The Most Astounding Fact

Late last night, I received a link to this video from one of my former students, and as my daughter and I have been spending a great deal of time looking at the heavens through our telescope lately, it seemed perfectly appropriate and too good not to pass along.

In this short clip Neil deGrasse Tyson answers the question, “What is the most astounding fact that you can share with us about the Universe?” His answer reminds us that we a part of this magnificent and incredible universe… all of us. It’s the same message that Sagan had when he said that “we are star-stuff,” or when said that “we are a way for the cosmos to know itself. We are creatures of the cosmos and always hunger to know our origins, to understand our connection with the universe.”

When I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small, ’cause they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big because my atoms came from those stars.

So as Jack Horkheimer used to say “keep looking up!” And when you do, feel big.

Ian McEwan Interviewed by Richard Dawkins

Earlier today, I wrote about Ian McEwan’s book Atonement in my “Day 4″ post of the Thirty Day Book Challenge. In an attempt to shake off the melancholy that writing that post had inevitably brought on, I went through my archives of saved videos for this one, an interview of McEwan by Dawkins. McEwan is keenly intelligent and deeply insightful as to human nature, characteristics which surely contribute to his wonderful writing, but which also show so beautifully in this interview. When you have a few minutes to spare, sit and watch, you will be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Miss Piggy on FOX News

A few weeks back, Eric Bolling on FOX News ridiculously accused the new Muppet movie of containing a secret liberal agenda meant to “brainwash” our kids. Thankfully, the Muppets addressed this at a recent press conference in London…

Happy Friday everyone!

The Joy of Books

A friend sent me this short video this morning and it’s too great to not share. And remember,

There’s nothing quite like the joy of a real book.

Enjoy!

Good music, great message…and a Rube Goldberg machine.

Last month, soon after my still-distressing break-up, an old friend sent me a link to a video, promising that it would cheer me up. She was right, it was one of the first things to really make me smile.

The song is titled “This Too Shall Pass” by the always creative OK Go.  Once it starts, the video is impossible to stop watching, more so if you’ve ever had any interest in Rube Goldberg machines… and this is an insanely elaborate one. According to an article on wired.com that explains how the machine was made,

For nearly four minutes — captured in a single, unbroken camera shot — the machine rolls metal balls down tracks, swings sledgehammers, pours water, unfurls flags and drops a flock of umbrellas from the second story, all perfectly synchronized with the song. A few gasp-inducing, grin-producing moments when the machine’s action lines up so perfectly, you can only shake your head in admiration at the creativity and precision of the builders.

Regarding the message of the song, well, the message was the right one at the right moment, with its refrain of “Let it go, this too shall pass.” I still listen to it daily when I run.

So here it is; good music, an uplifting message, and an incredible video that may as well be an art installation…

Click here for a series of “behind-the-scenes” videos on the making of “This Too Shall Pass.” Definitely worth watching.

Enjoy!

The Poetry of Science

A while back I picked a book up for my daughter. Although she’s still way too young for it, I thought it would be a good book for her to have when she got old enough, and curious enough. The book is The Magic of Reality by Stephen Richard Dawkins (beautifully illustrated by Dave McKean). I got her this book for the same reason that Santa brought us a telescope for Christmas, I want her to grow up with a sense of the magic and beauty of the world around her, and in awe and wonder of the skies above her. I also want her to grow up with a definite appreciation of how thinking and reason can reveal things that are even more awesome, magical, beautiful, and wonderful.

For a small child, maintaining that sense of wonder is pretty easy; there’s still a sense of novelty to everything they experience. For us, on the other hand, its much more difficult. We fall into the rut of our own lives and seldom seek out experiences that remind us of what a fascinating universe we live in. This past year, thankfully, its been harder than usual to ignore, with news of super-luminal neutrinos that defy the laws of modern physics and the discovery (maybe) of the “God” particle. But in case you need a little more reminding, here’s a video of a conversation between two great minds, Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and skeptic, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, talking about the “Poetry of Science.”

I know this video is a bit on the long side, but I highly recommend giving, at least a bit of it, a watch. It is a true pleasure to see these two incredibly intelligent men speak of science and the understanding of our universe, our world, and ourselves, so beautifully.

Like standing in front of an impressively designed building, or reading the words of a great writer, listening to Dawkins and Tyson should serve as a reminder of what we, as human beings can be capable of. Although it may sometimes seem that we are wasting away in front of reality television, listening in on this conversation should remind us that all is nowhere near lost. There are still some of us out here thinking our way through life.

Not to mention that, as one of the video commenters stated, this really is “comfort food for the brain.”

Enjoy!