We are in the midst of the 8th Annual Astronomy Festive here at Bryce and I had the amazing opportunity to hang out a little with a real American Hero, Astronaut Story Musgrave. The keynote speaker for the year's festival, we first met Story at a BBQ on Tuesday, he spoke to a crowd of over 500 people on Wednesday, then I got to share taking him to the airport yesterday morning (unfortunately I missed out on the chance to go on a hike with him because of other commitments). His talk involved what he's doing now that he's been "retired" for about a decade (Hey Sandy - he grows Flamethrower Palms in Central Florida!), a lot of info and photos from the first Hubble Servicing Mission in 1993, and he regaled the audience with a host of amazing photographs of Earth from space.

One of the messages from his talk, and maybe the most important from my perspective, is how we truly need to take care of this planet. That part of it certainly resonated with me, and it seemed that his experiences in space only strengthened what had been a lifelong view of the world for him. But I also got the feeling from him, and one certainly shared by me, that all of the wonderful images that have been released - of not only our planet viewed from space, but our solar system and the universe as a whole - have failed to truly touch so much humanity. That as a species we not only need to, but must become a true global community - and it is not just humans that are part of that "community". And, from my POV, you don't need to be a space traveler to realize that.

(Photo of Story attached to the Shuttle's Remote Manipulator Arm during the STS-61 Hubble Servicing Mission - NASA)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 07:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here it is, February 12, 2008 and the 199th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (coincidentally, also the 199th anniversary of the birth of another great man, Abraham Lincoln). For the occasion I've fashioned this little e-card (Flash required) with a quote from the final chapter of his most famous work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

Yes, it's true, I am one of the Evil Darwinists™, though in all honesty I just sort of chuckle when I see one of those Biblical literalists or ID proponents use the term ("Darwinist") in a posting on the web or in print. No one living today who has any knowledge whatsoever about the progress in biological research over the past 150 years thinks for a minute that Darwin had it all right. Far from it, in fact, since, for one thing, he didn't have access to all the high technology research methods available today. He didn't know about nucleic acids, he was not aware of the thousands of transitional fossils that have been uncovered in those 150 years (including hominid fossils), and he had no clue how really old the earth actually is). The Theory of Evolution says nothing about how life on this planet began (that's abiogenesis), only what happened after it did (another common misconception by the literalists).

It is not a matter of "faith" or "belief" in evolution (being a "Darwinist") like someone "believes" or has "faith" in the words of an ancient text. The evidence is there for all to see, it is what you ultimately do with that evidence that matters. Evolution is a fact and a theory.

Mr. Darwin, as I said, didn't have it all right. But 150 years after the publication of his work, everything we know about biology on this world of ours supports his basic premise: Life evolved, is evolving today, and will continue to evolve as long as it exists.

So raise a glass to Chuck and "Happy Darwin Day!" to you!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought I would revisit the dinosaur tracks (officially the "20-Mile Wash Dinosaur Track Site") because, well, they are really quite fascinating. At left is a GoogleEarth (tm) satellite image of the location with an arrow pointing to the spot where I made the images. The whole outcrop of Entrada Sandstone is about 400 or 500 meters long and some 50 meters or so high. As I mentioned in the previous post, the footprints are from 3-toed Theropods, which were meat-eating, bipedal reptiles; the Entrada dates to about 160 million years ago in the mid to late Jurassic. The darker gray area where the prints are found is the Escalante Member, which is the uppermost layer, of the Entrada Sandstone.

This track had some water poured on it to make it somewhat more visible. I understand that the mark at the back of the print (left side of the image) is where the animal's tail dragged in the sand as it was walking. Things would be even more interesting if we knew what species made these tracks - I have done some searching but haven't had any luck finding an answer to that question.

Finally, here's a shot of a series of footprints. They are kind of hard to see but I can tell you that this creature had a pretty long stride and must have been large. Next time I'll have to remember to get some pics with something to use as a reference so you can see the relative size of them. Also note the tracks that are perpendicular to the set running vertically in the frame - I've read that there are over 1,000 prints at this one site!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found this site via Pharyngula but decided this quiz looked to be more fun than getting a movie-style rating on my blog:

Of course I look at the 3 answers I missed and bang my head against the wall since I knew them. Duh.

How well will you do . . . ?

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today is the 198th Anniversary of the birth of Sir Charles Darwin and events are taking place around the world in his honor.

His theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, published in On The Origin Of Species 148 years ago, was controversial then and, sadly, remain controversial (albeit to a dwindling minority) to this day. There is no question that Darwin did not have it completely correct. His basic theory has been tested, revised, and, most importantly, expanded upon by thousands of biologists bolstered by advances in technology (for example, Darwin knew nothing of DNA and the role it plays). But his ideas are among the most rigorously tested in all of science and the answer is always the same: life on this planet evolved, is evolving now, and will continue to evolve as long as life persists on this little blue world.

Let's all raise a glass in Chuck’s honor and Happy Darwin Day 2007!

(Still among the doubters? There is much you can learn at the Talk Origins Archive . . . )

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 06:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throughout our lives there are many people who impact us in many ways. In most cases, and certainly in mine, our parents play a great part in who or what we become. Sometimes the influential people are those we meet and, other times they are those we never meet but we know through the media.

Beginning with the television series Cosmos, Carl Sagan became one of those who was not only influential, but also inspirational. Long interested in space – several family members, including my mother, were involved in the space program – Cosmos opened my eyes to the wonders of astronomy and, though I do not get out and do it enough, I still enjoy an evening of “stargazing” when the chances come.

In awe of the wonders to be found right here on the planet that is our home, through Cosmos (and later Pale Blue Dot) I found that I was more aware of them, too. For me, at least, I learned to look at things in new and positive ways and developed a more acute sense of the fragility of life in all its forms.

I would like to share one particular passage from Dr. Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot. It is something I have read countless times and it never fails to send a chill up my spine when I read it:

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and, I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

The Carl Sagan websites

Suggested reading:

Cosmos
The Demon Haunted World
Pale Blue Dot

And if you have never seen the television series you should rent, buy, or borrow the complete Cosmos. It is "reality TV".

The Carl Sagan Memorial Blog-A-Thon

Wife Ann Druyan's shares some of her memories in Ten Times Around the Sun Without Carl and son Nick Sagan's blog post, Memories of My Dad is here.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of my daily "must read" blogs is the Bad Astronomy Blog and today's entry was a nice piece of writing called A Box of Jewels The article is about open clusters (clusters of stars) and how and what astronomers learn from them. Ever since Carl Sagan's Cosmos appeared on PBS in the early 80's I have been fascinated by the universe and its incredible beauty. On his blog Dr. Phil Plait writes in a way that is easily understandable and educational. He ended his entry today with these words:

There is beauty in observing the cosmos, and there is beauty in knowing it, too. And there is plenty of room for both, I think.

Whether it is observing and knowing a box of jewels in a galaxy far from Earth or a jewel of a bird right here at home.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)