New bird species discovered

A new bird species has been discovered in Indonesia. Grrlscientist has the details:
A formal description of this new species, the Togian white-eye, Zosterops somadikartai, was just published in the March issue of the ornithological journal, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. Not only was this bird recognized as a new species, but its population and [...]

Farewell, Arthur C. Clarke

I just heard that Arthur C. Clarke had died. He was just 90. It’s a very sad loss. Farewell.
Update: Read what Phil Plait says about Clarke and why he was important; it was not just 2001 A Space Oddyssy, it was not just that he came up with the idea of geostationary [...]

John McCain: passed that threshold?

John McCain appears not to understand the most basic issues in the Middle East. Writing in the Washington Posts campaign blog, The Trail, Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear report:
Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian [...]

Obama’s speech

Sally Quinn on MSNBC called Obama’s speech “the most important speech on race since Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech” (although she prefaced it with “this might be hyperbole but…”)
One of the best bits, for me, was this
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no [...]