Alex Parker is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, focusing on the formation and evolution of planetary systems. His work involves a lot of starry nights. So when cloudy weather gave him a stretch of downtime at the observatory, it seemed like a fun idea to transform some of the stunning images from the Hubble Space Telescope into an homage to Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting. Continue reading “The Art of Science: Starry Night”
This week’s recipe is a bit of a two-for-one. The “main” recipe is a fall favorite of mine, mushroom soup (PDF – 770kb). This recipe only has five ingredients (not including salt and oil, which are staples, not ingredients), the most important of which is not, in fact, the mushrooms. It’s the stock (PDF – 115kb). Just replace the mushroom with any number of vegetables and we can still make a delicious soup – as long as we start with good stock. So, if we want to understand the science behind great mushroom soup, we need to understand the science behind good stock. Continue reading “Mushroom Soup & Homemade Stock: The Root of All Flavor”
The Theory of Relativity, the opening track and first single from Stars latest, The North, features many things that the band is known for: dreamy lyrics, the seamless back and forth between vocalists Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell, and a rising and falling soundscape feel. My husband commented when we put the album on for the first time that you would know it was a Stars song immediately, even if you’d never heard it before. And that is in no way a bad thing. It takes the band forward with a much more synth-heavy approach and rhythm that’s more electronica than indie rock, and does it in a way that doesn’t lose any of the charm of being a Stars recording. (See for reference a past favourite of mine: Take me to the Riot.) Continue reading “Stars: The Theory of Relativity and science as culture”
It’s been a little too busy to do the Sunday Science Poem or finish up the Thomas Kuhn book club (we’ll finish it soon, really). In the mean time, here are some quick sci-fi thoughts: with the recent arrival of an Amazon package at my home, I’ve realized that 2012 has been an awesome year for classic science fiction reprints. Here are my acquisitions:
1) Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley (NYRB classics): Nearly 400 pages, 26 stories, and a useful intro (PDF) by Alex Abramovich – this is essential reading for fans of the SF short story, especially those who like the vintage 50’s stuff. Continue reading “2012 – Year of Classic Science Fiction Reprints”
The number of lolz based on Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment would fill many boxes. But this one may require a whole new approach.
via cheezburger.com
The Finch and Pea 