Just checking in with some production notes. The more perceptive and sophisticated among my readership will no doubt have already noticed that Through the Void is a good deal sexier today. (The rest of you just have bad taste.) This is because I realized, quite a bit quickly, the previous layout was a rather drab and bleak affair, and goddammit, we are in the business of having fun! The What do YOU want? button has not gone the way of the trilobites; it is still accessible at http://astro-al.tumblr.com/ask or by clicking the gear head-looking-thingy at the top left, which produces a helpful ribbon at the top of the page, inside of which is a question mark which, if clicked, brings you to the good ol' button! (But probably the link I've just supplied is better if you are old and/or still believe computers to be magic.) Finally, a blog entry on the 2012 Shitpocalypse has been pre-empted this week, in favor of...
wait for it....
still waiting? why? fucking breathe!!!
...............
TIME-TRAVELLING ASSHATS FROM THE FUTURE! Coming soon to Through the Void!
About the background: The picture now in the background of Through the Void is composed of fractals: a series of copies of one shape, repeated a large number of times to create a single huge, elegant, beautiful image. In this case, the software responsible for producing the fractals has very high resolution, and one can clearly see a texture emerging. (Maybe. The bits of my brain responsible for interpreting sensory data work a little bit differently than most people's, so there is some probability you currently think I am crazy. Do not be alarmed; your opinion is quite normal.)
About the equation: Also, if you happened to glance at the tip-top of the new Through the Void homepage and weren't taken in by all the sexiness, you may have noticed something hideous that never used to be there. That something hideous is an equation, dear lads and lasses, and it is actually stunning in its elegance and beauty. This equation is, first of all, actually four equations, which come together to form a mathematical object called the Dirac spinor. The equation is called the Dirac equation after the man who discovered it, Paul Adrian Marie Dirac, in 1931 -- though Dirac himself would have protested such attention. Paul Dirac is a mental titan even among mental titans, a man who championed the utility of mathematics in the realm of physics and who lived his life almost exclusively in pursuit of mathematical beauty. His eponymous equation, up there, is useful as a relativistic, quantum mechanical description of electrons in a vacuum, and lead directly to the discovery of the positron -- among the greatest triumphs of theoretical physics in history.
In honor of the semester's end, behold: Coinhenge! The wonder of the ages! Built by ancient savages all of five days ago, Coinhenge stands as a monument to the abilities of the human mind -- or equivalently to the entertainment value of a bored person trying desperately to procrastinate.
I see you've stumbled into my neck of the internet. Whether by accident or cold calculation, i imagine you're suffering from a bout of extreme confusion, and that situation is not likely to be ameliorated by me going on pretending i'm having a conversation with you. So, let's awkwardly jump to a new paragraph.
Straight away i wish to set some ground rules. Firstly, most importantly, and somewhat contrary to popular belief, i am not perfect. In this blog i shall strive for a degree of accuracy rivaled only by the Encyclopedia Galactica (but not its slightly cheaper and more helpful cousin the Hitchhiker's Guide). But i am, again contrary to popular belief, human. If you spot a mistake, please gloat about it in front of everyone here, or be something other than an unremitting jackass and send me a private, probably more helpful message.
Less important than the previous point but more important than the next is: i am willing to write about topics based on interest of the readership. If there is a mystery you want me to crack, a question you want answered, send me a question (via the "What do YOU want?" link above or the "Ask a Question" tab below) and i will personally see to it that no query goes unqueried. If i don't know or can't find the answer you seek (gasp) then i will find someone more knowledgeable than myself who does, because, god damn it, i know a stupidly large number of practicing scientists. And remember ladies: nothing is sexier than a very good question! (Fellas remember that too, because this is an equal opportunity mess of opinions.)
Finally, we have arrived at the least important point of all. You suckers all need to know where my heart lies, and that is with the freaks. Largely this is because i too am classified as a freak in most states, but also because everyone deserves at least a basic modicum of your respect. It is not my mission to attack any person or group of persons for a belief they hold that i perceive to be foolish, and every argument will see its fair share of attention if it is rigorously defended by evidence in accord with the scientific method. So when, for instance, we come to discuss that special group of asshats who believe vaccines cause autism, it shall not be the intent of this blog to ridicule or vilify said asshats for being such steaming, rotten piles of horseshit. Instead, the focus will be on why this particular belief is wrong based on the mountain of available evidence, the veracity of the absolutely wrong, shockingly fucked up, possibly criminal? study that got the ball rolling in the first place, and on why such beliefs persist at all. I strive to open a window to the inner workings of the human mind wherever possible, and try to remember, calmly and rationally, that i too once was a credulous nutjob. It's hard not to be!
Next week: will the world end in fire and brimstone on winter solstice, 2012? Or do you deserve to be thwacked upside the head for even asking such a ridiculous question?
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