Monday, November 11, 2013

Partly Cloudy On a Planet You Don't Live On

My 11-year-old daughter and I were trying to understand a science article for Arizona's amazing Large Binocular Telescope.  The story was about Arizona scientists looking at a planet  a bazillion miles away:  Non-equilibrium Chemistry Patch Clouds Model.   What does that mean she asks.   Before I could answer (as if I could) she said:  "I get it!   Partly cloudy today on a planet you don't live on...with a chance of rain!"  


"Directly Imaged L-T Transition Exoplanets in the Mid-Infrared"
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1311.2085

H8799 b, c, d, e

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Even Marx Believed in Hell

We went to Ireland on our honeymoon.  Everyone was very pleasant and helpful during the trip. Even the poor old Irish nun who sat next to us on the plane ride over and asked my wife "Why are you visiting Ireland, you don't look Irish?" said it in the most innocent well intentioned way. 
 
My grandmother Honoragh would say "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."   This expression is sometimes attributed to Marx.  Although she was very fond of the TV show "You Bet Your Life", she certainly never read Das Capital where the quip appears.   Maybe she picked it up from her brother Ned, the IRA captain who joined the Wobblies after the British released him from prison and he came to America.   "The Road to Hell" probably originated with St. Bernard of Clairvaux who preached the Second Crusade and was gravely saddened by its failure and the great loss of life.  No doubt Marx had some regrets, too.   Interesting to think that even Marx believed in Hell.

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Grandma Honoragh's favorite TV shows:

You Bet Your Life -- Groucho Marx
Life is Worth Living -- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Liberace Show -- Liberace
The Lawrence Welk Show -- Lawrence Welk