As reported in a “BBC News Article”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6249721.stm today, the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, is getting set to launch this fall. This is the culmination of about ten years of hard work by hundreds of engineers, postdocs, students, professors, and funding agencies. NASA and the Department of […]
Vacations are tough. They remind me that I love spending time with friends and family, writing fiction, and playing music. I got to do some or a lot of all of those things these past few weeks. I’ll share some of the fun here, in pictures and words. Each year, […]
Jodi and I have returned from vacation. It was a dramatic break. Naturally, the minute we left the state of California a big wind storm hit our area and knocked out power. Faithful readers will have noticed the lovely temporary webpage I had to setup for the site. Yahoo’s “small […]
It’s been outrageously warm here in Connecticut. Today it was 55 outside, four degrees warmer than at our home in California. It’s been raining, but it cleared enough this afternoon to go for a walk with Jodi. It was nice to stretch the legs, burn a few calories (which I […]
In a recent letter to his constituents, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) wrote that “The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district, and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to […]
Ah, home in Killingworth. We’re several hours late, but surely better off than anybody who thought they’d be in Denver today…
I’d forgotten how much I hate the Vegas airport. A sea of humanity, tempted by glittering and beeping slot machines. No place to sit and eat – just sticky stools in front of machines that fool the statistically challenged. Now onto Hartford!
For many weeks, the radio program “To the Best of Our Knowledge” has been running a series entitled “Electrons to Enlightenment”. It’s taking a wide and varied look at the issues of religion and science in modern American society. The most recent program discussed the relevance of evolution to a […]
I was pleased with the results of the recent elections, although I believe that this was more a vote against Southern Republicans than a vote for Democrats. In a two-party system, when you vote against one party by definition you wind up voting for the other, even if you don’t […]
As I have probably mentioned in the past, “On The Media” is one of my favorite weekly programs (and netcasts). It tackles issues concerning the media’s portrayal of events, and is interesting from a “peer review” point of view. In science, we review the work of other scientists and by […]
It’s just not the holiday season in this household without a trip to the SF ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker”. Jodi and I put on our sunday best last night and headed up to the city for a wonderful and transportive night of dance, music, and sets. As you can […]
Washington state is getting hammered. This is one of the bigger winter storms in years, and it’s left the good folks to our north in a state of emergency. While we’ve been gray and chilly all day, it’s nothing even approaching bad weather. However, there is this lingering promise of […]