This is beyond stupid. I think I may need help.
(Link to video)
Archive for the ‘cats!’ Category
The sublime: [Update: not so sublime after all, after listening to a few more episodes. Planets, Kuiper Belt, comets, good. Black holes, Big Bang, cosmic background radiation: not so good. Granted they're hard things to explain, but it's not living up to my great first impressions. Sigh.] I’ve just discovered Astronomy Cast, a more-or-less weekly podcast presenting a “fact based journey through the cosmos” in half-hour installments. They started in September, 2006, with a show on the Pluto-isn’t-a-planet-anymore hullabaloo that was all the rage at the time; sixty-four episodes later, they’ve just concluded a tour of the solar system, with a bunch of more (and less) cosmic topics in between.
So far I’ve listened to the first episode and the latest two, and I’m all excited about it. It’s clear and engaging, with none of the dumbing-down (or, as I like to think of it, sciencefridayitis) that’s usually endemic to this sort of program. All three of those episodes happen to deal with the outer reaches of the solar system, so I now know quite a bit more about the “interstellar medium,” the meaning of the heliopause, and the difference between the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. If there are any other astronomers manqué out there, give this a listen. It’s worth it.
The ridiculous: My other recent discovery (probably thanks to BoingBoing as usual) is purrcast. It’s exactly what you think. I think I kind of love it.
For some reason G-Fav described this link as “too strange for my [his] blog.” This is not a problem for me. (On the other hand it’s not very strange at all. But then again, unlike G-Fav, I don’t have to worry about actual scientists reading my blog. As far as I know. Anyway, carry on.)
Near my apartment the other day:
Maaaaaan.
As a kind of a chaser, here are links to two not-exactly-lost pet notices—sort of cheerier variations on a theme.
(courtesy of BoingBoing)
(courtesy of Rachel)