Archive for November, 2008
Paul Simon – The Way We Look to a Distant Constellation
November 25th, 2008
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry, baby, don’t cry
Don’t cry
- Paul Simon, “The Boy in the Bubble” (from the Graceland album)
Lightning in Slow Motion
November 25th, 2008
And, while we’re admiring displays of light in the skies of the Earth, here’s some great video of lightning in slow motion.
Slow motion, I have just learned, was invented in 1904 by August Musger, an Austrian priest and physicist.
Boy, those are two occupations you don’t typically find in one man. It sounds like the start of a joke: A priest and a physicist walk into a bar… or perhaps they are playing golf. Anyway, that’s the sort of joke it sounds like the start of. I mean, “of which it sounds like the start.”
Musger is also notable for having an extraordinarily brief Wikipedia entry. But, then, who am I to talk?
Meteor Caught on Video Over Edmonton
November 25th, 2008
A police dash cam caught this amazing meteoric fireball on video near Edmonton, Alberta, November 20, 2008. It lights up the sky!
For a bit more detail, here’s a story in the Edmonton Sun and a story in the Edmonton Journal. Look under “Related Links” for additional video.
I’ve only witnessed one or two good meteor showers, away from city lights (and, in the case of San Francisco, away from the Fog). I hope to see more.
According to StarDate – the public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory – there is one remaining meteor shower for 2008, the Geminids, the night of December 13. But, they also point out, there will be a gibbous moon that night, overpowering all but the brightest meteors.
LabLit Interviews Science Comedian
November 24th, 2008
I was gone but now I’m back, apparently.
Reasonably objective third-party proof of my existence is to be found in the form of an interview with me on LabLit.com – a website dedicated to “the culture of science in fiction & fact.”
I met LabLit editor Jennifer Rohn at SciFoo this year. She’s a cell biologist at University College London, a writer for publications such as Nature, and a frequent blogger. Her first novel, Experimental Heart, has just been published, too. It’s available from Amazon or directly from the publisher, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. And, of course, it’s an example of “lab lit” – it’s described as a “romantic thriller set against the backdrop of contemporary scientific research.”
Jenny attended my science comedy session at SciFoo, and I participated in a session that she and John Gilbey presented entitled, “Seducing the Public with Science.” It was one of my favorite sessions and was attended by Ann Druyan, Brother Guy Consolmagno, Kevin Grazier, Ben Goldacre, Tim O’Reilly, Eugenie Scott, Shelley Batts and others.
Anyway, Ian Brooks interviewed me and LabLit is an excellent website worth exploring and here’s a great place to start:
