“Honestly, if you’re given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don’t say ‘what kind of tea?’”
― Neil Gaiman
Wise advice.
Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change
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Archive for the ‘Science!’ Category
On The New Climate Change Report
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, climate change, inspiration, ruh-ro, Thoughts on April 6, 2022| 2 Comments »
Need a Vacation? Try the Moon!
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, MarsPeserverance, moon, NASA, science, Thoughts on March 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Need to take a quick break, maybe get off the planet for a bit? Now’s a great time to visit the Moon!
Send your name to the Moon with NASA’s Artemis mission!
Add your name here to have it included on a flash drive that will fly aboard Artemis I.
You could even do a little public service and cleanup litter once you’re up there, because Space Junk Just Crashed Into the Far Side of the Moon at 5,800 MPH.
While we’re talking space, you can also check out the current Location Map for Perseverance Rover.
Because sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of the good that humans can do, too.
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Shiver Me Timbers!
Posted in Funny, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, geography, inspiration, map projections, pirates, Thoughts on February 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I may have mentioned that I am entertained by maps, clever science jokes, and not-too-scary pirates. This xkcd comic ticks all the boxes.
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Past is Present & Future
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #AfterCovid, England, history, inspiration, Thoughts on January 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I love history. Not the memorization of dates and tests and such, but that moment where you realize in a sudden, visceral way that the past isn’t ever really gone. That the present is built on its bones.
I also like the idea of uncovering that past, either via literal bones or the items that people leave behind. Gold is nice and all (not least because it lasts) but I have a soft spot for the ordinary. What was once worthless, like a broken pot, a used envelope, translucent blue glass jar or a single button, becomes a window into the everyday.
A window in time, if you will.
From museums to restored footage to dragon bones (ok, not exactly but still) and virtual reconstructions, there are a lot of ways to see the past.
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I tend to prefer the more tactile alternatives.
My mother used to take us out to a friend’s cabin in the woods. In winter we helped her gather sap for maple syrup, but in summer my brother and I would head to the stream at the base of the hill. The water had cut a small cliff into the shale, and if we were lucky and good we could find fossils.
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Here are two examples of hands-on history I think would be fun to experience.
The fossil hunters of the Jurassic Coast
… with the West Dorset cliffs eroding at such a rapid rate, scientists alone could never hope to save even a fraction of the fossils emerging onto the beaches before they’re swept away by the waves. This has left amateur collectors as key partners in the fight to preserve the area’s extraordinary fossil bounty for study and display, and has, over the past two decades, fuelled a huge rise in the number of people visiting the local beaches in search of prehistoric treasures.
… the majority of the things salvaged from the mud are more recent—often medieval or later—and are small, humble reminders of what people used, maybe loved, and eventually discarded. Exploring the shore as a mudlark is like conducting a swift, simple, satisfying archaeological dig, with almost no digging at all.
More fun for the future!
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Feeling Lucky
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, space, Tuesdays on January 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Yes, it’s Tuesday and work is crazy as usual but it’s not all negative news. We will not be hit by an asteroid today!
A huge asteroid will fly safely by Earth today. Here’s how to watch it live. | Space
See? Tuesdays aren’t all bad.
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Word of the Day: Supermarine
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, inspiration, invention, Thoughts, Writers on January 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Ha ha ha ha, this is 110% amazing!
More info and videos on this obviously critical area of scientific research:
- Today I learned about the attempts to make goldfish mech suits
- Goldfish who can drive: why scientists taught fish to navigate a watery tank on wheels
So if humans visit underwater environments in a submarine, are these fish driving around in a supermarine?
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Off to See the Wizard
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, health, home, stupid Covid on January 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »
In Case You Were Wondering
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, inspiration, NASA, science, Thoughts on December 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I accumulate a lot of random facts. Here’s one I found interesting: Spiders can’t spidey so well when they’re on drugs.
Just say no, spiders, just say no!*
* Unless you have a constant source of delicious insects supplied by your organization’s graduate students and no pressing engagements, in which case, you do you, spideys.
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Uphill From Here
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, good news, science, Thoughts, Tom Hanks on December 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today is the winter solstice, marking the Northern Hemisphere’s shortest day.
Why solstice? It’s science so there must be a Latin connection, right? Right.
During the course of a year, the subsolar point—the spot on the Earth’s surface directly beneath the Sun—slowly moves along a north-south axis. Having reached its northernmost point at the June solstice, it starts moving southward until it crosses the equator on the day of the September equinox. At the December solstice, which marks the southernmost point of its journey, it stops again to start its journey back toward the north.
This is how the solstices got their name: the term comes from the Latin words sol and sistere, meaning “Sun” and “to stand still”.
— December Solstice 2021: Longest & Shortest Day
The good news is that it’s all uphill from here.
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It’s All Relative
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, fun, science, tech hates me today, Thoughts on December 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Some days I feel like I am getting nothing done. Despite the fact that I have been working on a number of projects and fighting bad tech mojo on multiple fronts,* today is one of those days.
Am I am getting nowhere? Maybe, but I’m also doing it very, very fast. Thanks to the magic of plate tectonics (ok, that part’s pretty slow) and orbital mechanics, so are you.
If you’ve ever wanted to know how fast you are moving (even when you aren’t going anywhere), check out this fun site:
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* Really, keyboard, backup drive, laptop, and printer, you’d have me believe that this wasn’t all planned?
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