Yes, it is that time of year again. It is the third birthday of this blog, Asymptotia, and once again I’d like to thank everyone for reading, commenting, emailing, and otherwise participating in building the community we have here. It continues to be Click to continue reading this post
There was a 24 hour period from 3:30pm Monday to 3:30pm Tuesday where I was engaged in a seemingly insane enterprise. My original plan was to document it here as one of my “24”-style blog posts, but since about 9 hours of it involved nothing but me screaming along to various songs (there’s something marvellous about singing “Roooooxx–anne!!! You don’t have to wear that dress tonight!!!….” and repeating “Put on the Red Light! Put on the Red Light!…” while whizzing along – fast!- on a road trip. I don’t know why), and five and a half hours asleep, I’ll spare you the details of each hour.
So what was the mission? To head to Death Valley. Yes, one of the hottest places on earth at this time of year! Why? To film something for The Universe (that History channel series I sometimes appear on). After my experiences of last Monday, you’d think I’d swear off hot filming situations for a while, but there you go. The physics involved is interesting, and it was an opportunity to get across some rather fun and interesting material (that you don’t usually see on TV) and so I went for it.
So since I had an afternoon meeting at 2:00pm with a Dean and some other Click to continue reading this post
With about ten figs taken over a day and a half, the Great Tomato Atrocity still fresh in my mind, several chases and confrontations with yelling on both sides… It is clear. There is no other conclusion:
Fluffy must go.
After some experiments with small stealth items over the last few days, which, after some near misses (the Force is strong with Fluffy), Fluffy now routinely evades, I am deploying some heavy battlefield equipment:
I’ll blog a bit more about the significance of this scene, but right now, I hope you’ll Click to continue reading this post
I’ve this delightful little pepper tree that produces petite purple peppers.
(Click for larger view.) They’re each about an inch long.
With their lovely shape and deep, rich colour, they’re such a pleasure to look at that Click to continue reading this post
As a follow up to my earlier moon post of the day, here’s a link to the (excellent) Police singing the excellent “Walking on the Moon”. Seems to fit somewhat with the occasion. No embedding, sadly, so you’ll have to come back here to finish your reading. Click on the picture. Enjoy!
-cvj
Well, it can’t have escaped your attention. I imagine that whatever news sources you use are full of stories about today being the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. (Well, the first by human beings, anyway. 🙂 )
I won’t be writing a long thoughtful piece reflecting on the matter. Right now, I can’t really think of much to say that has not been said. Perhaps it is just because it is too hot here. I’m not sure.
However, I will encourage you to find a quiet moment sometime today, stop, look Click to continue reading this post
Friday saw two satisfying discoveries that may be of interest to you if you strive to use less energy and to reuse rather than replace.
The first is that the incandescent light bulbs with the small fitting that I was despairing over being able to replace with compact fluorescent bulbs can be replaced! I found in my local hardware store that companies have now (maybe for a while?) started making CFLs with the small fitting! Hurrah! Having now found this fitting, I think most fittings, shapes and sizes of bulbs that I’ve seen (in this context) can replaced by CFLs of similar fittings, shapes and sizes.
The second is just as satisfying. I went to Staples to buy another package of ink cartridges for my printer, and while in the checkout line I noticed an odd package Click to continue reading this post
Hmm… so this PhD Comics episode* (image left… click will take you to their site) is a really good idea, but I’m underwhelmed by the actual execution.
This might be because it is hard to do, and not because the person (people?) at PhD comics, whoever they are, aren’t smart and funny people, since there’s a lot of evidence that they are.
So I find myself thinking that this is an opportunity for some fun reader participation! Surely there are more science-tweets to be thought up? Perhaps even Click to continue reading this post
Well, that was a hugely tiring day indeed. I’ve just returned from a full day of shooting for an episode of the the 
History Channel’s The Universe, and all I can do is collapse on the sofa for a long while.
I’ve grabbed the essentials (a nice cold Leffe, some tasty corn chips, a cup of tea – I made it before I got the Leffe idea – , some books I’m reading, etc) to have within easy reach so that I need not get up for a while. I simply don’t want to.
It was tiring mostly because it was so terribly hot for most of it. The first half of the Click to continue reading this post
Here’s an interview that I missed when it first came out back in April. It is with Edward Witten, the single most influential person in my area of theoretical physics for quite some time now. This is for no other reason than his off-scale abilities in every key area of theoretical physics. He was my mentor back in the early ’90s, and the Click to continue reading this post
When I’m feeling muddled or somewhat low, one of the things that reliably helps me find my foundation is going out into the garden and doing some work here and there, or simply checking on how various plants or fruits and vegetables are coming along. The work, the sounds and smells, the surroundings, and the cycles of renewal that are all over the garden are wonderfully uplifting to me.
So imagine how I felt yesterday when, feeling down for one reason or another, I went out into the garden and discovered that the six or seven wonderful tomatoes (of various types) – that I was giving just another day or two to become perfect – had all been taken! Click to continue reading this post
On the BBC’s Daily Mayo the other day there was a science focus!
Scientists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw joined Simon to talk about their new book Why Does [tex]E=mc^2[/tex]? that looks at Einstein’s famous equation which explores the principles of physics through everyday life. Commander Lee Archambault, currently on a tour of the UK, joined them and spoke about Space Shuttle Mission 119’s recent trip to the International Space Station.
One of the interesting things was that there was a lot of amiable chatter around the science, but hardly any actual explanations. This was particularly marked when Simon tried to get them to explain [tex]E=mc^2[/tex], and I perked up since it sounded like there was going to be a very clever quick radio soundbite of Relativity and a snappy thought experiment to nail the concept, and I was all ready to be super-impressed by Click to continue reading this post
(Click for larger view.) Spotted down at LACMA. It is huge, maybe 15 feet in height? Click to continue reading this post
It was a routine Wednesday night down at the Edison bar, downtown Los Angeles, last week. This means: Fun with Acrobats!! It is part of their weekly “Incandescence: the Dark Side of Light” series, where throughout the night there are performers all over the floor of the bar, more set piece things on the stage, and rather splendid feats being performed from various points of the ceiling. The theatre group is called AiRealistic.
I thought I’d make a little film for you, of what (come to think of it) might make Click to continue reading this post
