TED: Carl Safina - The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims

The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it's bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf -- and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.

Carl Safina
Carl Safina's writing explores the scientific, moral and social dimensions of our relationship with nature.

Was our universe born inside a black hole in another universe?

The current explanation of the universe's origins relies on clumsy assumptions and can't explain most subatomic particles. A small tweak to general relativity solves these problems - and seemingly proves the universe must have come from a black hole elsewhere.

As it stands right now, the explanation for the universe's beginnings is built around a combination of Einstein's general relativity and observation of the ancient universe. Mixing these two theories together creates some problems - for instance, the universe is impossibly large according to its current rate of expansion, so astrophysicists have to invoke the idea of inflation, in which the early universe expanded at a tremendous rate within the first second after the Big Bang.

General relativity, however, can't explain inflation, so another theory is required to account for it. There's nothing technically wrong with that, but it's an inelegant solution, and physicists tend to prefer an all-encompassing explanation to a bunch of piecemeal solutions. That's not the only issue with the current explanation - it can't deal with many properties of subatomic particles, consigning them entirely to the realm of quantum mechanics.

Nikodem Poplawski of Indiana University thinks solving the latter problem can also solve the former, and that's just the start of the craziness. In a new paper, he explains that the standard version of general relativity totally ignores the intrinsic momentum of subatomic particles like protons and neutrons, but a modified version known as the Einstein-Cartan-Kibble-Sciama theory of gravity solves that problem. The theory states these particles interact repulsively, creating tiny amounts of a force called torsion.

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Fossil links humans and monkeys

Researchers have discovered the skull of a 29 million-year-old animal that could be a common ancestor of Old World monkeys and apes, including humans.

It indicates that apes and Old World monkeys diverged millions of years later than previously thought, say the scientists.

The discovery was made in Saudi Arabia by researchers from the University of Michigan.

They described the primate, Saadanius hijazensis, in the journal Nature.

Dr William Sanders from the University of Michigan, who led the research, said this was "an extraordinary find".

The skull of this previously unknown species had some features that are shared by Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, today.

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Essential Freethought Library

THE ESSENTIAL FREETHOUGHT LIBRARY (From AmericanFreethought.com)

1. Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell (1927) – A devastating critique of Christianity by polymath Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) originally presented as a public lecture and eventually published in a famous collection of essays.

2. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan (1995) – An indispensable resource for modern freethinkers, skeptics and science buffs.

3. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (2006) – Possibly the most inflammatory work (with the possible exception of Hitchens’ god Is Not Great) by one the so-called Four Horsemen.

4. The End of Faith by Sam Harris (2004) – The book that launched the “New Atheist” movement.

5. The Bible (critically read) – One contributor pointed to Isaac Asimov’s quote: “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.” Anyone who is considering entering the fray should know of what he speaks. Since it’s nearly impossible to find an objective study Bible, we recommend reading something by Bart Ehrman or even John Shelby Spong to add some perspective.

6. The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll – After seeing Ingersoll speak in public, Mark Twain wrote, “I doubt if America has ever seen anything quite equal it. I am well satisfied that I shall not live to see its equal again… Bob Ingersoll’s music will sing through my memory always as the divinest that ever enchanted my ears.” Col. Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899) was a Civil War veteran, attorney, lecturer, Republican kingmaker–and one of the most famous-but-now-forgotten Americans of the 19th century. Called the “Great Agnostic” by his intellectual admirers and “Royal Bob” by his political followers, Ingersoll delivered such riveting speeches as “On the Gods,” “The Ghosts” and “Some Mistakes of Moses.” Ingersoll wrote no one great single masterpiece, but collections and highlights of his orations are readily available, as his work is now in the public domain. There’s also an excellent podcast featuring dramatic readings of his most famous lectures.

7. god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens (2007)

8. Collected Writings by Thomas Paine (pub. from 1776 to 1806) – Paine (1736-1809) is credited with coining the term “United States of America” and was one of the most influential of the Founding Fathers. His writings include “Common Sense” “The American Crisis,” “Rights of Man,” and “The Age of Reason.”

9. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris (2006) – Harris’s one-volley-fits-all response to the firestorm of condemnation he received from religious Americans in the wake of The End of Faith.

10. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer (1997) – A book equally useful to traditional skeptics as well as atheists.

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Anti-vaccination group accused of harassing parents

The Australian Vaccination Network is an awful little organization that exists to spread fear and disinformation about vaccines, under the pretense of caring about children. They're getting an official comeuppance, though: the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission has put together a report condemning AVN. They're announcing that AVN's claims are inaccurate and misleading, and further, that AVN harasses people. There's a terrible story at that link of a couple whose child died miserably of whooping cough…and Meryl Dorey, head of AVN, responded by demanding medical records and insisting that the child couldn't have died of a disease preventable by vaccination.

An excellent report on ABC:

AVN is a couple of truly rotten people with an office. It's a shame that the only punishment the HCCC report is doling out to them is a demand that they put a disclaimer on their web site.

Our Responsibilities

As some of you may know I live in Australia, and recently Australia elected an new Prime Minister. Well actually, she took over leadership of the Labour party which was already in power, so wasn't actually elected by the general public.

Regardless of the how, Julia Gillard is now the Prime Minister of Australia. She is also an Atheist.

So, today on the radio, the presenter asked the audience to call in and discuss what they thought about having an Atheist leader in power.

Obviously, the only individuals who could be arsed to call up and give the presenter their 2cents where those religious types who were most angered by this "heathen" being in charge of the country.

Naturally it got me thinking, and not just about the obvious desire for a separation of church and state, but more about responsibilities.

If I am honest I could probably handle a leader any person of faith being in charge, although perhaps with the exception of a Scientologist, if that person was able to improve the standard of living for the majority of people and beast within Australia.

However, it is refreshing to have a person in charge of this large political boundary who understands that their sole responsibility is to better the lives of those who live within that boundary, and who understands they are only accountable to the Australian people and herself, and not to something that be seen, heard, felt, tasted or tested to exist such a God.

That is one of my main arguments against religion; if you are religious, and I don't mean you believe there is a god, but if you are religious then you are at the mercy of the infallible laws of your religion. To the reasonable mind this is scary enough considering they are often 2000 years old and we live in a modern society, and thats before we even read the contents of those laws.

However, to some this can be comforting, because really you don't have to think for yourself, or worry about the hard questions. Unfortunately though it means you are not accountable for your actions, because you are only doing what it taught through that religion.


We as a species are so scared of the unknown that we fabricated wonderful bargaining superstitions that will allow us to avoid the cull of death and go on to a wonderful netherworld if we follow the rules set by a bronze age religious priests and priestesses. We need only say sorry and we are allowed in through the pearly gates.

Of course that's a wonderful prospect, but there isn't any evidence for an afterlife so why worry about getting there. We know for a fact that we are here right now, so this is what must be most important; the betterment of the people beside and around you.

What makes the opposition of an atheist in charge is that nowhere on earth can the benefits of secularism in power be so clearly demonstrated than in Australia. The Early Christian's bigoted view that the "savage" Aboriginal Australian's must be civilized by educating them about the wonder of their own European god meant they set up churches all over the outback. When the Aboriginal communities continued to celebrate their native culture the church forcefully removed the Aboriginal Australian children away from their parents so that they can not only educated the children about God, away from their "savage" ancestry, but to "breed the black out of them".

Here is a clear example that by following the views of a religious mind, who believes wholeheartedly that they are doing the work of God, they cannot see how bigoted their life view really is and can accumulated to the attempted mass genocide of one of the oldest civilizations on earth.

If this wasn't bad enough, we need only look at the bible to see that it is the most appalling guide to the correct ethical treatment of our fellow human beings. It clearly states in the bible that rape and slavery are excepted; if you don't believe me please look at the Scripture Project linked on my favourite online reads list.

These facts enough should make the prospects of having a keen secularist and atheist in charge of the country to be a relief not a cause for concern.

Hans Rosling on global population growth

The world's population will grow to 9 billion over the next 50 years -- and only by raising the living standards of the poorest can we check population growth. This is the paradoxical answer that Hans Rosling unveils at TED@Cannes using colorful new data display technology (you'll see)

Hans Rosling
Even the most worldly and well-traveled among us will have their perspectives shifted by Hans Rosling. A professor of global health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, his current work focuses on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (he points out) is no longer worlds away from the West. In fact, most of the Third World is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the west did.

What sets Rosling apart isn't just his apt observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presents them. Guaranteed: You've never seen data presented like this. By any logic, a presentation that tracks global health and poverty trends should be, in a word: boring. But in Rosling's hands, data sings. Trends come to life. And the big picture — usually hazy at best — snaps into sharp focus.