Notes on life, art, photography and technology, by a Danish dropout bohemian.
When you drink the water, remember the river.
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
(G)astronomy
(G)astronomy, article by Pascal, doing what he does best and most, puncturing authority balloons. It's about pleasure and morality, but somehow he also manages to get the color of the universe mixed into it, don't ask me how. :-)
Pascal should be a 'spin-doctor' for some organization that needs his abilities.
The universe isn't really red - it just happens to be expanding, so the light waves get shifted toward that end of the spectrum.
"Be fruitful and multiply" - we've become so good at it, we're running out of planet to do it on.
The actual colour of the universe is probably more black than anything else, because darkness is much more prevalent in space than light is.
And that 'Big Bang'? How do we know we aren't the result of some huge thermonuclear explosion in some alternate universe? We don't. We're just guessing. We don't know what it all means.
Thanks, Ray, I'll take that as a great compliment. Then again, having a shred of morality is a grave handicap if you wanna specialize in Spinnology.
"The universe isn't really red" I reckon you haven't read the (admittedly very secialized) 1982 medical article by Dr Logan Van Helsing documenting the nightmares of a Yüghur teen who got bitten by a vampire. I never knew there EXISTED so many shades of red in the Universe! ;-)
"Be fruitful and multiply" - we've become so good at it, we're running out of planet to do it on. I'll grant you the multiplication part. But "fruitful" is open to debate. Read my post on populated Gaza, and tell me whether you see anything fruitful about THAT human numerical abundance. Quantity, yes. But quality?...
"The actual colour of the universe is probably more black than anything else" Ask the Hubble telescope: it all depends on how good your eyes are... :-)
"And that 'Big Bang'?" Hey! Crude pornographic innuendo in an exclusive of my buddy Joe Dick, don't you start stealing his cool, yo! Actually, the recently publicised Big Bounce theory, which would effectively lift the "physical infinites" in the Big Bang model, seems promising enough that big heads are very seriously looking into it. Doesn't even need to bring an alternate universe into the scenario.
Then again, that Yüghur teen could tell you a thing or two about what he witnessed that fateful night (NOT in his nightmares)... but better not. The world's not ready. There would be a panic. Hopefully, his journal will be published in the upcoming years. Little by little.
BTW, thanks a lot, Eolake. Now, when they ask me what is it I do best, I'll have an answer to give: "puncturing authority balloons". And I'll add: "Sorry to burst your bubble." :-)
"don't ask me how" Don't ask ME, either. I don't know how I do it. It's just... a knack! We walk, but could we explain how we do it? (Basically, it's all about constantly falling forward. Really, it is. The trick is to stay in control of the fall. Which takes a few months of intensive baby training.)
Oh, and for the record? I never took Lysergic Diethylamide acid to get all that... enlightened cosmic insight. I fear it would cloud my scientific awareness. :-)
Bless your heart, Pascal - the world needs a lot more of this.
Too many of us go through life in a state of semi-consciousness, never asking ourselves or anyone else what it's all about. Maybe we don't have the answers, but at least we've got some of the questions. Hang in there!
And what's that about the vampire? You mean garlic doesn't work?
The Universe would definitely be EMPTIER "without those people". My Granny has a neighbor, her dream would be "to be the last person left on Earth, so that I could move into Mrs F.'s nice house". That's the second lamest dream I've ever heard of, right after "so I could have complete peace and quiet".
"Please be patient - I'm almost 77, and nothing's forever we're told." LOL! That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-) Well, except for the proton. It's still unsure whether or not it exists forever, or VERY slowly disintegrates. So the ultimate fate of a heat-death Universe remains imprecise. Iron, or nothingness? [What do you think, Ness? Time to do the ironing, or not?]
"Too many of us go through life in a state of semi-consciousness, never asking ourselves or anyone else what it's all about." If that's semi-consciousness, then I started awakening at a very young age! :-)
"And what's that about the vampire? You mean garlic doesn't work?" AFTER you've been bitten? Well actually, yes it does. (Await my eventual paper on the medical findings regarding Vampirism, co-written with Dr Logan, for more details...) But it's markedly less efficient than just for repelling contaminated subjects. The thing is, the teen I mentioned was unable to seek for garlic OR aconit napel early enough. Special circumstances... VERY special, in fact. Unique from a biological point of view, I dare say. Then he got that absolutely genius idea, that saved both his life and his friend in one go. Saving both their sanity was a little more complicated.
That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-)
Who said anything about the rest of us? I mentioned one specific type, not the entire human race.
It's disgusting the way so many people here bend over backward to not offending anyone past, present, or future. You want to live in a bland, unoffensive, Pat Boone, Pleasantville type of world which is horrifying to anyone with a brain. (I'm thinking medical schools aren't in Lebanon aren't all that competitive compared to the West.)
That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-)
This should not in any way be interpreted as support for Anonymous and her pussycats but it seems standard procedure around here to downplay anything the least negative with comments like this. Don't listen to ol' Joe today, he must be PMSing again LOL.
Whether they're any good or not, the fact is that if you were to immigrate to the U.S. with a medical degree obtained in Lebanon, you'd be driving a taxi, not practising medicine.
Anonymous may be right - maybe there's something wrong with my logic. However, I've lived close to the U.S. border for decades, and I haven't been over there in 30 years. The last time, I paid for a lunch with a Canadian $20 bill, and the little snot on the cash held it up to the light and asked in a loud voice "Haven't you got any REAL money?" That did it for me.
"the way so many people here bend over backward"... Yep, you'd think bending over FORWARD would be a skill much more sought after. (10-4. You ARE thinking what I'm thinking! ;-)
Pleasantville? I loved that movie.
Actually, I went to THE best medical school in Lebanon, and quite a good one it was, too. But I fail to see what this has to do with... ooooohhhhh. Riiiight! The mandatory ad hominem stab. I almost forgot. Please, proceed. We HAVE to respect traditions, don't we? P.S.: I do have a brain. Got sure of it that time when I had a CTscan of my sinuses. Being within "the Company" has its perks. :-)
"This should not in any way be interpreted as support for Anonymous and her pussycats" RAF is a she?!?? HEY! Just how many other ones among you are concealing this fact just to avoid having to turn down a date with irresistible me? Dang, it's true what they say about feminine wiles. They're SNEAKY.
BTW, ol' Joe, for PMS, ibuprofen works wonders. HEY! Waidamminit! Joe Dick is a she?!?? Ooh, these women creatures, they're SNEAKY awright. My great-great-great-grandfather was right when he warned me about their mysterious kind...
"I'd say that's probably better than average for the West." Ah, but we're not in the West now, are we? ;-)
"Logic ain't your strong suit, Ray!" If Ray's American, his strongest suit is undoubtedly the law suit. Everybody needs a Doctor, but in America, even Doctors need a lawyer! Now, in Lebanon, all you really need is to know a politician.
"if you were to immigrate to the U.S. with a medical degree obtained in Lebanon, you'd be driving a taxi, not practising medicine." Sorry, incorrect. Many of my friends passed the USMLE and are now practicing in the States. And if you know how to spot them, there are lots of names of lebanese origin among US Doctors. Including some famous ones in top-field research. And that be no Lebanese fib, sahib!
"Haven't you got any REAL money?" Best snappy answer to THAT stupid question: "Yeah, sure, just let me get back to my car and PRINT some for you."
"Try paying for something with kraut money or something." Or better yet, for some good, clean, light-hearted fun, try paying for something with AFGHANISTAN money! I bet very few clerks would take a snotty tone to talk to you then. ;-p
Sorry, incorrect. Many of my friends passed the USMLE and are now practicing in the States. And if you know how to spot them, there are lots of names of lebanese origin among US Doctors. Including some famous ones in top-field research. And that be no Lebanese fib, sahib!
I wouldn't know what to look for in the names, I have no idea of Lebanese surnames. Wait, wasn't Klinger on MASH of Lebanese descent? Most famous fictional Lebanese transvestite!
Anyway, what are you waiting for, Pascal? Get your ass over there. Not very often is there a problem with the electricity over here.
Pascal should be a 'spin-doctor' for some organization that needs his abilities.
ReplyDeleteThe universe isn't really red - it just happens to be expanding, so the light waves get shifted toward that end of the spectrum.
"Be fruitful and multiply" - we've become so good at it, we're running out of planet to do it on.
The actual colour of the universe is probably more black than anything else, because darkness is much more prevalent in space than light is.
And that 'Big Bang'? How do we know we aren't the result of some huge thermonuclear explosion in some alternate universe? We don't.
We're just guessing. We don't know what it all means.
Thanks, Ray, I'll take that as a great compliment.
ReplyDeleteThen again, having a shred of morality is a grave handicap if you wanna specialize in Spinnology.
"The universe isn't really red"
I reckon you haven't read the (admittedly very secialized) 1982 medical article by Dr Logan Van Helsing documenting the nightmares of a Yüghur teen who got bitten by a vampire.
I never knew there EXISTED so many shades of red in the Universe! ;-)
"Be fruitful and multiply" - we've become so good at it, we're running out of planet to do it on.
I'll grant you the multiplication part. But "fruitful" is open to debate.
Read my post on populated Gaza, and tell me whether you see anything fruitful about THAT human numerical abundance. Quantity, yes. But quality?...
"The actual colour of the universe is probably more black than anything else"
Ask the Hubble telescope: it all depends on how good your eyes are... :-)
"And that 'Big Bang'?"
Hey! Crude pornographic innuendo in an exclusive of my buddy Joe Dick, don't you start stealing his cool, yo!
Actually, the recently publicised Big Bounce theory, which would effectively lift the "physical infinites" in the Big Bang model, seems promising enough that big heads are very seriously looking into it. Doesn't even need to bring an alternate universe into the scenario.
Then again, that Yüghur teen could tell you a thing or two about what he witnessed that fateful night (NOT in his nightmares)... but better not. The world's not ready. There would be a panic.
Hopefully, his journal will be published in the upcoming years. Little by little.
BTW, thanks a lot, Eolake.
ReplyDeleteNow, when they ask me what is it I do best, I'll have an answer to give: "puncturing authority balloons".
And I'll add: "Sorry to burst your bubble." :-)
"don't ask me how"
Don't ask ME, either. I don't know how I do it. It's just... a knack!
We walk, but could we explain how we do it? (Basically, it's all about constantly falling forward. Really, it is. The trick is to stay in control of the fall. Which takes a few months of intensive baby training.)
Oh, and for the record? I never took Lysergic Diethylamide acid to get all that... enlightened cosmic insight.
I fear it would cloud my scientific awareness. :-)
"The universe isn't really red - it just happens to be expanding, so the light waves get shifted toward that end of the spectrum."
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray, where would the world be without people to state the very, very obvious? Oh wait the world would be much better without those people.....
Bless your heart, Pascal - the world needs a lot more of this.
ReplyDeleteToo many of us go through life in a state of semi-consciousness, never asking ourselves or anyone else what it's all about. Maybe we don't have the answers, but at least we've got some of the questions. Hang in there!
And what's that about the vampire? You mean garlic doesn't work?
@ Anonymous:
ReplyDeletePlease be patient - I'm almost 77, and nothing's forever we're told.
And are you sure the universe is expanding, or are we just being ejected from it?
The Universe would definitely be EMPTIER "without those people".
ReplyDeleteMy Granny has a neighbor, her dream would be "to be the last person left on Earth, so that I could move into Mrs F.'s nice house".
That's the second lamest dream I've ever heard of, right after "so I could have complete peace and quiet".
"Please be patient - I'm almost 77, and nothing's forever we're told."
LOL!
That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-)
Well, except for the proton. It's still unsure whether or not it exists forever, or VERY slowly disintegrates. So the ultimate fate of a heat-death Universe remains imprecise. Iron, or nothingness?
[What do you think, Ness? Time to do the ironing, or not?]
"Too many of us go through life in a state of semi-consciousness, never asking ourselves or anyone else what it's all about."
If that's semi-consciousness, then I started awakening at a very young age! :-)
"And what's that about the vampire? You mean garlic doesn't work?"
AFTER you've been bitten? Well actually, yes it does. (Await my eventual paper on the medical findings regarding Vampirism, co-written with Dr Logan, for more details...) But it's markedly less efficient than just for repelling contaminated subjects.
The thing is, the teen I mentioned was unable to seek for garlic OR aconit napel early enough. Special circumstances... VERY special, in fact. Unique from a biological point of view, I dare say.
Then he got that absolutely genius idea, that saved both his life and his friend in one go. Saving both their sanity was a little more complicated.
That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-)
ReplyDeleteWho said anything about the rest of us? I mentioned one specific type, not the entire human race.
It's disgusting the way so many people here bend over backward to not offending anyone past, present, or future. You want to live in a bland, unoffensive, Pat Boone, Pleasantville type of world which is horrifying to anyone with a brain. (I'm thinking medical schools aren't in Lebanon aren't all that competitive compared to the West.)
That's telling the impatient grump that'd love to eject the rest of us! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis should not in any way be interpreted as support for Anonymous and her pussycats but it seems standard procedure around here to downplay anything the least negative with comments like this. Don't listen to ol' Joe today, he must be PMSing again LOL.
Medical schools in Lebanon:
ReplyDeleteThere are five, for a population of approximately 4 million. I'd say that's probably better than average
for the West.
There are five, for a population of approximately 4 million. I'd say that's probably better than average
ReplyDeletefor the West.
Logic ain't your strong suit, Ray!
Whether they're any good or not, the fact is that if you were to immigrate to the U.S. with a medical degree obtained in Lebanon, you'd be driving a taxi, not practising medicine.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous may be right - maybe there's something wrong with my logic. However, I've lived close to the U.S. border for decades, and I haven't been over there in 30 years.
ReplyDeleteThe last time, I paid for a lunch with a Canadian $20 bill, and the little snot on the cash held it up to the light and asked in a loud voice "Haven't you got any REAL money?" That did it for me.
Well, some of them can't help it. Still, you'd get the same reaction with anyone else's money. Try paying for something with kraut money or something.
ReplyDelete"the way so many people here bend over backward"...
ReplyDeleteYep, you'd think bending over FORWARD would be a skill much more sought after.
(10-4. You ARE thinking what I'm thinking! ;-)
Pleasantville? I loved that movie.
Actually, I went to THE best medical school in Lebanon, and quite a good one it was, too. But I fail to see what this has to do with... ooooohhhhh. Riiiight! The mandatory ad hominem stab.
I almost forgot. Please, proceed.
We HAVE to respect traditions, don't we?
P.S.: I do have a brain. Got sure of it that time when I had a CTscan of my sinuses.
Being within "the Company" has its perks. :-)
"This should not in any way be interpreted as support for Anonymous and her pussycats"
RAF is a she?!??
HEY! Just how many other ones among you are concealing this fact just to avoid having to turn down a date with irresistible me?
Dang, it's true what they say about feminine wiles. They're SNEAKY.
BTW, ol' Joe, for PMS, ibuprofen works wonders.
HEY! Waidamminit! Joe Dick is a she?!??
Ooh, these women creatures, they're SNEAKY awright. My great-great-great-grandfather was right when he warned me about their mysterious kind...
"I'd say that's probably better than average for the West."
Ah, but we're not in the West now, are we? ;-)
"Logic ain't your strong suit, Ray!"
If Ray's American, his strongest suit is undoubtedly the law suit.
Everybody needs a Doctor, but in America, even Doctors need a lawyer!
Now, in Lebanon, all you really need is to know a politician.
"if you were to immigrate to the U.S. with a medical degree obtained in Lebanon, you'd be driving a taxi, not practising medicine."
Sorry, incorrect.
Many of my friends passed the USMLE and are now practicing in the States. And if you know how to spot them, there are lots of names of lebanese origin among US Doctors. Including some famous ones in top-field research.
And that be no Lebanese fib, sahib!
"Haven't you got any REAL money?"
Best snappy answer to THAT stupid question:
"Yeah, sure, just let me get back to my car and PRINT some for you."
"Try paying for something with kraut money or something."
Or better yet, for some good, clean, light-hearted fun, try paying for something with AFGHANISTAN money!
I bet very few clerks would take a snotty tone to talk to you then. ;-p
HEY! Waidamminit! Joe Dick is a she?!??
ReplyDeleteNah. I'd make a pretty ugly chick. Anonymous did according to Big E give Josie as "her" name, though.
Sorry, incorrect.
ReplyDeleteMany of my friends passed the USMLE and are now practicing in the States. And if you know how to spot them, there are lots of names of lebanese origin among US Doctors. Including some famous ones in top-field research.
And that be no Lebanese fib, sahib!
I wouldn't know what to look for in the names, I have no idea of Lebanese surnames. Wait, wasn't Klinger on MASH of Lebanese descent? Most famous fictional Lebanese transvestite!
Anyway, what are you waiting for, Pascal? Get your ass over there. Not very often is there a problem with the electricity over here.