Astronomers have for the first time put some real numbers on the physical characteristics of dark matter.

This strange material that dominates the Universe but which is invisible to current telescope technology is one of the great enigmas of modern science.

That it exists is one of the few things on which researchers have been certain.

But now an Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, team has at last been able to place limits on how it is packed in space and measure its "temperature".

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Dark matter comes out of the cold

Look, let's have a true debate about the future of our society. Muslims have to understand there is free speech in Europe, and that is that. On the other side, there needs to be an understanding that sensitive issues must be addressed with wisdom and prudence, not provocation. Just because you have the legal right to do something doesn't mean you have to do it. You have to understand the people around you. Do I go around insulting people just because I'm free to do it? No. It's called civic responsibility.

a clever argument and this whole issue makes me feel like some sort of fundamentalist
i believe in free speech and democracy and i feel calls to be responsible challenges something basic. Whatever happened to the argument i grew up with that although i may not agree with u i'll fight to the death for your right to say it (provided i think u are being reasonable or demonstrating civic responsibility was never added)
it may not be wise to provoke people but that is the job of satire

Free speech and civic responsibility - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of our democratic systems and we shall never relinquish it. But there are no rights without responsibility and respect for different sensibilities. The publication of these caricatures may be perfectly legal, but it is not indifferent and thus ought to be rejected from a moral and political standpoint.

that's appeasement

A call for respect and calm - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

freedom of speech has to be responsible.

This is a point of view coming from western governments and a few moderate Muslims, in an attempt to be conciliatory
there are limits to freedom of speech
advocating violence and murder are illegal under British law quite rightly but freedom of speech does not have to be responsible
What's next? Saying that Hamas are murderers and killers of innocent women and children is irresponsible because they don't like hearing my point of view.
it is nice when i agree with a point of view and view it as responsible but the essence of freedom of speech is to say things which may not be viewed as responsible even by a jury. It is the right to be controversial and to say things which the majority don't agree with. Even advocating breaking the law has a fine pedigree in terms of civil disobedience.
So I've said it in another post and I'll say it again. Fuck their religious sensitivites.
I am an infidel. I don't accept Mohammed as a prophet. I don't accept sharia law.
Get some tolerance. I don't expect u to conform to my values, although I would like to persuade u of their worth, and don't expect me to conform to your ideas of blasphemy, although in a reasoned way u can try and persuade me of their worth.
This is a fundamental clash of value systems and western politicians who don't argue that freedom of speech is a fundamental cornerstone of our civilisation are being craven or obtuse.
It is good to understand Muslim concerns and sensibilities, that is part of being a good neighbour or friend but I refuse to be dictated to by those concerns. I believe in the freedom of Muslims to practice their religion. I believe in my right to criticize their religion or Christianity or the government.
Satire has a long and rightly undignified history. It doesn't need to be responsible or constructive. It has an obligation to bite the hand that feeds it, to be unruly, uncivilized and attack vested interests and pomposity wherever they are found. Satire should attack Senators, Congressmen, and all politicians with their nose in the trough; bigots, racists and hypocrits. It should be cynical and beholden to no-one, be they editor or politician.
Hogarth would have been proud of the Danish satirists.

BBC NEWS | UK | Tories condemn Muslim protesters

Decius wrote:
This page links the cartoon in case you are curious. Yeah, its inceditary, but give me a fucking break.

Hamas members, some armed with guns, stormed the EU office and demanded apologies from EU member states, or face serious consequences. "It will be a suitable reaction, and it won't be predictable," said Abu Hafss, a member of the Al Quds Brigade (an affiliate of the group Islamic Jihad).

A suitable reaction? What are they going to do, draw their own cartoon? "I'll draw this fucking cartoon, man! I'm serious! I'll draw it! You better back down right now or the pen is hitting the paper! I'm not fucking around here!"

The more these idiots prance around with machine guns and threaten to kill people over a cartoon, the more they reenforce the inceditary message the cartoon conveys. If they aren't a violent culture they should put down the AK-47s and act like they aren't a violent culture.

Absolutely right.

I have many friends who are intelligent, compassionate, reasonable Muslims. They live in my street, I work with them, I see and hear them every day. They are good people and good friends.

There is a group in that community however who believe that throwing a temper tantrum is not only a way of getting attention, but of getting what they want. They do not represent Muslims as a whole (no more than the "Nuke the Commies" crowd represented reasonable Americans in the 60s, or the fundamentalists Christians do today) but naturally they get most of the press attention.

In everyone's interest they should do what most of my friends have done - say that the cartoons were objectionable (and they can argue a good case not based on medieval thought systems but on cultural stereotyping) but then they shrug their shoulders and get on with dealing with life's real problems.

And one of those is finding a way to reconcile the reasonable West with reasonable Muslims at a time when the West's idea of a temper tantrum is too readily to go to war.

RE: Tensions continue to rise in Middle East over Cartoons

Brian Radke was celebrating his 31st birthday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center when he chomped into a grilled cheese sandwich and bit something that was neither grilled nor cheese.

It was sharp, round and hard as a BB, and it had dislodged from his throat.

"Shrapnel," the Army specialist told his wife that December morning, after he'd spit it into his palm.

Scarred Beneath the Skin

A spinning black hole in the constellation Scorpius has created a stable dent in the fabric of spacetime, scientists say.

The dent is the sort of thing predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. It affects the movement of matter falling into the black hole.

The spacetime-dent is invisible, but scientists deduced its existence after detecting two X-ray frequencies from the black hole that were identical to emissions noted nine years ago. The finding will allow scientists to calculate the black hole’s spin, a crucial measurement necessary for describing the object’s behavior.
...
Scientists think that gas particles moving in warped spacetime near the black hole exhibit two types of motions, each giving rise to a unique frequency. One motion is the orbital motion of the gas as it goes around the black hole. This produces the 450 Hz frequency. The lower 300 Hz frequency is caused by the gas wobbling slightly due to the spacetime deformations.

SPACE.com -- Black Hole Puts Dent In Space-time

Next on 'Oprah' -- leaders who lie
SOMEDAY, IN AN alternate universe….

Oprah: George W. Bush, I want to thank you for joining us today.

Five years ago you sat with me and spoke about your past struggles with alcohol. But this week you did something even more courageous. You stood right up before millions of Americans during your State of the Union address and you openly confessed that you're "addicted to oil."

George: Well, Oprah, thank you. That was hard for me to say because, you know, for a Texas man, it's just not easy to face up to something like that.

Oprah: George, after you said that, I got the whole transcript of your speech, and I stayed up two nights straight, honest-to-goodness. I could not sleep, people! I was like, reading, reading. I couldn't put it down.

Next on 'Oprah' -- leaders who lie - Los Angeles Times

This page links the cartoon in case you are curious. Yeah, its inceditary, but give me a fucking break.

Hamas members, some armed with guns, stormed the EU office and demanded apologies from EU member states, or face serious consequences. "It will be a suitable reaction, and it won't be predictable," said Abu Hafss, a member of the Al Quds Brigade (an affiliate of the group Islamic Jihad).

A suitable reaction? What are they going to do, draw their own cartoon? "I'll draw this fucking cartoon, man! I'm serious! I'll draw it! You better back down right now or the pen is hitting the paper! I'm not fucking around here!"

The more these idiots prance around with machine guns and threaten to kill people over a cartoon, the more they reenforce the inceditary message the cartoon conveys. If they aren't a violent culture they should put down the AK-47s and act like they aren't a violent culture.

Tensions continue to rise in Middle East over Cartoons

Munira Mirza is a commentator on multicultural issues and Islamophobia

British newspapers should publish the images. Muslims should be able to see them and judge them for themselves, that's why we have freedom of speech.

Many Muslims want the same freedoms as everyone else to debate, criticise and challenge their religion.

They want to be able to say: "Hey we're not children, we can handle criticism, we don't need special protection - we're equal."

Many don't want to be treated as a special group, seen as worthy of more protection from criticism than other groups because of their apparent victim status.

There are a lot of British Muslims who I'm sure would not be offended by the cartoons. There are, of course, many who are upset and hurt, but that's the point of living in a free society.

No matter the price, the principle of freedom must be defended. Unless we stand up for freedom of speech, we are unable to engage freely and hold belief systems - of all kinds - to account.

In Denmark, there are counter-demonstrations by moderate Muslims saying they don't want the images banned.

This idea that all Muslims have to hold the line against Islamophobia is just nonsense. We should not play the games of extremists and nor should we play into the very patronising assumptions of the British political elite about what Muslims are capable of listening to.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Viewpoints: Cartoon row