Fósseis

"the extraordinary thing in this young woman is that she had made herself so thoroughly acquainted with the science that the moment she finds any bones she knows to what tribe they belong. . . . by reading and application she has arrived to that greater degree of knowledge as to be in the habit of writing and talking with professors and other clever men on the subject, and they all acknowledge that she understands more of the science than anyone else in this kingdom"

Asshole

Jens Andersen may be gay. He may be also homosexual and a vicious masturbator. He may indeed, judging for the sketchs he made on the margins of his books, enjoy very much to take it up his ass. By a big black guy, off course.
Looking at the liver of the chicken that I have just before my eyes, I am positively sure that Jens has been sexualy abused by a weimaraner when he was 12 years old. Well, I am not sure but I'm guessing. Everybody can guess, can it not?.
Maybe I will write a book about it. Everybody can write a book, can it not?
I guess.

Mail

"Em visitas feitas ao longo do dia a diversas instituições do distrito do Porto, o Presidente da República insistiu que os portugueses devem empenhar-se mais no combate às vítimas de violência doméstica."
in: http://www.publico.clix.pt/shownews.asp?id=1263897

Se bem entendo, Cavaco quer que combatamos as vítimas de violência doméstica?


Exmo. Senhor,
Agradeço a mensagem electrónica que teve a amabilidade de me enviar.
O leitor tem razão. A formulação é incorrecta.
Transmiti de imediato o comentário a José Vítor Malheiros, director do Público online.

Os meus melhores cumprimentos,
Rui Araújo
Provedor do leitor do Público
--------------
PS: Lá corrigiram!!!

Pai de José

".. e Jacob, o pai de José, marido de Maria da qual nasceu Jesus, chamado Cristo."
(Mateus 1:16)


"Ele [Jesus] era o filho, assim se julgava, de José, o filho de Eli..."
(Lucas 3:23,24)

?...
26. Was Jacob (Matthew 1:16) or Heli (Luke 3:23) the father of Joseph and husband of Mary? (Category: misunderstood the Hebrew usage)

The answer to this is simple but requires some explanation. Most scholars today agree that Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph and Luke gives that of Mary, making Jacob the father of Joseph and Heli the father of Mary. This is shown by the two narrations of the virgin birth. Matthew 1:18-25 tells the story only from Joseph's perspective, while Luke 1:26-56 is told wholly from Mary's point of view. A logical question to ask is why Joseph is mentioned in both genealogies? The answer is again simple. Luke follows strict Hebrew tradition in mentioning only males. Therefore, in this case, Mary is designated by her husband's name.
This reasoning is clearly supported by two lines of evidence. In the first, every name ithe Greek text of Luke's genealogy, with the one exception of Joseph, is preceded by thdefinite article (e.g. 'the' Heli, 'the' Matthat). Although not obvious in Englitranslations, this would strike anyone reading the Greek, who would realize that it wtracing the line of Joseph's wife, even though his name was used. The second line of evidence is the Jerusalem Talmud, a Jewish source. This recognizthe genealogy to be that of Mary, referring to her as the daughter of Heli (Hagigah 2:4).
in:http://www.theapologiaproject.org/101%20Cleared%20up%20Contradictions%20in%20the%20Bible.pdf

International Astronomical Union (IAU)

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24. August 2006, Prague

The first half of the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly has just concluded. The results of the Resolution votes are outlined here.

It is official: The 26th General Assembly for the International Astronomical Union was an astounding success! More than 2500 astronomers participated in six Symposia, 17 Joint Discussions, seven Special Sessions and four Special Sessions. New science results were vigorously discussed, new international collaborations were initiated, plans for future facilities put forward and much more.

In addition to all the exciting astronomy discussed at the General Assembly, six IAU Resolutions were also passed at the Closing Ceremony of the General Assembly:

Resolution 1 for GA-XXVI : "Precession Theory and Definition of the Ecliptic"
Resolution 2 for GA-XXVI: "Supplement to the IAU 2000 Resolutions on reference systems"
Resolution 3 for GA-XXVI: "Re-definition of Barycentric Dynamical Time, TDB"
Resolution 4 for GA-XXVI: "Endorsement of the Washington Charter for Communicating Astronomy with the Public"
Resolution 5A: "Definition of 'planet' "
Resolution 6A: "Definition of Pluto-class objects"

The IAU members gathered at the 2006 General Assembly agreed that a "planet" is defined as a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

This means that the Solar System consists of eight "planets" Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A new distinct class of objects called "dwarf planets" was also decided. It was agreed that "planets" and "dwarf planets" are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the "dwarf planet" category are Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 (temporary name). More "dwarf planets" are expected to be announced by the IAU in the coming months and years. Currently a dozen candidate "dwarf planets" are listed on IAU's "dwarf planet" watchlist, which keeps changing as new objects are found and the physics of the existing candidates becomes better known.

The "dwarf planet" Pluto is recognised as an important proto-type of a new class of trans-Neptunian objects. The IAU will set up a process to name these objects.