Posts Tagged ‘astrophysics’
Getting small…
More pixie-like pix at Slinkachu‘s “Little People Project” (“abandoning little people on the streets since 2006”)…
[TotH to Laughing Squid and Sex + Design]
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As we keep everything in perspective, we might send a bright metal birthday riff to Brian Harold May, CBE; he was born on this date in 1947. Rightly known for his work as guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer of the band Queen (he is ranked 26th on Rolling Stone‘s list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and 7th on Planet Rock‘s), he has also distinguished himself as an astrophysicist. During a hiatus from the band, May completed his PhD at Imperial College (which he’d left in abeyance in the early 70s to pursue Queen); his dissertation was A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named in his honor in June, 2008 at the suggestion of British Astronomical Association President Sir Patrick Moore.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so*…
From Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Cal Tech and author of From Eternity to Here, a report from Setting Time Right, a conference that he kicked off in Norway late last month…
“Time” is the most used noun in the English language, yet it remains a mystery. We’ve just completed an amazingly intense and rewarding multidisciplinary conference on the nature of time, and my brain is swimming with ideas and new questions. Rather than trying a summary (the talks will be online soon), here’s my stab at a top ten list partly inspired by our discussions: the things everyone should know about time. [Update: all of these are things I think are true, after quite a bit of deliberation. Not everyone agrees, although of course they should.]
Sean’s list– like his books, clear and provocative– is at “Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Time.”
* – Douglas Adams
As we wind our watches, we might recall that it was on this date in 2008 that two of Carroll’s ten points– #4 (“You live in the past”) and #9 (“Aging can be reversed”)– were illustrated, as MTV threw the full weight of its VMA Awards behind Britney Spears’ comeback. Spears performed on the telecast and won three awards, including video of the year for “Piece of Me.” The following year she completed her highest-grossing global concert tour.
Oops!… I Did It Again (source)
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