The approach of Mars:No One Alive Will Ever See This!
Received an email yesterday trumpeting the impending approach of Mars to a point some 34 million miles away on 8/27. The email, citing a variety of factual sounding conditions such as the azimuth, magnitude, and size, was very convincing. However, I felt a stirring of discomfort. Didn't we just have an approach from Mars a couple of years ago? And wasn't it supposed to be a once in a lifetime approach? A quick Google search showed that was correct. Mars did approach Earth in 2003 and it was, in our lifetime, the closest approach. So the closing line of the email: "No one alive will ever see this again." seemed ripe for parody.
In a way, the scientific cloaking of the email reminded me of the whole Intelligent Design issue. Not to get stuck on a point, but for the average person it's difficult to sort out the trule technical from the bogus. And many people seem to have been born lacking the skeptic gene. I have a voice in my head that always says "Is that really true?". As we live in an increasingly technical culture, the simplicity of interface can encourage even less understanding of technology. How many people can describe what's really happening in their iPod? Or even in their refrigerator?
Back on the astronomical. I'm happy to say there is a reason to look up. Perseids! The annual meteor shower peaks tomorrow, August 12th. My lovely and intelligent daughter's nineteenth birthday. Not always easy to see in the City, the Perseids are a worthy sky show.
In a way, the scientific cloaking of the email reminded me of the whole Intelligent Design issue. Not to get stuck on a point, but for the average person it's difficult to sort out the trule technical from the bogus. And many people seem to have been born lacking the skeptic gene. I have a voice in my head that always says "Is that really true?". As we live in an increasingly technical culture, the simplicity of interface can encourage even less understanding of technology. How many people can describe what's really happening in their iPod? Or even in their refrigerator?
Back on the astronomical. I'm happy to say there is a reason to look up. Perseids! The annual meteor shower peaks tomorrow, August 12th. My lovely and intelligent daughter's nineteenth birthday. Not always easy to see in the City, the Perseids are a worthy sky show.
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