On October 28th, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite launched into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Air Force base in California. Designed to observe Earth’s environment and climate, it’s in an 800 km (500 mile) orbit, and on November 21 it took its first images of the planet below.

And what a picture! Check. This. Out.

[Click to engaiaenate.]

What’s that, I hear you ask? It doesn’t look like that big a deal? That’s because I had to shrink the flippin’ huge 6000×6000 original image to fit the blog! The whole swath shows the planet from Canada to South America, but here’s a closer-up version:
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I’ve been told that episode 2 of Bad Universe — Alien Attack! — will air on Discovery Canada on November 7th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Yay!

Better yet: they’re re-running Episode 1 in the hour before, from 8:00 – 9:00. A double dose of disaster!

They’re not on the online schedule yet, but I trust Canadians. Mark your calendars.

There are a couple of sneak peeks online here and here.

Not only that, but Discovery Channel in the US is rerunning both episodes on the 7th as well, at 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. So, if you missed ‘em the first time around, here’s your chance.

Enjoy!

In September, I wrote about how the conservative political party in control in Canada is throttling scientists, forcing them to get permission to discuss their scientific results with the media. This is a clear attempt to keep scientists from talking about results that are contrary to the ideology of the political party– and we’re talking about such topics as global warming here. This hearkens back to what was going on here in the US just a few short years ago.

Now Canadian scientists are firing back: they’ve launched a website where they can take their results straight to the public without government interference. The site — artfully named PublicScience.ca — features interviews and videos with Canadian government scientists.

The site is a beautiful thumb-to-the-nose to those in the government who think they can suppress science. Here’s their site description:

This site is sponsored by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

PUBLICSCIENCE.ca opens up the world of science for the public good.

PUBLICSCIENCE.ca advocates for support for the science that touches the daily lives of Canadians in so many important ways.

"Opens up the world of science for the public good." Awesome. Their press release announcing the site makes this clear, too.

I’m certain this makes some government officials apoplectic, and I’m quite enjoying myself envisioning that right now. I loathe censorship in any form, but I especially abhor it when it’s done out of ideology to choke out science and reality.

Good on ya, Canadian scientists. Speak up, loudly and clearly. At the bottom of the site’s homepage is a call to action for Canadian citizens, too. I encourage my neighbors to the north to follow those links, and let your government know that science is for everyone, and not just when it agrees with your personal beliefs.

Tip o’ the toque to Boing Boing and Westsidekef.

Hey Canadians! "Bad Universe" premieres tonight for you guys on Discovery Channel Canada! It’ll be on at 21:00 Eastern time and again at midnight (check your local listings).

Remember, Discovery Canada is showing it because so many of you wonderful folks sent notes to the channel via Twitter and email. I was amazed at the response, and really overwhelmed by it. So here’s your chance to get a look. And if you’re wondering what I’m talking about, I have to assume that a) this is your very first time on this blog or having contact with me in any way, and 2) you haven’t read the reviews saying Bad Universe is the greatest show since anything Lorne Green, Michael J. Fox, and William Shatner have ever done^*.

So help out a fellow Canadian (well, honorary Canadian… well, OK, I really like Canada) and give it a look-see. And if you like it, please send the good folks at Discovery Channel a nice note or at least follow them on Twitter (and then send them a nice note).

See you tonight! And thanks for watching. Oh- and of course, Episode 2, called "Alien Attack!" airs on the U.S. Discovery Channel Wednesday night after MythBusters. I’ll be having another giveaway contest for that starting Monday, so check back here tomorrow!

I’m very surprised to see from two sources (The Montreal Gazette and The Ottawa Citizen) that scientists with Natural Resources Canada — the government department that deals with natural resources — need to get permission from their Minister’s office before going to the media with their scientific results… and that the office has say over whether they can talk to the media or not.

What? I mean really, WHAT?

OK, first: I understand that the government funds scientific research, and there are caveats that must apply when that happens. I also understand that the government should have some say in how scientific results are released. Whether you’re a scientist at a university, a private company, or a government lab, you shouldn’t just go to the media with results when you get them; there are proper channels in announcing them.

However, this is a very dangerous precipice upon which to balance. There is a big difference between the government following rules to make sure results are released correctly, versus deciding whether to release them or not at all. In the end, any and all scientific findings should be public and can be discussed with the media. The government should never have any censorship over that. They might have a hand in how the results are announced, but not if they are announced!

This is chilling news. In the US we saw the previous Administration interfere with science over and again, from stem cells to global warming to the incredibly embarrassing George Deutsch affair at NASA. I’d hate to see that sort of political hackery in other countries as well.

The bottom line: politicians shouldn’t decide what science is worth releasing and what isn’t. Their job is to make sure the flow of research is unimpeded, and not to dam it up. I’m not sure where this Canadian policy is headed, but I hope the citizens up there make sure their politicians know what they think about it.

Tip o’ the toque to Glen Shearlaw

I’m a little late to the game here, but a new skeptic blog has started up called Skeptic North, chock full o’ Canadian rationality. It’s a group blog with skeptics participating from all over the Great White North.

They just posted a very good slamming of the nonsense that is naturopathy, and if they continue to post such thorough and straight-forward articles, they’ll be a great force for the side of good.