Here’s some information from PBS:

After some three and a half billion years of life’s evolution on this planet – and after almost two million years since people recognizable as human first walked its surface – a new human burst upon the scene, apparently unannounced.

It was us.

Until then our ancestors had shared the planet with other human species. But soon there was only us, possessors of something that gave us unprecedented power over our environment and everything else alive. That something was – is – the Human Spark.

What is the nature of human uniqueness? Where did the Human Spark ignite, and when? And perhaps most tantalizingly, why?

In a three-part series broadcast on PBS in January 2010, Alan Alda takes these questions personally, visiting with dozens of scientists on three continents, and participating directly in many experiments – including the detailed examination of his own brain.

Program One: Becoming Us (link goes to full video)
Alan Alda confronts the puzzle of why our ancestors in Africa got the Spark and evolved into us, while the first humans to leave Africa for Europe–the Neanderthals–never did. Why did we flourish, while they changed very little for thousands of generations before eventually dying out?

Program Two: So Human, So Chimp (link goes to full video)
Alan Alda joins researchers studying human children and chimpanzees to discover why we share some skills with our closest living relatives, but have far surpassed them in our most uniquely human capabilities. Though we both descend from a common ancestor and are genetically so similar, why are we worlds apart in our behaviors and abilities?

Program Three: Brain Matters (link goes to full video)
Peer into Alan Alda’s head to find out which parts of our brain are responsible for our most human characteristics. Where do tool use and language reside? And how do our brains allow us to understand symbolism, figure out what others are thinking, and even travel in time? Are insight and imagination what really make humans unique?

Steve Mirsky interviews Alan Alda in two parts for Science Talk, the podcast for Scientific American. You can download or listen to them here. This is how I found out about the series and realized that Alan Alda isn’t just an actor. I had no idea he was into science so much.

Alan Alda’s Human Spark, Interview 1: Alan Alda, star of stage, screen and science, talks with podcast host Steve Mirsky about his new PBS science series The Human Spark as well as his strong interest in science and long association with Scientific American.

Interview Part 2: Alan Alda, host of the new PBS science series The Human Spark, talks to podcast host Steve Mirsky about his experiences as a fictional physican, a real patient and an amateur scientist.

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There is a difference between patriotism and nationalism:

• Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.
• Nationalism: same as patriotism but also the idea that your national culture and interests are superior to any other.

While I am patriotic and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather move to, we can’t sit back on our laurels from previous generations and just let this fine country continue to rot in its own arrogance and ignorance.

My husband Butch said it clearly (with copious amounts of swearing, be warned) in his post titled Another Lesson in Differences. Regarding nationalism:

… That is what most people in Amerika consider patriotic: unwavering support for their country & its leaders, regardless of what those “leaders” think, do or say. A bunch of drunk fratboys bleating out chants of “U S A” & “We’re Number One” while certainly embarrassing, is neither true or patriotic. Blind faith in anything just means you’re willing to abdicate responsibility for your actions to someone you don’t even know. That doesn’t make you anything but a fucking sheep, which explains the repetitive bleating.

I stole the picture from Butch’s post too (thanks, honey). Teddy Roosevelt said it perfectly:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

We are not free like we think we are. We are not the best in anything except arrogance these days. How could we be as great as we think we are when ignorance is considered cool? I’m sure we’re number one in apathy though. Yeah, that’s something to be proud of.

Hopefully after the worst presidency in the history of America, Obama can start to turn things around. I have a slim glimmer of hope that he’ll roll up his sleeves and get dirty, making tough decisions that might not be fun in the short term but will help us get back on track. It’s a tall order. I hope for our sake he’s up to the task and we can find some vestige of wisdom that accepts the changes we so desperately need.

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Here’s to an interesting year coming to a close, and the beginning of a fresh new year full of change and promise.

I hope you’re all having fun with your celebrations and being safe getting to and from any parties.

This change is really just an arbitrary moment in time. A time to take stock, and a time to celebrate.

Next year will be awesome. I know, that’s my optimism speaking, but we’ll make it the best year it can be.

Thank you for helping me be my best this year. Luvz U guyz!

Aww, damnit, I was aiming for posting at exactly midnight. But my awesome husband just called to wish me a Happy New Year. Damn, I love that guy. Ok, thank you again for being such great readers and commenters. Suggestions always welcome, as are guest posters.

Since I’m already late, how about one more lolcat? Let’s see if I can find a really good one. (actually the optimist pessimist is one of my favs at the moment )

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s 2009!

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As my first post I wanted to show you a little golden nugget of a map. It’s a beautiful map in my eyes and shows just how far our country has come in the last eight years, or even the past four.

How the counties of the United States voted when compared to 2004.

I think this map speaks volumes about how fed up the population of the United States have been when it comes to the direction of this country. The gist of the map is this: the more blue the county, the more democratic it voted this election; and the more red, the more republican. As you can see by this map, only the “bible belt” voted more republican and I really don’t think this is much of a surprise. (Christian Protip: Obama is the Antichrist and the rapture is coming soon.)

This has been stated on numerous websites and blogs around the country but I will reiterate because I feel the same: for once, I’m not ashamed to tell someone I’m from America. I feel I can say this without Bush hanging around my neck causing extreme embarrassment (and a horrible rash). After the wholesale trashing of the constitution caused by Bush and his henchmen, I’d expect that Obama will get to work on fixing these things.

Finally, we are no longer going to be ran by a president who’s only path of leading was to strike fear into people and then tell them that they’re the only ones who knows how to help save us. It’s like McCain saying during the election campaign that he knew how to get Osama bin Laden. Really now? You were holding that piece of information why? Are you going to tell Obama how to find him? Are you going to tell Bush so that he can end his presidency on a slightly higher note? Or, Senator McCain, were the words you said a little – hmm, whats the word I’m looking for… … oh yes… a LIE?

The premise was “I know how to find the bad guy, he doesn’t”, which was – again – trying to sway people by stoking the fears in them. McCain was pulling out the old tricks from the Republican play book. Since September 2001 the republicans have been running on a platform of fear. Fear that only they could keep us safe, while looking at the constitution of the United States and tearing it up. We’ve lost so many rights and liberties under Bush. As I stated above, it’s now up to the democrats to fix what Bush has broken.

McCain, and his followers, were following the Republican mantra the entire election: Obama palls around with terrorist, Obama has a scary middle-eastern name, Obama is a secret Muslim, Obama is going to steal your money and give it to those who don’t deserve it, and my favorite one: shhhhh, Obama is black.

While race wasn’t played altogether heavily in the run up to the election as I thought, I did find it very very interesting that if you looked at the McCain’s rallies and his gathering for his concession speech it was almost entirely a room of white people. Whereas if you look at Obama’s rallies and his huge victory speech gathering, it was an awe inspiring mix of everything that this country is made of.

That reminds me of some video I saw coming from a McCain rally when a middle aged white woman was talking to a reporter and said, with a stern and solemn expression, that the blacks were going to take over the country. Where in this day in age does that even come into the mix. I guess I’ve been living in a utopia in my mind but I do believe this is the 21st century, is it not? When are we going to move past ignorance and stupidity and march into the future. Obviously we’ve made great strides where 50 years ago blacks and whites were segregated and now we’ve just elected a black president. While that point fills my heart with pride, the fact we still have such ignorance floating around dampens that pride quite a bit.

The entirety of the past eight years came to a head Tuesday night at 11PM Eastern when, as I watched MSNBC, they declared Obama the winner. Watching the huge crowd gather in Chicago where they estimate the attendance was upwards to a quarter-million people. Seeing countless people tearing up as they shouted together Obama’s slogan “yes we can” mixed with a newer and updated version: “yes we did”. Then, when the emcee said “Ladies and gentlemen, the next first family of the United States” it hit me. That was the moment when it really sunk in, we really did do it. Senator Obama will be in two months time President Obama.

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• Global Atheist is an aggregate site that refreshes every 15 minutes. It’s a great place to scan lots of awesome skeptical and atheist sites at once.

Now for the Rambling Political Bit:

After about 2 years of campaigning and general political nastiness, it’s over. We’ll have a new president soon! Change is in the air! President Barack Obama. I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad it’s done.

It seems that most of America is probably relieved and happy today, while some people (like my parents) are very angry and busy selling off their stocks so that they can leave the country. Maybe they can move to Canada. Oh wait, Canada really IS a socialist country. Just teasing.

Hopefully things will settle down, and people will get on with their lives. My phone didn’t ring all day from the Republican party, telling me how to think, so it was nice to have some peace and quiet.

I feel like there is so much potential for positive change. I hope good things will be able to happen with a new administration.

What does it mean to us, the little people, to have a new president? Hopefully a lot. In my humble opinion, things can only get better after the past 8 years. Apparently most of America agrees that it was time for something different. WOOT!

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In a giant leap for clean energy, MIT professor Daniel Nocera and his team, have developed a simple method to split water molecules and produce oxygen gas. This paves the way for large scale use of solar power.

Getting energy from the sun isn’t the hard part, it seems. It’s storing that energy that has been a problem.

These guys at MIT were inspired by how plants perform photosynthesis. Their revolutionary method uses abundant, non-toxic natural materials.

I won’t get into all the details, but I just wanted to share it with you because it seems pretty important and wonderful.

Here’s a link to MIT where they have a video of Daniel Nocera describing the new process and a lot more details.

This is just the beginning though. It’s still not really cost effective, but other scientists will be able to run with it and we’ll see where it all leads us in the near future.

Nocera hopes that within 10 years, we’ll be able to power our homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power our own household fuel cell.

Of course, the power companies will not like this. But hopefully it will all happen anyway.

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