Well, this is a significant bit of news! Look at this:
Click to continue reading this post
From Instagram
From Instagram
Phoenix Goes Dark
As you may have heard, the Phoenix craft on Mars (remember? seven minutes of terror?) which had already been running beyond its design lifetime, has probably sent its final message from Mars. There is not enough daily solar energy (now that it is Winter) coming in to support its energy needs.
There’s a NASA press release here, with links to the mission pages for a reminder of Click to continue reading this post
Breakfast Babble
Some reflections over breakfast – at least breakfast part II. Well, elevenses, really. Today is, I hope, a day to spend mostly on thinking about research issues. There’s a project I’m still unhappy with, in terms of where I’d like it to be, and I want to try to move things on. I had a new idea on the bus yesterday that I’ll be testing out today. Since I’m giving a seminar about this project on Friday, I’d also rather like to get it all uploaded back into the more active buffers of my brain, as it were.
Tuesday is a welcome day, being between my two biggest teaching days of the week, days that usually completely drain me. I try to use it to remind myself that I’ve a ton of other activities besides teaching that I should be getting on with. Research is one of them.
This morning began with something else, however, and I thought I’d update you on Click to continue reading this post
Fast Visitor
I thought I’d share with you a little video of one of my favourite visitors to the garden! These hummingbirds love Mexican sage (salvia leucantha). I grow quite a bit of it, and they flock to it when it starts blooming in the Fall. As I said over a year ago in talking about the sage and the birds, in a post “Soon They Will Come”:
Physics Can Change the World!
Last night, Stephen Colbert suggested that the Large Hadron Collider is responsible for Obama’s victory on Tuesday! When it switched on back in September, it kicked us into an alternative universe in which everything was the same except that McCain’s position in the polls had been eroded, and, well, you know the rest.
(Apparently it also explains the World Series result, but as I know nothing about baseball, I cannot tell if that is really supposed to be an anomaly or not.) Clip here, and item in question is about 2 minutes in.
Hey team, run and cover… he’s on to us!
-cvj
Apollo
I’ve been running around so much today I forgot to actually mention the event for which I’ll be acting as host tonight, here at USC. This is how I quickly described it to my colleagues, but bear in mind that it is open to all:
I’d like to remind you one last time about the Apollo Visions and Voices event today. Whether it interests you or not, please encourage your students to go. It is the College Dean’s V+V event for the semester, and was chosen to have a focus that would attract science and engineering students and faculty to sit with our friends and colleagues from the arts and humanities. It is at 7:30 pm in Bovard, with a reception at the end. I think that it will be very interesting and enjoyable.
Information about it is here.
It should be fun!
-cvj
Opportunity Knocks!
Wonderful result!
This is, it seems, the long-awaited return of reason. The return of an atmosphere where ideas, and careful, thoughtful, nuanced argument and persuasion can become the centerpiece of how we go about solving our collective problems and shaping and reshaping our world. So among all the great things said yesterday about the meaning of it all, it is worth noting that it was a good day for Science.
Well, the initial phase is over, and now it is time to start the restoration work, the strengthening of the foundations, and then the true building anew.
-cvj
Smashing…
Actually, this is a bit of a late announcement, but worth doing anyway, in case you happen to be looking for something fun to do with the Society of Physics Students. From yesterday’s talk at the Center For Inquiry on particle physics and string theory (thanks to the many of you who came!), I now go to join a panel tonight here on the USC campus to talk about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). There have been many posts here on that… search the archives for more information, or type LHC into the search engine on the right. It should be fun and there’s free food from Mama’s Hot Tamales! It should be noted, for anyone keeping track, that in order to serve on this panel, I am giving up a dream: An Evening With Helen Mirren. Sigh. Also taking part on campus tonight. Click the poster for a larger view.
-cvj
1001
Oh! I just noticed… The previous post was my 1000th on Asymptotia! Of course I don’t need much more than a flimsy excuse to break out a bottle of something tasty to drink, but this is cause for celebration!
Hurrah!
Thanks very much to all of you for reading and forming a real community! I continue to enjoy posting, and am happy that you spend some time here…
-cvj
Hollywood Halloween
Hollywood Halloween. How about that…. two perfectly matched words side by side like that, and in context. Well… last night’s West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval confirmed my faith in Los Angeles (in the broader sense) as a city where people can indeed come together in vast numbers in if there’s enough will to do so. And boy do I mean vast. I’ve never seen this many people in good spirits in such close proximity Click to continue reading this post
Strings Everywhere?
Well, at some point this week I ought to get around to preparing for this. I spoke about the Center For Inquiry before, here. Well, the promised talk that I was going to give at some point is on Sunday. If you’re up for some thoughts about the universe on your Sunday morning, do come along. Details at this link. Some of their publicity is reproduced below:
Strings Everywhere?
Sunday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.
String theory may become crucial to our understanding of some of the most fundamental questions in nature, such as the origin of fundamental particles, the nature of black holes, and the origins of the universe itself.
Clifford Johnson, professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at USC, will explain the ideas behind string theory, showing its promise, strengths and weaknesses.
$6, or free for Friends of the Center.
The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., CA 90027
-cvj
Source
Looking toward the source of some of that lovely evening light I remarked upon in an earlier post. View from the grounds of the Observatory in Griffith Park, not too long after 6:00 pm.
-cvj
A Zoological Fractal
When I saw this back in August, I laughed in delight. I think it is a rather clever idea, well executed. (It’s by Farley Katz, and was in the New Yorker, Aug 11th ’08. (Link is to cartoon bank where you can get it.))
Actually, it reminded me of the delicious fractal I photographed for you and that we discussed here not long ago. That one was real, this one imagined, but nevertheless rather good.
-cvj
Warmth
Warm evening light at Griffith, during my short evening hike last night. (Click for larger view.) The park was lovely, and of course the Griffith Observatory was looking wonderful in this warm light.
I went up to clear my head of a lot of things, and it was a good thing to do to rise up above the street level of the city for short while. I really just had the urge to storm up the hill at speed and get up there and look back over the city. Just for a little while. So it was not a hike so much as a run. I’m not a regular runner, but there are occasionally days when it suits me fine (assuming it is not on a hard flat surface).
It’s a pleasure to wander the grounds just in front of the Observatory and hear Click to continue reading this post
They’re Back!
Wow! Almost to the day (see last year’s post), they have returned, perhaps stronger than ever! I had two big waves of them this year, one about ten days to a fortnight ago, and another new one starting a couple of days ago. Here’s one:
Flower from my San Pedro cactus (trichocereus pachanoi). (Click for larger view.)
I love these flowers dearly for many reasons. First and foremost, they are beautiful, but there’s an additional enhancement of my love brought about by their short-lived nature. They’ll appear all of a sudden, somewhat unexpectedly, and last just one day Click to continue reading this post
