Inkspot Nebula (B86) & NGC 6520
Copyright: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and T. Abbott (NOAO/AURA/NSF)
“These are some of the things hydrogen atoms do, given fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution. It has the sound of epic myth, but it’s simply a description of the evolution of the cosmos as revealed by science in our time. And we, we who embody the local eyes and ears, and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos, we’ve begun at last to wonder about our origins. Star stuff contemplating the stars, organized collections of ten billion billion billion atoms contemplating the evolution of matter, tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness here on the planet Earth and, perhaps, throughout the cosmos. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves, but also to that cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.”
My idol.
Via cwl
It’s hard to remember the important things in life. Hell, it’s hard to know what’s important. We live in an age of a thousand distractions. It’s almost like a test. “We’re going to give you all of this bullshit to contend with and it’s your job to strip it all away and find meaning.” Technology has, in many ways, spelled the death of the quiet moment.
– Trying to Figure Out What’s Important (via creatingaquietmind) Via Close your eyes, clear your heart, let it go...
A 7 year-old asks Neil deGrasse Tyson what would happen if two black holes collide.
It’s wonderful. You da man, Clayton.
Oh, and the answer will make your head spin in the all the best ways.
(by KaluzaPryme)
Neil deGrasse Tyson for president, people. Or maybe this kid some day.
Via It's Okay To Be Smart
Science Query for the Presidential Candidates
I wonder when will the public start demanding scientific literacy among their governing officials, including presidential candidates. We were not a country founded on religious beliefs yet it floods our country’s interest for some odd reason. Would it be too much to ask these people have at least a basic, well-rounded sense of the scientific method, much like we require the same level of expertise from our doctors, scientists, teachers, etc.?.
Here’s a nice article via SciAm that reiterates a similar concern:
3 Science Questions to Ask U.S. Presidential Candidates
“As you may already be aware from my previous posts, The Guardian U.S. and NYU’s Studio 20 journalism lab have teamed up to push a project called The Citizens’ Agenda into the media discourse surrounding the U.S. presidential 2012 election. The idea: find out what you–the citizens–want the candidates to be discussing over the next four months – usually meaning questions of substance about policy rather than horserace and gotcha questions so pervasive in mainstream media.”
![saving the world one bit[e] at a time](http://25.media.tumblr.com/avatar_b479fa6b5e78_30.png){kind=avatar}
