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9 September 2010
Donors Choose
Donors Choose is a charity organization that allows teachers to post requests for supplies that they can’t afford and allows donors to (get this!) choose which teachers to donate to. Some requests are for basic school supplies, others are for computers or video cameras or other big-ticket items that a teacher’s district can’t afford. It’s a great organization, and you should go check out the projects and donate to the …
21 June 2010
Hoyt and Ruth
Normally I stick to topics that are at least tangentially related to science on this blog, but I’m making an exception. My grandfather, who is 92 this year, has entered the story of how he met my grandmother into an online writing contest. They were happily married for 68 years, and their story is truly touching. I hope you’ll take a moment to go and read it, and if you …
17 June 2010
Solar System Tour: Mars
Continuing my re-posting of the solar-system tour that I made back in 2005 with a couple of other astronomy undergrads, here’s Mars! The target audience for this tour was younger than that for this blog, so you’ll have to forgive the simplistic tone… Mars (the Roman god of War, also known as Ares in Greek) is sometimes called the Red Planet because of its rusty red color. It is the …
12 June 2010
Review: Denialism
Do vaccines cause autism? Are genetically modified crops safe to eat? Is organic farming better than conventional? Is race a scientifically valid concept? What is the future of biotechnology now that a synthetic cell has been created? If you’ve ever asked those questions, then you should check out Denialism, by Michael Specter. If you think you know the answer to any of those questions, then you need to read Denialism. …
2 June 2010
Vote for Me in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Poll!
So, remember a while back when I wrote that article about MSL: Mars Action Hero? Well, I didn’t end up winning the ScientificBlogging contest, but someone must have liked it because I just found out that it has been nominated for the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize! First place is $1000, and is chosen by Richard Dawkins after the finalists have been chosen through voting: As usual, this is …
27 May 2010
Solar System Tour
The other day, I was reminiscing about things I had done as an undergrad at the University of Michigan and I remembered a website I put together with two of the other officers of the Student Astronomical Society. The site is a tour of the solar system, and I thought to myself: “Hey, I should post that stuff to the blog!” So, starting today, I will be posting pieces of …
7 May 2010
Going AWOL
Loyal readers, I’m going to be scarce for the next few weeks. I just had a major work setback, courtesy of Microsoft word and my own failure to backup a key file. So, I’ll be frantically working to make up for all the work I just lost. In the meantime, it’s probably going to be quiet here unless there’s something I just can’t not post about. I promised some photos …
13 January 2010
Mysterious dust from crashing planets
Astronomers have discovered dust due to colliding planets around a star 500 light years away, and they don’t know what it’s made of! To learn more, read my article over at Universe Today.
20 December 2009
More AGU Posts Coming Soon
Apologies for the delay on posting about AGU. During the conference I had woefully little time to actually sit down and turn my chicken-scratch notes into something approaching coherence. I did a big chunk of that on my red-eye flight home and I’ll be posting them later today. So, stay tuned!
12 December 2009
Realistic Space Battles and a Blog About Craters
Two quick links to hold you over until my AGU coverage starts on Monday. First up, Joe Shoer has a great post on his blog about what space battles might actually be like. This should be required reading for sci-fi authors, especially those with hard sci-fi leanings. Second, Jim Richardson, a researcher here at the Cornell Astronomy Dept. has started a new blog about impact craters. One of his first …
