“When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
This is fast becoming an international tradition all over not just America, but the Northern Hemisphere. Contests are also being held by the Ohio DoT, the Massachusettes DoT, the Nebraska DoT, and several cities in Canada like Edmunton,and Calgary.
Misspelled locale names aside, this is excellent. There are still a few days left in these competitions, so cue up your creativity and start naming!
But no, it turns out that once you start lobbing asteroids at the planet, as in Earth, our unique and very populated home, it all gets a bit terrifying.*
Also, despite our successes earlier this year, humanity hasn’t quite figured out the whole “killer asteroid” thing.
Hmm. Maybe Captain Kirk has a bit of planetary encouragement for us?
Last year, at the age of 90, I had a life-changing experience. I went to space, after decades of playing a science-fiction character who was exploring the universe and building connections with many diverse life forms and cultures. I thought I would experience a similar feeling: a feeling of deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration. A call to indeed boldly go where no one had gone before.
Coined by author Alexandra Rowland in 2017, the term hopepunk was created to be the anthesis of the grimdark genre. Instead of everything being sad and impossible, Alexandra was looking for books that were actually happy….
At its core, hopepunk is just about leaving the reader with hope for the future. Bad things can happen along the way, but they aren’t bad forever.
* For example, an asteroid hitting Lebanon, Kansas, the more or less geographic center of the continental US, would do significant damage via direct impact, shock waves, wind and earthquake. An asteroid hitting Chicago would be incomprehensibly catastrophic.
It’s December and starting to feel like the holidays; I am behind on presents, and the tree we’ve had up since before Covid is finally seasonal again, so situation normal. I’m also planning my end-of-year donations, to food banks, animal welfare groups, medical and other help for those who need it, and more.
We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light a candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and sure future.
— John F. Kennedy
This video of the Children’s Choir of Ukraine is helping me get into the holiday spirit.
“We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it as not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down.”
A former NASA engineer and now-YouTuber has created a viral sensation with a video documenting efforts to send an egg to near space to test if it cracks up on landing.
Tomorrow is December first, I’m feeling a bit wistful, and it’s raining. I’m not big on shoveling but I can’t help thinking that snow would be much more fun.
So, a haiku.
November passes. Leaves cling to branches despite Rain that should be snow.
An interactive map of the evolutionary links between all living things known to science. Discover your favourites, see which species are under threat, and be amazed by the diversity of life on earth.
How small the selection we have today, and how precious.
To supplement my previous post on the progress we’ve made imaging the far side of the Moon, here are a number of snapshots from the Artemis I Orion flyby.
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