Science
History of Star Trek: 60 Years Ago, Now, and the Future
Reading Time: 16 minutesHISTORY OF STAR TREK Podcast tar Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 60 years ago. It is my favorite television show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a significant influence on my choice of a career in technology. The show…
Read MoreNorthern Lights and Coronal Mass Ejection: Existential Threat from Methanogenic Cattle
Reading Time: 3 minutesNORTHERN LIGHTS AND CORONAL MASS EJECTION: METHANOGENIC CATTLE OAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has announced a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for tomorrow, August 28, which could potentially boost aurora activity. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are plasma and magnetic field explosions from the Sun’s corona. When aimed at Earth, they trigger geomagnetic storms that affect…
Read MoreHistory of Infinity Day: Why is it on August 8?
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF INFINITY DAY: AUGUST 8 Infinity Day, also known as Universal & International Infinity Day, is a commemoration held on the 8th day of the 8th month of each year to celebrate and promote Philosophy and Philosophizing for the ordinary person.
Read MoreScience of the Buck Moon
Reading Time: 2 minutesScience of the Buck Moon onight’s full moon is called the Buck Moon. This full moon is so called for the antlers that grow annually from the forehead of a buck (male deer), around this time of year. Alternate names include Hay Moon, Wyrt Moon, and Thunder Moon. I’ve written previously about the Sturgeon Supermoon,…
Read MoreHistory of the 1st Moon Landing – Apollo 11: 57 Years Ago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE 1ST MOON LANDING: APOLLO 11 ifty-seven years ago today, at 4:17 Eastern Time, July 20, 1969, the American lunar module touched down on the Moon, and about seven hours later, at 10:56:15 pm EDT, the first human stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module onto the Moon. With the immortal words…
Read MoreScience of the Summer Solstice: Start of Summer
Reading Time: 3 minutesSCIENCE OF THE SUMMER SOLSTICE olstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, meaning “Sun, standing still.” The Summer Solstice occurs on June 20 at 10:22 PM EDT. But for our European friends and those farther east, it’s on June 21 at 08:25 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, or Zulu Time, roughly Greenwich Mean Time). Greenwich, England,…
Read MoreHistory of Star Wars: Premiered 49 Years Ago
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF STAR WARS The original Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… …in Berkeley, in November 1976, I picked up a new science fiction novel called “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by George Lucas. I did not know then that…
Read MoreHistory of Earth Day
Reading Time: 3 minutes HISTORY OF EARTH DAY pril 22 is called Earth Day because it commemorates and celebrates the anniversary of our discovery of planet Earth. By all accounts, there is general agreement that Earth is far superior to the planet from which we came, as we shall recount below. Meanwhile, several companies on Earth celebrate it as…
Read MoreHistory of World Backup Day
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF WORLD BACKUP DAY There isn’t much history behind it, as the first celebration of this geek holiday was in 2011. World Backup Day is a decade and a half old. It started when a Reddit user wrote about losing their hard drive and wished someone had reminded them how important backups are. Ismail…
Read MoreMovie Review: Project Hail Mary (no plot spoilers)
Reading Time: 4 minutes Movie Review: Project Hail Mary (no plot spoilers) he most anticipated movie of 2026 has been Project Hail Mary. Amazon has spent about $200M on the film, and I think it’s going to be money well spent. It has grossed an estimated $33.1 million on its opening day, including $12 million from Thursday previews…
Read MoreScience of The Spring: What is the Vernal Equinox?
Reading Time: 5 minutesSCIENCE OF THE SPRING Podcast version n Colorado, we have a saying: “We begin the first day of Spring like we began the Fall: with snow.” This symmetry is relevant because the beginnings of Spring and Fall coincide with the Equinox. This word consists of two Latin root words, aequus and nox, meaning…
Read MoreHistory of Pi Day: 3.14
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF PI DAY Podcast version his holiday is often overlooked by those who do not speak Greek or those who do not speak Geek… but for the science major, this is a special celebration. Though it is an irregular constant number, we have the first three digits of “Pi” regularly and annually on…
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