Friday Meanderings: 5-3-1
What a time it has been of late. I started with a plan in late August of last year to start publishing at least one essay every week here on The Cosmobiologist, and it’s been so much fun developing a cadence and thoughtful practice for writing to make this happen.
On top of that, I started writing far more regularly in other places, like my old blog (A Cosmobiologist’s Dream), on Medium, on the BMSIS website, and more. I also have some articles in the works for other publications (will share once they’re published).
I don’t know how long I can maintain this pace. I also have some other writing projects in the works. But I’m so thrilled to be able to share with all of you, new and old subscribers here alike.
For those who are new, just a little explanation on my style thus far: I’ve been publishing my essays focused on topics like astrobiology, space exploration, philosophy, meditation, and more on Mondays. But sometimes, if the mood hits and I have time, I also like to drop some extra stuff I’ve been pondering on Fridays. And that’s why we’re here, with another Friday Meanderings.
5 Things to Ponder
I recently published an article on the BMSIS website where I explore the brightness of the superluminous supernovae—also known as hypernovae. Check out Hypernovae: Coruscations of the Heavens
A new study explores the roles of other animals on Earth in moving material and impacting the physical nature of the surface of our world.
I recently found myself reading Robert Burns famous 1785 poem To a Mouse and thinking about the nature of existence. That poem brought us the famous line, “The best-laid schemes of mice and men, go oft awry.”
Andrew Fraknoi has compiled Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index to share a variety of sci-fi stories where they do a good job with the science.
14 years ago, one attendee at the Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) was the science rapper Oort Kuiper, who turned his experience into a rap video on astrobiology.
3 TED Talks to Check Out
Terra Sapiens -- planetary changes of the fourth kind | David Grinspoon | TEDxGramercy
Are We Alone in the Universe? We’re Close to Finding Out | Lisa Kaltenegger | TED
How the search for extraterrestrial life can make us better people | Dr. Graham Lau | TEDxBoulder
1 Quote to Inspire
You may already know that Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon is one of my favorite books. And you might also know that I personally argue that Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech (and book) were highly inspired by Star Maker. But I’ll let you be the judge.
Some 57 years before the Pale Blue Dot, Stapledon’s narrator in Star Maker views the Earth from beyond and comments:
I perceived that I was on a little round grain of rock and metal, filmed with water and with air, whirling in the sunlight and darkness.
And on the skin of that little grain all the swarms of men, generation by generation, had lived in labour and blindness, with intermittent joy and intermittent lucidity of spirit.
And all their history, with its folk-wanderings, its empires, its philosophies, its proud sciences, its social revolutions, its increasing hunger for community, was but a flicker in one day of the lives of stars.
Thanks for joining in the journey here at The Cosmobiologist. As always, I’d love to hear from any and all of you on your own ideas and writings and meditations and other things you want to talk about. Reach out!