You Had Me At…. (Part 1)

Read Full Post »

Why Punctuation Matters!

I saw this the other day and I had to post it here.

It reinforces for me why punctuation matters!

A very happy new year to everyone!

________________________________________________________

Check out Facebook.com/grammarly and Grammarly.com!

Read Full Post »

Pythagorean Theorem Demonstrated by Water

Pythagorean Theorum: The area of the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the square on the other two sides.

The theorem can be written as an equation relating the lengths of the sides a, b and c, often called the Pythagorean equation:

where c represents the length of the hypotenuse, and a and b represent the lengths of the other two sides.

And that’s the way it is usually explained.

This way is MUCH cooler!

It is a demonstration of the Pythagorean Theorem using water.

Who said Euclidean geometry can’t be fun!

Read Full Post »

Spaghettification: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Death by Black Hole

We’ve all spent sleepless nights, tossing and turning, as we pondered this profound question…

What happens I fall into a black hole?

Worry no further, boys and girls.

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains it all for you!

You’re welcome.

Sleep tight!

___________________________________________________________

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. This talk is based on his well-reviewed book, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries.

Read Full Post »

Sullivan Ballou Letter – Ashoken Farewell

I’ve not yet had the opportunity to see Ken Burns’ masterful work, The Civil War.

But I did see this one clip. [1]

A week before the Battle of Bull Run, Sullivan Ballou, a Major in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers, wrote home to his wife, Sarah, in Smithfield. The letter was written from Washington, D.C. July 14, 1861, on the eve of his unit moving out to war.

He wrote the letter in anticipation of his death.

It is, to me, the most moving love letter I’ve ever read. By the end, I was reduced to tears.

(Bull Run, Virginia – View of the battlefield)

Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run.

In this 150th anniversary of those horrible, bloody years of the American Civil War, please take a few minutes and listen to Sullivan Ballou’s heart-felt sentiments.

____________________________________________________________

[1] The music in the background is entitled Ashoken Farewell.

Read Full Post »

Where Is The Center of the Universe?

In the beginning, the universe was a single point. But where was that point exactly? What was its location?

As explained in an article in the FYI section of PopSci.com, it was, and still is… everywhere.

In other words, no matter where you are in the universe, you’re at the centre! [1]

It’s answers like these that make my head explode.

I remember when Exhibit Two tried to help me grasp the concept that the universe has no centre. I developed a somewhat similar headache when trying to wrap my kosher samurai brain around the concept while reading the PopSci.com article.

“First, it’s important to know that the big bang wasn’t an explosion of matter into empty space—it was the rapid expansion of space itself. This means that every single point in the universe appears to be at the center. Think of the universe as an empty balloon with dots on it. Those dots represent clusters of galaxies. As the balloon inflates, every dot moves farther away from every other dot. The space between clusters of galaxies expands, like the rest of the universe, at an accelerating rate. (Gravity keeps the clusters themselves the same size.)”

Edwin Hubble first observed this phenomenon in 1929, when he noticed that the light from distant galaxies shifted to the red end of the spectrum, as though it had been stretched as it traveled through space. By measuring the wavelengths of the light, Hubble observed that galaxies were expanding away from each other at a rate proportional to their distance from one another.

In the beginning, the universe was a single point. Where was that? It was, and still is, everywhere. Scientists even have proof: Light from the big bang, in the form of cosmic radiation, fills the sky in every direction.

____________________________________________________________

[1] I will have to modify my remarks to my then 14-year-old daughter, Exhibit One, that she was not the centre of the universe and that we now have the Hubble Space Telescope photos to prove it!

Read Full Post »

Hubble’s Greatest Snapshots!

On April 24, 1990, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space. In the 22 years since, it has sent back over a million observations.

Here are just some of Hubble’s greatest images, year by year, courtesy of those wonderful space geeks at HubbleCast.

___________________________________________________________

Articles about ASTRONOMY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=astronomy

(Speaking of milestones, my friendly neighbourhood blog service, WordPress, informs me that this is my 150th posted blog article. Thanks to those who read my musings and thanks to my friends, associates, colleagues, relatives and loved ones as well as the occasional innocent bystanders who constantly provide me with material!)

Read Full Post »

Dust Devils on Mars!

Dust devils occur on Earth as well as on Mars. They are spinning columns of air, made visible by the dust they pull off the ground.

Unlike a tornado, a dust devil typically forms on a clear day when the ground is heated by the sun, warming the air just above the ground. As heated air near the surface rises quickly through a small pocket of cooler air above it, the air may begin to rotate, if conditions are just right.

For more articles about astronomy, visit Scoop.it | Science News.

____________________________________________________________

I don’t normally publish blog articles on Tuesdays (or Thursdays) but I saw this last night and couldn’t resist!

Read Full Post »

Exhibit Two and The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse

The other day, I received a series of text messages from my son, Exhibit Two, asking some questions about preparing for The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.

Me being a ‘Noted Zombie Expert’ (in addition to his dear old Daddio), it was only natural that he come to me.

I put this question to him… a question I ask most people who come to me with ‘Zombie Preparedness 101’ type questions…

Let’s say there is some kind of disaster in your area… a toxic spill or some nasty disease or chemicals get loose in the vicinity… and everyone is confined to their homes for one week, unable to leave their houses for 7 days. Could you survive?

Oh, and by the way… on the third day, the electricity goes out.

(Exhibit Two blending in with the Zombie Apocalypse background)

How would you manage? Take yourself through the process. Imagine the situation and what you would need.

First and foremost…always remember… you need about one gallon (approximately four litres) of fresh water per person per day. A person can go weeks without food… but no drinkable water at all? You’re looking at about three days… four at the most.

Some other simple things leap to mind. Non-perishable food items, preferably food that has a long or even an almost indefinite expiry period. This, by the way, is why Twinkies and Strawberry Pop-Tarts are the Official Snacks of The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse!

Think in terms of food that does not require any cooking (i.e. food that is ‘ready to eat’).

Here’s another food preservation tip… Honey is the only food that never goes bad. It may turn hard over time… but it never spoils.

Other good stuff to have on hand. Candles, batteries. You’re probably going to want to know what the heck is going on, so a hand-crank radio is a good idea.

You’re going to want to stock up the medicine cabinet with a lot of the basics and not-so-basics in case someone gets sick during the week-long shut down. A good first aid kit is another good idea. And not one of those chintzy cheap $15 jobs people stuff into their car trunks and never see again. I mean a proper fully stocked first aid kit with everything you will need for most eventualities from a broken or fractured bone to a seriously deep cut.

Everyone should now how to administer First Aid. Up here in The Great White North, the St. Johns Ambulance organization is a wonderful source of information. Everyone in the home old enough to do so should take basic CPR and other First Aid courses through St. John Ambulance or some other such service.

(THIS is the kind of cut I’m talking about!)

For the young ones, a good way to prepare them for The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse (or any other disaster or emergency situation) is to sign them up for the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts or Girl Guides, or any one of the many military cadet programs. Up here in Canada, we always sea Air Cadets and Sea Cadets… teenagers who are being trained not only in military subjects but also, naturally, basic survival skills.

Also, over the course of one week, people in our fast-paced society are, even in a disaster, going to be really bored really fast. I suggest having some games on hand to while away the time. But I personally would avoid Monopoly. People have been murdered over Monopoly. Avoid it at all costs is my recommendation.

As I suggested to Exhibit Two, a nice place to start when one is preparing for The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse (or any other natural or man-made disaster) is the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention, especially their Preparedness 101 page for The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.

One final word of caution. Depending on the nature of the disaster, it may be days or even weeks before authorities can bring things into line again. In a serious ongoing disaster situation, zombie or otherwise, the most dangerous risk to your personal safety, especially in the first few days, will most likely come from other humans. People panicking, looting, rioting or just being desperate and losing control. Just think of your neighbours and their kids, hungry and dying of thirst… and they know you have food and water. Only the thinnest veneer of civilization separates us from chaos and anarchy. Those who remember Hurricane Katrina and the Louisiana Superdome will know what I am talking about.

Be prepared. Be alert. Be aware. Be careful.

Remember…

What you don’t know… can eat you!

Read Full Post »

Neil deGrasse Tyson (and why I love him!)

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson [1] is America’s nattiest nerd, its chicest geek!

He’s a sharp-looking scientist. A trendy twerp. He looks great. He is handsome and well-spoken, funny, witty and charming.

And he’s smart. Sweet Lord in heaven, is he ever smart!

(America’s most dapper dweeb!)

He’s the kind of smart that takes very complicated super-brainy stuff and breaks it down into simple bite-sized easy-to-digest pieces that the rest of us plebes can handle. And he make it fun in the process.

And because of that, you remember what he says just as much as how he says it.

He can talk to us in our language without making it sound like he is talking down to us.

He makes science fashionable and fun. His enthusiasm is infectious. You get interested in astrophysics because he is just so darned excited about the whole subject.

Tyson doesn’t intimidate you with his intellect. He beguiles you with his boyish charm.

And that is why we so desperately need him.

At a time when certain segments of society deny science and pooh-pooh basic theories, when ‘Truthiness’ trumps Truth and when Reality is accused of having a well-known liberal bias, we need him more than ever.

The world is a better, richer place because of Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It is a place where curiosity, literacy, education,  intellect and expertise are not dirty words.

____________________________________________________________

[1] Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

Read Full Post »