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“It robs us of hope.”
– Adam Grant (X = @AdamMGrant) Adam Grant is an organisational psychologist and bestselling author who explores the science of motivation, generosity, rethinking, and potential. His insights to the human condition are often inspiring. The above is an extract of a recent tweet: “Catastrophizing the world’s problems doesn’t motivate us to solve them. It robs…
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Atomic (and space/science-related) puns & jokes no. 31
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more ‘atomic’ (and space/science-related) puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Q: Why is the internet so bad in outer space?A: Because it’s 0 g X account – @Cathrinmachin __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? 12 – 18 February (no. 25)
Follow for a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays. Maybe you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! If you do share a birthday, what does it mean to you? Do you feel a connection, pride? They take to the skies (on controlled explosions) to…
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“I know the stars are my home…”
– Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon (14 March 1934 – 16 January 2017) “I know the stars are my home. I learned about them, needed them for survival in terms of navigation. I know where I am when I look up at the sky. I know where I am when I look…
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Atomic (and space/science-related) puns & jokes no. 30
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more ‘atomic’ (and space/science-related) puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ You’d think that atoms bonding with other atoms would mean they’re being friendly, but really they steal each other’s electrons. How ionic. X account – @engineers_feed __________________________________________________________________ PS: I…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? 5 – 11 February (no. 24)
Follow for a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays. Maybe you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! If you do share a birthday, what does it mean to you? Do you feel a connection, pride? They take to the skies (on controlled explosions) to…
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Growth -v- degrowth
– X handle @peterrhague “The battle lines have been drawn, between two different visions of the future: degrowth, deceleration, antinatalism, regulation on one side versus progress, acceleration, pronatalism and freedom on the other. There are plenty of valid criticisms of people in the second camp. But the victory of declinist forces is just so horrific…
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Atomic (and space) puns & jokes no. 29
Everyone loves a pune (or pun) or a joke. Here follows more ‘atomic’ puns/jokes – enjoy or groan or meh. More to follow! __________________________________________________________________ Famous last words from chemists: “And now for the taste test…” “And now let’s shake it a bit…” “Which glass was my mineral water?” Q: What do you do with dead…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? 29 January – 4 February (no. 23)
Follow for a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays. Maybe you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! If you do share a birthday, what does it mean to you? Do you feel a connection, pride? They take to the skies (on controlled explosions) to…
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HAL 9000 quotes you can use at work
– Greg Gilmore I enjoy working with people. My mind is going. I can feel it. I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do. I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently. I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. This…
Stargazing Guy
Connecting people to the Stars
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“Science Fiction Is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.”
– Peter H. Diamandis, Metatrends substack, 17 July 2026 Why are people so pessimistic about the future – and view the past as some form of pastoral utopia? On these pages we promote hope – not cope or mope. Hope lives here. An interesting insight is from Peter H. Diamandis in his substack, where he…
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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.…
Stargazing Guy 