A little while ago, the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem opened an exhibit featuring some of the torn, slightly burned pages of Col. Ilan Ramon’s personal diary from the shuttle Columbia. Ramon was the payload specialist onboard STS-107 (the spaceshuttle “Columbia”) that disintegrated during re-entry from space, killing all 7 crewmembers onboard. The diary survived the [...]

A few months ago I released an experiment video explaining how Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth using the shadow of sticks. The method was performed almost two millenia ago, and produced quite accurate results (considering the ‘equipment’ used). But it was far from being the only (or first) method to understand our planet’s [...]

The Olympics Games are here (well, in Beijing) and everyone’s watching and trying to guess who will win a medal. But, apparently, even the Olympics is a source of scientific inquiry, and not just for geeks. The “Speedo” controversy raises some interesting points about the effect of a swimsuit on the swimmer, and the effect [...]

Awesome news came out yesterday about the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation, that is responsible for The Amazing Meeting, among other things): Phil Plait (”The Bad Astronomer“) is the new President of the JREF! How awesome is that?
Check out the announcement on the Bad Astronomy blog!
Okay, beyond the fact that I have met Phil in [...]

So CNN was its usual alarmist-self yesterday, and published a full-blown story about a weird-looking animal that washed ashore in Montauk, Long Island. The alarmist-tone they shared wasn’t surprising - CNN tends to go to the extreme whenever a bee flatulates in the far east. What could have been amusing (if only people wouldn’t be [...]

If you’ve been following my skeptical adventures, you know I have attended the Amazing Meeting 6 (organized by the James Randi Educational Foundation) about a month ago in Las Vegas. Not only have I had a blast and met lots of wonderful people, but I also had the privilege of doing a LIVE experiment with [...]

If youhappen to have a facebook account, you might be interested to hear that there is a brand new SmarterThanThat project page on facebook! New, shiny and cool!
I hope this will give the project a bit more exposure, and give me another method of updating you about new and exciiiiting things that are about to [...]

I don’t know what about you, but I have a box I keep my change in. I’ve bene thinking for a while what I can do with that change - buy a boat, rent a jetski, get a trip on those cool X-Planes that go up to space, etc etc. Big plans for small money, [...]

If you’ve noticed a video came up and then vanished, you’re not delirious.
I uploaded the new SmarterThanThat experiment video, but the quality was SOOOOO bad, I had to take it down. I am re-rendering the video now and it will be up as soon as YouTube allows for it.
Apologies  - but I promise it’s worth [...]

Yes, I’m in Vegas, and contrary to common belief, this time what goes on in Vegas is not going to stay in Vegas - why, you ask? Well, because I’m here, and I’m tellin’.
We’ve just finished a busy-busy day full of amazing presentations, including a live recording of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe (Which [...]