Obama will challenge hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to revisit the controversial claim that ancient Greek scientist and mathematician Archimedes set fire to a fleet of invading Roman ships by using mirrors that reflect the sun's rays.

In keeping with the "Mythbusters" format, which uses scientific methods to confirm or refute claims often widely accepted as true, Savage and Hyneman will attempt to replicate Archimedes' reputed attack on the Roman ships.

Wow, I must say, that is pretty neat of Obama. That will definitely be one episode of Mythbusters that I would love to watch!

This bodes well for our Leader.

I always thought they used that 'greek fire', honestly. Setting fire to ships with mirrors seems a bit far-fetched. But then so does a hotel with a death ray.

Greek inventor Archimedes is said to have used mirrors to burn ships of an attacking Roman fleet. But new research suggests he may have used steam cannons and fiery cannonballs instead.

A legend begun in the Medieval Ages tells of how Archimedes used mirrors to concentrate sunlight as a defensive weapon during the siege of Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, from 214 to 212 B.C. No contemporary Roman or Greek accounts tell of such a mirror device, however.

Both engineering calculations and historical evidence support use of steam cannons as "much more reasonable than the use of burning mirrors," said Cesare Rossi, a mechanical engineer at the University of Naples "Federico II," in Naples, Italy, who along with colleagues analyzed evidence of both potential weapons.

This bodes well for our Leader.

I always thought they used that 'greek fire', honestly. Setting fire to ships with mirrors seems a bit far-fetched. But then so does a hotel with a death ray.

Whatever else, this is what I most want to see in a leader of my nation – one who pushes for scientific inquiry instead of his personal religious beliefs.

I can't agree more!

Whatever else, this is what I most want to see in a leader of my nation – one who pushes for scientific inquiry instead of his personal religious beliefs.

I'm not a fan of the man myself, but I couldn't agree more. He doesn't talk about his religious beliefs or allows them to interfere with his administration, and that's the way it should be.

Do you think Obama is simply doing this for the publicity or do you think he actually cares?

To quote President Obama: “Passionate educators with deep content expertise can make all the difference, enabling hands-on learning that truly engages students — including girls and underrepresented minorities — and preparing them to tackle the ‘grand challenges’ of the 21st century such as increasing energy independence, improving people’s health, protecting the environment and strengthening national security.”

The man has two school-age daughters of his own. I think he actually cares.

-- Nephele

He's always been about better education from the moment I started paying attention to him back in 2003. It did disappoint me greatly that he used his religious beliefs to support the idea of 'marriage' strictly being between a man and a woman, though.

Mr. President, today, we take up the valuable time of the Senate with a proposed amendment to our Constitution that has absolutely no chance of passing.

We do this, allegedly, in an attempt to uphold the institution of marriage in this country. We do this despite the fact that for over 200 years, Americans have been defining and defending marriage on the State and local level without any help from the U.S. Constitution at all.

And yet, we are here anyway because it is an election year--because the party in power has decided that the best way to get voters to the polls is not by talking about Iraq or health care or energy or education but about a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that they have no chance of passing.

Now, I realize that for some Americans, this is an important issue. And I should say that, personally, I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.

But let's be honest. That is not what this debate is about. Not at this time.

This debate is an attempt to break a consensus that is quietly being forged in this country. It is a consensus between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, red States and blue States, that it is time for new leadership in this country--leadership that will stop dividing us, stop disappointing us, and start addressing the problems facing most Americans.

It is a consensus between a majority of Americans who say: You know what, maybe some of us are comfortable with gay marriage right now and some of us are not. But most of us do believe that gay couples should be able to visit each other in the hospital and share health care benefits; most of us do believe that they should be treated with dignity and have their privacy respected by the federal government.

We all know that if this amendment were to pass, it would close the door on much of this--because we know that when similar amendments passed in places such as Ohio and Michigan and Utah, domestic partnership benefits were taken away from gay couples.

This is not what the majority of the American people want. And this is not about trying to build consensus in this country; it is not about trying to bring people together.

This is about winning an election. That is why the issue was last raised in July of 2004, and that is why we haven't heard about it again until now. And while this is supposedly a measure that the other party raised to appeal to some of its core supporters, I don't know how happy I would be if my party only talked about an issue I cared about right around election time--especially if they knew it had no chance of passing.

I agree with most Americans, with Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Cheney, with over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage, as they always have, should be left to the States.

Today, we should take this amendment only for what it is--a political ploy designed to rally a few supporters and draw the country's attention away from this leadership's past failures and America's future challenges.

There is plenty of work to be done in this country. There are millions without health care and skyrocketing gas prices and children in crumbling schools and thousands of young Americans risking their lives in Iraq.

So don't tell me that this is the best use of our time. Don't tell me that this is what people want to see talked about on TV and in the newspapers all day. We wonder why the American people have such a low opinion of Washington these days. This is why.

Seeing him mention skyrocketing gas prices makes me lol......