“To live is not to breathe but to act.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
A Busy Busy Day!
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, action, inspiration, life, philosophy, quotes, Thoughts on June 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Adventure! Discovery! Secrets of the Universe!
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, astronomy, discrovery, female scientists, inspiration, science, space, Thoughts, universe on June 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
If you don’t track space news or astronomy news or science news, you may not have seen the announcement about the debut of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s recent drop of galactically cool imagery.
Even if you have seen the announcements, you may not know the story behind the observatory, its world-beating telescope, or the woman it’s named after. Here’s a quick orientation and of course, a look at some of that amazing imagery.
World’s largest telescope debuts
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time camera is expected to capture more information about the universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined.
What is the observatory observing from its perch on Cerro Pachón in Chile? All the things!
Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
In just over 10 hours of test observations, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory has already captured millions of galaxies and Milky Way stars and thousands of asteroids. The imagery is a small preview of Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year scientific mission to explore and understand some of the Universe’s biggest mysteries.
Here are just some of the first images: Rubin Observatory.
Vera Rubin: First celestial image from revolutionary telescope
It should detect killer asteroids in striking distance of Earth and map the Milky Way. It will also answer crucial questions about dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up most of our universe.
Exactly who was Vera C. Rubin? Just a girl who dreamed of space, ignored the haters, and grew up to be a world-class scientist.
The Woman Behind the World’s Biggest Camera
But who is the observatory’s namesake astronomer?
Vera Rubin is best known for presenting the first sound evidence of dark matter—an elusive substance that makes up more than 80 percent of our universe, yet doesn’t interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation, making it impossible to glimpse directly through a telescope. Her central scientific accomplishment involved discovering a mismatch between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion of galaxies. Rubin’s calculations offered a solution to this so-called “galaxy rotation problem” by suggesting that galaxies must contain at least 10 times as much mass as can be accounted for by the visible stars. This invisible mass constituted evidence for what astronomers had earlier proposed to be dark matter.
Rubin became a cosmological giant against the odds, illuminating a path for future female astronomers.
(And, I’d like to add, becoming a role model for kids of all shapes and sizes!) Want even more in-depth info about telescope and its capabilities?
First Data from Vera Rubin Observatory Rewrites Astronomy (Starting Now) – YouTube
In this exclusive interview, Professor Mario Jurić reveals how the Vera Rubin Observatory accidentally discovered 2,000 asteroids in just 10 hours while testing its capabilities on the distant Virgo Cluster—transforming humanity’s asteroid discovery rate from 20,000 per year globally to potentially over one million annually with a single telescope.
Short and very cool video of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, compiling more than seven hours of observing time: Trifid and Lagoon Nebulas (Video-ES).
And sure, why not, a space game!
Space Surveyors is a fun, interactive game where YOU move the Rubin telescope around the sky. How many stars, galaxies, supernovae, comets, and asteroids can you catch in one minute, before the sun rises?
While players aren’t moving the *real* telescope around, it’s still fun to play. (I discovered 22 objects before the clouds rolled in and the sun came up. Bet you can do better:)
Adventure! Discovery! Secrets of the universe! This, kids, is why math is important.*
* I mean, sure, also to figure out if you have enough money to pay rent and still buy ice cream, but also this!
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Happy to Be in the North
Posted in Holidays, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, solstice on June 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today the sun will reach its northernmost latitude. It will sit above the Tropic of Cancer, which means that today is the longest day in the northern hemisphere, and the shortest day in the southern hemisphere.
On this Summer Solstice, will you have one longest day or two? – The Weather Network
This marks the start of astronomical summer for the northern hemisphere for this year.
And in parts of Canada, we have a bit of added fun.
The entire country will experience the longest day of the year on Friday the 20th.
However, if you live anywhere from northern and eastern Ontario to the Atlantic coast, Saturday the 21st will be the exact same length as the 20th, down to the second. This includes Timmins, North Bay, Ottawa, and Bainsville in Ontario, plus everywhere to the east — all of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Check out the rest of the article for more on the astronomy of it all, where the name comes from, and what a solargraphy is (pretty, that’s what).
I hope you enjoy the solstice, no matter where you are. And if you (like me) get two, even better!
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The Nebulas Await
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #TeamCanada, awards, inspiration, Nebula Awards, Writers, writing on June 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I’ve been too focused on work lately. Mr Man had to remind me that the Nebula Award winners were announced earlier this month. Thanks, Mr Man!
Here’s the announcement: 2024 – The Nebula Awards®, and Locus has the list with online links for free-to-read stories.
As usual, the Nebulas provide a slate of interesting material for my reading list. I’m also happy to say that Canadian authors are well-represented in this year’s awards.
Canadian sci-fi scribes among the winners for this year’s Nebula Awards
The winners’ roster also includes an interactive game that sounds like something I very much want to check out:
A Death in Hyperspace (via Stewart C Baker)
As an embodied ship Intelligence and fugitive former warship, you’ve faced many challenges.
But when your captain dies suspiciously halfway through a hyperspace transit, you know you’re in trouble. Not because you need a captain — you can pilot yourself just fine — but because, as an aficionado of mysteries and detective stories, you know there’s only one explanation: murder most foul.
Investigate your rooms.
Interrogate your crew and passengers.
Solve the mystery.
Will you find your way back to reality — or be stuck in hyperspace forever?
It beat out big names like Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and it’s free to play online? Sounds excellent!
Way to go, everyone!
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Book Break
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, authors, climate fiction, creativity, inspiration, interviews, sci-fi, to read, Writers, writing on June 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
An interview with a sci-fi author about a series that sounds good:
‘For anybody who could use a break’: A Q&A with sci-fi author Becky Chambers
So, my goal with these books was to create something that hit that same note, of: “You can just be comfy here for a while. You can just be safe. Nothing’s gonna jump at you, nothing’s gonna stress you out. But I am going to speak to you as a fellow adult. I’m going to talk to you about things that are relevant to you in your adult life.”
Sounds fun, and I’ve enjoyed other Becky Chambers books, so I’m adding the Monk & Robot series to my list.
“One of the things I aim for is just to say, hey, it doesn’t have to be this way. I think that’s the key goal of science fiction in general, whether it’s a positive future, a negative future, somewhere in between. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
— Becky Chambers
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Things My Father Taught Us
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Father's Day, inspiration, thanks Dad, Thoughts on June 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Just some of the things my father passed on:
- be kind
- listen to others’ opinions, even if you don’t always agree
- money is a useful thing, but not the most important thing
- read to your children
- a warm kitchen makes a home
- a good chef’s knife is important
- a good library is critical, and
- you can always do more than you think you can.
To the man who introduced me to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, good food, good music, and good writing, Happy Father’s Day!
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Happy Friday!
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts on June 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I’m behind and my to do list is calling, but I’ve managed to sneak in some of the things that really matter. Like a little writing, food for the birds, and making Mr Man laugh.
“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”
― Roy T. Bennett
Hope your day is a good one!
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Seven Words
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, life, Thoughts on June 12, 2025| 2 Comments »
As part of an answer to a woman looking for answers to big questions (excuse me, Big Questions), blogger Darius Foroux was asked to sum up his definition of life in 50 words or less. His answer?
No one knows what they are doing.
— Darius Foroux
I find this both reassuring and encouraging. I mean, sure, a lot of people know a lot of things, but no one knows everything. Everyone has questions, everyone has areas for improvement, and we’re all just wading through life trying to keep our feet dry (or not, you do you!).
Here’s to doing it anyway.
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Be Bold
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #adventure, art, creativity, failure, fear, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.”
— Maya Angelou
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Wisp of a Dream
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, dreams, fantasy, history, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, language, Middle Earth, runes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
You know how some days you wake up at 5:30 and lie there in the early morning sun wondering what brought your mind up from sleep? That was me this morning. And as I lay there, the answer bubbled up from my dreams, slow and obscure but clear: Elder Futhark.
Weird, I thought, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.
Nope. For the past few hours every time my mind is unoccupied for more than a moment, what pops into my mind? Elder Futhark.
Wondering what I’m going on about? Runes. Let me give you a brief (very brief!) introduction to this early Germanic writing system.
The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, /ˈfuːðɑːrk/), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones, from the 2nd to the 8th centuries…. knowledge of how to read the Elder Futhark was forgotten until 1865, when it was deciphered by Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge.
Why would I have this stuck in my head? No idea. My mother studied it once upon a time, and of course, the runes of Middle Earth owe a lot to the old runic languages.
Here’s Gandalf’s mark, Certh rune no. 19:
And here’s the letter F in Elder Futhark: ᚠ
As for what it means? What can I say, the mind works in odd ways.
This wisp of a dream got me thinking about language, and how a characteristic of civilization that we think of as both ubiquitous and permanent, like an alphabet, can just… disappear.
What’s really interesting to me about this, aside from the historical progression of written language, is that what that language represents hasn’t changed all that much.
Writing systems transform, but the stories, the ideas we’re trying to communicate and pass on with that language, those haven’t changed much at all.
I mean, sure, a not insignificant part of language has always been about keeping track of death and taxes, but those aren’t the only things that are inevitable.
No matter the language, stories remind us that we are not alone, help us give structure to the problems we face, and provide an outlet for our experiences.
We’re still interested in heroes and villains, quests and homecomings, pain and joy, and the idea that no matter what challenges we face, there is always hope.
Always.
“Remember, language is fun! It is also magical, so use it well and use it wisely!”
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