learn plenty of interesting things about the space environment beyond the influence of our sun.
O, and if you were wondering how long it will be before voyager 1 reaches another star. Well, roughly 73,600 years. I don't think I'll stick around for that.