I read a lot of science books and a lot of them take an almost fiendish pride in reminding us how “insignificant” we are. I disagree. They mention how the earth is very small, a grain in a vast ocean of useless space and time. They remind us that at one [...]
I’ve been trying to think of a good analogy for the complexity and beauty in nature. The best thing I can come up with is music. For instance, a piece of piano music is made up of only a few dozen discrete tones. If a kid came and bashed away on the [...]
I’ve been sick a few times this past month and it was hell. It was so bad I had to go on a course of antibiotics to help wipe out the infection. That got me thinking though, how do antibiotics even work? It’s just a pill, so how does the chemical know [...]
I whipped out an orange from my lunch bag today and it was as large as a baby’s head. Amazing! The thing weighed about a pound and looked to be in perfect health, glowing a bright rich… well orange color. I thought to myself, why the heck is this orange so big? [...]
This is a great “musical” about the Spitzer telescope created through NASA and CalTech. Yes, it’s a song about a space telescope! It describes its purpose and how it operates, awesome! One interesting note is that it needs liquid helium to cool its instruments down to operational range, which is around -450 F. Even though [...]
The entire universe is estimated to be about 13.7 billion years old. I don’t know about you but that is not a very long time to for the existence of well, everything. It’s funny how 13 billion can seem small but, it kind of is! There are probably 200 billion stars in OUR OWN galaxy. [...]
Biotechnology is something I’ll probably mention alot on this science blog. It is a field that is absolutely booming. In the 6 years since I have been out of school I’ve seen new departments and new buildings devoted to it at universities throughout the country. Houston itself has 3 giant research buildings in the heart [...]
I remember reading that Archimedes was so absorbed while taking a walk and looking at the stars that he fell down a well. It always makes me smile when I think of that. This month the stars are basically in the same positions he saw them in. I haven’t fell down a well while looking [...]