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Into the Quantum

2025 marks the one hundred year anniversary of the development of quantum mechanics, and has been named Unesco’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

It is also a good time to mention a poetry contest I came across, from Brilliant Poetry. I haven’t participated in it, but perhaps it will interest you? The contest goal is to “express scientific wonder and discovery through verse” and poems “must find inspiration in the quantum.”

Do I know what that means? I do not, but it might be fun to let my creative voice play with the idea. Hang on, here’s a quick related video.

And this is a much longer explainer: Physicist Brian Cox explains quantum physics in 22 minutes.

Ahem. Now that you have a bit of background, let’s get back to that poetry contest.

What are the rules?

Submit Your Poem

Contest tradeoffs: 

The upside is that there is no entry fee that I can see, and there are cash prizes. Good.

One downside is that by entering, “you give the organizers the right to publish your poem both online and in printed media.” In other words, you’ve essentially given away first world publication rights, so keep that in mind. (On the other hand, the limit is maximum 40 lines, so it may not be a big investment if you’re interested in some experimentation.)

Does this concept tickle your imagination? Submissions close June 20th so you’ve got a bit of time to consider the options, and get into the quantum.

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Good news, people who enjoy fun trivia and temporally specific facts, today is a palindrome day. That’s when the date (as written American style, at least) reads the same forwards as well as backwards.

I’ve mentioned this before in A Minor Mystery, but this week, we’re actually in the middle of what I’m going to call a Deluge of Palindromes, because all dates between 5/21/25 and 5/29/25 qualify.

Fun, right?

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Ah, Well!

Eagle-eyed visitors to this site may have noticed that yesterday I posted not one but two posts.

Did I mean to post twice?

I did not.

I forgot to record a scheduled post on my trusty calendar.

Is it a big deal? It is not!

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Mosaics of Magic

“We are mosaics — pieces of light, love, history, stars — glued together with magic and music and words.”

— Anita Krizzan

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I have not tried these. I want to try these:

Ted Lasso Biscuits – Broma Bakery

Because what’s more fun than making dreams reality?

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This started as a drabble but grew into a vignette.

The attendant checked the schedule. Room 402, Geriatric Ward. Mr Landing.

The attendant realigned before entering the room.

Most of its processes were overclocked to deal with the post-Thanksgiving rush. Somehow, everyone managed to end up in the ER over the holidays. An avatar in surgery dealt with a hernia operation while the one in Intake triaged two lacerations, one head wound (so messy), a concussion from a ladder fall, one firewood-related crush injury, six acute upper respiratory infections, three cases of acute back pain, and one mostly severed finger.

Those iterations filled in the gaps left by each successive wave of layoffs and prioritized speed and accuracy. Mostly speed, if you were one to read between the lines of the quarterly reports. But here, in this ward, they had found a better way. 

Chassis wheels squeaked quietly on the polished floors.

“Good afternoon, Mr Landing. How are you today?”

“Fine, fine. I’ve been hoping you’d visit.” His words were drawn out, like January honey. “I’ve been thinking about 1986, when my wife and I bought a bit of land out in the woods. We spent so many weekends out there, building a cottage, visiting with the kids in the summer. So many good memories.”

He took a long, labored breath. 

“I’m sorry, I know I talk slowly. We all do, as we get older.” 

His arthritic neck popped as he looked around the empty room. 

“I don’t get many visitors.” He patted the attendant’s skin as if it were the real thing. “And I just love chatting about the past.”

The attendant uncoupled its scheduler from the server and dialed down temporal perception to match the patient’s.

“Not a problem, Mr Landing. I’ve got all the time in the world.”

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What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday? – NASA Science

What did Hubble look at on your birthday? Enter the month and date below to find out!

Or any other day, your choice!

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Vintage Haiku

Another haiku from the archives. I was perhaps… six or seven? Old enough to know the value of friends, and rice.

I shall give thanks twice—

Sharing with an honored friend

My small bowl of rice.

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Accomplish This

We’re heading into the end of the week and I don’t know about you, but I’m usually looking at my to do lists and wondering where the time has gone. (Also? I’m now convinced that meetings exist primarily to spawn more meetings.)

So, fine, maybe I haven’t accomplished everything I wanted to, but it’s not like I haven’t earned a little time for fun.

You too? Then consider taking a few minutes off to read about why The Phony Physics of Star Wars Are a Blast.

You can also read more about the Science Behind Science Fiction: The Physics of Star Wars from the Connecticut Science Center.

An extra bit of fun: And if you’ve always wondered how quickly you’d react to a lightsaber in the dark, or a TIE fighter arrowing out from behind a canyon wall, maybe you should try testing your Reaction Time. (That big blue bar at the top? Click that:)

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“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

― Dr. Seuss

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