Recent studies are showing the possibility that there may in fact be life on Mars at the present time. It would be tiny - microbial - and inhabit the extremes of environment. But if confirmed this would of course represent the first verified life forms extraneous to planet Earth.
For a long time no one knew it was there. But then the archeologists uncovered a treasure - the Madaba Mosaic Map. If you can’t see the real thing, this site will give you a virtual tour of the ancient world as they saw it.
Here is a test of direct posting from Flickr. At last it works! and will make things so much easier.
The subject “postee” is our cat, Moka, who graciously agreed to pose long enough to snap her photo.
With the weather suddenly shooting up into the 70s (20s) we begin to wonder if spring is finally springing, at least locally. Never mind the March 19 super blizzard of two years ago.
But as for now, winter is still strong in many places, and I recently found Flickr photos taken worlds apart that are ultimately evocative of the winter experience.
From Bail56 in South Dakota.
I wanted to show you two beautiful shots from Quizz in Poland - but she’s marked them “all rights reserved” so instead here are two great shots from gteans and Cilest:
Our friends from Apple Hill were here this week for student workshops and concerts. Founded by pianist Eric Stumacher almost two decades ago, the Apple Hill string ensemble tours globally, and also holds summer workshops and a music festival where they bring together talented young musicians from the U.S. and from various politically troubled places in the world. Oh, and the music is luscious. If you get a chance to hear them, please don’t miss it.
I guess today is science day. In this article, celebrated scientist and thinker Freeman Dyson comments on an article by Carl Woese, who argues that the age of Darwinism may be over.
The idea is that natural selection was merely a phase in species competition, which
“came to an end about 10 thousand years ago when a single species, Homo sapiens, began to dominate and reorganize the biosphere. Since that time, cultural evolution has replaced biological evolution as the driving force of change.”
In the future, he notes,
“biotechnology will be domesticated. There will be do-it-yourself kits for gardeners, who will use gene transfer to breed new varieties of roses and orchids. Also, biotech games for children, played with real eggs and seeds rather than with images on a screen. Genetic engineering, once it gets into the hands of the general public, will give us an explosion of biodiversity. Designing genomes will be a new art form, as creative as painting or sculpture. Few of the new creations will be masterpieces, but all will bring joy to their creators and diversity to our fauna and flora.”
Yeah, and don’t forget those nanocytes.
I don’t expect to be around when it happens, but if dark matter does bring about the end of the universe as we know it, or just the death of all living things as we understand life, then maybe there is in fact hope — via an “escape to another universe”. The idea will be familiar to anyone who’s studied string theory, or thought about wormholes, or read or watched much sci fi.
Wish I could try it.
Okay, I’m slow, but now I know. The Jim Henson Company, of Muppet fame, is currently making a movie called “Mirrormask” , with story by Neil Gaiman and art (and direction!) by Dave McKean.
I first discovered Dave McKean’s amazing artwork while browsing through “Sandman” issues in a comics store with H in London or Paris, I think. We were both just blown away. Had never heard of either him or Neil Gaiman before that, but not too long after I was browsing my own bookshelf and realized I’d bought a Gaiman book without ever putting it all together. Love his writing, love Dave’s artwork, hope the movie lives up to the billing that my hopes are giving it right now.
And speaking of shadows…..
This is the coolest site. The World Sunlight Map shows you just who’s in the light and who’s in the dark at any time, any where.
I really get a kick out of the lights that show on the night side, too.
IF we had groundhogs here….
and IF they wake up early, or really late….
He or she would definitely not have seen a shadow.
(cartoons from BabyGrl9122 on Flickr.)
