September 29, 2015 - One of my colleagues just sent me a note telling me that the quantum fortunetelling thought experiment that I put forth in my blog last year has now been expanded in an academic paper. While I am flattered that someone has opted to explore my silly idea, I must stress again that it was just meant as an interesting thought experiment, which is almost certainly impossible to do in reality, and really shouldn't be taken serious. However for those who wish to read it, the article can be found at http://vixra.org/abs/1509.0233.
September 28, 2015 - Big news from NASA today, with the formal announcement that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has confirmed the existence of liquid water on present day Mars. And while they have not detected life yet, it is worth noting that everywhere there is liquid water on Earth, there is some form of life. Perhaps soon we will have an announcement of extraterrestrial life as well. The formal announcement of water can be read here.
September 27, 2015 - On this day in 1905, a paper was submitted to the journal Annalen der Physik entitled "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy-Content?" by someone called Albert Einstein. It was the first use of the famous E = m c^2, an equation which has come to symbolize theoretical physics and science in general. In honour of this anniversary, I have now completed a simple derivation of the special theory of relativity which can be found here.
September 26, 2015 - A reminder that tomorrow will be a rare Super Blood Moon Eclipse! And just a month before Halloween. For those who have weather as lousy as it is here, it can be viewed at the NASA website here.
September 17, 2015 - A quick reminder that tonight is the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, which can be viewed at improbable.com. They may not be as prestigious as the Alfred Nobel prizes, but they are often more entertaining!
September 15, 2015 - Another fun space-related contest to announce today - the Breakthrough Initiatives is offering a $1 millon prize to whoever can come up with the best message to send out into space to make contact with anyone who might be listening in a solar system far, far away.
September 10, 2015 - For all the Pluto fans out there, NASA has today released some great new photos of the dwarf planet from the New Horizons prove flyby. It is going to take well into next year for them to download all the images (and you thought your internet connection was slow!). The new photos can be viewed here.
September 8, 2015 - Its the first day of school! I hope everyone who is starting out on new journeys and adventures through education has a great year, and enjoys the opportunities they are being given. Knowledge and education is truly the greatest treasure one can possess.
September 6, 2015 - I would also like to remind everyone that for people who are interested in learning, and for time or money reasons cannot do it formally, there are some great (and free) online courses for the public. EDX and MIT are two great resources for online learning.
September 2, 2015 - For users and fans of the Grandiloquent Dictionary website, I have now finished setting up a mirror site to improve stability and security and distribute bandwidth better. It still needs some refinements, but it is working. I will still be maintaining the original website as well, but if it goes down the mirror address is http://chrisbird.zohosites.com/dictionary.html.
August 24, 2015 - On a more local note, the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory are trying to fund raise to keep the Center of the Universe (a local public science center, rather than the non-existent physical center of the Universe) open and operating. It is a good cause, and if you can support it their crowdfunding campaign can be found here.
August 14, 2015 - I don't normally promote products on my website, but I have been reaping such enjoyment from the new biography of John Conway, Genius at Play, that I had to post a recommendation here. For anyone interested in mathematics or silly games, this is a great read.
August 11, 2015 - A reminder that tonight marks the peak of the annual Perseid meteor showers. This year should be especially spectacular in this part of the world, as there is no moon out and the skies should be clear. Happy viewing!
August 7, 2015 - This will be my last day in my office for about five days, so if anyone needs anything immediately please let me know as soon as possible.
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