Archive for the ‘It’s Only Rocket Science’ Category
Heat to Sound to Electricity
From a recent Physics News Update comes this half-science, half-technology report about a device that uses heat to make electricity, with sound as an intermediary. The story is interesting enough by itself, but it is also a useful illustration that sometimes there are new ideas in science and technology that are not as inscrutable as […]
In: All, Current Events, It's Only Rocket Science
More to Worry About
I know there are people who can't sleep at night worrying about the impending explosion of the sun or the heat-death of the universe. Global warming is no doubt adding to their insomnia. Now it turns out that the consequences of global warming are even worse than we thought: WARM THE WORLD, SHRINK THE DAY. […]
Reason vs. Faith, Again
This week Bob Park (What's New for 1 June 2007) revisits presidential candidate Sam Brownback's positive response when asked during a debate whether he was one who did not "believe" in evolution: BELIEFS: BROWNBACK DEFENDS SCIENTIFIC ILLITERACY BY EXAMPLE. A month ago at the Republican Presidential debate, there was a show of hands of those […]
In: All, Current Events, It's Only Rocket Science
Global Warming Fact-Sheet
Via NASA's Earth Observatory mailing list my attention was drawn to their newly freshened Global Warming fact sheet, written by Holli Riebeek (dated 11 May 2007), and I wanted to take this space to draw more attention to it. As most of my readers will know, there's a great deal of misleading disinformation and obfuscation […]
Exponential Growth
Here's a quick question with a pedagogical purpose. Would you buy a battery from this man? "The energy capacity of batteries is increasing 5 percent to 8 percent annually, but demand is increasing exponentially," Mr. Cooper[, vice president for business development of PolyFuel Inc., a company working on battery technology,] said. [Damon Darlin and Barnaby […]
Don't Need no Science
Is Bob Park's What's New for 11 May 2007, this quick summary of the Republican presidential-candidate field, demonstrating that science is not a conservative, traditional-family value and that Ars Hermeneutica has its work cut out for it: BELIEFS: SCIENTIFIC ILLITERACY REACHES CLEAR TO THE TOP. Last week at the Republican presidential debate, moderator Chris Matthews […]
In: All, Current Events, It's Only Rocket Science
The Brightest Supernova Ever
Here's the lead from the NASA release about an observation with the Chandra X-Ray [orbiting] Observatory of "the brightest supernova ever": May 7, 2007: The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes. This discovery indicates that violent […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Noctilucent Clouds
For those who fear that there may be nothing left in the world to discover (hardly a chance!), consider this item from Space Weather News for April 25, 2007: NIGHT-SHINING CLOUDS: NASA's AIM spacecraft left Earth Wednesday on a two-year mission to study mysterious noctilucent (night-shining) clouds. Hovering at the edge of space, these clouds […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
"Official" Spring
Speaking of the Vernal Equinox, many people were — speaking of it — yesterday but occasionally with some imprecision, saying that spring "officially" arrived at about 2007 EDT. They would be better off saying "astronomically" arrived, since there's nothing "official" about it: no international committee meets to set the time of the arrival of springtime. […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Welcome Equinox!
To welcome the Vernal Equinox tonight (at roughly 2010 EDT), we were out for a bite to eat and then a bit of shopping. The day was clear and warm, and the evening sky was clear and mild. At the time of the equinox we were outside strolling, and observed Venus and the crescent moon […]
In: All, Briefly Noted, It's Only Rocket Science
APS Openness
Today in Bob Park's What's New (9 March 2007 edition) was this tidbit: OPENNESS: THE MARCH MEETING OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY. The commitment of physicists to the principle of openness was tested this very morning in Denver at the APS March meeting, as it has been every year for 108 years. Roy Masters, author […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Laughing Matters
The "Woodstock of Physics"
There has been lots of talk, relatively speaking, this week about a now-famous event that took place at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society 20 years ago. The first piece that I saw was in the New York Times (Kenneth Chang, "Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot", 6 March 2007 — his piece […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Reflections
Lunar Eclipse, 3 March 2007
Passing along information received from a NASA mailing list, there is to be a lunar eclipse starting this coming Saturday evening. Some of will be visible everywhere in the 48 contiguous states, the eclipse being already underway at moon-rise in this region. NASA provides a very nice map with times and coverage, with a full […]
The Maillard Reaction
Sometimes I read the food article in the Baltimore Sun, and occasionally I'm surprised, perhaps even astounded, to find sciency discussions related to food chemistry and cooking physics. It's even more a delight when the author is attentive and gets it right! Gosh, this one I clipped a long time ago, but it's still useful. […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, The Art of Conversation
Ball's Critical Mass
A week or two ago I finally finished reading Philip Ball's Critical Mass : How One Thing Leads to Another. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. (My book note about it, with different quotations, is here.) I've become quite a fan now of Philip Ball's writing; previously I was wowed by Bright Earth, […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, It's Only Rocket Science
181 Bits of Lunacy
Recently I got a press release from NASA, called "181 Things To Do On The Moon" that asked the provocative — if non-musical — question: If you woke up tomorrow morning and found yourself on the moon, what would you do? Look for a spacesuit lept first to mind to avoid having my blood boil […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science
Mandelbrot's Vegetable Stand
I can't say I expected to see fractals mentioned in an article about cauliflower — or a casual mention of "the Mandelbrot theory" by a cauliflower farmer — but I wasn't terribly surprised either. I've seen these Romanesco cauliflowers and they are visually astonishing, regardless of whether one is a "Caltech guy" or not. I'm […]
In: All, Food Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science
Earth from Saturn
This is a most unusual, beautiful, and evocative photograph — and it is an actual photographic image, albeit a composite. The photographer was the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. On this occasion Saturn interposed itself between the Sun and the spacecraft, thus creating this beautifully backlit composition. Although it is hard to make out in this small version, […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science
Still Not Causing Cancer
This late-breaking non-news just in from Bob Park's What's New: CELL PHONES: FIVE YEARS LATER THEY STILL DON'T CAUSE CANCER. A study in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found no increased cancer risk from cell phone use over a 20 year period. This is an update of a Danish […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Welcome the Sun!
This is the day of the year, 7 December, when I celebrate my own festival of light to welcome the return of the sun. No, it is not the shortest day of the year, the day with the least amount of sunlight where I am (about 39 degrees north, 76 degrees, 46 minutes west — […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, The Art of Conversation