all i'm saying, monsieur colbert, is that i could be your personal astrophysicist! could it get any better? you wouldnt have to go to school for n (>10) years!
it's just what your show needs.... and as it happens, i'm currently looking for productive employment! in fact, i could be the astronomy correspondent for both the colbert report and the daily show! and i wouldnt be bogged down with the responsibility of running an entire planetarium, like neil degrasse tyson!
call me.
(please!)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
total lunar eclipse this wednesday
hope for clear skies this wednesday evening... especially if you live in the americas... and wake up early with clear-sky hopes if you're in western europe or western africa! people in these locations on earth will see the moon pass thru the earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse!
if you're in austin, then enjoy the free public lecture at 7:30 and then head outside to view the eclipse!
we wont get another total lunar eclipse from the americas until night of december 20–21, 2010... so enjoy this one if the weather permits!
if you're in austin, then enjoy the free public lecture at 7:30 and then head outside to view the eclipse!
we wont get another total lunar eclipse from the americas until night of december 20–21, 2010... so enjoy this one if the weather permits!
Monday, February 18, 2008
50 years of space science
the first 50 years of adventures in space have taught us many lessons about the universe, technology, and humanity. it's amazing to think that while we've been sending things far away from earth for 50 years now, we've only been sending things far away from earth for 50 years! the voyager spacecrafts recently celebrated their 30th year traveling to deep space! my personal favorite experiment involved sending the little rover robots to mars.
space.com offers a nice retrospective of our 50 years in space including many interesting multi-media features, anecdotes, and quizzes to test your knowledge!
UT will celebrate our accomplishments in space with an exciting event this week! wednesday night, february 20th at 7:30pm, UT is hosting a free public lecture by macarthur fellowship ("genius award") recipient, chris chyba, entitled...
"the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe"
cool!
conveniently, there's also a total lunar eclipse wednesday night, reaching totality just as the talk ends! i'll probably go to RLM or painter hall to check out the orange moon thru a telescope... everyone is of course invited!
space.com offers a nice retrospective of our 50 years in space including many interesting multi-media features, anecdotes, and quizzes to test your knowledge!
UT will celebrate our accomplishments in space with an exciting event this week! wednesday night, february 20th at 7:30pm, UT is hosting a free public lecture by macarthur fellowship ("genius award") recipient, chris chyba, entitled...
"the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe"
cool!
conveniently, there's also a total lunar eclipse wednesday night, reaching totality just as the talk ends! i'll probably go to RLM or painter hall to check out the orange moon thru a telescope... everyone is of course invited!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
hallelujah
leonard cohen's song, hallelujah, has to be one of the most beautiful songs of all time... although strangely enough, not so much when he performs it! i love his deep voice, but other people have really brought this often-covered song to life.
here's a band from my hometown, over the rhine. her voice harbors such a deep passion and perfects the necessary emotion to perform this song. i also love the piano.
my all-time favorite version is absolutely the one by jeff buckley. the images in this video are interesting, but a bit distracting from the beauty of the song.
here's a band from my hometown, over the rhine. her voice harbors such a deep passion and perfects the necessary emotion to perform this song. i also love the piano.
my all-time favorite version is absolutely the one by jeff buckley. the images in this video are interesting, but a bit distracting from the beauty of the song.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
the moon and mars
the half-full, first quarter moon sits to the west of the pleiades star cluster tonight. the waxing moon approaches mars and passes very close by the bright orange planet for the next several nights. friday night provides the closest approach this month, as shown below.
the moon slowly fills with sunlight over the next week, and will pass right thru earth's shadow, what we call a total lunar eclipse, next wednesday night! stay tuned!
the moon slowly fills with sunlight over the next week, and will pass right thru earth's shadow, what we call a total lunar eclipse, next wednesday night! stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
kissing
why do we kiss?
kissing is fun, for sure, but it doesnt directly benefit us in an evolutionary sense, so why do we do it? what initiated the regular act of kissing thousands and thousands (or millions?) of years ago? and why is that some percentage (~10%) of humans don't kiss?
the scientific term for kissing is osculation (scientists sure have a way at wiping out the romance even from one of the most romantic acts possible, dont they?!). there was an interesting article this week in scientific american describing new research as to why we kiss. one thought is that kissing evolved from when primate mothers chewed food up for their young and then fed them mouth-to-mouth. i can see how that tender and originally necessary act, developed into something that could occur to show affection, even when sustenance wasnt involved.
another thing i learned from the article is the human lips "enjoy slimmest layer of skin on the human body." our lips are also very densely populated with sensory neurons and so are especially sensitive to slight touches. hm. this gives one reason why kissing is so enjoyable, but doesnt describe the benefit of kissing, in the sense of giving a reproductive advantage.
the punchline is that kissing remains as big a mystery as the question of why we fall in love. but for me.... this mystery is a good thing!
kissing is fun, for sure, but it doesnt directly benefit us in an evolutionary sense, so why do we do it? what initiated the regular act of kissing thousands and thousands (or millions?) of years ago? and why is that some percentage (~10%) of humans don't kiss?
the scientific term for kissing is osculation (scientists sure have a way at wiping out the romance even from one of the most romantic acts possible, dont they?!). there was an interesting article this week in scientific american describing new research as to why we kiss. one thought is that kissing evolved from when primate mothers chewed food up for their young and then fed them mouth-to-mouth. i can see how that tender and originally necessary act, developed into something that could occur to show affection, even when sustenance wasnt involved.
another thing i learned from the article is the human lips "enjoy slimmest layer of skin on the human body." our lips are also very densely populated with sensory neurons and so are especially sensitive to slight touches. hm. this gives one reason why kissing is so enjoyable, but doesnt describe the benefit of kissing, in the sense of giving a reproductive advantage.
the punchline is that kissing remains as big a mystery as the question of why we fall in love. but for me.... this mystery is a good thing!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
i heart chocolate
ze frank cleverly sums up valentine's day....
a quick ode to valentine's day from jay grandin that leaves me... speechless...
a quick ode to valentine's day from jay grandin that leaves me... speechless...
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