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“Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is ‘mere’. I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them.” (This is a year of Feynman – week 32 of 52)
– Richard P. Feynman (11 May 1918 – 15 Feb 1988) From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 63
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! __________________________________________________________________ I thought about putting an observatory in my house, but the cost was astronomical. __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? (no.57)
Were you following a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays? Did you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! Or maybe, one of the 100+ additional astronauts has beaten you?! These astronauts have flown since this original list was pulled together. We have started listing…
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“What do we mean by “understanding” something?” (This is a year of Feynman – week 31 of 52)
– Richard P. Feynman (11 May 1918 – 15 Feb 1988) From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 62
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! __________________________________________________________________ A neutron walks into a bar, orders a drink and asks how much. The bartender replies, “For you, no charge”. __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? (no.56)
Were you following a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays? Did you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! Or maybe, one of the 100+ additional astronauts has beaten you?! These astronauts have flown since this original list was pulled together. We will now start…
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“If an apple is magnified to the size of the earth, then the atoms in the apple are approximately the size of the original apple.” (This is a year of Feynman – week 30 of 52)
– Richard P. Feynman (11 May 1918 – 15 Feb 1988) From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our…
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Be Part of a Global Stargazing Event
Project partners Go Stargazing and the Royal Astronomical Society are leading a free nationwide stargazing event. It is called 100 Hours Under One Sky. The event is aimed at beginners and is in collaboration with the International Astronomy Union and the British Astronomical Association. Complete four simple stargazing challenges to win virtual ‘badges’ and see…
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Space and science-related puns & jokes no. 61
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! __________________________________________________________________ What do you call a hungry bison that loves astrophysics?Chew deGrasse Bison. Definite credit (blame?!) goes to Cathrin Machin Space Art / https://x.com/cathrinmachin. __________________________________________________________________ PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave…
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Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? (no.55)
Were you following a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays? Did you share a birthday?! If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! Or maybe, one of the 100+ additional astronauts who have flown since this original list was pulled together, has beaten you?! We will now start listing…
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 