August 6, 2014 - Congratulations to the Rosetta team from the ESA. After a ten year journey, it is now being reported that the Rosetta probe has successfully entered orbit around the comet. Now they can start collecting data, and hopefully in a few months land the Philae lander for the next phase of the mission.
July 20, 2014 - For those who have been following my remote webcam project, I have launched a new spin-off project. One of the greatest obstacles to that project at present is providing the Arduino board with enough solar power to get it through storms and dark nights. So I am launching a new solar charger project with the goal of producing a portable and afford solar battery & USB charger that can run a small board without interruption. I will probably be crowd funding this one, and will post more details as they are available.
July 14, 2014 - There is an interesting new paper on the arXiv (the database of all physics and mathematics research) describing a new telescope design from the University of North Carolina. The Evryscope uses 23 regular dSLR lenses to focus the entire sky onto digital sensors, recording a 700 megapixel image of the night sky every two minutes. These images can then be used by astronomers to study transient events after they occur and possibly short orbit exoplanets as well. The paper is available here.
July 2, 2014 - A quick reminder for those who are interested that The Amazing Meeting 2014 is coming up in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas, and it looks like a fun convention for those who are able to attend (which regrettably I cannot). Registration can be done online here.
July 1, 2014 - HAPPY CANADA DAY!!
June 25, 2014 - I do not usually advertise products on this site, but the recent Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey was such a wonderful program that I feel it a duty to mention it is out on DVD now. Here is a link for ordering from the National Geographic store, although it is available in many online shops.
June 15, 2014 - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
June 3, 2014 - Two pieces of news have come out of CERN today that have relevance for the particle physics community. The ALPHA experiment has confirmed that anti-hydrogen has the same net electric charge as normal hydrogen, as expected in the Standard Model. However the LHCb experiment is apparently about to announce that they have discovered that B-mesons decay differently to electrons and muons, which would be the first experimental evidence of a violation of lepton universality.
May 23, 2014 - There is good news from the DEKA project, with the announcement that the FDA has approved their mind-controlled bionic arm for use in patients. This new creation will allow amputees to perform even the most delicate tasks using a robotic hand and arm that is controlled by sensing electrical activity in the muscles near the prosthetic, which essentially means it can be controlled with a thought.
May 11, 2014 - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
May 5, 2014 - Another meteor shower tonight, this time it is the Eta Aquarids. There should be roughly 30 events per hour tonight, caused by left over debris from Haley's comet passing through the solar system in 1986. If you have bad weather like I do right now, they can also be viewed online at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
April 27, 2014 - My contact-me widget is now live again. It had been removed (by me) last year because it was being abused with spam and advertisements, but I am hoping that the stronger filter will help to remove the chaff. Please only use it for specific job offers, research proposals, social notes, or similar relevant missives.
April 20, 2014 - HAPPY EASTER!!
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