Yet another study has found a connection between cancer and night-time lighting.  Last time it was breast cancer, this time is it prostate cancer.  In Darkness, Melatonin may Suppress Breast and Prostate Cancers, Science News reports on another study that shows a link between burning the midnight oil and human health. The great irony to …

Another Reason to Turn off the LightsRead More

I just read this in Astronomy Beat #15, a publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, One of the most active leaders of the [Astronomical Society of the Pacific] was Charles H. Adams, an insurance broker and businessman, who had an amateur interest in astronomy.  After joining the ASP Board in 1923, he soon …

Ansel Adams TriviaRead More

As part of the International Year of Astronomy, you can find a daily podcast on astronomy at http://365daysofastronomy.org/.

The Globe-at-Night program is an annual program where you (yes, you) can help by providing data on the visibility of stars in the night sky. Your role as an amateur scientist is to make some observations (details on their web site), record the results, and submit them to the Globe-at-Night program. Your observations, along with …

Globe-at-Night Survey Wants You!Read More

There’s a New York Times Science article from yesterday reporting on recent measurements indicating that the Milky Way, our home galaxy is bigger than previously thought. We now qualify as a peer of the Andromeda galaxy. The critical measurement was how fast we revolve around the galactic center. The faster we’re going, the more massive …

Milky Way Gets a Little BiggerRead More

Math Evolver is a game by DimensionM used to teach pre-algebra to middle school students.  While perhaps not quite as exciting as Halo, its very good.  Good enough that my older son is willing to actually think in order to play the game (at least when I won’t let him play Halo which, of course, …

Math Evolver, needs to evolve a bit more….Read More

Heh, heh. Now my kids are going to love this Internet Radio Station: http://www.live365.com/stations/trappedinlab/. Okay, so it’s really me that’s loving it, but they’ll have to listen anyway…. All science-related songs, all day, non-stop. The mix is, as you might expect, a rather eclectic mix. All sciences are mixed up and the style may be …

Science Geek Radio!Read More

Well, I’m a bit late putting this up, but I took some pictures last Monday night of the conjunction between the crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus.  [img_assist|nid=819|title=Moon, Jupiter, Venus Conjunction, 2008-12-01|desc=|link=none|align=undefined|width=640|height=479]   The image was taken with a Canon 350D (Digital Rebel XT) and a 70-300mm zoom at around 200mm focal length. The insert shown …

Moon, Jupiter, Venus ConjunctionRead More