I’m all for old things and even keeping some items that have good historic value, but when I read about this in the paper, I am left to rethink my original thought.

When Galileo died, he wasn’t allowed to have a proper Church burial because he was labeled a heretic for his discovery and his belief. Years later, when the Catholic church realized their error, they allowed him to be free of his 200 year purgatory.  However, before this, the Freemasons had taken care of this oversight and had exhumed his body and gave him a proper and dignified burial.

So, while the Masons had exhumed, they decided to take some souvenirs, for example; a few digits and some molars.  They decided to not take his brain, but leave it where it was.

Anyway, these parts were then moved to different places, one being the Galileo Museum.  However, in 1905, some parts were missing until just last October when someone said they had it in their private collection.

These Parts are not being placed in a museum for people to see.

So, what’s the big deal?

Um….fingers?  Molars?  I’m not sure if a finger from Galileo would be something I would want see.  his original writings, drafts of his ideas, jots of his thoughts?  Yes.  old body parts?  not so much.  I can see studying his brain to see if there are any interesting developments or parts, as is the belief of many famous scientists and people.  But a finger?

You can read the article here, which is a bit more eloquent than I can say.

It’s a great read, and not from the National Post.

But another aside, I’m going to see if I can say it first..

Up in Sudbury, well, see for yourself:

Eager to answer the question of what’s hiding out in the cold darkness of space, a team of U.S. physicists is eyeing a move to a subterranean warren of laboratories two kilometres down a mine shaft near Sudbury, Ont., that has quickly become a world destination for ‘‘dark matter’’ researchers.

The U.S.-based Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) team is seeking funding to expand its work and relocate the project from an underground laboratory in Minnesota to Sudbury’s SNOLAB, one of the researchers revealed at a physics conference in Paris over the weekend.

The Article is from the National Post, but again…Seriously?  Sudbury is dark enough,  now they have a team of scientists coming after Sudbury to see how dark and dreary it is…*
*To any Sudbury Folk:  I’m just teasing. Sudbury is a wonderful and spectacular place to go.  In Fact, The have Science North, which is much better than our measly Ontario Science Centre.  Check it out!