すべての我々は星で作られています。
Buy me a coffee?
Writing this blog is a labour of love, and one which I evidently need a little encouragement towards on occasion. If you like what I write, the best way to show your gratitude would be to fuel my caffeine addiction and buy me a coffee to say thank you. All coffee donations are gratefully accepted!
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Exceedingly cool
In astronomy, the most interesting things are never the obvious ones. Most often they’re small and faint and easy to overlook. The world of the Zooniverse recently highlighted just such an object. Say hello to SDSS J110217.48+411315.4. And show it … Continue reading
How curious!
In other news, there are now less than 100 days until the Curiosity rover lands on Mars. About the size of an SUV and weighing in at about a ton, Curiosity is the most technologically advanced piece of machinery ever … Continue reading
Posted in Imported from Livejournal
Tagged mars, planets, robots, space exploration
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Rage, rage against the dying of the light
If you were to be able to travel forward in time by about 7 billion years and take a look at our parent star, what might you see? What would the Sun, by then weary with old age, look like? … Continue reading
Exoplanetary Tourism
Even though, lamentably, we’re quite far away from actually being able to visit exoplanets, this hasn’t stopped one particularly awesome graphic artist, going by the name of Chungkong, from creating a set of rather marvellous travel posters for them! On … Continue reading
Posted in art, Imported from Livejournal
Tagged art, culture, planets
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The Belated Laser Revolution
As you may already know, the future is now. And when you stop and think about it, it really is. It’s the 21st century and things which not long ago were science fiction are now so commonplace we don’t even … Continue reading
Posted in astronomy, Imported from Livejournal, physics
Tagged culture, technology
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This is what my sanity looks like
My pre-thesis desk a few months ago was nice and tidy. Right now, it’s fairly shambolic… If you like, you can play spot-the-stuff-on-Xan’s-desk. It’s a bit like archaeology, only with less dust and more eyedrops. Yeah, I’m totally just killing … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Imported from Livejournal
Tagged student life
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We built this city on rolling rocks
I was a couple of minutes into the video before I stopped, blinked, and actually realised what I was watching. ‘Wait, really?’ This kind of thing has been a staple of science fiction for so long, but no this is … Continue reading
Posted in Imported from Livejournal
Tagged asteroids, space exploration, spaceflight, technology
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How to Write Like a Scientist
Sometimes, satire really hits the nail on the head. After spending quite a few weeks now adventuring in thesis land, I really needed to read this one: An article hosted by sciencemag.org entitled; How to Write Like a Scientist . … Continue reading
Old data, new data
In other news, the thesis is going pretty well. I really need to force myself to reduce a bunch of data and then write about it. Unfortunately, that’s the dull part. Planning things is fun. Analysing things is fun. Drawing … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Imported from Livejournal
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