marathon
esiegel | March 18, 2013"Every star may be a sun to someone." -Carl Sagan
Welcome back to yet another Messier Monday! Each week, we highlight one of the 110 deep-sky objects that make up the Messier catalogue: Charles Messier's legacy to comet-hunters and amateur astronomers, pointing out some of the most easily visible deep-sky objects as seen from our vantage point on Earth.
Image credit: Yvett Bass (M1-M55) and Josh Sanford (M56-M110), via Dan Bruton of SFASU.
Once-a-year, around the new Moon nearest to the vernal equinox, many amateur astronomers around the world attempt to view all 110 objects in the same…
stoat | April 16, 2012 The follow-up to Amsterdam and Brighton part 1. Again, if you lack interest in running, the answer is 3:54.28.
The photo is me and James Edgoose after the finish. By this point we've gone through the phases of collapsed in a heap for a bit, drunk some water, eaten a banana, just about got up, walked a bit, sat down again, got up and are capable of smiling... well you get the idea. And I can only speak for my own collapse, James finished 15+ mins ahead of me so may have been all sparkly at the finish for all I know.
This year was much better than Brighton last year, but only a bit (3 mins)…
stoat | October 17, 2011The long-awaited follow-up to Brighton man and about as exciting for non-runners. If you lack patience, the answer is 3:57.
Long introduction - you can skip this bit
Just like last time, there is a backstory: after Brighton, I'd decided I was going to do more of this nonsense, and so inscribed again. But next April was a long way away, so I thought I'd see how two a year worked. I looked around and found a new local race, Grafham water marathon in September, and signed up for that. Closer to the time I realised that the all-important Boston marathon was on the same day. Rats: so I cancelled…
jhalper | July 6, 2011Last year we were number two; this year we're back on top: The Scientist annual survey of the best places to work in academia has once again ranked the Weizmann Institute #1 outside of the US. Even more impressive, in the survey, in which statements were rated on a scale of 1-5 for disagree/agree, the line: "My work gives me great personal satisfaction," scored a perfect 5. We think that pretty much says it all.
For more on what makes the Weizmann Institute such a great place, read this interview (translated) with its president, Prof. Daniel Zajfman, in Haaretz Daily.
Speaking of winning,…
stoat | April 11, 2011 [Another in a series of posts designed to disguise my failure to come up with a daily sea ice bet. But I'll get there.]
The backstory: a while ago, last September, some friends mentioned that they were training for the Brighton Marathon and would I like to run the Grunty Fen half marathon in two weeks time? At that point I'd been running for about half a year (starting from "rowing and running, but I should add that I'd been fairly fit before then) so I said yes. Since then I've pulled my half marathon score down from 1:51 to 1:41, and done some training runs out to 32k, which is 3/4 of the…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Kalahari Persistence Hunt, film making, marathon, kudu, Africa, BBC One, David Attenborough, streaming video
During a persistence hunt, an antelope, such as a kudu, is not shot or speared from a distance, but simply run down in the midday heat. Depending on the specific conditions, hunters of the central Kalahari will chase a kudu for about two to five hours over 25 to 35 km in temperatures of about 40 to 42°C (104 to 107°F). The hunter chases the kudu, which then runs away out of sight. By tracking it down at a fast running pace the hunter catches up with it before it has had enough…