My friend texted me this morning asking me when the solar eclipse was, and I was about to answer, “It’s not,” since the path of totality passed across northern Europe. But then I thought to check and see if there was any portion visible from the US, and indeed there was. The irony of this being, I could see the smallest fragment from where I was, but not from where he
Category: Science & Evolution
A good one for today
There Will Come Soft Rains, by Ray Bradbury. It’s a quick read, and you’ll know why I chose it for today, even if you think it should have been yesterday.
I first read this in middle school I believe, and I’m almost certain it was a truncated version, ending when the poem does – which I think actually makes it better. It was written in 1950 and distinctly reflects the views
That’ll teach you to listen to me
Despite many warning signs, including clouds just a wee bit too thick when I was setting up the tripod only ten minutes before the event, the skies were perfectly clear when the Falcon 9 stage impacted the moon, and I was indeed shooting video as it was supposed to happen. I’m not bothering to upload it, since there isn’t a damn thing to see – as predicted in the previous post.
There might be something to see
This news has been kicking around for a few days, but recent observations have narrowed down the time it might occur fairly tightly now: At 06:35:42.45 UTC, Wednesday August 5th, the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket (SpaceX) will impact the moon, just barely into the visible side. While this might present a visible flash, it is more likely to
Too cool, part 54
Wow, it’s been better than two years since the last ‘Too Cool’ post – at least, the last with that in the title, though as a category, there’s definitely been a few since then. This one comes courtesy of Astronomy Picture of the Day, though I’m a little lax, since this was yesterday’s.
Taken by John
Numbers don’t lie. Do they?
I realize my posting has been pretty thin of late – still tackling home projects, still stalling on another video. And then I go off on these tangents that don’t help at all, but I want to put them down while they’re still fresh, so here we are.
While working on the post about Ultrafinitism,
Where will it end?
I’ve had a topic sitting in my ‘Other Ideas’ file for a while now, waiting for me to tackle it, and in the meantime, an article popped up that, well, tackled it. Again, actually, because within my file were two links to different articles. They’re all related to a standpoint I fostered in a much earlier post, to wit: ‘Infinity’ is a pointless concept.
Now, the
Oh, just go
This isn’t one that lends itself to an easy description, or a slick way of introducing it, so I’m struggling here. But I’m on the mailing list for The Oatmeal, which is either a webcomic or the nom de plume of the guy who writes and illustrates them, maybe both. If you’re not familiar with the site, you should
Can confirm
On Monday, we had clear enough skies for me to go out and check on the condition of the sun, or more specifically, the sunspots thereon. I could not actually make any out in the viewfinder, nor on the monitor when I had unloaded the card.
I considered myself a victim of bad timing, since we’ve been having so much activity in this form for the past couple of years, and the reason
Not dead? Then it’s working
Once again, we find ourselves (that’s the royal “we,” not [necessarily] including you) on Darwin Day, without anything prepared to show for it. I have long maintained that we should be celebrating the scientist on some other day than his birthday, since the dead of winter is a hard time to find topical content. The fictional readers that I insist are real shoot back that I’m