Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but a lot of work piled up the two weeks I was gone, but I just wanted to remind you that the World Science Festival is going on now in New York City. There are lots of interesting events planned. Hope you enjoy!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
New World Science Festival Events
From an email release, events for which one now can buy tickets are:
* Music and the Brain (May 31, 6 PM, Abyssinian Baptist Church, $18, Students $12): The Abyssinian Baptist Church Choir will join neurologist/author Oliver Sacks in an exploration of the power of music to inspire and uplift, and as an effective tool in the therapeutic process.
* Dear Albert (June 1, 7 PM, Columbia University, $40, Students $20): Written by Alan Alda, directed by Daniel Sullivan and featuring Anthony LaPaglia, this play delves into the treasure trove of letters written by Albert Einstein, his wives and friends, tracing an intimate and unfamiliar line across his life and work.
* Illuminating Genius (May 29, 8 PM, NYU, $30, Students $12): Choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones and actor Michael York join neuroscientists V.S. Ramachandran, Nancy C. Andreasen, and David Eagleman to explore cutting edge research into the brain’s creative impulses.
* Invisible Reality (May 30, 8 PM, NYU, $30, Students $12): Join Alan Alda as he accompanies Brian Greene, Nobel Laureate William Phillips and other leading thinkers at the vanguard of quantum research on an accessible multimedia exploration of the astounding weirdness of the quantum world.
* What it Means to Be Human (May 31, 8 PM, NYU, $30, Students $12): Drawing on a range of disciplines, this provocative program looks at how discoveries in areas like fundamental physics, anthropology, and genomics are influencing our understanding of uniquely human characteristics. Participants include philosopher Daniel Dennett, artist Jonathan Harris, anthropologist Ian Tattersall, geneticist Francis Collins, philosopher Patricia Churchland, sociologist Nikolas Rose, and Nobel Laureates Harold Varmus and Paul Nurse.
Go here for more information.
Want to be an European astronaut?
As of May 19th, the European Space Agency is taking applications for their next class of astronauts. Go here for more information.
Have a clever idea for Satellite Navigation?
Will the European Space Agency is very interested in hearing them. Go here to enter a contest, and submit your ideas. Good luck!
World Wide Telescope
Possibly as answer to Google Sky, Microsoft has released it's own Astronomical image gallery, called "Worldwide Telescope", available here. It looks pretty cool. Enjoy!
Good Luck to the Mars Phoenix Lander
Tonight, the Mars Pheonix Lander will hopefully be landing successfully on the surface of Mars. Significantly larger than other rovers on Mars, and will land (hopefully) on Mars by firing rockets to slow down, as opposed to landing inside essentially a giant balloon as did Spirit, Opportunity, and Sojourner. This method is risky, and previous attempts at landing objects on Mars have failed 1/3 of the time, so keep your fingers crossed. For the latest information on Phoenix's progress, go here. Also, a news briefing at JPL will be held tonight at 9 p.m., following landing and the first possible downlink of images. Briefing updates at JPL also are scheduled on Monday, May 26 at 11 a.m. and on Tuesday, May 27, at 11 a.m, and daily news briefings will continue at 11 a.m. for several days assuming a successful landing.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
May 14th radio show online - "The Earth"
The May 14th radio show is now online and available here. In addition to the usual news and calendar (lots of NASA webcasts on the calendar this week), I discussed some recent results concerning our own Earth - the structure of the Earth's core, the role of meteorite collisions in shaping the Earth, and our understanding of its magnetic field. I'll post a more thorough synopsis later, but in the meantime, please email any questions or comments or leave them below.
No show next week, unfortunately, as I'll still be in Myanmar (Burma) visiting my wife's family and I didn't have time to pre-record this show before I left. Hope you have a good week, and see you in two weeks. In the meantime, please donate money. This organization sends aid directly to people in Myanmar who needs it, not through the government. Thank you very much.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Slew of upcoming NASA webcasts
NASA will be broadcast a lot of events over the web in the upcoming week, including educational programs, docking with the space station, and big press conference announcing some new, exciting Astronomical discovery - so exciting they won't say what it is beforehand to maintain the suspense. For more information on these events, check out the Astronomy calendar I maintain. It is under "Miscellaneous Astronomy Events." Enjoy!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Please Donate Aid to Myanmar (Burma)
As you might have heard in the news and can see here, Myanmar (Burma) was devastated by Cyclone (Hurricane) Nargis this Saturday. The damage is quite extensive - I know personally because my wife is Burmese, she in fact is in Yangon (Rangoon) now helping her parents with the clean-up and I will be joining her this weekend for two weeks. If you can, please done money here to the American Burmese Buddhist Association, an organization which runs Burmese Buddhist monasteries in the United States. The monks at these monasteries are sending the money directly to people in Burma who need the money - no worries about it being appropriated by the military government or going into the pockets of some fund administrator. Thank you.
PS. Myanmar is the name for Burma in Burmese, the language of the largest ethnic group in the country. (In fact, in Burmese the name of the country, people, and language is Myanmar.) Burma was the name given to the region by the British.
Interview with Marc Taylor (Andrus Planetarium) now online
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