This week in science: Closer to the heart

The Lynx suborbital spaceplane. Illustration courtesy XCOR, click image for more info.

Why are those dang liberal scientists always ag'n God fear'n American lov'n patriots? Do tell Salon:

One of the great political shifts in the past decade has been the move of scientists toward the Democratic Party, a casualty of the Republican Party's war on reality. It's not about politics for scientists, it's about the fact that only one party accepts scientific findings on everything from global warming to evolutionary theory to what does and doesn't prevent pregnancy. Only 6 percent of scientists identify as Republican, whereas 55 percent identify as Democratic.

Eric Hoffer said it succinctly: "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.' There are components in the GOP coalition that have become an influential anti-science racket, and that's one big reason why scientists have been avoiding one party more than the other for years.

• Axe Body spray bought 22 flights on XCOR's Lynx suborbiral spaceplane (XCOR CEO Jeff Greason intervierwed here at Daily Kos) and will be awarding them to 22 lucky winners. I'd link the entry reqs but last I checked the page had crashed and died.
• Sperm whales are not known as the most affable of cetaceans, just ask Ishmael, so this is awful cute.
• If you're new to the site or normally just look over the front page, make it a practice to scan the titles on the recommended list and community spotlight on the right margin. For example I found this delightful post by Troubadour on space science. You can also register a screen name here and write your own posts on this site, and it is 100% free.
• Yes, I somehow had a massive heart attack despite being in decent shape, and usual scary thing you hear: I barely felt it. Cardiopathologists aren't sure of all the factors, why some people feel crushing pressure and others feel nothing, but what they do know is some people have more cross circulation than others and that may play a big role. BTW, if you're facing a heart cath in the near future? Fear not, less bothersome than a root canal. Oh, I had a slightly different reaction to imminent mortalilty than Carl Sagan.