The Elysian Fields

aequitaslevitas pointed this out to me; his biology teacher at the college pointed it out to him... now you can see it...

...even if it does have something to do with that obscure little school that's down the road from MIT... =)

Here's another of Dr. Altman's The High School Physics Project videos featuring Scott Ainslie:

Still doing some basic research - not on the concepts "Larry Spring" reports, but on the nature of the beast itself.

I have thus far found absolutely no reputable groups or organizations that discuss Larry Spring.

I did, however, find his name mentioned in various Tesla discussion groups, and it seems to be slipped in there particularly to link back to his site, or to articles that all start off with: "I, Larry Spring, discovered..." with similar but varied words following the declarative. Sounds like the language in spam, mass advertising, and infomercials. His school association seems dubious, but I still have to look that up.

Interestingly enough, "magnesphere" does get some hits:

MagneSphere (r) is a registered mark of Promega

In 1990, the word magnesphere was used with a different meaning

I've only looked through one of Spring's experiments so far, and I'm not impressed. I see how it demonstrates what he is showing *because the explanation says it does*, just as it demonstrates what acknowledged science shows. I don't see how it proves what he believes to the exclusion of what everyone else sees.

Edit: The International Tesla Society - since broken up, with one of its alleged founding members linking to a porn site in a letter to allow those former members who wish to continue on in the spirit of Tesla and help him with his research - is discussed in Wired, back in 1998, here. Keep in mind, this society is held in a position of high esteem on Spring's biography.

I'll still be collecting information on this, but I'm now more sure than ever that there's something fishy behind all this.

Thanks to corwinok for alerting me to this one: Kansas moves to stem role of evolution in teaching

From TFA: "We think this is a great development ... for the academic freedom of students,"

Hey, now you have the freedom to make sure this country not only spirals out of any sense of scientific competition with the rest of the world, but you also have the freedom to help influence other countries to follow the same path! Slap your blinders on, and taste the freedom given by doing what you're told!

From Bill the Cat: "Ack... Ffffffffttttt!"

From Slashdot: Japanese develop 'female' android - of course, the song I'm listening to on the Eurythmics Greatest Hits as I write this up is quite ironic...

A Japanese team is experimenting with storing data on fingernails with one possible use being storage of identification information - in other words, a replacement of smart cards. While that may make it a bit easier to misplace, I'm not sure it would do much to reduce theft - might make it a bit more painful than handing over a card - and is probably just as likely to be able to be forged. Still and all, there's the whole set of issues surrounding unique identification and how it can be used against you.

Science and religion aren't opposites or natural combatants. They only get into a fight when their proponents try to prove or disprove one through means of the other.

Religion is based on faith - something you can't see. Science is based on observation - you must see it, measure it, and repeat it.

You can't prove a religious idea is true with test tubes and burners, and you can't state scientific theory by believing it is so.

The clash comes about when someone wants to believe a religious idea more than they actually do, and they need to find proof - they need to know this guy actually walked here and there, and this boat got stuck in that mountain, and they need to see it, measure it, and - where applicable - repeat it. They drag science over the coals, misunderstand it, vilify it, because they lack faith.

If they had faith, why would they worry?

They may want to preach their faith to others - or remain quiet and let others come to them - but they have faith, and they know that for others to follow the same path they must find their own faith.

They learn this faith through explanation of what their faith is - not through attacking something else. Popular opinion these days seems to favor attacks - this politician slandering that one, this religion undermining that scientific theory. Faith shouldn't be built by ripping down the walls of something else, it should be built on its own merits and strengths.

Anti-evolution teachings gain foothold in U.S. Schools - Evangelicals see flaws in Darwinism

Once again, why we home school.

Last Friday, I gave my eldest son a worksheet on determining the differences between a scientific theory, law, and hypothesis. What do you know, a theory has been proven beyond reasonable doubt by multiple unrelated researchers, and can be viewed in repeatable experiments. In other words, it's not pure guesswork, it just is.

Shame they're misguiding hordes more to share in their stupidity. Most of them don't even understand what a theory (in scientific terms) is, let alone what Darwin's particular theory is about.

Heh. Just noticed the little quiz on the above link: "Which theory of the origin of the species should be taught?" Evolution - 25%; Intelligent Design - 2%; Both - 5%; My theory that the USA is rapidly devolving - 67%