Friday Ark #108 has starting boarding and will continue doing so throughout the weekend. Be sure to visit often for plenty of links to animal photos from around the web.
Check out this fantastic new image of Saturn and its rings. It includes the newly discovered pair and is a composite image from the dark side of the planet (so you see the rings as backlit). There are several versions of the photo and each is worth your time.
More military personnel are coming forward with information regarding torture and abuse at Gitmo. The new information even quotes one Navy guard: “I took the detainee by the head and smashed his head into the cell door.” Another was quoted as saying: “Yeah, this one detainee, you know, really pissed me off, irritated me. So I just, you know, punched him in the face.” Again, all of the military personnel were sitting around bragging and laughing about their actions as though this kind of behavior is entertaining. I’m so disgusted.
Tangled Bank #64 offers the best science writing from the blogosphere and covers a plethora of disciplines. Don’t miss it.
The head of the British Army, Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt, has called for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. “The presence of UK armed forces in Iraq ‘exacerbates the security problems’ and they should ‘get out some time soon’, the head of the British Army has said. [. . .] He also said that initial planning for the post-war period had been poor.”
Pictures that lie. Very interesting, and certainly an important thing to remember as this is happening often and should make everyone suspicious of what they see. [via Mark at Biomes Blog]
Take a look at PZ’s Friday Cephalopod.
Can you go wrong with this kitten smile? I think not.
What a great idea! Even better that it’ll piss off all the bigots. “The birds and the bees may be gay, according to the world’s first museum exhibition about homosexuality among animals. With documentation of gay or lesbian behaviour among giraffes, penguins, parrots, beetles, whales and dozens of other creatures, the Oslo Natural History Museum concludes human homosexuality cannot be viewed as ‘unnatural’.” The museum offers information on the homosexual and bisexual activities that have “been observed for more than 1,500 animal species, and is well documented for 500 of them.” The information in the exhibit dates back as far as 2,300 years when Aristotle wrote of homosexual activity among hyenas. Of course, Christians are already saying the exhibit organizers should “burn in hell.” People really get angry when you show their bigotry is nothing more than intolerant hate, don’t they?