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Hope lives here.
Hope vs Cope vs Mope: Hope – We’ll build a better future. The future is bright. Cope – Everything was better in the past. We need to slow down. Mope – Everything’s bad. We’re all going to die very soon. Credit: @_brightmirror (Twitter) “Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.” Richard Dawkins,…
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If stargazing is for everyone, how do I start?
… at the beginning. Stargazing is a gateway to astronomy and astronomy is one of the few sciences that remains open to the amateur or citizen scientist – where real science can be conducted. For example, BOSS (more accurately, Backyard Observatory Supernova Search) are an amateur collaboration of 6 friends from Australia and New Zealand…
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Stargazing for everyone
so I asked other kids what they were…. They said things like “they’re lights in the sky, kid.”
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“I believe in evidence.”
– Isaac Asimov, The Roving Mind (1997), (2 January 2 1920 – 6 April 1992) Scientist and science fiction author Asimov’s output of novels and books popularising and explaining science was prodigious. As a rationalist he often railed against superstitious and pseudoscientific beliefs that tried to pass themselves off as genuine science and had this…
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What is a light-year?
A light-year is a measure of distance – not time (or anything to do with Disney’s Toy Story). It’s used to indicate the distance to stars and galaxies. It’s the distance light travels in one year in a vacuum, which is about: – 4.2465 light-years OR 5.88 trillion miles OR 9.46 trillion kilometres Light travels…
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How far is that star?
Basically, far! The Sun is the closest (and brightest) star. It is about: – 93 million miles – 150 million kilometres The next closest star (Proxima Centauri) is invisible to the unaided human eye and you need to be in the Southern Hemisphere to see it with a telescope (it’s too dim to see with…
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Death rates from disasters have fallen over the last century.
Good news. Recent data indicates that natural disasters are NOT going to kill us all. The global death rate from all natural disasters (drought, floods, storms, earthquakes, wildfires, extreme temperatures, etc.) has fallen by more than 90% over the last century. The total number of deaths has fallen substantially, despite there being four times as…
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“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
– Maria Salomea Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie) (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) She was a was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields.…
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You Can Still Read NASA’s Deleted “First Woman” Graphic Novels
With thanks to Keith Cowing of NASAWatch.com Credit: https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/ ____________________________________________________________________ The following is mainly taken from NASAWatch.com‘s page about this story. In 2021 NASA issued the first of two interactive comic books/graphic novels (“First Woman: Dream to Reality”) depicting young women dreaming of – and then training for – a future that would comprise the…
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One Penny for Space
Will you sign the petition? I have. Credit: https://pennyforspace.vercel.app/ ____________________________________________________________________ One Penny for Space is a petition to ask the UK government to increase spending on space to 1%. Click on the badge below to learn more about the petition by Peter Hague of Plutocracy. ____________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 76
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Q: If you know nothing about constellations at least learn Ursa MinorA: …that’s the bear minimum This will be the last pun/joke for a while – due to some…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 75
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Q: Why are they called Hemorrhoids?A: Because Asteroids was already taken __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we can In the…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 74
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more space and science-related puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Apologies, yet another image/meme. If you can’t mix jokes/puns with memes … well you can and I have! __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date…
Stargazing Guy
Connecting people to the Stars
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“I believe in evidence.”
– Isaac Asimov, The Roving Mind (1997), (2 January 2 1920 – 6 April 1992) Scientist and science fiction author Asimov’s output of novels and books popularising and explaining science was prodigious. As a rationalist he often railed against superstitious and pseudoscientific beliefs that tried to pass themselves off as genuine science and had this…
-
What is a light-year?
A light-year is a measure of distance – not time (or anything to do with Disney’s Toy Story). It’s used to indicate the distance to stars and galaxies. It’s the distance light travels in one year in a vacuum, which is about: – 4.2465 light-years OR 5.88 trillion miles OR 9.46 trillion kilometres Light travels…
-
How far is that star?
Basically, far! The Sun is the closest (and brightest) star. It is about: – 93 million miles – 150 million kilometres The next closest star (Proxima Centauri) is invisible to the unaided human eye and you need to be in the Southern Hemisphere to see it with a telescope (it’s too dim to see with…
-
Death rates from disasters have fallen over the last century.
Good news. Recent data indicates that natural disasters are NOT going to kill us all. The global death rate from all natural disasters (drought, floods, storms, earthquakes, wildfires, extreme temperatures, etc.) has fallen by more than 90% over the last century. The total number of deaths has fallen substantially, despite there being four times as…
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“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
– Maria Salomea Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie) (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) She was a was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields.…
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You Can Still Read NASA’s Deleted “First Woman” Graphic Novels
With thanks to Keith Cowing of NASAWatch.com Credit: https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/ ____________________________________________________________________ The following is mainly taken from NASAWatch.com‘s page about this story. In 2021 NASA issued the first of two interactive comic books/graphic novels (“First Woman: Dream to Reality”) depicting young women dreaming of – and then training for – a future that would comprise the…
Stargazing Guy 