Well, unfortunately real life got in the way of my writing, but I’m back. First order of business, the overdue answers to the Space Exploration Quiz. It apparently didn’t stump people too long, since the correct answers were posted in the first few comments. C’est la vie. Still, for the record, these images are each [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Science’
November 12, 2009
Space Exploration Quiz!
Today, something a little different. This is a set of historic photos, space exploration geeks might recognize some or all of them off the top of their heads. These four pictures share a trait that no other pictures have, IE this set of four pictures is currently unique, there’s no other pictures that are in [...]
October 28, 2009
WORLD PANICS AS MYSTERIOUS GREEN BLOB SPOTTED IN DEEP SPACE, PRESIDENT OBAMA URGES CALM IN ADDRESS TO UN
There it is, a mysterious green blob in deep space. I wasn’t kidding. OK, maybe I exaggerated a little bit. What is it? No one knows. Is it a danger to Earth? Probably not, it’s about 700 million light years away. Normally when one tosses off huge astronomical distances, they get qualified by “that’s actually [...]
October 26, 2009
How a few inches of soil and some leaking cannisters set back space exploration by nearly three decades
Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit for the sake of a good story, it’s an old family tradition. My dad does it, my granddad was one of the best, so I’m in good company. And this is an interesting story, and a wonderful illustration of how even scientists can get trapped by their own assumptions. As [...]
September 21, 2009
NGC 3621, Glorg’s Darkplanet, Bear Dogs, Proconsuls, to Felinae maculosus atrox
This is NGC 3621, a galaxy far far away. Click on it for a slightly larger version, or click here for an even cooler (but alas copyrighted) view. NGC 3621 is about 22 million light years away, and thus isn’t even a part of our Local Group of galaxies. And as far I was able [...]
September 10, 2009
The Axis of Evil: The CMBR Dipole Anisotropy
In my search for paranormal mysteries to write about, I came across some intriguing scientific mysteries. Cool. One of my thoughts in old age is that real scientific mysteries are vastly more cool than basically made up things like UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle. I mean, scientific mysteries are real, not a conglomeration of anecdotes, [...]
August 4, 2009
How Can I Destroy the Sun?
I recently came across a curious question on Yahoo Answers:
“I’ve grown tired of the sun and want to get rid of it.
How should I go about doing this?
I have Internet access and am saving up to buy whatever technology is necessary.”
Here at Doug’s Darkworld we strive to solve problems and clarify issues, and this is [...]
July 22, 2009
Lost in Space
In my last post I extolled the positive aspects of the US space program and space exploration in general. Today, just to play the devil’s advocate, and to be true to Doug’s Darkworld form, a less flattering look at the US space program. A long time reader sent me a Tom Wolfe editorial about the [...]
July 20, 2009
Forty Years Ago Today Humans First Walked on the Moon
It’s the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. I remember it well, my parents and I watched it live on a TV in the rec room downstairs in our Illinois home. It was late at night, I’m sure my little brother and sister were in bed. What I mostly remember is how I [...]
July 17, 2009
Strange Lodgings
“Imagine yourself waking up in a strange and unfamiliar room. Too much to drink maybe, some medical crisis, who knows … there you are. To compound your difficulties, you have amnesia, and can’t for the life of you remember anything about your life before you awoke in the room. It’s a normal enough looking room [...]
