The Symphony of Science (Page 1 of 2)

Guido, you're not the ONLY nerd/geek I was referring to... there are more here, I'm sure!  There's a "howl at the moon" thread around here somewhere, started by Cathy Siler, where different people talked about various celestial events.  Ok, in certain cases it might be more "witchy" than "nerdy" or "geeky", haha!    Nonetheless, I just find astronomy and physics and biology and the natural world in general to be fascinating, and I'm sure others do as well.

So, did anyone else check this stuff out?  As I said before, if nothing else, watch "A Glorious Dawn"... such a beautiful, soothing delivery of such an important message from two brilliant minds... I actually had the chorus stuck in my head all day yesterday (not a bad thing).........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc

Lyrics:

[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe

Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time

The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars

A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way

The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature

I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky

But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions

The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has its own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world

[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit

From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas

[Sagan}
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds

The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we've waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting

Dang! If it wasn't for the algebra and physics background needed, I'd take a shot at that course.

By the way Rick, that same girl must have been the one drifting into my lane on the way home from work today. When I passed her, sure enough, she was driving with her knees and texting away. I don't care if these people want to put their lives in danger (good way to thin the herd), but I got a real problem when they endanger mine or, worse still, my family's.

OK.....now that I got that off my chest, we'll now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

....just love listening to this guy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV6hhLRuAO8 ... "thus we are all equal..we are all one"   

This is a thread where I belong for sure.  I'm my happiest when I'm outdoors in nature, living with nature's rhythyms.  All sciences are fascinating to me, especially physics and the study of the cosmos, where so much is unknown and seemingly unknowable ... my favorite person to watch is Professor Brian Cox (Carl Sagan's replacement!), whose new series Exploring the Universe, has just started back up, focusing in depth on light, sound, and gravity.  I get lost in those images of deep space and try to wrap my mind around quantum physics but it's not easy to get in the traditional sense of what to expect ... when I hike out West, I feel the reverance of walking where other cultures walked before being wiped out ... see the petroglyphs and the remains of dwellings and "listen" to what they're saying ... reaching back in time ...

I think these 2 videos fit well with the "symphony of science" theme... collages of stunning nebula pictures (all labeled), put to a beautiful soundtrack... enjoy.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-QcTOjLaKc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Et1v2L_h34

--Vik

I have an I-pad that has a constellation and star chart app on it that works on GPS to show where the stars and such are in relation to where you're standing. You just hold the pad up to the sky to identify any particular star or constellation. Love it. Now they've just updated the app so that it also shows where the ISS is as well as the Hubble and other satellites are. Can't wait till evening to go play. Happy star gazing!

P.S. The app is called Star Walk for anyone who wants to get it.

This is sort of in the same vein ... a short clip from recent independent film Tree of Life, which was filled with gorgeous images and music and minimal dialogue  ... you'll want to watch this on full screen ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WvuJwMF … re=related

... there was also a 15 minute visual of the ??? (silence???) before the big bang ... then the big bang with amazing images from the Hubble telescope;  through the first life underwater and forward; wish that was available to post but guess I'll have to buy the dvd when it comes out.

...Love George!...even speaks more sense now.. than most experts that are still alive!