Yeah, some of those old passages from scholarly texts are pretty insulting. Of course, the conclusions they reached were understandable. But the scientific process works. As more evidence comes to light, views change. There's always going to be a certain amount of perception that's influenced by political thinking-- the view of supremely intelligent humans who succeeded in a Darwinian contest was supplanted by a view of supremely evil humans who committed deliberate genocide-- but the process always moves things along. I'm sure the current view is highly Romanticized, but I like it. We should always emphasize how we relate to other life, not how we contrast with it.

I downloaded the MEanderthal app, but it doesn't work. It seems to have last been updated in 2010, so it's probably not compatible with IOS updates. It's also got a lot of bad reviews....

^Pity. I would like to have seen that. I fear I wouldn't look too different though.

Well, you are 3.4% Neandertal.

^ Touche.

My Exoplanet app notified me of a new planet discovery-- well, technically, a new solar system, since there's two. But one of them is comfortably inside the Goldilocks Zone. TYC-1422-614-1 c is about ten times as massive as Jupiter and has a beautifully circular orbit just inside the orbit of Mars-- the Goldilocks Zone extends from just outside the orbit of Earth to the asteroid belt (this star is about 15% more massive than the sun). The app lists the distance from Earth as 476 light years, plus or minus 590 light years. So, theoretically, it could be in beautiful downtown Burbank.

I think I saw it in my backyard.

Quite a margin for error there.

And we've landed on a comet!

Yeah! I was reading this earlier today (CNN felt it newsworthy enough to send me updates on my iPhone). Trouble with the stabilizing rocket and trouble with the harpoons, but it made a nice landing, and may have screwed itself in securely. The surface of the comet looks pretty freaky (as does the comet itself). I can't wait to see more pictures.

Yeah the most recent picture I've seen looks like it was taken on the set of an old B movie.

I'm surprised by the amount of press this is getting. Usually science stories get ignored in favor of Kim Kardashian's butt. They're worried currently that the lander has come down in a shaded region- no word if Kim Kardashian is involved in it though.

Yeah, I saw some pictures today, too, and they're very B-Movie. In one, it looks like you can see a spot where there was some major outgassing. Very cool.

I wonder why they're worried about it being in a shaded region. If it's in a sunny region and it's not anchored securely, it might blow away.

They're worried about the solar panels not getting enough light.

Ah, of course. I should have guessed.