Seriously! Today is in the high 60s (Fahrenheit) and there's not a cloud in the sky. The boy toy and I opened the windows in the condo, but I still wanted to be outside, so I decided to check out the surroundings. The front of my south-facing condo, while deliciously sunny, is still too bright for me to read the screen comfortably, but the screen ( Read more... )

Colorimetry is weird. Don't believe me? Try looking up "Planckian locus" or "MacAdam sphere" or "CIELUV." Granted, I've long known about color temperature, both instinctively and scientifically, but some of this other stuff is … just weird. (I am writing a short newsbrief about this stuff, due tomorrow, so that's why I'm noodling over it while ( Read more... )

I have way too many browser tabs open, so let me get rid of a few here ( Read more... )

In which your humble correspondent comes up for air after quite the whirlwind ( Read more... )

Note to my American friends: For the current article I've been working on, I've Skype-interviewed scientists in Edinburgh (Scotland) and Newcastle upon Tyne (England). In those cities, around this time of year, sunrise happens between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. and sunset is between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m ( Read more... )

Today was full of science in ways both big and small ( Read more... )

From the Department of Wave-Particle Duality ( Read more... )

I found this "death-ray baby" image (obviously Photoshopped) here and just had to make it into an icon. I have no idea of the provenance of this photo beyond that website.

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Dear LASER,
Happy Birthday to You!

In honor of my English astronomer friend's birthday today, a link courtesy of winterbadger:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/hadron-collider-ii-planned-for-circle-line-1932744.html

London Underground is in talks with the ( Read more... )