if you would like to participate in this dotAstronomy technothon, you can follow the action LIVE from the dotAstronomy workshop thru UStream everyday this week: http://tinyurl.com/dotastrotv.
if youre interested, i give my talk friday morning at about 0845 UT.... quite early in the US, sorry!
you can also follow me on twitter for up to the second happenings... or follow @dotastronomy on twitter OR keep up with the #dotastro hashtag.
use the #dotastro hashtag on twitter to ask the speakers questions in real time!
Monday, November 30, 2009
jimmy fallon does neil young doing the fresh prince
thats right... this video shows jimmy fallon (impressively) singing as neil young singing the theme to the fresh prince of bel-air! hilarious!
i'd like to hear him do parents just dont understand.
i'd like to hear him do parents just dont understand.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
christmas cracker joke
last night was my astronomy department's christmas party (yeah, i know its still november). the tradition in the UK at a christmas dinner is to open a christmas cracker, which looks like a cardboard toilet paper roll wrapped in shiny paper! the cracker makes a loud 'crack' when you open it, and inside you find a paper hat to wear during the meal, a tiny toy you can play with until it inevitably breaks, and a joke or riddle or motto!
i received a joke in my cracker and surprisingly, it was pretty good!
Q: why did the scientist install a knocker on his door?
A: he wanted to win the No-bell prize!
i received a joke in my cracker and surprisingly, it was pretty good!
Q: why did the scientist install a knocker on his door?
A: he wanted to win the No-bell prize!
Friday, November 27, 2009
dotAstronomy
i'm off to the netherlands on sunday to attend the .Astronomy conference, which just had a press release today! the point of this conference is to explore in interaction between astronomy and the internet. citizens are now able to participate in real science, through projects like galaxy zoo, astronomers are more connected than ever by online databases and networked services, and public outreach possibilities have broadened with projects like sixty symbols.
i'll be presenting a short talk about my participation in the sixty symbols video series. if any of you have opinions or feedback about the series, please let me know in the comments!
i dont really know what to expect from this conference, but i'm excited to find out and learn about a lot of new technologies astronomers are developing to take advantage of the world wide web of information and communication!
i'll be presenting a short talk about my participation in the sixty symbols video series. if any of you have opinions or feedback about the series, please let me know in the comments!
i dont really know what to expect from this conference, but i'm excited to find out and learn about a lot of new technologies astronomers are developing to take advantage of the world wide web of information and communication!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
fireflies or lightning bugs?
a recent big picture set features 25 photos from the international national geographic photo contest.
my favorite is a beautiful photo by steve irvine that shows "about one hour of firefly activity near my home in rural Ontario. The precision of the background star trails is an interesting contrast to the chaotic pattern of the firefly flashes."
his caption captures the contrasting movements in the picture perfectly.
although... i've always called those little flying creatures that periodically light up in neon yellow: lightning bugs. as far as i can tell, fireflies and lightning bugs are the same bugs, and i'm wondering just how regional these terms are.
what do you call them and where are you from? have you heard both names?
i dont remember hearing the term "fireflies" until i moved to austin, texas. even after i heard the word, it took me a while to identify the glowing creature as my lightning bug, because there arent very many flying around austin! i was used to massive hoards of the creatures, and hadnt even realized that i hadnt experienced the mesmerizing feeling of being inside a cloud lightning bugs since i moved away from home!
where i grew up in ohio, there are TONS of lightning bugs! i usually found lightning bug clouds surrounding bushes or around a grove of trees. the last place i lived before moving away from ohio was a small, square building that held 4 apartments. around the back sat a small parking lot shaded by many tall trees that grew along a small creek. the location felt quaint, welcomed the seasons well, attracted loads of pesky mosquitoes, but also harvested lightning bug fiestas!! during certain nights, i could walk around the parking lot and be completely surrounded by little, moving, disorienting, flashing lights that reached all the way up into the trees!
of course as a kid, i would catch a lightning bug in my hands, watch the neon shine thru my fingers, and wonder why i didnt have the cool ability to light up any of my body parts in such a way!
i havent experienced lightning bugs in such a way anywhere else i've been, except for a hint of the feeling on a boat trip down a river deep in malaysia.... even there, people called them fireflies!
my favorite is a beautiful photo by steve irvine that shows "about one hour of firefly activity near my home in rural Ontario. The precision of the background star trails is an interesting contrast to the chaotic pattern of the firefly flashes."
his caption captures the contrasting movements in the picture perfectly.
although... i've always called those little flying creatures that periodically light up in neon yellow: lightning bugs. as far as i can tell, fireflies and lightning bugs are the same bugs, and i'm wondering just how regional these terms are.
what do you call them and where are you from? have you heard both names?
i dont remember hearing the term "fireflies" until i moved to austin, texas. even after i heard the word, it took me a while to identify the glowing creature as my lightning bug, because there arent very many flying around austin! i was used to massive hoards of the creatures, and hadnt even realized that i hadnt experienced the mesmerizing feeling of being inside a cloud lightning bugs since i moved away from home!
where i grew up in ohio, there are TONS of lightning bugs! i usually found lightning bug clouds surrounding bushes or around a grove of trees. the last place i lived before moving away from ohio was a small, square building that held 4 apartments. around the back sat a small parking lot shaded by many tall trees that grew along a small creek. the location felt quaint, welcomed the seasons well, attracted loads of pesky mosquitoes, but also harvested lightning bug fiestas!! during certain nights, i could walk around the parking lot and be completely surrounded by little, moving, disorienting, flashing lights that reached all the way up into the trees!
of course as a kid, i would catch a lightning bug in my hands, watch the neon shine thru my fingers, and wonder why i didnt have the cool ability to light up any of my body parts in such a way!
i havent experienced lightning bugs in such a way anywhere else i've been, except for a hint of the feeling on a boat trip down a river deep in malaysia.... even there, people called them fireflies!
candidate collision at LHC!
the large hadron collider (LHC) is up and running again - successfully this time! beams of particles are shooting around the tubes, and professor brian cox is reporting on twitter that this image shows a candidate collision detected by the ATLAS project!!
congratulations to all all at CERN! you can read more at cosmic variance here and here.
congratulations to all all at CERN! you can read more at cosmic variance here and here.
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