tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72093624343506310992024-02-07T17:49:30.118-07:00A Cosmobiologist's DreamI am an astrobiologist, sci-fi geek, and professor of everything groovy. I write about science, culture, math, history, space, and science fiction. Perhaps like you, I'm seeking a greater understanding of the nature of life and asking myself why all of this really matters. Come with me, and we'll ask some questions together.Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.comBlogger341125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-349858061751392022019-12-18T08:56:00.003-07:002019-12-18T08:56:38.163-07:00Crack the Code!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's a fun one that I just saw on <a href="https://twitter.com/estelsiplanetes/status/1207323537356345344">Twitter</a>. Can you "crack the code"?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mUELVW8HMshnZsga08VoOBk73h36NKd_4HWMvEWV7tjkAHU8lggXetlLY44U-tpE4iPCZU6wLsKSevH5T3lDc1My8aKiq7-k7FhvU9v-lq2GJcl-YcvI9HeNmUQhejaUWTyO-4UiJ8M/s1600/a2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="464" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mUELVW8HMshnZsga08VoOBk73h36NKd_4HWMvEWV7tjkAHU8lggXetlLY44U-tpE4iPCZU6wLsKSevH5T3lDc1My8aKiq7-k7FhvU9v-lq2GJcl-YcvI9HeNmUQhejaUWTyO-4UiJ8M/s640/a2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-9118854462354976812019-09-02T15:45:00.007-06:002019-09-02T15:45:57.067-06:00Find the Perimeter!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mv7RZkIBX3hMSLAU6aKbFy_W4eBYIiEMcfvw9Cvc9EEuLIAUuXJjaxZEr0XU2nIssJa-KjYio1PYQvEnWdkMBcnLEIWJVsouAz00EAWOfMV2636asqU7pn602Ew0anlqT9TfSVvFqT4/s1600/69883587_10218452716961534_2585860540312059904_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="768" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mv7RZkIBX3hMSLAU6aKbFy_W4eBYIiEMcfvw9Cvc9EEuLIAUuXJjaxZEr0XU2nIssJa-KjYio1PYQvEnWdkMBcnLEIWJVsouAz00EAWOfMV2636asqU7pn602Ew0anlqT9TfSVvFqT4/s640/69883587_10218452716961534_2585860540312059904_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Note: the lines on the drawing are not to scale.</span></div>
<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-28699542424589403722019-05-14T09:14:00.001-06:002019-05-14T09:14:22.756-06:00MAX 2019: A Space Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYwIZbNWrHxmbUC45NIj4jGPS51HLSuvl_NK1Sr2HgC919n7RYpV3wQBqa6oflooXW6rQCQfVM6CEG6WZztY0DWMXfGcxXVkenTU9yCbNOn-Ydnn1eyveXfexH1t3ahopZCcRV6yXfgo/s1600/MAXFestSF_SocialPost.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYwIZbNWrHxmbUC45NIj4jGPS51HLSuvl_NK1Sr2HgC919n7RYpV3wQBqa6oflooXW6rQCQfVM6CEG6WZztY0DWMXfGcxXVkenTU9yCbNOn-Ydnn1eyveXfexH1t3ahopZCcRV6yXfgo/s640/MAXFestSF_SocialPost.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Heading out to California in just a few days for <a href="https://mediaartexploration.org/festival/max-2019-a-space-festival/">MAX 2019: A Space Festival</a> from Media Art Exploration. The festival will take place at the California Academy of the Sciences, The Exploratorium, and the Z Space theater in San Francisco from the 16th through 18th. There will be live performances, displays of artwork, panels of scientists and artists, booths from various groups sharing their art and their science, and more!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We'll be running a booth for <a href="http://saganet.org/">SAGANet.org</a> at the California Academy of Sciences on Friday, the 17th. Come find our booth and we can chat about astrobiology, space exploration, and more. We'll also have stickers and comic books to give out, scifi books and our book of astrobiology classic literature for sale, and I'll also have some of my meteorites there to show off (including a little piece of the Moon!). Hoping to see you there!</span><br />
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-40843677024937761292019-02-28T11:11:00.002-07:002019-02-28T11:11:34.053-07:00On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-24988221055661018052019-02-06T10:19:00.002-07:002019-02-06T10:19:14.735-07:00Blue Marble Space Video<div style="text-align: center;">
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-45690400305656902442019-02-02T09:18:00.002-07:002019-02-02T09:24:20.899-07:00Earthrise: "Riders on the Earth Together"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4oHqiDnwXDjfqh0icYb2F52yrVhcRCpjVMhmC3MfGPgR-tpgBXoJ7-IB05I_YJjjoyZxJPf1YzbuM6E17DIlzg83iorP3Pl-hXmwTVdsqwdaKFEskMvPId9CbsVyrr-Y7fPOImVmPkk/s1600/Archibald+MacLeish+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4oHqiDnwXDjfqh0icYb2F52yrVhcRCpjVMhmC3MfGPgR-tpgBXoJ7-IB05I_YJjjoyZxJPf1YzbuM6E17DIlzg83iorP3Pl-hXmwTVdsqwdaKFEskMvPId9CbsVyrr-Y7fPOImVmPkk/s640/Archibald+MacLeish+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The words in the image above were written by the American poet Archibald MacLeish upon seeing the imagery coming from the Apollo 8 mission (the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise">Earthrise</a> image, accompanying the quote above, was taken just the day before MacLeish's quote was published).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://cosmobiologist.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-blue-marble-importance-of-seeing.html">Seeing our world from space</a>, seeing that there are no national boundaries, no grand positions for monarchs and rulers to claim, seeing that we are all connected by sharing our beautiful little Blue Marble in the vastness of space... comes with an existential awareness that could be gained in no other way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Seeing ourselves as "riders on the Earth together" brings us together in our shared experience as members of our world, participants in our biosphere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Below, you can read the entire text from MacLeish's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/25/archives/a-reflection-riders-on-earth-together-brothers-in-eternal-cold.html">1968 New York Times article</a>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Reflection: Riders on Earth Together, Brothers in Eternal Cold</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>by Archibald MacLeish</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>New York Times, December 25, 1968</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Men's conception of themselves and of each other has always depended on their notion of the earth. When the earth was the World -- all the world there was -- and the stars were lights in Dante's heaven, and the ground beneath men's feet roofed Hell, they saw themselves as creatures at the center of the universe, the sole, particular concern of God -- and from that high place they ruled and killed and conquered as they pleased.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And when, centuries later, the earth was no longer the World but a small, wet spinning planet in the solar system of a minor star off at the edge of an inconsiderable galaxy in the immeasurable distances of space -- when Dante's heaven had disappeared and there was no Hell (at least no Hell beneath the feet) -- men began to see themselves not as God-directed actors at the center of a noble drama, but as helpless victims of a senseless farce where all the rest were helpless victims also and millions could be killed in world-wide wars or in blasted cities or in concentration camps without a thought or reason but the reason -- if we call it one -- of force.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, in the last few hours, the notion may have changed again. For the first time in all of time men have seen it not as continents or oceans from the little distance of a hundred miles or two or three, but seen it from the depth of space; seen it whole and round and beautiful and small as even Dante -- that "first imagination of Christendom" -- had never dreamed of seeing it; as the Twentieth Century philosophers of absurdity and despair were incapable of guessing that it might be seen. And seeing it so, one question came to the minds of those who looked at it. "Is it inhabited?" they said to each other and laughed -- and then they did not laugh. What came to their minds a hundred thousand miles and more into space -- "half way to the moon" they put it -- what came to their minds was the life on that little, lonely, floating planet; that tiny raft in the enormous, empty night. "Is it inhabited?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The medieval notion of the earth put man at the center of everything. The nuclear notion of the earth put him nowhere -- beyond the range of reason even -- lost in absurdity and war. This latest notion may have other consequences. Formed as it was in the minds of heroic voyagers who were also men, it may remake our image of mankind. No longer that preposterous figure at the center, no longer that degraded and degrading victim off at the margins of reality and blind with blood, man may at last become himself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold -- brothers who know now they are truly brothers." </span>Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-68988922243019591672019-01-25T16:22:00.001-07:002019-01-25T16:22:25.557-07:008k Wallpaper of Images from HST and ESO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtslG40UjJ4jnBzvYhrE_GTmOnmcfR8yoySVCvBDi4VtuZ3kNH2yO8OKM9tVHvfs-IyMF_rERswEk3GX2mgMt_dYSgmFGUVcvsCPAKvQb5F9BAE9IfnLG4xP3TqjTnaIJXsSiw7gJaLsk/s1600/wallpaper_HSTESO_01_8k_Stuart_RobbinsEdit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtslG40UjJ4jnBzvYhrE_GTmOnmcfR8yoySVCvBDi4VtuZ3kNH2yO8OKM9tVHvfs-IyMF_rERswEk3GX2mgMt_dYSgmFGUVcvsCPAKvQb5F9BAE9IfnLG4xP3TqjTnaIJXsSiw7gJaLsk/s640/wallpaper_HSTESO_01_8k_Stuart_RobbinsEdit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://about.sjrdesign.net/">Dr. Stuart Robbins</a> created this wallpaper graphic from images from the public archives of the Hubble Space Telescope (<a href="https://hla.stsci.edu/">HST</a>) and the European Southern Observatory (<a href="http://archive.eso.org/cms.html">ESO</a>). Pretty darned incredible! I think I'll be using it for a while on my own desktop. You can find an <a href="http://www.sjrdesign.net/wallpaper_HSTESO_01_8k.jpg?fbclid=IwAR3BOUJ2xU5I5e2SDL5Acqm3LvQs1nk4oH_X9DIya9X9-Qb3NXrpuu2RkKA">8k version</a> on his website.</span>Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-33549912450287508432018-12-03T19:14:00.003-07:002018-12-03T19:14:35.894-07:00Calculus Made Easy, 1910: All the little bits<span style="font-size: large;">Calculus Made Easy is a book on introductory calculus originally written in 1910 by Silvanus P. Thompson. It was such a well-received text for teaching calculus, that it can still be found in print today (it's now in the public domain and also <a href="http://djm.cc/library/Calculus_Made_Easy_Thompson.pdf">freely available online</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first bit of text from the first chapter is fairly intriguing. So much so, that I thought you might like to read it here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thinking of the integral of <i>dx</i> as an easy way of saying "the sum of all the little bits of <i>x</i>" is a really intriguing approach to explaining some of the most basic ideas of calculus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you've struggled at all with learning calculus, then you may want to give Calculus Made Easy a read. It may be over 100 years old, but much of the writing is still of great value for the interested student.</span><br />
<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-33173191769569674302018-09-17T18:11:00.001-06:002018-09-17T18:11:05.800-06:00Raising Some Funds for the Humane Society<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">My husky Darwin is decked out in some Humane Society of Boulder Valley gear in this picture for the upcoming Doggie Dash 2018! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/little_fox_n_mr_bear/?hl=en">The huskies</a> are raising some moolah to support our local Humane Society. If you have a moment and might be able to give, check out the fundraiser at this link:</span><br />
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<a href="https://give.boulderhumane.org/fundraiser/1536344"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Help the huskies raise money</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://give.boulderhumane.org/fundraiser/1536344"><span style="font-size: x-large;">for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley!</span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Love these silly doggos!</span></td></tr>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-90238144780118609812018-09-15T12:00:00.003-06:002018-09-15T12:00:43.050-06:00From Mike Rowe Regarding the Fake Hurricane Reporting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlLl5tc0oSrrSSMVXZUcx9ZGE0068fml-I-SllmShx3XF89qN6PvSYyN4k5zmBmmsCZCuFvk-wOSJX5yPdigzUqZd_zj73S5PdOvwS40k1NWVUbk56-WoMy-fRPEU1uNMS15f-weaXAM/s1600/Fake+News+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="651" height="433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlLl5tc0oSrrSSMVXZUcx9ZGE0068fml-I-SllmShx3XF89qN6PvSYyN4k5zmBmmsCZCuFvk-wOSJX5yPdigzUqZd_zj73S5PdOvwS40k1NWVUbk56-WoMy-fRPEU1uNMS15f-weaXAM/s640/Fake+News+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By now you've probably seen (or at least heard of) the video of </span><span style="font-size: large;">Weather Channel correspondent Mike Seidel in Wilmington, North Carolina, trying to "fight heavy winds" of Hurricane Florence as he reported live on Friday, only to shortly after have the camera catch two people walking behind him with no troubles with the wind at all. The video is yet another reminder that we can't necessarily trust what we see in the media and a sign of bogus journalism. I just came across Mike Rowe's comments regarding the clip and thought I'd share them here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Typically, I don't share videos that have already been viewed millions of times. Feels like old news. But old news is better than fake news, and here, we have an example of fake news so perfectly personified I can't help but bring it to your attention.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Watch this clip. Ironically, it's one of the most honest things I've seen in a long time. But not because The Weather Channel is committed to honesty. No, the truth here is accidental, and comes courtesy of the people in the background. Two guys, casually strolling through what the reporter would have us believe are gale force winds.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Or "gale-farce," if you will.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This is the problem with television today. No one can tell the difference between a commercial and a documentary. There's no line between reality and non-fiction, news and entertainment, or in this case, a weather report and a skit on SNL. No one knows whom to trust anymore, because the landscape is littered with hosts and reporters and correspondents so desperate to hold our attention that they'll do or say anything. And still, in the midst of so much pretense and pandering, they beg us to trust them! They literally beg us, with a level of earnestness that defies credulity. And then, they pretend. They perform. They act.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Do yourself a favor - if you're looking for the truth, look behind the scenes. That's where authenticity lives. That's why I've always insisted on hiring a behind-the-scenes camera to document every show I've ever worked on. That's why I'm insistent about incorporating that footage into whatever makes it on the air. Because it shows the truth, in a far more persuasive way than I could ever describe it.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Travis McGee, my favorite fictional character, once said, "Be wary of all earnestness." He was right. Earnestness and truth have nothing to do with one another. Consider that the next time you see a news story or a weather report that's preceded by a lurid graphic, dramatic music, and urgent sounding narration, and then ask yourself if the network is trying to inform you, or simply keep you from turning the channel. And remember this too - if a network or a reporter or the host of non-fiction TV show is asking for your trust, it's only because they're too lazy to earn it.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Be wary of all earnestness...</i></span><span style="font-size: large;">"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">You can watch the video here:</span><br />
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-53793252993792913482018-09-12T15:21:00.001-06:002018-09-12T15:21:10.945-06:00Co-Hosting Ask an Astrobiologist!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIBsnA8NJ3Sialv19azBVn_fvDAqt8ABWh_vMentYr2gK9xxPtEYgzh4gR3hO5xyG1XDQlDlgSRgWW7T5uO1iYar6FMssVMwHQ7Eb0cD3lq4mOSv8OzgSuUYhPcCWKDktcouI6hN4TM4/s1600/AskAstrobio+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIBsnA8NJ3Sialv19azBVn_fvDAqt8ABWh_vMentYr2gK9xxPtEYgzh4gR3hO5xyG1XDQlDlgSRgWW7T5uO1iYar6FMssVMwHQ7Eb0cD3lq4mOSv8OzgSuUYhPcCWKDktcouI6hN4TM4/s640/AskAstrobio+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve recently agreed to become a co-host of the show <a href="https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/">Ask an Astrobiologist</a>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ask an Astrobiologist, brought to you from the community of <a href="http://saganet.org/main">SAGANet</a>, is a <a href="https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/">NASA Astrobiology</a>-sponsored show that airs online once each month. In each episode, either myself or <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/sanjoy-som">Sanjoy Som</a> will interview a guest astrobiologist to ask about their career paths, their scientific research, and the things that drive them to wonder about the nature of life in the universe. Every episode also features a photo contest with the potential to win some NASA swag!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ask an Astrobiologist airs live on SAGANet and on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NasaAstrobiology/?fb_dtsg_ag=AdwQa-Fl6uL1BS6R_FyebPjk_0OdpyU3XGmetG3U7Dv39Q%3AAdxWWBeW3bFI8s6dRx0xi6R_-uHAKYAzb078xUfEIerSDA">NASA Astrobiology Facebook page</a>. People watching the show live can ask questions of our interviewees on either streaming platform or on Twitter using <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23askastrobio">#AskAstrobio</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m definitely excited for becoming more involved with the show! Look for more here in the future, including episodes and my personal comments about what it's like to host a show like this!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxACHCjbFbP7vdFUC-dbDLB4fkw-yd90ryFoXc0qkldtm3rU8pG6CUrxGqfXrmdtBhxefwRRJAxRpuN9sR0tvQ40i8b82r6xiTEcAGUYRgO8YfJhjU38Ou6KQeEZYA7v2fVGF90cveYs/s1600/AskAstrobio+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1081" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxACHCjbFbP7vdFUC-dbDLB4fkw-yd90ryFoXc0qkldtm3rU8pG6CUrxGqfXrmdtBhxefwRRJAxRpuN9sR0tvQ40i8b82r6xiTEcAGUYRgO8YfJhjU38Ou6KQeEZYA7v2fVGF90cveYs/s640/AskAstrobio+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-73098716746364812362018-09-04T14:31:00.001-06:002018-09-04T14:31:31.029-06:00An emoji puzzle that takes a little integral calculus to answer<span style="font-size: large;">You may have seen some of the emoji puzzles that make their way around Facebook and other social media sites. Usually they require that you do some simple algebra (like adding 3 monkey emojis equal the number 15, so what number is one emoji monkey representative of?), but I just saw this little gem that actually required a little bit of fun ol' integral calculus. Give it a look-see:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJY76GRajZv8jR5oC9r8WYLSi0adgVGfa_TlDyIjN5IrZzk1ersPLY7CaLfvJKi67MWxOIPePB9mvew6F4jme2WrQ4qntcIWi9M_k6uqKIhhan_rxm1eozJMEuKpzm5n-v3fv_hevQYA/s1600/40684176_1791359937566451_5338656147203162112_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="689" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJY76GRajZv8jR5oC9r8WYLSi0adgVGfa_TlDyIjN5IrZzk1ersPLY7CaLfvJKi67MWxOIPePB9mvew6F4jme2WrQ4qntcIWi9M_k6uqKIhhan_rxm1eozJMEuKpzm5n-v3fv_hevQYA/s640/40684176_1791359937566451_5338656147203162112_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What do you think? Does it look like fun? Give it a go and then I'll post the answer below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, let's talk about the answer to this fun little puzzle. It starts off pretty easy, just using a little bit of algebra. The first part gives us three bottles of beer added together to equal 30. Easy enough, right? Each bottle must represent the number 10:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniQ0cR3gWzU2NRMhsJqJKob1OSATA-G-oZJM2lJIU1FjIzX3gqDl0QPbs4rPQ31EHgcWgdU3f-lOgX5PgF79ceAKD3djdZDEJGJoYBmhTw88OCO6dOHZsdXi3KnPqsS7VK2VKj3JwAf0/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1077" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniQ0cR3gWzU2NRMhsJqJKob1OSATA-G-oZJM2lJIU1FjIzX3gqDl0QPbs4rPQ31EHgcWgdU3f-lOgX5PgF79ceAKD3djdZDEJGJoYBmhTw88OCO6dOHZsdXi3KnPqsS7VK2VKj3JwAf0/s640/Picture1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After that, we get to mix our beer bottle variable with a new variable, a cheeseburger! Again, pretty easy math. The cheeseburger must represent the number 5:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_VIMWWyG5nBm2fS7_ey6MSIMK1hEbPQBOoetk_3PQtCF6bcCds3xbv76PTnpE2DLe-m21dOCdXW07Mo2r5Kyo4nSqiMKhbPp2iu946mOBQg91bYnKmdpGjv3q2iuLXZtHS5kcOZPQmk/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1130" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_VIMWWyG5nBm2fS7_ey6MSIMK1hEbPQBOoetk_3PQtCF6bcCds3xbv76PTnpE2DLe-m21dOCdXW07Mo2r5Kyo4nSqiMKhbPp2iu946mOBQg91bYnKmdpGjv3q2iuLXZtHS5kcOZPQmk/s640/Picture2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then, again, we get to use the variable from the last bit to workout the next part of the problem, where we find that two glasses of foaming ginger beer (hey, it can be whatever you want it to be, really) will represent the number 2:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS5HIuKzIF9oTvTAjdHTWCgKCuLfPdzorHbmcjBFgFSffTV59xF72-xHE3GFWGqfNj-CtVRxa4_LZskG_xkUl0n6YyYrLSsRjctkbsLN8qZEyQCruwoVBUl6SzMLJUlJ-mRetnW2K4TA/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1075" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS5HIuKzIF9oTvTAjdHTWCgKCuLfPdzorHbmcjBFgFSffTV59xF72-xHE3GFWGqfNj-CtVRxa4_LZskG_xkUl0n6YyYrLSsRjctkbsLN8qZEyQCruwoVBUl6SzMLJUlJ-mRetnW2K4TA/s640/Picture3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But after that, things get a little harder. Now we have the following integral:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIR3zk2JOSNfH9zfmHG_MrX4wp-_g50QIpSlPcMk8nz35H2eTCQpL3WPP7U47QbjE8ar8I9cJIuYp9R0OeEevLUlrmOCBK5pGw6t7o9EyOiaPZqX3_E153mASWZbd1BcwVHW4V7KXIAI/s1600/Picture4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="1567" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIR3zk2JOSNfH9zfmHG_MrX4wp-_g50QIpSlPcMk8nz35H2eTCQpL3WPP7U47QbjE8ar8I9cJIuYp9R0OeEevLUlrmOCBK5pGw6t7o9EyOiaPZqX3_E153mASWZbd1BcwVHW4V7KXIAI/s640/Picture4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We can start by plugging in the stuff we already have (in this case, our beer bottle, cheeseburger, and glasses of foaming ginger beer variables). That yields:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmCg0PCDHGzLfr7XNBW4JjK6G8KXUodp6gnVp9-slse_8CLNDZMy9YECZ6iskiVMd9JbPdTxl02KNbRi6CvLI55AxwcE40wwK9_ciT_VBd6jw_aJiNuC0CHZrkiNoeufsjRR1aSEmCAs/s1600/Picture5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="1264" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmCg0PCDHGzLfr7XNBW4JjK6G8KXUodp6gnVp9-slse_8CLNDZMy9YECZ6iskiVMd9JbPdTxl02KNbRi6CvLI55AxwcE40wwK9_ciT_VBd6jw_aJiNuC0CHZrkiNoeufsjRR1aSEmCAs/s400/Picture5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Which then can be rewritten as:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRa0N8grAwq1Coke4H8EF15UrvmF4pM07sUV86L5OllKtKI6RqVFPbEJpOVBZdpwUXSwqUAnjl7-tAeaw7MskRCNzpvrtBtW_2zJ9KA9UASy6x9MgpMqlqIfalakzb0U-El1cMjDdpbsQ/s1600/Picture6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="995" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRa0N8grAwq1Coke4H8EF15UrvmF4pM07sUV86L5OllKtKI6RqVFPbEJpOVBZdpwUXSwqUAnjl7-tAeaw7MskRCNzpvrtBtW_2zJ9KA9UASy6x9MgpMqlqIfalakzb0U-El1cMjDdpbsQ/s400/Picture6.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you haven't had much experience with integral calculus, that expression above probably still looks pretty confusing. If this is the case, then you might want to check out <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/math/integral-calculus">Khan Academy's lessons on integral calculus</a>, since that'll give you a good leg up on how this type of math works. But, assuming you already have some experience with integral calculus, you might notice that the above expression is very similar to the improper integral of the <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SincFunction.html">sinc function</a> over the positive real numbers. This kind of function actually has a specific name and a well known solution. It's called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirichlet_integral">Dirichlet Integral</a>, and, in this case, has a solution of pi over 2:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuCGfFZWAqqb-tPg0O8okR4QQ9KMZZcZ43SDimRVgCENHDb__NyGjPhvx1lcqjL_e-FH9esJmFElugcFY4HNrR6tIYMxzgq5LcCU615s5xQA3eOgXgfNaehAVZDAwDxgospKskOFlv6s/s1600/Picture7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="1049" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuCGfFZWAqqb-tPg0O8okR4QQ9KMZZcZ43SDimRVgCENHDb__NyGjPhvx1lcqjL_e-FH9esJmFElugcFY4HNrR6tIYMxzgq5LcCU615s5xQA3eOgXgfNaehAVZDAwDxgospKskOFlv6s/s400/Picture7.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, if we solve the same way using our previous expression from the problem at hand, we get:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuaiPHiTAxggUgNIW1mXw7XJAzGv1RnaUa6LfMFubuqR9lLuLVRCcubV8Opxy3zmsgO_VtV1vMBHisDIB_K6TunxiILxIb_GEIAQwOChfc852FrMG9iRCfs6x4BivNEPldSEobZyXA14/s1600/Picture8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="1321" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuaiPHiTAxggUgNIW1mXw7XJAzGv1RnaUa6LfMFubuqR9lLuLVRCcubV8Opxy3zmsgO_VtV1vMBHisDIB_K6TunxiILxIb_GEIAQwOChfc852FrMG9iRCfs6x4BivNEPldSEobZyXA14/s400/Picture8.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So the answer to the original problem is numerically 5pi/2. But we started off with a mix of emojis and numbers, so why not go back to emojis. We already have emojis for 5 and 2 (cheeseburger and two frosty glasses of ginger beer, respectively), but we need one for the number pi (which is usually represented by the Greek lower case letter). Why not use pie?! We then get a final answer of:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PeloYaGqLFY0meLGSMzMI6Oe6EwU1VhQglIXrNsVQo5oVXWhLIgUmKXsNoGjJX8hAcVKRtZ8TWe83S1ijLv3hfwq9eQmSdQZaEc9NR69FseVCRv4UTGXsIs8Vwpq4_b9A41qb9lBGqw/s1600/Picture9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="1600" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PeloYaGqLFY0meLGSMzMI6Oe6EwU1VhQglIXrNsVQo5oVXWhLIgUmKXsNoGjJX8hAcVKRtZ8TWe83S1ijLv3hfwq9eQmSdQZaEc9NR69FseVCRv4UTGXsIs8Vwpq4_b9A41qb9lBGqw/s640/Picture9.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And that makes the problem even more fun! Now I think I'll go enjoy a cheeseburger and some ginger beer and follow up with a little pie. Cheers!</span>Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-23848839055671434502018-08-28T09:48:00.002-06:002018-08-28T09:48:33.771-06:00John McCain's Farewell Statement<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Senator John McCain died this past week. He was 81 years old. There was once a time when I was younger where I would say openly that if John McCain ran for President, then I was likely to vote for him. Sadly, his presidential campaign in 2008 became overrun by the idiocy of far right conservative politics in America. Adding Sarah Palin to the campaign and paying lip service to the fundamentalist right definitely weakened the campaign. Yet, there were still powerful McCain moments. The <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/glanton/ct-met-dahleen-glanton-john-mccain-respect-20180827-story.html#">"No Ma'am Moment"</a>, when McCain responded articulately and strongly to a woman who claimed Obama was an Arab and she couldn't trust him, will probably be the best-remembered moment of his presidential run. Yet, his farewell statement, released to the American public following his death, may one day be his best remembered statement, especially as the words are poignant and meaningful at a time when the Trump Administration, xenophobia, and extremism (on both sides) are threatening the future of American democracy. I've copied the words of the statement below, for anyone interested in reading them. The bold highlights of the text are mine, but, truly, all the words are those of the now deceased Senator John McCain.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAf01JSAF9qLnFkP8DLbZiwV02wOpdm5fxGszSleA-01d5-9_PuwKcGkrbwlHcKdNotWXzZsbnpb50GeCq9bKLiFCfTLFJr950CN-Vr_Dx3Bbp-iORshgmgBs9O3nosyEVGrGiPlyw8JA/s1600/McCain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAf01JSAF9qLnFkP8DLbZiwV02wOpdm5fxGszSleA-01d5-9_PuwKcGkrbwlHcKdNotWXzZsbnpb50GeCq9bKLiFCfTLFJr950CN-Vr_Dx3Bbp-iORshgmgBs9O3nosyEVGrGiPlyw8JA/s640/McCain.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2008 presidential candidate John McCain, before a rally in Cedar Falls, Iowa (Oct. 26, 2008; AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else's.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America's causes -- liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people -- brings happiness more sublime than life's fleeting pleasures. <b>Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">'Fellow Americans' -- that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. <b>We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil.</b> We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.</b> We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ten years ago, I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with the heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel it powerfully still.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Farewell, fellow Americans. God bless you, and God bless America."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbYdS739yhmbqudZuV0jgXow1gkQlc3F5bWJxj-8WMAt8rjKBaDOtdNH5vuGQV6wA3gki0FKrpZIlQwcfjcrxde3fbdeohqRlD9W5qzrzWuq-SaVMxhOmM2yxtLo0_LiC7-EBidXGRjw/s1600/american-flag-514662_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbYdS739yhmbqudZuV0jgXow1gkQlc3F5bWJxj-8WMAt8rjKBaDOtdNH5vuGQV6wA3gki0FKrpZIlQwcfjcrxde3fbdeohqRlD9W5qzrzWuq-SaVMxhOmM2yxtLo0_LiC7-EBidXGRjw/s640/american-flag-514662_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-77062435666887049692018-08-16T23:28:00.003-06:002018-08-16T23:28:33.103-06:00Augeries of Westworld Innocence<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3yXoEog_VRnknwTlrUEb4h4EeUJN_qRvSbU5Hm5l6jYkDrHg3FXRSZnMh6y9KAXcSBQMdxH6AX3nE7kpNEx6ovJFJCHFejbHhLTQLkF0L0_pyylWwciyyBZtTk4ah-wqcA_C_2eMQGE/s1600/William_Blake_-_Nebuchadnezzar_%2528Tate_Britain%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="1536" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3yXoEog_VRnknwTlrUEb4h4EeUJN_qRvSbU5Hm5l6jYkDrHg3FXRSZnMh6y9KAXcSBQMdxH6AX3nE7kpNEx6ovJFJCHFejbHhLTQLkF0L0_pyylWwciyyBZtTk4ah-wqcA_C_2eMQGE/s640/William_Blake_-_Nebuchadnezzar_%2528Tate_Britain%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nebuchadnezzar, William Blake (c. 1805)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We're just now getting around to finishing <a href="https://www.hbo.com/westworld">Westworld</a> Season 2 (it's been a pretty busy summer). One striking scene for me in this season of the show was a simple little scene where the character of Ford (Anthony Hopkins) is reintroduced, this time as a digital representation of himself within the control unit of Bernard (</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jeffrey Wright</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">). Not only is this a scene where Ford </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">reveals rather eloquently that Westworld itself was an attempt to digitalize human consciousness and reach immortality as a species, but it's prefaced by Ford reciting these poignant four lines from Augeries of Innocence, by William Blake:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<i>To see a world in a grain of sand</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> And a heaven in a wild flower,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> And eternity in an hour.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's the scene itself in video:</span><br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EUyG0aoKmQQ" width="560"></iframe><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">This has long been one of my favorite lines from poetry, but the episode forced me to think a little more about the poem and how apt it is to the concepts considered in the show. Augeries of Innocence presents good and evil, right and wrong, etc. in light of natural and supernatural understandings of Blake's time. In many ways, the ideas touched upon in Westworld make us question good and evil and right and wrong when it comes to our development of modern technology (especially technology that not only has the potential to radically change who and what we are, but even to utterly destroy us). The episode has definitely had me thinking about this poem. Here's the entire poem, for your reading pleasure:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>To see a World in a Grain of Sand </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And a Heaven in a Wild Flower </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And Eternity in an hour</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Robin Red breast in a Cage </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Puts all Heaven in a Rage </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shudders Hell thr' all its regions </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A dog starvd at his Masters Gate </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Predicts the ruin of the State </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Horse misusd upon the Road </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Calls to Heaven for Human blood </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Each outcry of the hunted Hare </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A fibre from the Brain does tear </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Skylark wounded in the wing </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Cherubim does cease to sing </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Does the Rising Sun affright </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Every Wolfs & Lions howl </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Raises from Hell a Human Soul </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The wild deer, wandring here & there </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Keeps the Human Soul from Care </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Lamb misusd breeds Public Strife </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And yet forgives the Butchers knife </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Bat that flits at close of Eve </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Has left the Brain that wont Believe</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Owl that calls upon the Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Speaks the Unbelievers fright</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who shall hurt the little Wren </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall never be belovd by Men </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who the Ox to wrath has movd </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall never be by Woman lovd</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The wanton Boy that kills the Fly </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall feel the Spiders enmity </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who torments the Chafers Sprite </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Weaves a Bower in endless Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Catterpiller on the Leaf </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>For the Last Judgment draweth nigh </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who shall train the Horse to War </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall never pass the Polar Bar </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Beggars Dog & Widows Cat </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Feed them & thou wilt grow fat </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Gnat that sings his Summers Song </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Poison gets from Slanders tongue </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The poison of the Snake & Newt </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Is the sweat of Envys Foot </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The poison of the Honey Bee </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Is the Artists Jealousy</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Princes Robes & Beggars Rags </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Are Toadstools on the Misers Bags </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Truth thats told with bad intent </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Beats all the Lies you can invent </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>It is right it should be so </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Man was made for Joy & Woe </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And when this we rightly know </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Thro the World we safely go </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Joy & Woe are woven fine </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Clothing for the soul divine </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Under every grief & pine </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Runs a joy with silken twine </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Babe is more than swadling Bands</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Throughout all these Human Lands </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Tools were made & Born were hands </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Every Farmer Understands</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Every Tear from Every Eye </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Becomes a Babe in Eternity </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>This is caught by Females bright </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And returnd to its own delight </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Bleat the Bark Bellow & Roar </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Are Waves that Beat on Heavens Shore </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Babe that weeps the Rod beneath </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Writes Revenge in realms of Death </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Beggars Rags fluttering in Air</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Does to Rags the Heavens tear </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Soldier armd with Sword & Gun </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Palsied strikes the Summers Sun</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The poor Mans Farthing is worth more </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Than all the Gold on Africs Shore</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>One Mite wrung from the Labrers hands </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall buy & sell the Misers Lands </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Or if protected from on high </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Does that whole Nation sell & buy </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who mocks the Infants Faith </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall be mockd in Age & Death </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who shall teach the Child to Doubt </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The rotting Grave shall neer get out </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who respects the Infants faith </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Triumphs over Hell & Death </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Childs Toys & the Old Mans Reasons </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Are the Fruits of the Two seasons </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Questioner who sits so sly </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall never know how to Reply </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who replies to words of Doubt </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Doth put the Light of Knowledge out </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Strongest Poison ever known </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Came from Caesars Laurel Crown </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Nought can Deform the Human Race </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Like to the Armours iron brace </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>To peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Riddle or the Crickets Cry </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Is to Doubt a fit Reply </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Emmets Inch & Eagles Mile </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Make Lame Philosophy to smile </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>He who Doubts from what he sees </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Will neer Believe do what you Please </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>If the Sun & Moon should Doubt </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Theyd immediately Go out </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>To be in a Passion you Good may Do </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>But no Good if a Passion is in you </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Whore & Gambler by the State </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Licencd build that Nations Fate </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Harlots cry from Street to Street </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Shall weave Old Englands winding Sheet </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Winners Shout the Losers Curse </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dance before dead Englands Hearse </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Every Night & every Morn </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Some to Misery are Born </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Every Morn and every Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Some are Born to sweet delight </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Some are Born to sweet delight </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Some are Born to Endless Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>We are led to Believe a Lie </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When we see not Thro the Eye </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>God Appears & God is Light </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>To those poor Souls who dwell in Night </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>But does a Human Form Display </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>To those who Dwell in Realms of day</i></span>Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-9822753198668654812018-08-13T19:36:00.001-06:002018-08-13T19:36:23.039-06:00New Graphics for One Flag in Space<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One Flag in Space (OFiS) is one of the initiatives of <a href="https://www.bluemarblespace.org/">Blue Marble Space</a>, the non-profit that I work for. OFiS has a mission to inspire people to explore as citizens of Earth, using the Earth Day Flag as a symbol to represent all of humanity engaging in the act of space exploration and coming to better know our own world together. I recently put together some more graphics for sharing on our social media profiles. I thought I'd share some here as well. Enjoy!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySF3S2DpnJdZCBlVVumI2pFpaBmRjZCwjvugFuGw0vC2nRrF4TIadtkCnNMdX9U9bEM1ig2wMl-I5RoEJ3YkL2cDm0f1ftjvd3Xg9OqRvZR4nM4yj2B6eBj9ZndVz6GrDo312KqdfnBk/s1600/Astronaut+Over+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="428" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySF3S2DpnJdZCBlVVumI2pFpaBmRjZCwjvugFuGw0vC2nRrF4TIadtkCnNMdX9U9bEM1ig2wMl-I5RoEJ3YkL2cDm0f1ftjvd3Xg9OqRvZR4nM4yj2B6eBj9ZndVz6GrDo312KqdfnBk/s640/Astronaut+Over+Flag.jpg" width="548" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgwU_tWEhEo3Ptx4UikOe0S3hj8_-tcb-nP_6p2BAsm8gchNsCuLneI2XdZHzmv_7l-crtSTcbp8MjrHnRCy2NKSv8ZRlfoLtkQ0bZQxmd7TpYmd3jFT-UUxAAg2PHY5DZ1109X1mEpY/s1600/Blue+Apollo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1541" data-original-width="1563" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgwU_tWEhEo3Ptx4UikOe0S3hj8_-tcb-nP_6p2BAsm8gchNsCuLneI2XdZHzmv_7l-crtSTcbp8MjrHnRCy2NKSv8ZRlfoLtkQ0bZQxmd7TpYmd3jFT-UUxAAg2PHY5DZ1109X1mEpY/s640/Blue+Apollo+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyy0qIhwLIy9goXTgCQhFmTd1pWru33rNrIBa_YYhFAZ56QaHbAP60eR7ynuoApk4xh0iggyPq5cYayMy_sEJjyixFFuXn_R8pp9Gs3jAFMy616VBqA8JcRFm0E-7GQIyjyJNQ29pXjak/s1600/Tube+Talk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyy0qIhwLIy9goXTgCQhFmTd1pWru33rNrIBa_YYhFAZ56QaHbAP60eR7ynuoApk4xh0iggyPq5cYayMy_sEJjyixFFuXn_R8pp9Gs3jAFMy616VBqA8JcRFm0E-7GQIyjyJNQ29pXjak/s640/Tube+Talk.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-4268284560462508562018-04-21T05:00:00.000-06:002018-04-21T05:00:35.778-06:00Carbon Based Lifeforms Live at Ozora Festival 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDix96uPWujYBP7ZYPGSC5inWa3_rHtwMRxOQb-3fhITUQk27YA_HeZ1sE9mcEey2khrzrIOxkc5W4eGL2UkDXTfzRlvshl5dXlUx7Ui-_-yeGoa60yzowpeLaCLdo4khmIub3uzLK9Y/s1600/CBL+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDix96uPWujYBP7ZYPGSC5inWa3_rHtwMRxOQb-3fhITUQk27YA_HeZ1sE9mcEey2khrzrIOxkc5W4eGL2UkDXTfzRlvshl5dXlUx7Ui-_-yeGoa60yzowpeLaCLdo4khmIub3uzLK9Y/s640/CBL+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's something blissful for your daily flow. A couple hours of <a href="http://www.carbonbasedlifeforms.net/">Carbon Based Lifeforms</a>, playing at the Ozora Festival last year in Hungary. I can't embed the video, so you'll have to scurry over to Youtube to watch it. But it'll be worth it. Trust me... I'm a doctor (Okay, not that kind of doctor, but still a kind of doctor). Here's a link to the groovy sounds (get 'em while they're contained within the massive information rich network of the interwebs!):</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/SD6hsVJQtiY">Carbon Based Lifeforms at Ozora Festival</a></span></div>
<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-73683767810094495402018-04-20T07:26:00.001-06:002018-04-20T07:31:56.989-06:00Data & Picard by Pogo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt0KH2cWi5xL8IRfzrRomHbx8XCafG3k_TbCuFxSGZ9hOLbRAEDHvwV8gS-e9cAzoqrIn8WXVCBasBp0NO1_YaEYCdkYFTyRMihLHmTH_NIWc7nIkYJ-xoViKbfA5HjjBSsc3EDsDZaw/s1600/Pogo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt0KH2cWi5xL8IRfzrRomHbx8XCafG3k_TbCuFxSGZ9hOLbRAEDHvwV8gS-e9cAzoqrIn8WXVCBasBp0NO1_YaEYCdkYFTyRMihLHmTH_NIWc7nIkYJ-xoViKbfA5HjjBSsc3EDsDZaw/s320/Pogo+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ah, some days I wake upon this world and find myself in a funk of uncertainty and overcome with the unrelenting bafflement of a society full of trite opinions and intellectually simple considerations of mostly insignificant things. But, then, there are days when the awesome sauce is flowing freely in the world and something like this gem falls into my life. Friends, fans, and fellow Star Trek lovers, "Data & Picard" by Pogo is here to make your day:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Was that good for you? I hope so. Want to learn more about Pogo (Nick Bertke)? Check out these links for more:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://pogomix.net/">Website</a> <a href="https://pogomix.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://twitter.com/NickBertke">Twitter</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cheers folks. Go forth and do your good works!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuh2LHA1b3LmKge8ZMH2rWwwm6_P5EAARw6xBspDbI_Owe8vpXHY0a8_02cIkAzKxxo-fK_lskQgwzeLMj_IQDl4kKslFKh5YyopSFvFxYmn69m8nAU-U6T7zLeGhmirbCUfBkmoZrVTY/s1600/Pogo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1229" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuh2LHA1b3LmKge8ZMH2rWwwm6_P5EAARw6xBspDbI_Owe8vpXHY0a8_02cIkAzKxxo-fK_lskQgwzeLMj_IQDl4kKslFKh5YyopSFvFxYmn69m8nAU-U6T7zLeGhmirbCUfBkmoZrVTY/s640/Pogo+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-18130137983415298602018-04-19T04:00:00.000-06:002018-04-19T04:00:10.612-06:00A Sandworm Size Chart!<span style="font-size: large;">Now this is just too cool! I've been re-reading the Dune series again, so I suppose I've had sandworms on the brain lately. Admittedly, this "size chart" isn't even remotely to scale (that Dune sandworm would be a very small individual), but it's still pretty awesome. Maybe if I can find some time soon, I'll make an improved version myself! Until then, enjoy:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwxHI0hFwYIEKVNyK_FK4DSzBlC5CiTCoMfTeXJ9UYDk72_m-WEfcprY5ZPWrn74n0cMBASutamqj6qdmlYq9n2_6qI05csLucwMCzqS8FC-i44vKoJhu4pmV8jYMclS_tuhn-Fm0O0Q/s1600/size+chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="625" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwxHI0hFwYIEKVNyK_FK4DSzBlC5CiTCoMfTeXJ9UYDk72_m-WEfcprY5ZPWrn74n0cMBASutamqj6qdmlYq9n2_6qI05csLucwMCzqS8FC-i44vKoJhu4pmV8jYMclS_tuhn-Fm0O0Q/s640/size+chart.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-9150129811881361892018-04-18T06:00:00.000-06:002018-04-18T06:14:42.742-06:00Looking Back Upon Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyqltoAiDHqM9AUcpDAU1jXgxBuHAjp_LjMJBrNyvqY6HtBRZViDe0wn60S8VGajWiTq44-X0x3xE9S3bjO3ZmMQY3zoXY00CJai0D7Wh3N2z8FXk8rM9xmoW-Abezpk_4kaavbiaovg/s1600/Ring_HubbleDonatiello_960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="960" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyqltoAiDHqM9AUcpDAU1jXgxBuHAjp_LjMJBrNyvqY6HtBRZViDe0wn60S8VGajWiTq44-X0x3xE9S3bjO3ZmMQY3zoXY00CJai0D7Wh3N2z8FXk8rM9xmoW-Abezpk_4kaavbiaovg/s640/Ring_HubbleDonatiello_960.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I looked into the eye of the divine, </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> Driven.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>That flaming jewel in the depths of the cosmos,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Set amid a blanket of starry darkness,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> Vast and beautiful.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I looked out to see where I fit,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And found the universe looking back upon me.</i></span></div>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-72876228552644409472018-04-17T21:52:00.003-06:002018-04-17T21:52:23.831-06:00#ToExploreIsHuman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHZ2MkXBUvcQg2Y_zpNKMFDwBsZPmQzF1ll1uHc2zhcIJ43OyhE5v7ZKnKURIrJgcKpnuryhYjnjWQqDjUIctk1it7wOLeed5WBnrj5-wVWe7Nm0Ir7oozeOtAB4QRmdh66DtmG-Xc0I/s1600/One+Small+Step+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHZ2MkXBUvcQg2Y_zpNKMFDwBsZPmQzF1ll1uHc2zhcIJ43OyhE5v7ZKnKURIrJgcKpnuryhYjnjWQqDjUIctk1it7wOLeed5WBnrj5-wVWe7Nm0Ir7oozeOtAB4QRmdh66DtmG-Xc0I/s640/One+Small+Step+1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-49248766001329337672018-04-08T11:17:00.002-06:002018-04-08T11:17:30.075-06:00The blue lines in this image are parallel!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tQBEHDQAu6l2n-LPX5HSARsketSnUNcrjQk28qt_w8PlsN229b798NoYq5GJChqU2mGHOv3IDJMQhr2uDDxDEnfkMeZtn57xJYodep8DlRmBf0eYZsfbrEYJA5o9wS6lz-pTprNvmbM/s1600/30073416_2104832199532959_6276699450124123997_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tQBEHDQAu6l2n-LPX5HSARsketSnUNcrjQk28qt_w8PlsN229b798NoYq5GJChqU2mGHOv3IDJMQhr2uDDxDEnfkMeZtn57xJYodep8DlRmBf0eYZsfbrEYJA5o9wS6lz-pTprNvmbM/s640/30073416_2104832199532959_6276699450124123997_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-87033580852249892272018-03-30T23:35:00.002-06:002018-03-30T23:35:38.708-06:00Mojave Crater, Mars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJg3V12F1HyA4Um6Z58_7t1zjxa0mqnOwYHQUwA27n6Z_ktbl8f4XNoYv4auanS_AFSV2a2GuWpFc8k1f9SnfV1w6znckojFoUhujTvAobpdsdEVk7oJZuuu3UkHXu-rklRx0OoZFk8Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-03-30+at+11.12.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1600" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJg3V12F1HyA4Um6Z58_7t1zjxa0mqnOwYHQUwA27n6Z_ktbl8f4XNoYv4auanS_AFSV2a2GuWpFc8k1f9SnfV1w6znckojFoUhujTvAobpdsdEVk7oJZuuu3UkHXu-rklRx0OoZFk8Q/s640/Screen+Shot+2018-03-30+at+11.12.52+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Within the Xanthe Terra region of Mars lies an impact crater known as Mojave (named after the town and desert in California!). The beautiful video below was put together by </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Seán Doran and shows a virtual flyover of Mojave Crater <a href="https://www.uahirise.org/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_001481_1875">based on data from the HiRISE</a> (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment</span><span style="font-size: medium;">) instrument on the </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). HiRISE has given us 12 years of incredible data, and the flyover video below is definitely a beautiful way to look at some of those data:</span><br />
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-13751448998373415482017-11-20T20:47:00.003-07:002017-11-20T20:47:52.430-07:00The Stars Overhead<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTXKjc9YNUzT6rLLInjjd5lwYK_Lp1Rmq7VhyZ7RV1u5MJoFW95n8lS3ERwteJ1GcD6TeWVYBQkBykmxm4E14Kx5eNauzuIjSKCfe3uRHqB_5VvY80MGs-Qxvr1f02CTe9tSwuTMajdQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-11-20+at+8.42.22+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1600" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTXKjc9YNUzT6rLLInjjd5lwYK_Lp1Rmq7VhyZ7RV1u5MJoFW95n8lS3ERwteJ1GcD6TeWVYBQkBykmxm4E14Kx5eNauzuIjSKCfe3uRHqB_5VvY80MGs-Qxvr1f02CTe9tSwuTMajdQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-11-20+at+8.42.22+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love stargazing. Using telescopes and binocs to look at the stars is great, but something about looking at the stars at night with your own eyes is just magical. It reconnects us with ancient people, who knew the heavens above so very well, even if we have more knowledge now about what those stars really are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As a communicator of science, I've been slowly building up my set of tools to use to share science in various ways. One things I've been wanting to do for a long time, but just haven't accomplished is producing videos of my field work, videos about science, and videos about the awe and wonder I feel in the presence of thinking about the universe and that I know many others likely share as well. So I've decided to start doing it! I'm going to be producing videos (hopefully one each week or two) to share these things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first one to get started with is a video about the stars you can see overhead at night. I'm still finding my voice and my style, but, if you have a moment, give it a watch and, please, let me know what you think. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-14166389909311862012017-11-17T20:21:00.002-07:002017-11-17T20:21:49.715-07:00Humanity, Technology, and an "Einstein Quote" that Einstein Never Said.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BbnpvK5gi1o/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">From the film Powder (1995). #film #movie #quote #powder #jeffgoldblum #seanpatrickflanery #EinsteinNeverSaidThat #humanity #technology #spirituality #lightning</a></div>
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A post shared by Graham Lau (@cosmobiologist) on <time datetime="2017-11-18T02:18:58+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Nov 17, 2017 at 6:18pm PST</time></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I was recently thinking about the film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114168/">Powder</a>. Released in 1995 and starring Sean Patrick Flannery, Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, and Lance Henriksen, Powder was about a young albino man, nicknamed Powder, with unique capabilities of intellect, telepathy, and paranormal ability. The man is an outcast due to his differences, and the film explores some of his interactions with others. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The tagline for the film was "<b>An extraordinary encounter with another human being!</b>". Here's the trailer for the film:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">It's definitely worth a watch. I remember being quite moved by it when I was a kid (I was 12 when the film came out). There's one scene in particular that stuck with me and comes up in my thoughts from time-to-time. Jeff Goldblum's character, Donald Ripley, is supportive of Powder and awed by Powder's abilities. In the scene that I still remember so well, the following exchange is had between the two of them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Donald Ripley:</b> “It’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Powder:</b> “Albert Einstein.”</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Donald Ripley:</b> “I look at you, and I think that someday our humanity might actually surpass our technology.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Beautiful, right?! I loved that scene as a kid, and I still love it now. However, something very interesting that I just learned is that the first part of the quote ("It's become appallingly clear...") isn't actually a quote from Albert Einstein!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Folks at <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/10/25/tech-exceeded/">Quote Investigator</a> and <a href="https://www.snopes.com/einstein-technology-quote/">Snopes</a> have tried to track down this claimed Einstein quote and have found that the first instance of the quote in known history actually is the movie Powder! The quote was written into the script as being from Einstein even though it wasn't actually an Einstein quote. Later, due to the film, others began using the quote and misattributing it to Einstein (such as </span><span style="font-size: large;">DeAnna Emerson’s "Mars/Earth Enigma: A Sacred Message to Mankind" in 1996 and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Nina L. Diamond's</span><span style="font-size: large;"> "</span><span style="font-size: large;">Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers, and Healers" in 2000).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's still a great quote and a moving sentiment. It reminds me of what I found to be the most powerful line in Martin Luther King Jr.'s essay "<a href="http://pluralism.org/document/the-world-house-martin-luther-king-jr-1967/">The World House</a>":</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men.</span><span style="font-size: large;">"</span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, the quote from Powder sounds like <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=G_iziBAPXtEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=albert+einstein+quotes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqvfnIksfXAhUJ3GMKHdjZArEQ6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q=albert%20einstein%20quotes&f=false">something that Albert Einstein would have said</a>. And, even though I think it's good to be aware of things like misattribution, there's also something interesting about how we often will begin building legends around famous people from our past (and even present) and can slowly attribute talents, spoken words, and acts to those legends that may not have been true of the actual people the legends are based on. </span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Maybe it doesn't matter that Einstein never actually said that. Maybe part of the legend of Einstein, the myth of the man, is that we build him up and attribute sayings and deeds to him that weren't really his. Even though I prefer knowing the truth in this instance, it might just be part of our human nature that we build our legends up in such ways. It's definitely something to ponder.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'll leave you here with a quote that is <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/05/28/not-facts/">pretty surely actually from Einstein</a>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">(Of course, many have shortened the quote to say "The value of an education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think". Oh well.)</span><br />
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7209362434350631099.post-20956598285175157342017-11-13T08:53:00.002-07:002017-11-13T08:53:37.939-07:00Und Here Ve See zee Illusive Anglerfish!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anglerfish are some of the most bizarre creatures on our planet. They sport the well-known fleshy lures, dangling from the front of their bodies to entice prey organisms to come in close for a better look (and, then, only to get chomped on). Their bodies tend to be compressed, making them weirdly blobby or weirdly elongated (depending on the species). Some of them also have some of the <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-anglerfish/">strangest sexual dimorphism</a>, where the male of a given species may be incredibly small compared to the females. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I just stumbled upon the video below on the Facebook page for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/MBARInews/about/?ref=page_internal">Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute</a> (<a href="http://www.mbari.org/">MBARI</a>). They captured a video of an anglerfish 600 m (1968.5 ft) down in the ocean using the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) <a href="http://www.mbari.org/at-sea/vehicles/remotely-operated-vehicles/rov-doc-ricketts/">Doc Ricketts</a>. Take a look at the bizarre creature as it swims among the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/marinesnow.html">marine snow</a>, sporting its "luminous lure at the tip" (as it was described by MBARI's <a href="http://www.mbari.org/robison-bruce/">Bruce Robison</a>).</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the description offered by MBARI for the video:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Deep-sea anglerfish are strange and elusive creatures that are very rarely observed in their natural habitat. Fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video by deep diving research vehicles. This little angler, about 9 cm long, is named Melanocetus. It is also known as the Black Seadevil and it lives in the deep dark waters of the Monterey Canyon. MBARI's ROV Doc Ricketts observed this anglerfish for the first time at 600 m on a midwater research expedition in November 2014. We believe that this is the first video footage ever made of this species alive and at depth."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Still haven't had enough? Check out a longer, narrated version of the video from MBARI here:</span><br />
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Cosmobiologisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016227449821609053noreply@blogger.com0