i hadnt seen this before but i like it a lot.... a review of the universe - structures, evolutions, observations, and theories. it talks about many many fundamental objects in the universe from small to big to really huge to teeny tiny.
enjoy!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
3 days in austin
safe and sound back in austin. that was a lot of traveling and a lot of fun! i'm between laptops right now so i wont have any pictures to share for another week or so, but thats alright as i need to get back in the swing of working!
i'm furiously looking for a place to live in austin so hopefully i can move before i start teaching next week. i'm borrowing my friend's scooter for a few days so i can search the neighborhoods where i want to live and check places out. wow, i missed driving a scooter! they're so much fun!! i dont think i have enough money saved up to buy a car right now, but i may invest in a scooter!
my first day back in austin was fantastic... went to one of my favorite spots on the greenbelt that runs right through the center of town. you enter a trail in one of several neighborhoods and then walk for 10 minutes or so to an isolated area with big rocks to jump off of into the clear green warm water. amazing! i forgot how nice it is just to sit in warm water. and i forgot the feel of slimy moss on my fingers. this is definitely one of my favorite places in the world! i took these pictures several years ago when i first arrived in austin.
on day 2, i went to campus and back to work to sift thru my gigantic pile of snail mail and to say hola to old familiar faces. its amazing how i havent thought about the little things, like going up the elevator in RLM to the 16th floor. i stood in the elevator realizing that it hadnt changed a single bit and it felt just as familiar as ever eventhough it hadnt passed through my mind in almost a year.
after work i drove thru the sunny neighborhoods looking for "for rent" signs. i eventually got bored and headed off to a friends house.... just at the moment that the sky darkened and a wall of rain fell on my exposed body! i quickly turned off the road and drove the scooter under a tree. too late... i was already pretty wet. the feel of rain was nice though.... it rained twice that i saw the whole time i was in chile!! after a few minutes, the rain slowed so i got back out on the street again. within three blocks, a strong and painful burst of heavy raindrops fell, so i pulled off the road again and under some trees. i sat there for about 15 minutes, waiting and watching as the raindrops from the tree fell and soaked me completely! i enjoyed watching the wind patterns via the gushes of rain that fell over the parking lot. eventually, i made it back on the road and to my friend's house! dry drivers inside their cars were as friendly as possible to my soaking wet frame as i cautiously turned on my turn signal to switch lanes!!
DAY 2 UPDATE: i forgot to mention that the moon was bright and near jupiter this night. a beautiful sight.
today is day 3. i'm back on the scooter again and it will probably rain at some point, but oh well... i'll get a little wet again in the warm rain!
DAY 3 UPATE: i think i found a cool place to live. details later!
as i drove the scooter home excited that i found a potential place, i looked east and saw dark rain clouds with visible streams of rain falling to the ground. i thought... mierda... vamos!!! i still had to drive thru downtown to get to casa de garret. i made it all the way to south congress and mary before the looming clouds dropped their first drops. i was going strong towards home but then caught the light at oltorf! as i sat there, a heavy wall of rain fell on me. i noticed the dry patches of road beneath the cars around me. i shrugged at the driver next to me as water drops fell from my helmet. three blocks later i rushed the corner and pulled into the garage... soaking wet... again... just as the next burst of storm fell to the ground.
damn beautiful refreshing wet rainy season!
i'm furiously looking for a place to live in austin so hopefully i can move before i start teaching next week. i'm borrowing my friend's scooter for a few days so i can search the neighborhoods where i want to live and check places out. wow, i missed driving a scooter! they're so much fun!! i dont think i have enough money saved up to buy a car right now, but i may invest in a scooter!
my first day back in austin was fantastic... went to one of my favorite spots on the greenbelt that runs right through the center of town. you enter a trail in one of several neighborhoods and then walk for 10 minutes or so to an isolated area with big rocks to jump off of into the clear green warm water. amazing! i forgot how nice it is just to sit in warm water. and i forgot the feel of slimy moss on my fingers. this is definitely one of my favorite places in the world! i took these pictures several years ago when i first arrived in austin.
on day 2, i went to campus and back to work to sift thru my gigantic pile of snail mail and to say hola to old familiar faces. its amazing how i havent thought about the little things, like going up the elevator in RLM to the 16th floor. i stood in the elevator realizing that it hadnt changed a single bit and it felt just as familiar as ever eventhough it hadnt passed through my mind in almost a year.
after work i drove thru the sunny neighborhoods looking for "for rent" signs. i eventually got bored and headed off to a friends house.... just at the moment that the sky darkened and a wall of rain fell on my exposed body! i quickly turned off the road and drove the scooter under a tree. too late... i was already pretty wet. the feel of rain was nice though.... it rained twice that i saw the whole time i was in chile!! after a few minutes, the rain slowed so i got back out on the street again. within three blocks, a strong and painful burst of heavy raindrops fell, so i pulled off the road again and under some trees. i sat there for about 15 minutes, waiting and watching as the raindrops from the tree fell and soaked me completely! i enjoyed watching the wind patterns via the gushes of rain that fell over the parking lot. eventually, i made it back on the road and to my friend's house! dry drivers inside their cars were as friendly as possible to my soaking wet frame as i cautiously turned on my turn signal to switch lanes!!
DAY 2 UPDATE: i forgot to mention that the moon was bright and near jupiter this night. a beautiful sight.
today is day 3. i'm back on the scooter again and it will probably rain at some point, but oh well... i'll get a little wet again in the warm rain!
DAY 3 UPATE: i think i found a cool place to live. details later!
as i drove the scooter home excited that i found a potential place, i looked east and saw dark rain clouds with visible streams of rain falling to the ground. i thought... mierda... vamos!!! i still had to drive thru downtown to get to casa de garret. i made it all the way to south congress and mary before the looming clouds dropped their first drops. i was going strong towards home but then caught the light at oltorf! as i sat there, a heavy wall of rain fell on me. i noticed the dry patches of road beneath the cars around me. i shrugged at the driver next to me as water drops fell from my helmet. three blocks later i rushed the corner and pulled into the garage... soaking wet... again... just as the next burst of storm fell to the ground.
damn beautiful refreshing wet rainy season!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
viva chile, mierda!
it's so hard to believe that 8 months has passed since i began my adventures on this crazy continent. tomorrow i start my journey from here...
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
tats for nerds!
carl zimmer at the loom blog is collecting pictures of
scientists and their tattoos. i think this is so cool! i've been checking it out all day for updates!
i've been wanting another tattoo for a while now and i have an idea mixing around in my head. i've wanted another tattoo ever since i got my first one at 18. the problem is that i've never had the idea, the location and the money together all at the same time and these are the 3 critical things for getting a permanent thing placed on my body!
the science tattoo thing has given me another idea.... and i think i might have it done... at some point ;) i've been a little leary about getting a tattoo in a bold location because of the prospect of having to apply for jobs over and over again in the world of academia. but really, would i want a job from people who think having a tattoo reflects negatively on my ability to do good science? NO!
so probably this fall or if not... definitely when i finish my degree next year... i'll be showing off a new tattoo. hee hee!
scientists and their tattoos. i think this is so cool! i've been checking it out all day for updates!
i've been wanting another tattoo for a while now and i have an idea mixing around in my head. i've wanted another tattoo ever since i got my first one at 18. the problem is that i've never had the idea, the location and the money together all at the same time and these are the 3 critical things for getting a permanent thing placed on my body!
the science tattoo thing has given me another idea.... and i think i might have it done... at some point ;) i've been a little leary about getting a tattoo in a bold location because of the prospect of having to apply for jobs over and over again in the world of academia. but really, would i want a job from people who think having a tattoo reflects negatively on my ability to do good science? NO!
so probably this fall or if not... definitely when i finish my degree next year... i'll be showing off a new tattoo. hee hee!
Friday, August 3, 2007
space reading?
there are many many interesting articles to choose from at this week's carnival of space.... so go have a look!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
scorpion kick
rene higuita es un genio y un loco! he's the craziest goal keeper i've ever seen and i can't believe i'm just hearing about him now!
watch at 1:14.... the purely awesome scorpion kick!
watch at 1:14.... the purely awesome scorpion kick!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
dream home
i mean, other than living in a real tree house.... what could be better than a low environmental impact hobbit house???
martian blueberries
the informative space.com put together a list of the top 10 most amazing things discovered by the mars rovers, spirit and opportunity. everyone likes their lists and i think it's great that there's finally one about my favorite robots!
items included on the list are the first meteorite ever found on another planet and the possibility that mars smells like rotten eggs from all the sulfur on its surface!! my personal favorite discovery by the rovers was definitely the blueberries! these are little ball-shaped rocks that were named for looking the blueberries in blueberry muffins.
Scientists aren't completely sure what causes these little rocks to have such spherical shapes and pure contents, but they have a good theory. the BB-sized spheres are mostly made of hematite, an oxide of iron. if the martian spheres are formed similarly to blueberry stones found on earth in utah, then over time, water seeped through cracks, spaces and pores in the martian rock and dirt.... eventually, the water swept the materials (like iron and other minerals) to a different location with different chemistry. the iron flowing with the water reacted differently to the new surroundings and got stuck somewhere. over time more iron stuck, creating a layered spherical ball. weathering of the surrounding area after many many years blew away loose dust and left the erosion-resistant blueberries grouped together... as they were found on mars.
so this would mean.... that there was once flowing water on mars, which definitely deserves a number 1 ranking on the list!!
cool stuff. i havent read much more about these blueberries recently. anyone else seen articles about them dated later than 2004? anyway, neat top 10 list and finally some good press for NASA!
items included on the list are the first meteorite ever found on another planet and the possibility that mars smells like rotten eggs from all the sulfur on its surface!! my personal favorite discovery by the rovers was definitely the blueberries! these are little ball-shaped rocks that were named for looking the blueberries in blueberry muffins.
Scientists aren't completely sure what causes these little rocks to have such spherical shapes and pure contents, but they have a good theory. the BB-sized spheres are mostly made of hematite, an oxide of iron. if the martian spheres are formed similarly to blueberry stones found on earth in utah, then over time, water seeped through cracks, spaces and pores in the martian rock and dirt.... eventually, the water swept the materials (like iron and other minerals) to a different location with different chemistry. the iron flowing with the water reacted differently to the new surroundings and got stuck somewhere. over time more iron stuck, creating a layered spherical ball. weathering of the surrounding area after many many years blew away loose dust and left the erosion-resistant blueberries grouped together... as they were found on mars.
so this would mean.... that there was once flowing water on mars, which definitely deserves a number 1 ranking on the list!!
cool stuff. i havent read much more about these blueberries recently. anyone else seen articles about them dated later than 2004? anyway, neat top 10 list and finally some good press for NASA!
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