Posted in astronauts, personal, space on February 8, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Wow.
STS-130 lifted off at 4:14AM on 8 February 2010. The crew of the space shuttle Endeavor was strapped in for a second launch attempt after the previous morning’s attempt had been scrubbed for a low cloud ceiling. A few miles away, on a much emptier and slightly warmer causeway, the space tweeps gathered once [...]
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Posted in astronomy, cool, exoplanets, kepler, meeting, nrao, personal, science, space, telescope on January 10, 2010 | 2 Comments »
What a crazy ride!
I am finally recovered, mostly, from the big American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, DC, that occurred last week. What a ride!
For me, the conference started off with a teaching workshop put on by the Center for Astronomy Education on interactive learning methods in “Astro 101.” As I start to sort through [...]
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Posted in fun, personal, picture on December 28, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I’ve discovered this great new method for dealing with all my stress…
I’ll let you know how it works out for me!
No, seriously, I look forward to the day when a dangerous cult like Scientology can’t afford prime real estate in Midtown Manhattan.
Stay tuned… after this vacation I’ll be at the American Astronomical Society meeting in [...]
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Posted in atheist, personal, rant, religion on November 25, 2009 | 5 Comments »
For an atheist, I tend not to talk much about religious matters anymore. When I first came “out” as an atheist, it was an interesting topic of discussion for me, but I quickly bored of it. Still no evidence for god? Okay, move along. I’m much more interested in the immediate harm of anti-vaxxers and [...]
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Posted in personal, picture on October 15, 2009 | 5 Comments »
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote up a personal mission statement with the hope that it would help me focus my activities. This was followed a few days later by a meeting with my thesis committee, which, as always, helps me to refocus my research and my career goals. For the past couple of [...]
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Posted in personal on September 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I recently had the chance to talk with Jeffery Bennett, astronomer and author from Boulder, CO, during his recent visit to Charlottesville. After giving presentations to four elementary schools with his children’s books chronicling the fictional space journeys of a dog named Max, he gave a talk at UVa about the search for extraterrestrial life, [...]
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Posted in personal, rant, skeptic on September 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I never know quite what to say from year to year on this anniversary. I used to have a LOT to say, now I reserve a moment of quiet reflectiveness. But maybe I can move away from the emotional aspect just a bit and talk about my first run-in with 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Going back a [...]
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CVille folks may have heard this story today about a stolen car which ran off of Rugby Road today and down a hill. The car was going so fast that it skimmed over the roof of one house and crashed into the roof of another. Those that know me well enough to have been to [...]
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