September 13, 2010
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -Galileo Galilei
While practically every scientist (and 79% of Americans) accept that the Earth and the other planets go around the Sun, it isn't quite…
September 12, 2010
"Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is; for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows." -Socrates
This weekend, I'm pleased to bring you a song by Wizz Jones, a British singer-songwriter who's been at it for over 50…
September 10, 2010
"Consideration of particle emission from black holes would seem to suggest that God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -Stephen Hawking
Last week, I wrote about how high-energy cosmic rays strike Earth's atmosphere and wind up bombarding everything on…
September 8, 2010
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." -Unknown
Someone showed me a picture yesterday, and my initial reaction was simply, "WOW!" See for yourself:
But, as a physicist, I…
September 7, 2010
"I saw for the first time the earth's shape. I could easily see the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, folds of the terrain, large bodies of water. The horizon is dark blue, smoothly turning to black. . . the feelings which filled me I can express with one word--joy." -Yuri Gagarin
It…
September 5, 2010
"Each song has its own secret that's different from another song, and each has its own life. Sometimes it has to be teased out, whereas other times it might come fast. There are no laws about songwriting or producing. It depends on what you're doing, not just who you're doing." -Mark Knopfler
There…
September 3, 2010
"We have been forced to admit for the first time in history not only the possibility but the fact of the growth and decay of the elements of matter. With radium and with uranium we do not see anything but the decay. And yet, somewhere, somehow, it is almost certain that these elements must be…
September 1, 2010
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say.
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now," but we'll stay. -The Postal Service
It isn't the weekend, but I'd feel terrible showing you these pictures without giving you the right song to take you through…
August 30, 2010
"The whole fabric of the space-time continuum is not merely curved, it is in fact totally bent." -Douglas Adams
As many of you know, if you take a whole bunch of mass, and you've got nothing going on except gravity, it's going to gravitationally collapse. And if atoms, nuclei, pressure, and nuclear…
August 29, 2010
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time…
August 27, 2010
"The most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible." -Albert Einstein
The observable Universe is huge. Incredibly, mind-bogglingly huge. When we look out, in any direction, we see galaxies upon galaxies upon galaxies, stretching for billions and billion of light years…
August 26, 2010
"You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don'…
August 25, 2010
"The only problem with the speed of light, is it gets here too early in the morning." -Danny Nevrath
One of the most common questions I get asked is whether gravity is instantaneous, or whether there's a speed limit to how fast the force of gravity can travel.
It's a good question! After all, we…
August 21, 2010
"There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen."
-James Lovell, Astronaut: Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13
A few weeks ago you had your…
August 19, 2010
"Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune."
-Noam Chomsky
You might remember when the Solar System had nine planets, but as unbelievable as it sounds, for a very long time we only had six.
Why?…
August 17, 2010
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen. -Baz Luhrmann…
August 15, 2010
"For human love--the beings that change or die;
Die--change--forget: to care so is a curse,
Yet cursed we'll be rather than not care thus." -Mathilde Blind
Every once in a while, a new artist comes along that surprises me in some fashion, and with Joe Firstman, it's his sincerity and earnestness.…
August 13, 2010
"A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man awoke in the night." -J. M. Barrie
But off in space, a whopping 320 million light…
August 11, 2010
"Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Once a year, in mid-August, the Perseid Meteor Shower comes to town. If you're going to see just one meteor shower a year, make it this one.
Image…
August 9, 2010
"The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind." -H. L. Mencken
If you went back 100 years in time, you could rightfully claim that, scientifically, we had no convincing evidence as to where our Universe came from. After…
August 8, 2010
"No matter how hard you work to bring yourself up, there's someone out there working just as hard, to put you down." -Dr. Dre
I always admire people who can both find success in life while staying true to who they are. And Dr. Dre is someone who, in my opinion, has managed to do just that. He's…
August 6, 2010
"Anyone who sits on top of the largest hydrogen-oxygen fueled system in the world; knowing they're going to light the bottom--and doesn't get a little worried--does not fully understand the situation."
-John Young, after being asked if he was worried about making the first Space Shuttle flight (STS…
August 4, 2010
Homer: Hello, is this NASA?
Scientist: Yes?
Homer: Good! Listen, I'm sick of your boring space launches. Now I'm just an ordinary, blue-collar slob, but I know what I likes on TV.
Scientist: How did you get this number?
Homer: Shut up! And another thing, how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?
-…
August 4, 2010
Skinner: Well, that was wonderful. A good time was had by all. I'm pooped.
Chalmers: Yes, I should be goooo-(notices kitchen on fire)-od lord, what is happening in there?
Skinner: Aurora Borealis?
Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country?…
August 2, 2010
"The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue." -Antisthenes
As many of you know, in addition to news about cosmology, space, astronomy, and physics, I'm also heavily involved in education. This includes, in various stages, teaching, curriculum design, and…
July 30, 2010
"We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." -Astronaut Bill Anders, Pilot, Apollo 8
Humanity's ventures to the Moon have always been symbolic of the greatest things our species has ever achieved. In fact, Bill Anders, quoted above, is…
July 30, 2010
"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -Galileo
There should be a big vote going on today about the future of spaceflight in America. Obama has outlined his new space policy, and has called for the commercial sector to step up and get involved in spaceflight, particularly…
July 28, 2010
"Don't blame yourself. The apocalypse wasn't your fault. Actually, it was just as much your fault as it was anyone else's. Come to think of it, if you're an American, it was probably about 80-90 percent more your fault than the average human. But don't let that get you down. It wasn't exclusively…
July 28, 2010
"`It's quite hard to destroy the Earth.'
Does that statement make anyone else nervous? I mean, does that sound like experience talking?"
-from the comments on the LHC at slashdot
Last week, I started an open thread, giving you the chance to ask about how certain we were about the validity of…
July 24, 2010
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein
Every weekend, I try to add a little something that's a little more than the science, astronomy, and physics I talk about during the week. Well,…
