Here is a little lesson about the best and worst of western civilization. It can be summarized in one word: Square.
Eastern Colorado Great Plains • Photo by Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Hetch Hetchy Dam, Yosmite National Park, California • Photo by tosh chiang (CC BY 2.0)
Lest the tap run dry
In the last years of the 19th century, the thirsty citizens of San Francisco covetously turned their eyes on the Hetch Hetchy Valley of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. A dam across the valley, a 150-mile-long aqueduct, and the city’s water supply problems would be solved forever.
A plot of Lorenz's strange attractor • Image by Wikimol & Dschwen (CC BY-SA 3.0)
A little loop of chaos
“So what’s this little loop on the back of the shirt?” I pointed to the cloth loop sewn into the yoke below the collar.
Temperature fluctuations in the early universe • NASA / WMAP Science Team (Public Domain)
Bang, you’re not dead
One could say of the Big Bang what Mark Twain said of himself: Reports of its death are greatly exaggerated.
Rufous Fantail feeding Brush Cuckoo • Photo by Damien.cook.frog (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Birds of a different feather
Consider the cuckoo. When the female cuckoo is ready to lay, she seeks a bird of another species that is building a nest — a reed warbler, say. The cuckoo perches on a nearby branch and waits.
Yanomami woman and child • Photo by Cmacauley (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The loving side of a violent people
The saga of the Yanomami continues. If the story were filmed by Hollywood, we would now be into the sequel to the sequel, “Yanomami III: The Romance.” But before we get to the love story, let’s back up to the original film.
Inverse image of the Hopewell hand • Field Museum of Natural History (CC BY-NC)
Through the ages, a sign of peace
Smart bombs. Night vision. Laser targeting. Pilots used to fly by the seat of their pants; now they fly by computer screens, and place bombs with pinpoint accuracy down air shafts and smoke stacks.
Photo by veeterzy on Unsplash
Pruning the tree of science
More than half of scientific research contributes nothing to the growth of knowledge.
Photo by Susanne Jutzeler from Pexels
Only 158 more days ’til summer
Among things that help keep alive thoughts of summer during cold, cloudy days of January are the Burpee seed catalog and Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar.
German postcard, ca. 1900 (Public Domain)
On the side of the angels
One of my earliest memories is of an angel.