Planet Wonder

When I first saw this video I was amazed, entertained, and educated (in that order). I loved every minute of this wonderful tour of the International Space Station. Still, perhaps the most exciting thing about this was that the woman who leads the tour knows how to fly.  At one point she describes sleeping in a weightless space station, in another she explains how space toilets work.  But, maybe the most interesting thing she had to say was that she  [ Read More ]

One of the common threads on Planet Wonder is the amazing connectivity of all life on earth. Watch the following video for some eye-opening information about who’s who on our Planet of Wonder. Direct link to video.  

Astronomy has moved way beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. Take a look at this short video showing us, at a very great distance, what a nascent solar system looks like. It’ll take your breath away.   If image fails to post, click here.

As children growing up, we reveled in asking “why” questions.  “Why is the sky blue?” “Why was I born?” “What will I be when I grow up?” The list goes on and on. As children we were confident that there was a ready answer to each of our questions, and we would go to bed at night, if not wiser, at least secure in that the answers were there for the taking. But, is that true? Join Chris Anderson with  [ Read More ]

God is In the Neurons This is a fascinating animated lecture, but be warned, it isn’t for everyone.  Watch at your own risk.

There was a time when we believed that the Atom was the smallest possible particle in the Universe. Look at what “InfoPlease” has to say about this: “The idea that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles, or atoms,  is believed to have originated with the Greek philosopher Leucippus  of Miletus and his student Democritus  of Abdera in the 5th century B.C.  (The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.”)  These thinkers held that, in addition  [ Read More ]

Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006 he has hosted the educational science television show NOVA scienceNOW on PBS, and has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Time with Bill  [ Read More ]

Today’s offering is a long one… and the introduction may drive you up the wall.  Of course you can scroll past it and get right into Dr. Michio Kaku’s eye-opening and entertaining talk about the world of the future a scant 20 years from now. Is this how it will be?  Probably not.  Predictions of the future are seldom correct, but much of what he says will be there when we arrive will undoubtedly be possible.  Much of it is possible today, but  [ Read More ]

No, I didn’t get this title backwards, but thanks for asking.  )) As said often here, a novelist should take care to make his or her “created world” as reliable as possible.  As possible.  That is the key phrase. Just how possible is it for us to see and understand the physical world?  I believe it is much more difficult than people think. Isaac Newton is credited for saying, “…If I have seen a little further it is by standing  [ Read More ]

Let me start by admitting that this is the first of Doug Hofstadter’s books I’ve actually finished.  The first of his works I attempted to read was Gödel, Escher, Bach.  It was fascinating, but about three-quarters through he went into a private calculus and drove me out through the window.  His Mathemagical Themas was more approachable, but a very long book, and I was not in a mental place to “get” much of what he was saying. For some reason, however,  [ Read More ]