Monday, July 16, 2007
Truth is Stranger Than Fiction, continuing...
Small story in Saturday's NYT, a humongous new telescope opens for business, Noteworthy only to astronomy nerds like me, if not for this:
Among those in La Palma for the opening was Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, the pop group. He did part of his doctoral studies in astrophysics at the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute.
[...]
Mr. May, who recently published “Bang! The Complete History of the Universe” with two astronomers, Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott, said that he was adding the finishing touches to a musical score for the telescope’s inauguration next year.
Very impressive. All he needs to master now is Nascar and neurosurgery to be like this guy.
Of course, a Texas telescope is still bigger:
The Great Canary Telescope [34-foot mirror] is among the world’s largest telescopes. [...] The Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which has a 36-foot mirror, is located at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Retirement Hobby Idea
Cheap, interesting, exciting:
Bend gas station owner Kent Couch spent last weekend as many do in Central Oregon - gazing at massive mountains, allowing nature to offer solitude and pretty much taking it easy.
It’s just that Couch decided to spend his free time in a flying lawn chair dangling at more than 11,000 feet off the ground.
Supported by balloons, yes balloons, Couch carried a global positioning system device, a two-way radio, a digital camcorder and a cell phone on his mission. He also had an altimeter, speed gauge and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as a balancing system. Essentially, Couch’s aircraft was a homemade hot-air balloon.
His destination was Idaho, but after nine hours of flight time, he came up just short. He ended up landing about 193 miles from Central Oregon, in a farmer’s field near Union, having crossed much of the state at 11,000 feet and higher, the Associated Press reported.
This was Couch’s second flight. In September, he got to 15,000 feet on a 6-hour trip, the AP reported.
