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NorwoodIsMyHero
11/12/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life
I think we would all do well to remember that without the Catholic church, much of the world's history and important cultural advancements would have been lost in the Dark Ages.

Without abbeys full of monks who spent years painstakingly reproducing not just religous texts but also the writings of many ancient philosophers and historians, much of that knowledge would have been lost forever.

Sure the church caused much of the strife during those times, but there was also no one else bothering to preserve important historical knowledge. Monarch during this time did not care about funding libraries, museums, centers for the arts and so on and so forth.

As someone who has a rather low opinion of the Catholic church in general even I can respect their role in preserving and advancing human culture during the Middle Ages. #vatican
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goldfarb promoted this comment NorwoodIsMyHero was starred NorwoodIsMyHero was unstarred

goldfarb
11/12/09

@NorwoodIsMyHero: almost everything you've just said is stunningly wrong.
while there were monks reproducing mostly religious texts during the so called 'dark ages' it was the Muslims who preserved and then transfered (see for eg. Reconquista) this knowledge to Europe. The libraries of the Islamic world were the ones that 'saved' the knowledge of the greeks/romans, and gave us the number 0 (from India) among countless other things. #vatican
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NorwoodIsMyHero
11/12/09

@goldfarb: No it's not. I'm not sure what historical references you're reading from but it sounds somewhere along the lines of something Zinn or other entirely anti-Western Civ writers would say. The truth is never so extreme as "stunningly wrong" in regards to this topic. #vatican
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goldfarb
11/12/09

@NorwoodIsMyHero: I'm not much of a fan of Zinn so...
any reliable history of mathematics, optics/physics/astronomy, philosophy or the relations between Europe and the Muslim world between the 10th and 14th centuries will demonstrate what I've said above.
To claim that the Catholic church is responsible for preventing "much of the world's history and important cultural advancements" being "lost in the Dark Ages" is patently false.
to say that "no one else bothering to preserve important historical knowledge" is equally false - and reveals a simple ignorance of the facts. the 'dark ages' were only dark in Europe. #vatican
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Hachiken
11/12/09

@NorwoodIsMyHero: It's not anti-Western, it's simple fact. Goldfarb is correct, the "Dark Ages" were dark in Europe, due largely to a plethora of barbaric customs, an astonishing degree of religious entitlement and a staggering lack of acceptance of demonstrable fact, driven largely by classic Christian xenophobia. Which appears to be alive and well here in the 21st century. #vatican
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Bokusatsu_Tenshi
11/11/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life

Oh yeah, the Vatican - specially the pope - is so taking a kindler, gentler, more active role in science and technological progress these days... #vatican
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Complexified
11/11/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life

Maybe aliens were the ones who made Mary pregnant, without the loss of virginity O.o #vatican
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Kaiser-Machead promoted this comment Complexified was starred Complexified was unstarred

Kaiser-Machead
11/11/09

@Complexified: You leave the Quantum Presbyterians alone. LEAVE THEM ALONE! #vatican
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Complexified
11/11/09

@Kaiser-Machead: I thought they were Mormons :/ #vatican
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Kaiser-Machead
11/11/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life
I don't want any reprobate aliens polluting God's chosen species with their otherworldly pagan nonsense. We must shun the tares from the stars with extreme conviction people. And you, my brothers and sisters, will help Jesus Our Lord and Savior to vanquish the foulness from the sky with all the available modern technologies God has granted us through man's intellect.

Also, that picture is funny as hell. #vatican
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Bokusatsu_Tenshi
11/11/09

@Kaiser-Machead: Shun the non believerssss
Shuuunnnnnnnnnnn-ah #vatican
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SilverBlade2k
11/11/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life
This begs the question..since humans were made in God's image (according to the Bible), then who created the aliens in their image? #vatican
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lostarchitect promoted this comment SilverBlade2k was starred SilverBlade2k was unstarred

lostarchitect
11/11/09

@SilverBlade2k: just to be the devil's advocate (ha): God made other creatures on earth which were not in God's image. Why could God not have done this elsewhere? #vatican
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Kaiser-Machead
11/11/09

@SilverBlade2k: #vatican
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Bokusatsu_Tenshi
11/11/09

@Kaiser-Machead: Father! #vatican
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Digo
11/11/09

In reply to Vatican Holds Scientific Conference To Ponder The Existence Of Extraterrestrial Life
It would be amazing (and amazingly hilarious) if The Vatican were actually the first to discover intelligent extraterrestrial life. #vatican
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B-low
11/11/09

@Digo: Funnier if the pope turned out to be an alien... #vatican
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Digo promoted this comment B-low was starred B-low was unstarred

Digo
11/11/09

@B-low: Maybe B16, but JP2 no way, he was too awesome. It would suck if he weren't one of us. #vatican
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B-low
11/11/09

@Digo: True that. Maybe the carmarlengo then- I don't even know who holds that post.
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Edited by B-low at 11/11/09 9:47 PM B-low was starred B-low was unstarred

Digo
11/11/09

@B-low: Me neither, I totally suck at being Catholic. It's what happens when you don't practice. #vatican
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B-low
11/11/09

@Digo: I'm only a good catholic when I meet a protestant. I guess that's a bit of an oxymoron... #vatican
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ArcticLotus
10/15/09

In reply to The Vatican Finally Shares Its Secret Stash of Astronomy Artifacts
small correction:
a planiterium is huge, theatrically large.
this is an orrery. #vaticansecretstorehouse
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Rosa Golijan promoted this comment ArcticLotus was starred ArcticLotus was unstarred

Rosa Golijan
10/15/09

@ArcticLotus: Thanks for the info. Fixed to reflect that.

PS: Next time feel free to tag a correction with #rosafuzuckedup
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Edited by Rosa Golijan at 10/15/09 12:39 PM Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred

daweinst
10/15/09

In reply to The Vatican Finally Shares Its Secret Stash of Astronomy Artifacts
Am I wrong in assuming that the Vatican has these artifacts because they murdered their inventors for blasphemy, and hid them from the world? #vaticansecretstorehouse
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murmur000
10/15/09

@daweinst: yes, you are. but it's understandable. i mean, if only you were somehow connected to a vast, worldwide network of information where you could research things like historical facts, it would probably be weird for you to make such an assumption. but since such a thing is obviously out of the reach of the common internet-user, such mistakes are bound to occur. #vaticansecretstorehouse
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SigmundTheSeaMonster
10/15/09

In reply to The Vatican Finally Shares Its Secret Stash of Astronomy Artifacts
That's earth in the middle, right? #vaticansecretstorehouse
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agfuentes
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
As an astrophysicist I have to OF COURSE side with the telescopes. I have read a lot of misconceptions. These lasers are low powered (some ~ 25 W) they are not going to blow up satellites. All they can do is blind the cameras for less than a sec. over the USA. Also they are not used in every telescope. Only a few telescopes in the USA (Hawaii, AZ and in PR) have laser guided stars. A bigger problem is planes flying by but this is already taken care of by having direct communications with nearby airports and a person dedicated to staying outside the telescopes with a big red button that shuts down the laser when a plane gets close to it. We need these laser AO systems because without them we could not point at anything that is small or faint in the sky due to atmospheric turbulence. In conclusion "suck on it AirForce".
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bagellord
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
How hard is it for the Pentagon to look at a computer and see if there are any satellites in the area at a given time when the astronomers call and say yay or nay?
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Wokcus
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
This is incredibly stupid. It's not like the Air Force can stop observatories in other countries from using lasers. Also, if the satellites are that easily blinded (something I'm skeptical of), they're now making sure that everyone is aware of that via the Streisand effect.
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Fletch Lives
10/14/09

@Wokcus: Excellent point, +1
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RainyDayInterns
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
We are on the side of the astronomers... here we are doing our part, pimping out our scope with a Wicked Laser:

$3 laser holder:
[www.rainydaymagazine.com]

Laser in use, no planes down:
[www.rainydaymagazine.com]
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Edited by RainyDayInterns at 10/14/09 7:30 AM RainyDayInterns was starred RainyDayInterns was unstarred

ACoBildo
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
If the American taxpayer made the observatories pay for a new mission-critical, multi-million dollar satellite every time they damaged one, I don't think observatories would be too eager to randomly fire lasers at the heavens.

(Yes, I'm in the U.S. Air Force)
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ReconToaster. promoted this comment ACoBildo was starred ACoBildo was unstarred

masshuum
10/14/09

@ACoBildo: Is it really that hard to coordinate with them? I mean come on. It seems the military just likes to make the most menial task complicated. There must be a 5 page manual on how to properly wipe one's ass.

(Yes, I'm a civilian...)
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d_r_e promoted this comment masshuum was starred masshuum was unstarred

ReconToaster misses garnett :(
10/14/09

@ACoBildo:

Honestly, if our technology is capable of shooting a satellite out of orbit WITH A MISSILE, then I'm sure that lasers can't be all that hard to navigate.
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0xdeadbeef
10/14/09

@ACoBildo: If the American taxpayer made the Air Force accept the responsibility for the risk of putting expensive hardware into secret orbits, I don't think they would be stonewalling when observatories give them the courtesy of letting them know they're going to be firing a laser into space at such-and-such location at such-and-such time.

(Yes, I am an American taxpayer)
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DH405
10/14/09

In reply to Astronomers and the Air Force Face Off Over Lasers
Really, what are the odds? Also, shouldn't the optics and such be a bit more capable of taking a non-weapon laser?
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Coulterboy
10/14/09

@DH405: Actually they're pretty frakin huge odds, considering how often a laser would be shot up. These things cost millions of dollars, and you just wanna go PEW PEW and hope you miss? Not happenin. Point 2, These things are so incredibly important do you really wanna risk anything possibly messing up the optics? Consider how detailed a military satellite probably is. You don't wanna mess with that.
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RainyDayInterns promoted this comment Coulterboy was starred Coulterboy was unstarred

RainyDayInterns
10/14/09

@Coulterboy: hmmm... if that is true, then it is a good thing that only law-abiding US citizens concerned with our military's well-being have access to low power lasers.
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