Astronomical visualization goes big

i think this is the first time i'm promoting something developed at microsoft, but i really gotta give them credit here. the worldwide telelscope (WWT) is an interactive piece of software, with god knows how many layers of astronomical data embedded, that allows its users to navigate through the universe and experience decades of astronomical observations first-hand. i had the privilege of meeting curtis wong (the creator of the software) in december in kicp's cosmology short course, which i helped organize (i even "graded" his assignment for the course, for which he of course submitted WWT). he is a wonderful person and WWT is really an amazing project.

i gotta mention though, at the same cosmology short course, carter emmart from the hayden planetarium of the american museum of natural history presented digital universe, which does essentially the exact same thing as the WWT. in fact, it is almost more impressive than the WWT, AND it's available for free download (i doubt microsoft would allow such a socialist move). having played around with both pieces of software, i have to say i prefer the latter.

below is curtis wong and mike turner playing with the WWT on curtis' laptop, and a group of us - with long-haired and generally amazing carter emmart - awed by digital universe.

Consumption and Waste

awesome photography by chris jordan about consumption in america. above, 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds (!).

An unbearable pressure...

from xkcd.

A little of this and that...

so tonight i had the honor of attending chicago's hyde park historical society's annual dinner, in which dr. larry hawkins - the man in charge of the u of c's office of special programs - was awarded with an achievement award for his work providing low-income students with the opportunity to finish high school, pursue a college education, and be good citizens in their communities. doc hawkins is a spectacular human being who has a tremendous presence and charisma wherever he goes. the south side outreach program that i teach - kicp space explorers - is managed by the office of special program, hence my attendance at this event. well, a few more interesting things happened. first, in discussing the achievements of hyde park citizens, one speaker made the prediction that at next year's dinner, we'll be celebrating the future president of the united states BARACK OBAMA who, as most know, has spent a big part of his life here in hyde park. everyone, of course, cheered at that. secondly, i was fortunate to sit next to professor john carlstrom, one of the absolute nicest people in the astro department (well, after my own advisor, of course). well, john informed me of two very important things. first, the south pole telescope is going to be collecting real data "any day now," the weather has been miserable but apparently hopes remain high. secondly, i of course asked if he was a fan of house, since there had been a recent episode featuring a doctor getting sick while at the south pole without an opportunity to be evacuated. he confirmed a story i had heard recently, that a number of years ago, a female doctor diagnosed herself with a breast tumor, and was forced to perform a biopsy on herself! fortunately, the doctor was able to eventually receive treatment and is now fine, but these days there is a doctor, a surgeon, and a surgeon's assistant down there, so that these sorts of crises may be evaded. interesting stuff. overall, a good night with good food.

Subatomic particle plush toys!

i think these could have been made much cuter, but i'm still pretty excited about it. the bosons are awesome. all my physics friends know what to expect for their birthdays from now on.

Lunar Eclipse

what my little canon can do at night.

Encyclopedia Baracktannica

oooooooooooooooohyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah.

Lunar eclipse

i probably should have blogged about the lunar eclipse before it happened to give everyone who reads this a heads up, but oh well. we got a fantastic show here in chicago, the sky was perfectly clear, and i saw the eclipse both from outdoors (in -25C weather) and from my bedroom window with a glass of wine in my hand. it was, indeed, very beautiful - the moon turning red is a beautiful thing - and arises from a simple geometric alignment. i can't help but be disappointed that all of the amazing celestial phenomena that "we" astronomers (i've got an office in their building, so i can call myself an astronomer when it suits me) are aware of and observe, perhaps less romantically through giant telescopes and across the em spectrum, are not equally accessible to every person here on earth.

here are some pics from esa.

Lisa Randall on Colbert

on the string theory note (wanted this separated from the previous post), here's colbert interviewing lisa randall. always fun when physics is made humorous (even if the physicists aren't particularly funny).

Why theoretical physics is wonderful

my man is brilliant in uncountable ways. in this essay, he eloquently discusses one of the more conspicuous ones (at least to the physics community): his passion for his work in theoretical physics. read it.

Colbert does astrophysics

to be an astrophysicist, you must:
1) ask questions
2) be open minded
3) know things
4) teach those things
colbert rocks my world.

Titan back in the spotlight

saturn really has some amazing moons. who can forget the release of esa's huygens images of the surface of titan back in 2005? the image above was made by an amateur image processor who had access to the huygens data, and it makes titan look strangely familiar. today, esa announced that the amount of liquid hydrocarbons on titan's surface surpass the total amount on earth by a factor of hundreds. there, hydrocarbons rain from the sky and collect in lakes and pools.

are we off to titan now, bush?

seriously, this is really cool. especially from the perspective of astrobiology and our interest in how complex chemistry forms in environments very different from that on earth.

I love you, but you love meat.

seriously, relationships face a growing number of absurd challenges these days. we bring our laptops, cell phones, and blackberries to bed, struggle with the role of women in our societies, face the difficulties that come with inter-racial, inter-religious, inter-cultural, inter-everything dating, and now, also, apparently, inter-diet dating.

seriously, i don't think i can handle all this pressure.

Someone please try this:

determining the speed of light using your microwave oven and a chocolate bar.

More Higher Ed

well, to keep the discussion on higher ed in america going, let me refer to this article in the new york times discussing the widening differences in endowments in universities across the country. harvard has an endowment of around 35 billion dollars, but - as this article states - fewer than 400 of the 4500 universities in the country have an endowment over 100 million dollars, and most have less than 10 million. (for the record, dartmouth's present endowment is around 4 billion, which is around what harvard's endowment was in 1990.) harvard recently announced that they would be offering financial aid to students whose family incomes were up to $180,000 a year (an incredible plan), whereas most universities struggle to provide financial aid to students with family incomes significantly lower than that. so, essentially, if you're brilliant you are set, but if you are an average, hard-working student you'll most likely have to face significant debt for the rest of your life just to get a college education. sound fair? yeah, not really.

The Beatles, the Universe, and Transcendental Meditation

so, the famous guru maharishi mahesh yogi - who brought transcendental meditation to the west in the 1950s - has passed away peacefully in his sleep. maharishi is also famous for providing spiritual guidance to the beatles in the 1960's, who probably did a great deal to give TM the popularity it achieved. in similar news, the beatles' song "across the universe" is going to be the first song ever beamed directly out into the universe (specifically, toward polaris) by nasa, in what seems to be a 50th anniversary celebration (of nasa).

Olympus Mons

here is a mosaic image of olympus mons, the highest volcano on mars, released today by the esa. the volcano reaches about 28km into mars' atmosphere (mount everest, by comparison, is barely 9km high).

University applications

honestly, i'm happy i'm not applying to college these days. the new york times reports today on immense increases in the number of applicants to many universities across the country. to my delight, "my" three universities - dartmouth, harvard, university of chicago - are all mentioned in the first paragraph. the pressure on high schoolers in this country is tremendous. certainly, there is a large group of applicants from top-ranking private or public high schools whose academic and non-academic accomplishments are simply unbelievable. as a representative example, i have one particular family in mind (those of you who know me know who i'm talking about) with three kids graduated from ivies and now in medical school and a fourth one applying this year: each one of them spent high school taking dozens of AP courses, excelling in sports, pursuing non-trivial independent research in the sciences, spending their summers traveling and studying in europe, competing in (and generally winning) math and science competitions across the country, and (in the case of the youngest one) also impressing everyone with her talent as a singer. the top universities in the country must get many of these applicants, whose resumes evoke what is normally accomplished in liberal arts colleges and whose entire school careers seem to have been designed for their college admissions application. but, i've also seen the flipside of education in this country through my teaching in cambridge, boston, and here in the south side of chicago. in these schools, high school classrooms are falling apart, experimental equipment is from the 1950's, drop-out rates are alarmingly high, enrollment in college is shockingly low, teachers have no formal background in the subject they teach, some classrooms lack teachers altogether, and any curiosity or desire to learn is stifled. it's difficult to reconcile these two pictures of education in the united states.

Yes, We Can.

i am all about this man

Dog abuse and recovery

i'm afraid there's been very little consistency in my posts so far, but i simply have to post this story. nfl star michael vick was arrested last year for organizing an illegal dog fighting ring; he is currently serving a 23-month prison sentence for his crime. the new york times has this lovely article about how the dogs are doing now, about nine months after they were seized. when i was younger, i went through various phases of wanting to become a doctor, then a vet, then a doctor, and so on, and somewhere in the middle of all that i had the intention of becoming a dog psychologist (yes, this is a real thing). there is a very famous dog psychologist named anders hallgren, who is famous internationally for his studies of dog behavior and psychology, as well as for his amazing training methods. my mother was fortunate enough to have one of her early dogs trained with him, and she even featured as the cover model on one of his books (she was a model throughout her entire childhood). in any case. this present story is awful - how human beings can torture dogs in this manner is incomprehensible to me. the new york times article does a fantastic job describing the complex psychology of dogs on the road to recovery from severe abuse.

Inflation Now and Then

there is a nice little essay in the current issue of nature physics, written by my man mike turner, entitled "cosmology: inflation alive and well." the essay discusses the birth of the inflationary paradigm over 25 years and the state of present research on the topic, but the reason i think it's a nice essay is because it highlights how much cosmology has changed in the last 25 years (since i was born!), and hints at possible changes ahead.

i also found this little gem, which - even if not quite as hilarious as the penning trap clip - still is pretty sweet, and goes well with the above article.