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Explanation: How come the crescent Moon doesn't look like this? For one reason, because your eyes can't simultaneously discern bright and dark regions like this. Called earthshine or the da Vinci glow, the unlit part of a crescent Moon is visible but usually hard to see because it is much dimmer than the sunlit arc. In our digital age, however, the differences in brightness can be artificially reduced. The featured image is actually a digital composite of 15 short exposures of the bright crescent, and 14 longer exposures of the dim remainder. The origin of the da Vinci glow, as...

On the 9th of May 2008, during a campaign speech in the state of Oregon, Barack Obama said the following: “I’ve now been to fifty-seven states, I think one left to go…one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to, because my staff couldn’t justify it.” Fifty-seven states plus Alaska and Hawaii? Usually, we could pass off a slip-up like this as the result of campaigning-fatigue. After all, it was a very energetic campaign. However, Obama paused, thought carefully about what he was going to say, said it and...

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The father of a man killed when hijacked Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, wants his son's name withheld from a victims memorial because of renewed concerns that its design is centered around Islamic symbolism. Tom Burnett Sr. served on a jury that picked the winning design, originally named "Crescent of Embrace," and said the request was "something I'd rather not do, but I can't get anyone to listen." Burnett's son, Thomas E. Burnett Jr., 38, died along with 39 other passengers and crew when Flight 93 was hijacked and crashed into a field...

On a hunch six years ago, Chip Prezioso opened a shop specializing in items emblazoned with South Carolina’s palmetto tree and crescent moon logo. He couldn’t have picked a better time because the state was about to go palmetto crazy. Now the symbols are seemingly everywhere, from bumper stickers, T-shirts and flip-flops to neckties, golf balls and jewelry. Prezioso’s business — Palmetto Promotions, off Columbia’s Rosewood Drive near Williams-Brice Stadium — is on track to sell more than $1 million in merchandise this year. “I think South Carolina has been beat up over a lot of things. We’re like 49th...

'B.C.' cartoon seen as slur of Islam Muslims allege veteran artist Hart made cryptic attack Posted: November 22, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The Council on American-Islamic Relations once again is demanding an apology for an alleged slur of Muslims, this time asserting a veteran cartoonist has cryptically defamed Islam. The Washington, D.C.-based group sent out a dispatch to its e-mail list after a "B.C." cartoon last week by Johnny Hart was publicly questioned on a Washington Post Web chat page. The cartoon shows a caveman entering an outhouse at night, and then saying, from inside, "Is it just me,...