THOR

I saw it last night in 3D. You do not need to know anything about the old comic books to see this, as it introduces the character from the beginning.

I was impressed with the stunning visuals of Asgard. I loved the city of Asgard, as it is seen in this movie.One of the most beautiful sights, is when it shows the stars and nebulas over the city of Asgard, the colours of the cosmic dust... That sky was quite impressive. All the special effects were well made, and the 3D was nicely done.

As for characters, Tom Hiddleston as Loki really wins the day with the performance he gives, and I expect him to return for the sequel. The whole cast is good, and the female audience will appreciate Chris Hemworth (Thor). The rest of the cast is also impressive: Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster... There is not much that you can say about actors of that caliber.

The story is more than enjoyable and interesting, despite being predictable. It had the right dose of humour, at the right places, and at no point did it become boring. I also liked the fact that there was no melodrama, despite there being a love story in there. In short, the script was solid, without any holes in the story, or becoming boring to the viewers.

THOR is one of the best fantasy movies of the last couple of years. I enjoyed it, I had fun with it, I forgot myself with this movie. What else can someone ask from an action movie?

Debunking Astrology

Abstract:
Astrology is false.

Astrology: what it is and what does it claim?

Astrology is the belief that the position of the Sun, Moon and planets in the ecliptic during birth of a person influences via a mysterious force the character of a person, and can determine his future.
Astrology claims that there are 12 signs in the ecliptic or zodiac, and that the Sun, Moon and planets spends one month in each sign. The 12 signs and their dates, according to astrology, are as follows:

NAME                                      DATES

ARIES                                     20 March - 20 April

TAURUS                                 20 April - 21 May

GEMINI                                   21 May - 21 June

CANCER                                 21 June - 22 July

LEO                                          22 July - 23 August

VIRGO                                     23 August - 23 September

LIBRA                                      23 September - 23 October

SCORPIO                                23 October - 22 November

SAGITTARIUS                        22 November - 22 December

CAPRICORN                          22 December - 20 January

AQUARIUS                             20 January - 18 February

PISCES                                    18 February - 20 March

       

The Mysterious Force that governs our lives, according to astrology.

But what is this mysterious force that emanates from the stars and planets? From the Moon and the Sun? That has so much influence in our lives? If we listen to astrologers, we are looking at a force that is not influenced by distance or mass.
There are four fundamental forces in the universe: the weak interaction, the strong interaction, electromagnetism and gravity. We can discount the strong and weak interactions as they have no bearing in massive bodies, those forces are responsible for reactions and effects within the atoms, like decay and nuclear fission.  We are left with two forces,  gravity and electromagnetism.

Let's take a first look at electromagnetism.  Immediately, we ran into the first problem: the planets are electrically neutral! There is no electricity coming from Mars or from Jupiter. And even if there was, the effect of electricity diminishes with distance. How about magnetic fields? The Sun's magnetic field is huge, and does influence the Solar System. However, not every planet has a magnetic field of the same strength, and again, the influence of magnetic fields diminish with distance. 
We have eliminated electromagnetism.

How about the last force, gravity? Again, we ran into a major problem: gravity depends on mass and distance. the more massive an object is, the more gravity but the gravitational attraction is less and less the further away we are from the object. So,  Mars does not exert the same gravitational influence as Jupiter does, and of course, the Sun is the most massive object in the Solar System.

Maybe there is another mysterious force out there, that influences our lives the way astrologers claim. If that were so, then scientists, especially astronomers, would have some evidence for this force. There would be some repeatable patterns, during births, or during major events, there would be something that scientists, actual scientists, would be able to measure. Even astrologers do not know what this mysterious force is!

The Constellations of the Ecliptic: 12 or 13?

Astrology is basing themselves into dividing the ecliptic into 12 equal parts. According to them, the apparent motions of the Sun and the major planets take equal times to traverse each sign.

First of all, there are 13 constellations in the ecliptic. There is also the constellation of Ophiucus. Have you ever known anyone whose star sign is Ophiucus? Let's look at the 13 constellations of the ecliptic, or more commonly known the Zodiac, and the actual times when the Sun is seen in that constellation:



NAME                                    DATES
ARIES                                    19 April - 14 May
TAURUS                                14 May - 21 June
GEMINI                                 21 June - 21 July
CANCER                               21 July - 11 August
LEO                                       11 August - 17 September
VIRGO                                  17 September - 31 October
LIBRA                                   31 October - 21 November
SCORPIO                             21 November - 30 November
OPHIUCUS                          30 November - 18 December
SAGITTARIUS                     18 December - 21 January
CAPRICORN                       21 January - 17 February
AQUARIUS                          17 February - 13 March
PISCES                                 13 March - 20 April
       

Let's compare the two tables. What is the first thing that we notice? That the Sun does not move through each constellation in approximately a month as astrologers claim, but that the times the Sun needs to traverse each one, vary from 8 days to more than 40 days! And of course, there is a shift of at least one sign to where the Sun is compared with the astrological table.

This diversity is mainly due to a natural phenomenon called precession of the equinoxes. This phenomenon is due to the motion of the rotational axis of the Earth. Because of gravitational influences, the axis traces a cone every 26000 years. The astrological tables as astrologers now use them, were compiled about 2500 years ago, in Babylonia. During that time, the axis has rotated by about 36 degrees, so its orientation has changed, and as a consequence, so have the apparent motions of the Sun and the other planets in the ecliptic.

The above shows that every calculation that astrologers make is simply wrong, because they have not taken into account actual natural phenomena, like the precession of the equinoxes, nor the fact that each sign does not occupy an equal area in the ecliptic.


Some interesting facts about the Solar System, stars, constellations and more, that astrology fails to consider.

Let's get back to the Solar System. Astrology does include the 9 planets in their predictions... 9 planets? But the current planets of the Solar System are 8! Pluto is officially a dwarf planet like so many other Trans-Neptunian objects.  There are a number of dwarf planets that have been discovered like Sedna and Eris. How about the asteroids between Jupiter and Mars? Shouldn't they exert an influence? How about some of the more massive moons of Jupiter like Europa? Or Saturn's moon Titan? How about Pluto's moon Charon? The comets? The objects in the Oort Cloud? But, no, astrology does not recognize those. Only the 9... err 8 planets and one dwarf planet, plus the Sun and the Moon.

What about before the discovery of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto? What did astrologers do, before the discovery of those objects? Didn't they notice that something was wrong with their calculations and natal charts? No, they did not. And that is more evidence that astrology is false. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered exactly because of their gravitational influences on the other planets. Minor gravitational wobbles allowed astronomers to calculate that there were more planets in the Solar System, to infer their positions and their mass as well.

Now, let's look at the night sky and the constellations. Imagine those constellations in 10.000 years from now (ten thousand). What do you see? If you are an astrologer, you see the exact same constellations in the exact same positions as today. If you are an astronomer, you cannot visualize the constellations.

The Sun and the stars in our galaxy orbit around the galactic centre. That means that even 2500 years ago the stars were not in the exact same positions as they are today, but have shifted, due to those motions. We cannot perceive this in our lifetimes because of the enormous distances and small velocity that both the Sun and the other stars have.  The Sun needs about 225-250 thousand years to make a full orbit around the galactic centre.

Just look at Barnard's star which is a star that moves quite fast, and its movement can be seen from year to year:

Stars also have a limited lifespan. It is huge compared to a human's life, but as everything else they die. Some in huge explosions known as supernovae, some more quietly.

And so, constellations change in the night sky. Not as fast as a human's life, but slowly through the ages. Enough though, that since the time of Babylonians to today, there are perceptible changes in the night sky.

Conclusion

There is no force to account for the mysterious force of astrology. The Sun does not spend the same amount of time in each constellation. There are more objects in the Solar System than astrologers can and do "calculate" for. Astrology forgets the precession of the equinoxes, the actual motion of the Sun and the stars, that contribute to the constellations changing shape.

The conclusion is the same as the abstract: astrology is false.

References:

• Plait, Phil (2002) Bad Astronomy (Chapter 21: Mars is in the Seventh House, but Venus Has Left the Building: Why Astrology Doesn't Work. pp 212-220) Wiley. 
• Sagan, Carl (1996) The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (Chapter 17: The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder, pp 302-304) Ballantine Books, New York
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard%27s_Star
• http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/astrology.html
• http://skepdic.com/astrolgy.html
• http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/act3/astrology3.html

Ghost Whisperer: to whisper or not?

In the last month I started watching Ghost Whisperer, the TV series with Jennifer Love Hewitt in the role of Melinda Gordon, a woman that can see and talk to ghosts, and help them move on to the light. Anyway, I like supernatural shows, despite not believing in the supernatural, and debunking these silly claims. In fact I like Medium, and thought this might be a similar show.

I could not be more wrong. Medium has a darker twist, and not all is sun and sunshine. The theme of solving crimes and getting clues from the dead is definitely absent in Ghost Whisperer...

I watched the first season, and it was okay, with the same theme of ghost in need/family in need/Melinda saves the day/ghost moves on to the light/family happy. I thought this is the first season and the show is trying to find its footing and all, so I'll watch it. And I arrive at the first season finale, where it became interesting with the plane crash and Romano, as a nemesis for Melinda.

And we get to the second season. First episode, and we see the glimpse of getting back into the same old of the first season. I could really not watch past the 3rd episode, I started on the 4th but could not bring myself to watch anymore of the same shit. The show could have some darker twists, and it could have improved if those were integrated into the second season. But no, this is supposed to be a mushy show for the whole family, and at no point, do we want any of that imagination stuff! Same old shit, all the time.

I cannot really understand how a show like Ghost Whisperer which repeats the same pattern ad nauseam can stay for 5 seasons, and Firefly gets canned after the first season. How is it possible that Ghost Whisperer can have 5 seasons and Star Trek Enterprise gets only 4 instead of the usual 7?

I don't know how someone can continue watching more of that stuff... So, no more whispering for me.

Carl Sagan Day

Today we celebrate the life of one of the most loved astronomers of the 20th Century. Carl Sagan was born on this day in 1934, and died of cancer on December 20th 1996. He died before seeing his science fiction novel, Contact in the theatres, but was very involved with its making until he died.

Almost everyone interested in science of my generation has come across Carl Sagan. His TV documentary series Cosmos, made a positive impact to many people, and taught many people about astronomy, and science in general. Carl Sagan took us on a wonderful journey of knowledge and discovery from the Solar System to the Big Bang and beyond...

But Carl Sagan was also the founder of the Planetary Society, he was the inspiration for SETI, he worked on various projects for NASA, he wrote over 600 scientific papers on astronomy, he wrote a number of books on astronomy and science...

His best book, in my opinion, is "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark". Here he talks about science, about the scientific method, about pseudoscience, and more. He exposes the lies of astrology and similar, and talks about scientific investigations, and the scientific method.

Today is not just a celebration of the life of Carl Sagan. Today is a celebration of his legacy, and his legacy is science. Promote science, skepticism, rationality...

Online classes

At work today, just an ordinary day. Every day we get about 5 to 15 calls per day, from companies and people promoting their products and services. And of course, today was not different in number of calls. However, there is one call which stood out.

I answer the phone, and there is a woman's voice on the other end of the line, saying "Hello". So, I say Hello as well. The woman continues in atrocious English, or rather in a language that tried to sound and resemble English. Anyway, she said that she was calling from Spain or Pakistan... (yes, her language skills were that atrocious.) And what does she sell?

Online Qu'ran classes!

I am not joking. Anyway, I answered her thus: "No, thank you. I do not believe in god, allah or any of that other shit. Good bye." The woman managed to say "bye" before I hang up the phone.

And seriously, I do not know whether to laugh or cry at the above...

Pharyngulated!

It's official.
The greek atheists' english version of the blog is online and you can read it here: http://english.atheia.gr
The very good news is that we got pharyngulated: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/10/greece_has_got_atheists.php
Thank you PZ, for reading my e-mail and promoting our efforts.

Thoughts on christian non-answers...

In a greek forum I have many times argued with a fundamentalist greek orthodox. Whatever I ask, he avoids to answer, and he always brings forth the following arguments, to which I am presenting my own thoughts:

• You do not know anything about the orthodox christian faith:  I have been born and raised in Greece, and I was baptized in the orthodox christian faith as a baby. My grandmother and my godmother were very faithful and used to force me and took me to church with them. They tried to make me believe in orthodox christianity, I even was sent to Sunday school, to catechism. It did not work. There was too much irrationality. From the story of Adam and Eve to the stories about the lives of the various saints, a lot of things do not make sense, and I could not make sense of those, could not see their logic. Because there is no logic in faith. As Carl Sagan put it: Faith is belief without evidence. As I grew up, I started to understand more and more, that really Sagan is right, that there is no logic in belief, in faith. One has to blindly believe, never question your faith and your beliefs, never question the reality of all these... Because the day you start asking questions, is the day that you start seeing faith for what it really is: a big fat lie. 
• You do not understand the christian orthodox faith: On the contrary, I understand it very well. I have seen blind faith and what it can do. Unfortunately, blind faith only brings out evil. Because when you do not ask questions,  but you blindly follow what you are given, then you just become a pawn to an idea, an organization. And, in this case, you become a slave to that idea, a pawn, a foot-soldier lying for Jesus. This faith makes people feel guilty for simple human things, from swearing and cursing to having sex, and many other things. This faith keeps people ignorant and illiterate, fills their heads with misogyny and racism, I unfortunately understand it very well, and have witnessed many of its forms and expressions. 
• Find a confessor/spiritual father from the church: this is a total non-answer! I do not want to go to a priest, confessor whatever from the church. I do not trust them. They know nothing about psychology, I do not think that they can help anyone. The only thing that those "spiritual fathers" will do is try to fill me with guilt for everything I do, make me feel inferior, try to imprison my spirit, and make me another foot-soldier for Jesus. I have explained many times that I do not trust confessors. With a 6 month seminary they go through, they cannot know and understand psychology. How can they diagnose a serious psychological illness such as monopolar/bipolar syndroms, schizophrenia, and more?
• Read a book about the orthodox christian faith: This another evasive tactic. I do not want to read another book about the orthodox christian faith, What more can this book tell me from the Bible or from what the various priests and bishops say? And what is my stimulus to get one of these books and read it? Is there anyone giving me a good reason to do so? None at all. However, I have taken a look at various such books in bookstores. I have opened them and tried to read a few paragraphs, to see if they had something interesting to say, if there was something that would make me buy and read that book. So far, I have not found anything positive in those books. All they say is just the same old stuff that the christian faith says: repent sinners, you will burn in hell, do not do this, do not do that... In short, they are forbidding people from living their lives...

And of course, the last non-argument, and the one that is never going to convince me to become a believer:

• You have to believe first in order to find god: if I have nothing to believe in, if I don't have evidence for what I believe in, how can I even start believing? How many faithful have really found god? There are a lot of faithful who have never found this entity. And there are a lot of atheists who were faithful, and never found god. When those people looked for god, looked for answers, they saw that there is nothing there. No god. There is absolutely no evidence at this moment for god, for the existence of such an entity. And I am not only talking about the christian orthodox faith, but about all religions. I have met a lot of people online, a lot of people who once were fundamentalists, creationists and the like. Some of them were even priests, or were trying to be, and have studied the scriptures, have studied apologetics, they had gone the whole way. But when they looked deeper, and tried to find god, they did not find what they were looking for. To their credit, these people did not close their eyes and go back to their blankets of faith. They went deeper, they followed their logic, their critical thinking, the evidence. A lot of faithful would say that those people did not believe enough, that their faith was lacking and other similar arguments. But those people did believe, they felt that faith, those beliefs with all their hearts, with all their being.

The above do not constitute answers, nor arguments for god and for a religion. They are evasions, apologetics, a tactic for those who do not want to have a rational and intelligent discussion, who do not want to engage in dialogue or debate. I am ready and willing to have such a discussion, but when I ask questions, and the answers are always the above, then how do these people expect me to start believing? How can they expect me to throw my logic, my critical thought, my freedom out of the window? Where are the arguments for the existence of god? Where is the evidence? And what evidence is there that the orthodox faith is the one true faith, and not another, like islam or catholicism, or even one of the cargo cults?

Doctor Who - Season 5 - Matt Smith

And here we are with the 11th Doctor: Matt Smith! I finished watching Season 5 on Monday, and I must say that Matt Smith has managed to win me over. Of course, David Tennant is still my favorite doctor, but Matt Smith convinced me that he is the Doctor, almost since the beginning of the 5th season.

New Doctor, new companion, and her name is Amy Pond. A redhead, sometimes naive but full of life, Amy Pond is a bit of a mystery since the beginning. A mystery that does and does not unravel at the end of the series. The cracks are following Amy, but why? Or are they following the Doctor? But why is it that they appear whenever Amy is around?

Along with Amy, we have her fiancee, Rory Williams. I must admit that I was skeptical at first about Rory. I thought he was another Mickey Smith, and did not want him along. But Rory managed to surprise me, and show that he is nothing like Mickey, not in the least. Initially, he does not want to get into trouble, does not want the hassle; but soon he starts to like it, and shows both courage and a huge heart. Especially when it comes to Amy, for whom he sacrifices a lot. I think that Rory provided the glue to the whole relationship between Amy, the Doctor and himself. And I definitely want him there with Amy, as the Doctor's companions.

And then, we have the return of River Song, and her mysterious relationship with the Doctor. Who is River Song? How does she know so much about the Tardis? What is her relationship with the Doctor? River is a mystery even for the Doctor at the moment, as shown from this exchange at the end of the season:

The Doctor: River... who are you?
River: You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes.

And of course, along with the Doctor, we want to know the mystery that is River Song.

As for this season, it definitely was a good season. The first episode, the Eleventh Hour prepares the ground for the rest of the season, and for the main plot, which is the cracks in spacetime. What are those? What caused them? And why do they have the same shape everywhere they appear?

The return of the Angels from the 3rd season episode Blink, is one of the best moments of the season, and it comes with River Song. She seems to be everywhere in this season. This double episode managed to scare me. It was a bit claustrophobic, a bit terrifying...

And here we are talking about the end of the season. About the season finale, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. What exactly is the Pandorica? Why does Van Gogh see the destruction of the Tardis? Why and how did all the enemies of the Doctor, from the Daleks to the Sontarans and beyond, manage to ally with each other?

Of course, we could not have the end of the season without River Song. She did say to the Doctor, in the Angels episodes, that she was present when the Pandorica opened.

But what did happen at the end? We already had our suspicions about the cracks in spacetime, and what caused them. However, the end of the season leaves us with more questions than it answered.

This was one of the best season endings I have ever watched. Although it gives some closure, it creates lots more questions. And I want River Song back in the next season.

Doctor Who is at the moment the best science fiction TV show, if not the best TV show. And really I have been won by Matt Smith's performance as the Doctor.

Waiting now, for the Christmas Special. Looks like Rory and Amy are going to spend their honeymoon on the Orient Express.

Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett

I have stopped counting which book of the Discworld I am reading. There are over 30 books, if I am not mistaken, and I do have most of them. And those I do not have I will buy. Reading Discworld novels is a totally new experience. You never read it in trains, planes and automobiles of any kind, because people will think you are crazy since you will end up laughing and doing all sorts of weird gestures.

Lords and Ladies is no exception to the rule. This novel features our little coven, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Margrat. The three witches have come back to Lancre, and Margrat Garlick is going to marry King Verence II and become Queen. Of course, things are not so simple, as the Elves are coming back. And no, these are not the elves of fantasy novels, these are the elves of Discworld! They want everything for themselves, and do not care who they hurt. But they have not counted on our three witches...As the back of the book says, there is also an assortment of wizards, monkeys apes, dwarfs and other creatures.

This is Pratchett's take on A Midsummer Night's Dream. But there is more in this book; it is not just a humorous take on a classic. They are beautiful and graceful, or so they appear; but they are also egotistical, cruel and sadistic. They are the two sides of the same coin. On one side what we want and on the other side what we should avoid being. For what is beauty and grace without a soul? They also show that people will fall for money, power or for their inner desires; especially when those desires are not being released in some way, if there are things that are stopping us from pursuing our true dreams.

We make choices, and sometimes hard choices. Even if we regret those choices, even if we look back and see that we made mistakes, we should not linger in the past. We should move forward and continue living. This is what Granny Weatherwax has done; whatever her choice was in the past, she has stuck with it, and has continued to live. And Nanny Ogg? Nanny Ogg is the one who is living her life as best as she can. Never misses an opportunity, and neither should we. Margrat shows us that there is strength in everyone, and that everyone can find the strength to stand up and fight for what we believe.

Pratchett's books look innocent enough, but there is much more to discover reading them. The Discworld is not just a humorous take on our world, it is also a way for Pratchett to show us his own view of our world, and most of the times, it is a view that I agree with.

Storm Front - Jim Butcher

A few people had recommended to me to start reading the Dresden Files. I had seen the one-season TV series, and I was intrigued by it. Now, I can see that the books are probably a lot better than the series ever was.

The story is not an original one. A bad wizard is killing people, and Harry Dresden, our protagonist, lands in the middle of this case. A lot of people think that Harry may be the killer, because of his past. So, Harry must risk his life in order to find and stop the killer. And he must do it, before the killer manages to murder him in the same gory way as his other victims.

As I said, it is not so much the story or the world Jim Butcher builds in his novel, that are original. We have seen a lot of similar worlds and similar stories. What is original though is Harry himself. Because we go through the whole book from the perspective of Harry. It is written in the first person, by Harry. And Harry is not some larger than life character, nor is he someone who would go in a situation without knowing the consequences. He does know, and he is afraid. And a lot of other emotions go through him, and through the pages of the book through us.

The writing style of Jim Butcher is what makes this novel work. It is as if Butcher has been writing for a long time, he is confident with his characters, with Harry himself. He knows Harry Dresden, but he is also discovering him through the pages of the book. And with Jim Butcher we discover Harry and the world he lives in.

Well, I would like to see how the story of Harry continues, in due time. There are other books to sink my eyes in, before the next Dresden one.