…and while I’m ranting about science cutbacks.
Schrödinger’s Pig has this post on why things like Jodrell Bank matter. Really who in their right mind would aspire to be a successful physicist when that will cost you your job?
See also DaveP’s post on the subject and JQH is more depressing.
There is a petition for UK citizens to sign, but I suspect that even if it was successful that would only be a short term success. Really a shift in opinion is needed that recognises that having a non-Scientist Minister for Science makes as much sense as appointing a brain surgeon as Attorney General.
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Astronomy at Ston̈ehen̈ge for the 2010 Summer Solstice
about 2 months ago - 1 comment
I’ve been busy, recently and I’m likely to stay that way for a while, hence the lack of posts. Still, I’m hoping to be able to take a trip to Stonehenge this year to see the solstice. That’s why my prediction is that it will be cold and wet and thick cloud will prevent anything
Explore the Lunar Surface with MoonZoo
about 3 months ago - 1 comment
The Zooniverse, the people behind GalaxyZoo has released its latest project, MoonZoo. They’re asking the public to help them map craters on the surface of the Moon using new images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The interface is simple and nifty as they show below. I liked the idea of GalaxyZoo. It’s produced several papers
Astronomy in Metal Heaven
about 5 months ago - 2 comments
If you ever want to embarrass me, try to get me to enthuse about a display of astrolabes. They’re the kind of thing I should love. They’re devices for showing what is visible in the sky at any given time. They’re very similar to the planispheres that people use today. The mathematics behind them is
Theorising Space Archaeology
about 5 months ago - 1 comment
There’s a thought-provoking post on Space Archaeology about how you define the term Space Archaeology. I’ve generally just thought of it as the archaeology of remains associated with spaceflight, but I’ve never seen the need to give the definition any serious thought. It’s a small enough field as it is without drawing up boundaries. Steve
Monkey business on Mars reveals something nifty
about 5 months ago - Comments Off
I went to Skeptics in the Pub last week at Nottingham to hear a talk by Doug Ellison on the exploration of Mars. One of the subjects that came up was the Gorilla. The Sun recently reported that a Mars rover had found evidence of a Silverback gorilla while rambling across the dusty and arid
It’s not just Jack who names the planets
about 10 months ago - 2 comments
Wladimir Lyra‘s following in the footsteps of Jack in his arXiv paper Naming the extrasolar planets. Currently planets are tagged after their parent star, so if we found a planet around α Ceti, it would be called α Ceti b. The b in lower case is used for the first planet to be found, c
The Antikythera Mechanism: Art or Science?
about 11 months ago - 7 comments
Some posts take quite a while to write. This is a response to Candy Minx and Martin Rundkvist who were discussing the Antikythera Mechanism back in 2006 (Antikythera, Time, A Reply to the Minx). Candy Minx thought that the Antikythera Mechanism was an expression of what was already known and embedded in a society through
Astronomy and the Oracle of Delphi
about 1 year ago - Comments Off
This is (what I hope is) the final version of the Delphi presentation. It briefly covers the ground that formed the basis for Knowing when to consult the oracle at Delphi. There’s more unpublished material, but rather than trying to produce Delphi II, I’m going to make it part of the forthcoming Calendrical Calibration paper.
People and the Sky by Anthony Aveni
about 1 year ago - Comments Off
It’s a common gripe that archaeologists don’t have much interest in public archaeology. I’m not convinced it’s true and it’s certainly not true of archaeoastronomy. People and the Sky is Anthony Aveni’s latest (original) book. He’s the most prolific of the popular archaeoastronomy authors, so it’s no surprise his prose is pretty well polished. I
Social Astronomy and Intentional Inaccuracy
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
Can you spot the Moon in this photo? Photo (cc) Andréia. One of the reasons I’m putting up more stuff recently is that it’s a spin-off from polishing the thesis. Reasonable questions would be: What do is Social Astronomy? and Why is that Archaeoastronomy and not History of Astronomy? The answers to both questions are
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about 2 years ago
Thank you for the link Alun.