We were fortunate enough to make it to TAM this year. We had such a good time at TAM6 that we greatly looked forward to being able to go again. It took us a couple years, but we finally made it to TAM9.
We got into Vegas on Thursday afternoon so we had a bit of chill time before things really got going. At the welcome reception Thursday night, we found there were over 1600 registrants this year. I think TAM6 was around 1000 or so. On Friday, we were told that of the 1600+ registrations, 40% of them were women and 50% were first TAMers! Very exciting indeed! Continue Reading »
The new Symphony of Science video is up — and it has many of my favorite skeptics & scientists in it! Carl Sagan, James Randi, Richard Dawkins and the Bad Astronomer himself! I think this is my favorite one yet.
30 years ago, Carl Sagan and PBS launched the Cosmos TV series and changed the way a generation of kids – my generation – saw the universe and themselves. Cosmos remains among my favorite series, and even though the effects are quite outdated by current standards, the information has mostly withstood the test of time. On the DVDs, where new or better information has been uncovered, it has been added – either by text or an update segment.
Cosmos is available on Hulu. If you haven’t seen it – or even if you have – I highly recommend it. More than highly, actually. Carl Sagan was a hero of mine and it is in no small part because of him that I am who I am and I am ever grateful.
Oh, and CFI has some new goodies in their store just for the 30th anniversary of Cosmos — handmade necklaces by Surly Amy of Surlyramics! You know you want one. I want them all, but stopped myself at two..
Also, November 9th is Carl Sagan Day. I wonder if anything is going on around here in celebration…
So, anyway, Happy Birthday Cosmos!! And thank you Carl Sagan!
I know I’ve been heavy on the video sharing of late and light on actual blogging. I’m in my summer “not much to say” thing, but I enjoy Symphony of Science and wanted to share. I hope you enjoy!
Here is (yet another) brilliant talk by my favorite particle physicist, Brian Cox, on why we need to fund curiosity driven science & exploration, even in difficult economic times. It’s 17 minutes very well spent. I watched this video over at Bad Astronomy, which is one of my favorite places on these interwebs. I do hope you enjoy this video as much as I.
There’s a new Symphony of Science video out, so here it is. If you haven’t seen any of the Symphony of Science video’s, they are gorgeous celebrations of science. You should really check them out:
Today is Carl Sagan’s 75th birthday. I wish he were still around so that I could tell him just how important his life was to me and many others like me. You see, it was reading his books that got me interested in science and skepticism and critical thinking. His books that made me see the real wonder of the universe. I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for Dr. Sagan.
I never got to meet him, never got to thank him for everything he did for his fellow humans. Everything he did for me.
If you’ve never read any of his books, I recommend them all, but particularly The Demon Haunted World. If you’ve never seen Cosmos, it’s on Hulu, you should check it out.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~~ Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark
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