It was my impression that the transformers were those large silver things hanging form the towers. I know in newer places they are those large, green, terrestrial boxes, but there appears to be a transformer (or what I have mistaken for one) in the shot.

It doesn't "make pritty images". It records data from space we cannot obtain from terrestrial sources. The fact that the Hubble has been positioned in orbit and had FIVE orbital servicings is an incredible testimonial to the American space program. And yes, the images produced are beautiful, helping to remind us that the Universe is an fascinating place with knowledge that will continue to help us evolve in many dimensions.

>> ^mentality:
>> ^rychan:
yes, per mile a commercial airliner is safer, but that's a stupid statistic. Per mile being an astronaut is extraordinarily safe, but in actuality it's outrageously dangerous.
Say you're traveling from NYC to LA. You can either drive there, or you can fly there in one trip. Which is safer? Flying would be safer, because you have to physically cover the distance from point A to point B, and you said flying is safer according to distance.
A space shuttle "travels" many miles with respect to earth as it stays in orbit. Comparing the distance a shuttle "travels" to distance covered intentionally between two terrestrial locations is a stupid point to make.
I can tell you that water has a very low electrical conductivity, but you wouldn't want to get into a bathtub with a toaster -- and rightly so, because it turns out that the dissolved minerals in tap water raise its conductivity several orders of magnitude.
Guess what also tells you that getting into a bathtub with a toaster is dangerous because water with ions in it conducts? Science.
I really don't get the point that you're trying to make. Are you trying to say that the implementation of science is scary because statistics can be manipulated to show that cars are safer than planes or vice versa; or that a toaster in bathwater is bad? Or are you saying that applied science is scary because it cannot eliminate risk, only greatly reduce it? For example, your risk of dying from not performing the procedure would be far greater than the risk of dying from the anesthetics.


People don't think about distances when they step on a plane. They think "am I going to step off this plane alive?". The fact that the planes are covering more distance is as inconsequential as the spacecraft covering more distance. The fact that it would be even more dangerous to spend two full days driving the distance is inconsequential. They're stepping into a situation an order of magnitude more dangerous than when they step into their average car trip, so they're right to be scared. Of course, that fear is more based on lack of control and discomfort than statistics, but I hate people who try and calm you with statistics, because they're not strongly on the side of airplanes.

I'm saying science is great and reproducible, our human interface with science is often unreliable, because the real world and the human body have thousands of variables that science can't account for. And for that reason I'd be hesitant to test something like the Leidenfrost effect by dipping my hand in liquid Nitrogen (if I hadn't seen someone else do it, or maybe even then). Who knows, maybe if you sweat a lot and your skin is salty, if you have on nail polish, if you have on rings, etc... then something goes terribly wrong.

>> ^rychan:
yes, per mile a commercial airliner is safer, but that's a stupid statistic. Per mile being an astronaut is extraordinarily safe, but in actuality it's outrageously dangerous.

Say you're traveling from NYC to LA. You can either drive there, or you can fly there in one trip. Which is safer? Flying would be safer, because you have to physically cover the distance from point A to point B, and you said flying is safer according to distance.

A space shuttle "travels" many miles with respect to earth as it stays in orbit. Comparing the distance a shuttle "travels" to distance covered intentionally between two terrestrial locations is a stupid point to make.

I can tell you that water has a very low electrical conductivity, but you wouldn't want to get into a bathtub with a toaster -- and rightly so, because it turns out that the dissolved minerals in tap water raise its conductivity several orders of magnitude.

Guess what also tells you that getting into a bathtub with a toaster is dangerous because water with ions in it conducts? Science.

I really don't get the point that you're trying to make. Are you trying to say that the implementation of science is scary because statistics can be manipulated to show that cars are safer than planes or vice versa; or that a toaster in bathwater is bad? Or are you saying that applied science is scary because it cannot eliminate risk, only greatly reduce it? For example, your risk of dying from not performing the procedure would be far greater than the risk of dying from the anesthetics.

Shouldn't this have the war on terror tag? Or rather, the war OF terror? I mean, why isn't THIS guy a terrorist? He's clearly using terror for certain ends...

You see, the extra terrestrial threat is the only one which can succeed in convincing the mass of humanity that it must sacrifice all rights and liberties for the greater good. This concept was referred to once upon a time as communism.

If the asteroid fails at it's mission, it will be extra terrestrial life forms.

Jackie Gleason claimed he saw dead aliens.

"According to Gleason's second wife, Beverly McKittrick, he told her that U.S. President Richard Nixon took him on a secret visit to Homestead Air Force Base. There, Gleason allegedly saw an alien spaceship and dead extra-terrestrials." (Source)

Seems the original video source is here. There's an ongoing discussion trying to identify the worm in which the consensus seems to be it's one of the few terrestrial ribbon worms.

I'm sure aliens would be plenty interested in studying us, regardless of our inferiority. None of us care too much about bees, but they've been studied extensively by science, and they are very common terrestrial insects. Imagine how exited we'd be if we discovered space bees - perhaps giant space bees with projectile plasma stingers.

Unless - of course - the aliens made us in the first place, and have already moved on to more advanced projects.

glad to see howard cleaned up his act after transitioning from terrestrial radio.

When they change from satellite feeds to dedicated terrestrial links.

You're very ignorant if you think that everyone has the same rights and opportunities. And degrading attitudes about women still exist today. The stereotypes that label men as rational, strong, decisive, and protective and women as emotional (irrational), submissive, weak, and nurturing are still very much alive. Just look at the top sifts of all time:
1. A very talented MAN playing the ukelele
2. Two talented BOYS' well-made lightsaber video
3. Autistic BOY being awesome at a b-ball game
4. Talented MALE robot dancer
5. Prairie Dog, generally accepted as MALE. Thus: Drama KING
6. Very clever rant about Pachebel. Again, a talented and clever MAN.
7. FINALLY, an intelligent WOMAN with integrity. But, wait! She's also very beautiful. Do you think this would be the #7 sift if she hadn't been so gorgeous? I don't think so. Listen to some of the comments:
"Plus, uhmm - she's like a hot Christiane Amanpour. But I like her integrity too."
"She's 40% Kylie Minogue and 60% Naomi Watts."
"...Plus, shes hot."
"Is there anything better than a hot, articulate, angry blonde ... I don't think so."
"Lara Logan is hot. Not only is she drop dead pretty, she is smart, she has an acerbic tongue and she tells the truth. Lately, she has been wearing tight tops with a push-up bra that really make her tits looks great. More Iraq stories, please............"
"shes hot and reaaaaaaly intelligent..."
"I want this woman to have my children."
"Lara Logan, will you marry me?"

I give major props to the guys of videosift for focusing FAR more on her integrity, intelligence, and how articulate she is. They really were very good about that. But I really, really think that a lot of those votes had everything to do with the COMBINATION of brains and looks. If this had been an ugly woman, it would not have received NEARLY as many votes, I'd bet you anything. Moving on.

8. Awesome commercial. The wind is a tall MAN doing funny things. Love this sift.
9. Drug spiders. MALE spiders (Mr. Crack Spider, etc.), Male narrator.
10. Quantum Physics narrated and explained by a MALE scientist.
11. Clever prank, talented FEMALES. (Yay!) All old/overweight women are the ones being tricked, all beautiful and young females are the tricksters. Some sample comments:
"...also, they were hot."
"Those twins could prank me in the bathroom anytime."
"Twin hot German chicks in a bathroom is guaranteed to make #1."

Again, the majority of the comments had nothing to do with the way the girls looked, but on the prank itself. Cool. Movin on.

12. Jon Stewart (MAN) being funny and clever and awesome.
13. A pretty GIRL with a great bod doing something pretty cool. Comments:

"She can spin on my escalator any day she likes."
"This is cool and I think it's pure science. For example, it would be interesting also to rub her down in various oils and see how it affects the results. Or underwear versus no underwear for example. What would happen?"
"She's a hottie."
"oh and this is *nature too because humans are part of nature.
and *sexuality because those tight jeans make her look sexy to me."
"I predict a chubby girl stuck between the glass railings of a shopping mall escalator near you."
"Indeed, perhaps she will leave a trail of freshly erected posts behind her as she spins her way from town to town."
"I suspect she already left a trail of freshly erected posts, both at the original venue and among some of the male sift viewers judging by the comments."
"Videosift seems to have an immense fondness for rotating women."
"You males are all full of bull putty. If this was a 15 year old pimply faced fella doing this it have about 20 votes and an eia tag immediately."

14. Dolphins blowing bubbles
15. Cool music video. MALE band, MALE hands.

Most people see the world through the eyes of a man and they don't even know it. Men look, women are looked upon.

Top Box-Office Movies of all time: (I'm going to point out the gender of JUST the main character (protagonist).

Titanic (1997)- As far as I can tell, not having seen the movie, the MALE/FEMALE share the main character spot.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) - Male
Shrek 2 (2004) - Male
E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)- Male
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) - Male
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - Male/Female?
Spider-Man (2002) - Male
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)- Male
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)- Male
Spider-Man 2 (2004) - Male
The Passion of the Christ (2004)- Male
Jurassic Park (1993) - Male
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)- Male
Finding Nemo (2003) - Male
Spider-Man 3 (2007) - Male
Forrest Gump (1994) - Male
The Lion King (1994) - Male
Shrek the Third (2007) - Male
Transformers (2007) - Male
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) - Male
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - Male
Iron Man (2008) - Male
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - Male
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - Male
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - Male
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - Male
Independence Day (1996) - Male
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - Male
The Sixth Sense (1999) - Male
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) - Male
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) Male/Female
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Male
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) - Male
Home Alone (1990) - Male
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) - Male
Meet the Fockers (2004) - Male
Shrek (2001) - Male
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - Male
The Incredibles (2004) - Male
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - Male

I could keep going, but I think you get the picture.

In reply to this comment by Shepppard:
Alright, this is a video of someone doing what they love.
I don't understand the controversy. Just because I watched this doesn't make me think of a woman as an object. I see her dancing, and I see her doing something she loves to do. I'm not sitting here thinking "I'd hit that so hard she'd walk funny for a week" I'm actually sitting here enjoying it because it's a dance.

People need to seriously reconsider what they want to pick fights with. Society on the whole has come to terms of equality. Black, White, Yellow, Purple, brown, male or female, everybody has equal rights and opportunities.
No race is better then the other, and same goes for the Sexes.

People don't treat women as brainless objects anymore. You can vote, you can drive, you can work, the only thing you can't do is pee standing up. People have accepted that women are NOT objects anymore, and therefore can actually watch something like this and appreciate it as art.

Because we (at least not all of us), don't have our head in the gutter anymore and can accept it.

well, here at the philosophy channel we have the 100% resurrection policy (weather by fame, miracle, omega point, or technological singularity)

- so sorry choggie


but, what about starting a business venture for afterlife revenge?
You pay us and we'll disturb whoever you disliked during your terrestrial existence
(or just a final poke in he eye for your ungrateful son /daughter)

(record your voice for unrestrained afterlife fun! see your loved ones scream as you tell them off one last time)

>> ^gwiz665:
I don't get it...

It’s a scene from The Day The Earth Stood Still. That was the phrase Helen had to say to Gort to keep him from destroying the earth (should anything happen to Klaatu). Deano also has a good summary in the comments here (spoilers!)

Those are not the most famous words spoken to an extra-terrestrial. These are!

videos of the game are here :
http://www.videosift.com/video/Worst-Game-Ever
and here:
http://www.videosift.com/video/ET-the-Extra-Terrestrial-Atari-2600-Game-Walkthrough