The age dawns, the weather fair, Nature warms, without a care, To the North, the winter's cold, A storm rages, from what I'm told -- Flare Baby Flare by Udiah (witness to Yah)
Why do politicians venture to London like it was an epic journey to the North Pole, where glorious foreign policy cred awaits ye who plants his banner in the middle of Downing Street? Because that hasn't gone well in the last few years, especially for the GOP, and it has already started off on a small snag even for the careful, bland likes of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker:
In his last response, Walker ducked a question and follow-up from his interviewer about whether he believed in evolution, saying politicians were better off steering clear of that issue.
"I'm going to punt on that one as well," Walker said. "I'm here to talk about trade, not to pontificate about other things."
The event's moderator, Justin Webb of BBC Radio 4, responded by saying he believed any British politician would answer by readily accepting evolution. As an elected official in Wisconsin, Walker has rarely addressed the topic. The governor later Wednesday issued a statement through his campaign that again avoided stating where he stands on the issue.
"Both science and my faith dictate my belief that we are created by God," Walker's statement said. "I believe faith and science are compatible, and go hand in hand."
Please head below the fold for more science this week.
Dinosaurs are a LIE! Actually, I would take that last part as a tacit admission that, if somehow pushed, Walker would say he accepts the scientific consensus on the age of the Earth and at least some major aspects of evolution. Hey, a science blogger can dream!
- Al "Gore-sat" aka the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCVOR) launched successfully on Wednesday this week. The probe will meander over to a stable orbit about one-million miles away, between the Earth and the sun, where it will return fantastic images of the entire Earth-moon system as seen from afar and offer up great science for years to come.
- Dinos were "tripping balls on LSD-derivatives" back in the Cretaceous? That sounds like a bit of a stretch, but who can resist the thought of a pack of raptors rolling on the ground laughing out of control at Therizinosaurs?
- Maybe we were too harsh on Mayim Bialik, maybe not. Call me a fan, but she plays a serious, accomplished bioscience researcher on a red-hot TV show, so I really want to like her just for that.
- Apple surpassed 700 billion in market cap this week, meaning in crude terms, if you multiply the number of common shares by their value at the close on Tues or Weds, it exceeds that amount of cash, and they're the first company in history to top that lofty plateau. Tesla founder Elon Musk then came along and predicted they could do the same one day:
Musk told investors on the company's earnings conference call Wednesday evening that Tesla (TSLA) could be worth $700 billion by 2025. In other words, Tesla could eventually be as valuable as Apple is right now. Never mind that Apple just became the first U.S. company worth that whopping valuation. Musk made the prediction in response to a question about capital spending plans. Tesla is currently worth about $25 billion. ... The optimism from Musk is even more shocking since Tesla's stock plunged 7% Thursday morning after the company reported a surprise loss and lower sales than expected. Shares are now more than 30% below their all-time high.
Okay, so linking and quoting this is not a recommendation to buy or sell Tesla. I have no idea what this stock will do over the next few years, let alone the next few months, weeks, or days. If you have questions about it, call your nearest bailed-out broker-dealer and see what their analyst says or go on the internet and complain.