Archive for the ‘Science’ Category


They Might Be Giants – the sun

Friday, July 27th, 2007

A little something for your Friday, especially if you are enjoying the summer sun like we are (trying to) in Vancouver. I know they say this song is called, “The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas”, but I’ve always called it “The Sun”.

I used to co-host a weekly morning show at KRUI on Wednesdays called “In The Middle”. Clever, eh? Well, every week at 9:30AM, we poked fun at the surrounding FM, rock stations and their “mandatory Metallica” with our own, “Mandatory They Might Be Giants“. Yes, they are near and dear to my heart.

Forever will be the experience of John and John doing a live, acoustic performance in our little studio be remembered, then throwing on our station t-shirt at their encore that night. If Muffin is watching this post, which you see him perk up here from time to time and was my co-host of said show, he’ll agree about that. Knowing that he was a huge fan, and still is, I got him to do that interview in the studio, if not fulfill a lifetime dream. Rock.

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Filed under: KRUI, Radio, Science, YouTube

Pluto has feelings, too

Thursday, August 24th, 2006

What a load of crap.

Capping years of intense debate, astronomers resolved Thursday to demote Pluto in a wholesale redefinition of planethood that is being billed as a victory of scientific reasoning over historic and cultural influences. But the decision is already being hotly debated.

Officially, Pluto is no longer a planet.

There are certain things that you shouldn’t mess with. Taking Pluto out of the group of the rest of the planets is like telling the last kid picked for kickball that he can’t play anymore… or ever again.

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Filed under: Geeky, News Item, Science

Losing the biggest step for mankind

Wednesday, August 16th, 2006

There is something about this that really bugs me. You would think that some one would have marked these tapes in big, bold letters, but then again, I taped over the VHS my cousin’s first communion with Beavis and Butthead[wiki] during my adolescence days.

NASA no longer knows the whereabouts of the original tapes of man’s first landing on the moon nearly 40 years ago, an official of the US space agency said.

“NASA is searching for the original tapes of the Apollo 11 spacewalk on July 21, 1969,” said Ed Campion, a spokesman for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a Washington suburb.

The tapes record the famous declaration of Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, as he set foot on its surface: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

The original tapes could be somewhere at the Goddard center or in the archives network of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Campion said. [breitbart]

Where the originals could be? The U.S. Declaration of Independence[wiki] and Constitution[wiki] is protected with bullet proof glass and armed guards. The Enola Gay[wiki] is on display at the Smithsonian[wiki] to showcase the history of the only time nuclear weapons were used in combat, not to mention as a symbol of American military triumphs. Even the plane that the Wright brothers[wiki] used for the first, manned flight in history is there. And yet, no one knows where the original vidoes of man’s first steps on the moon went to?

Doesn’t this bother anyone else? It is one of the greatest achievments that humanity has made since the wheel, fire, or the industrial revolution. This is history that is bigger and more impactual than anything that has come before it. Scientists are looking back to Project Apollo[wiki] today to help future exploration of the Moon and Mars. Talk about a picture perfect version of bureaucracy at its finest.

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Filed under: Buh?, News Item, Science, Technology

Farewell, Professor Van Allen

Wednesday, August 9th, 2006

Professor James Van Allen - June 14, 2005One of the neatest things that I can recall from my early days of becoming a lifelong geek was discovering that something in space was named after a guy who was born and raised not far from my home. I think that’s common for anyone who has some one from their home state do something that makes you proud to say that you are not afraid to say where you are from.

Then in high school, you are taught by physics teachers who studied under the guy. I had an interest in astronomy that died out during these years, but that didn’t make me any less interested in learning more about it. The Van Allen radiation belts? James Van Allen[wiki] was that guy.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Physicist James A. Van Allen, a leader in space exploration who discovered the radiation belts surrounding the Earth that now bear his name, died Wednesday. He was 91.

The University of Iowa, where he taught for years, announced the death in a statement on its Web site. [globeandmail]

When I worked at WSUI, we used to venture downtown for various live remotes that we would have to setup for, and that would take us to Van Allen Hall, the physics building that is named after him. We’d park the car in one of the official vehicle spots just outside the lecture hall, and there was one, professor emeritus, reserved parking spot that had an older, green, Jeep Cherokee in it. That was Professor Van Allen’s, and it was usually there every single time we dropped by.

Professor James Van Allen - June 14, 2005Even in his 90′s, he was still leading projects and heading into his office nearly every single day. I’m not sure to what capacity, but if you had a some sort of physics research that needed some help in getting a monetary grant from some institution, who else would be better to help sign off on it? He changed a lot about space travel with his discoveries, and the life he led is hardly a dull one.

These pictures are a few snaps that I took when BBC Radio wanted to do an ISDN[wiki] interview with him from our studios in Iowa City on June 14, 2005. He was the kindest man, parking in the lot out front with that classic, green Jeep. His wit was still pretty sharp, and the stories he told were fascinating.

I can’t even recall what the BBC wanted with him, and it doesn’t even matter. I just remember being so excited to shake his hand on that day. It’s not so much about him being a celebrity as it is meeting a great man. A lifetime of researching and discovering new things is an incredible thing in my opinion.

“Certainly one of the most enthralling things about human life is the recognition that we live in what, for practical purposes, is a universe without bounds.”
– James Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006)

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Filed under: Iowa, News Item, Radio, Science

Hello, nurse

Monday, June 19th, 2006

All of the sudden, Stephen Hawking[wiki] has been all over the news with not just theories about physics, but also the future of humanity. It has a lot of people talking, and rightfully so.

Hawking is not talking through his hat when he says the survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe, because there’s an increasing risk that humanity could be wiped out by a disaster. [indiatimes]

Stephen HawkingWhat I’m trying to sort out is his appearance at the String Theory conference in China[xinhuanet]. In a packed house of scientists, aka uber-geeks, was anyone paying attention when Hawking’s nurse was on stage?

I had a professor in college that told me numerous times that it pays to be a nerd some times. Of course, that professor was a female who preferred the comfort of fellow females, so I’m thinking this isn’t what she meant. However, I do beg to differ.

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Filed under: Amusing, Geeky, Science