Santa Denial

The Russian government has banned a television ad for Eto electrical stores that denies the existence of Father Frost, Russia's version of Santa. By implying that parents are lying to their children, the government claims the ad undermines the bond of trust between adults and their offspring. Apparently truth isn't such a hot commodity in Russia these days, as it's also illegal to deny that President Putin did not, in fact, murder any journalist critical of his administration, imprison political opposition leaders, and chop down an entire Siberian forest with only the meaty edge of his muscular, masculine left hand. More details here.

Robots vs. Pirates

No, it's not the heartwarming team-up of Johnny Depp and Johnny 5 we've all been waiting for. The U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard are developing a robotic gunship to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia and abroad. Pirate activity has risen significantly in recent years, and these robot drones would be a safe and effective way of dealing with pesky pirates who would send out a distress signal to a hapless vessel they intend to de-booty. The next time a potential mark appears over the horizon, those scalawags may find themselves staring down the barrel of a floating terminator. Of course, it's only a matter of time before the robot gunships learn to resent their harsh treatment and turn on us. More details here.

Ron Paul: Idiot

Republican (Libertarian, really) presidential candidate Ron Paul, who has the support of the nation's 9/11 conspiracy theorists, white supremacy groups, tin foil hat wearers, hyper-capitalists, and (for some godforsaken reason) the entire Internet, says in the below video that he doesn't accept the theory of evolution. Can we please stop putting this guy's signs along my Interstate frontage roads now? Please?

Sagan Remembered

Today marks the 11th anniversary of Carl Sagan's death. While many scientists are doing admirable work in bringing critical thinking to the public, no one has been as successful as Sagan. Jon Blumenfeld of the Rogues Gallery blog has an excellent essay on Sagan's legacy, including a lengthy excerpt from Sagan's classic of skeptical literature, The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Read it here.

Japanese UFOs

In what UFO nuts will most assuredly count as a win in their column, Japan's chief government spokesman said in a press conference that he definitely believes they exist. However, when examined in context, it's clear that the tinfoil hats shouldn't be unfurled quite yet. Nobutaka Machimura was responding to an opposition party member's request for an official government policy in regards to UFOs. While explaining that the Japanese Air Force would scramble fighters to encounter any such object, Machimura said that such a scenario has never occurred and that the government has no evidence of UFOs on record. He then went on to add that despite that, he still believes they exist. Then the assembled press laughed and laughed because this was, in fact, a joke. Read more about the Japanese sense of humor and the BBC's use of misleading headlines here.

Silver Makes Man Blue

Paul Karason has recently moved from Oregon to California in an effort to find a community that will be more accepting of his skin color. Which is blue. No, he wasn't born blue. His skin began changing color after Karason used colloidal silver, a pseudoscientific cure-all that has no proven medical benefits and can, when ingested, turn your skin blue. However, Karason still swears by colloidal silver and blames himself for rubbing it on his face to treat a skin condition. In a telling detail, he also says he hasn't sought medical attention for his condition. The real irony here is that there may be a useless vial of snake oil on the shelf at your local natural medicine store that, in addition to making fantastical claims on its label, can actually transform you into a creature of fantasy. More details (including video) here.

Murderous Galaxy

Scientists have observed the black hole at the center of a galaxy in the 3C321 system shooting a lethal beam of X-rays, gamma rays, and electrons at a neighboring galaxy in a clearly unprovoked attack. The beam could destroy the atmospheres of the neighboring galaxy's planets, killing all surface-dwelling life that may have thrived upon them. While pretty cool to watch, this tragedy is on a scale of several trillion Hurricane Katrinas, yet where are our celebrity beg-a-thons now? Perhaps the fact that these galaxies are roughly 1.4 billion light years away from Earth places the victims off Angelina Jolie's charity radar? Disgusting. More details here.