Read to Your Dogs!

Siblings reading to their dogs - photo by theLibraryLander family

Libraries and other organizations are increasingly using therapy dogs (or just very calm, patient regular dogs) in programs to encourage children to read. Children are happy to read to dogs because of their non-judgmental and non-critical natures. Dogs often have a calm disposition which children find encouraging and allows them to readily open books and begin reading to them. A number of libraries have posted videos of children reading to dogs. Interestingly, there are even some read to cats programs, notably one sponsored by the Austin, TX ASPCA! A cat, while being calm, may not be as engaging as a dog, but still any creature willing to encourage children to read is doing a great service!

First Bookless Library to Open in San Antonio, TX

Artist's conception of Bexar County's digital-only BiblioTech library (Bexar County Commissioners Court)

We've all wondered when this day would come...

Oren Lavie / Her Morning Elegance

Friend of mine just shared this video which neither of us had seen before - made me wonder how did we miss this really interesting stop motion film? The video was nominated for a Grammy in 2009 for "Best Short Form Music Video."  After watching it, it made me think the actress in it must have gotten a terrific workout!

A Mega-Galaxy - Bigger Than Any Other Known So Far

NASA's GALEX Reveals the Largest-Known Spiral Galaxy - Press release states, "This composite of the giant barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 combines visible light images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope with far-ultraviolet (1,528 angstroms) data from NASA's GALEX and 3.6-micron infrared data acquired by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. A previously unsuspected tidal dwarf galaxy candidate (circled) appears only in the ultraviolet, indicating the presence of many hot young stars."

It's always been known to be a huge galaxy, but recently NASA determined that, "Measuring tip-to-tip across its two outsized spiral arms, NGC 6872 spans more than 522,000 light-years, making it more than five times the size of our Milky Way galaxy." That makes it the largest known spiral galaxy to date.

Life Would Be Easier if I Had the...

Best quote of the day.

Digital Globe

Very neat idea - a large spherical digital screen which can display all manner of geographical images and data, either projected internally or externally. In a recent article, the NYT described the technology as well as the uses of these digital globes. Right now, these are available only at an institutional level, but when prices drop eventually, they'll make appealing and educational coffee table artifacts!

Kid Art

Kid Art 2 - simplicity

Kid Art 1 - extravaganza

The extravagance and simplicity of children's art - here are works by my young nieces which reflect their nature and current moods. There is nothing purer than children's art.

Newsworthy

1. Dr. Weil - Earthing - what on earth?!
2. WP - Looking for Yarrow Mamout.
3. IBD - Edwin Hubble's place in the stars.
4. Yahoo - Srinivasa Ramanujan's math secrets uncovered.
5. NYT - Best books for young readers.
6. NYT - Diary of a creep (interesting self-analysis by a journalist).
7. NYT - Saying good-bye to the dying.
8. NYT - The whole nine yards (where did that come from?).
9. WP - LOC's stash of every public Tweet.
10. Slate - Billions of Earth-type planets abound in the galaxy (we'd better organize the United Federation of Planets quick!).

APOD River

Apollo 8 photo of Earthrise from the Moon

NASA's Google+ page describes APOD River as a photo stream of "images that might not have made it to the front page of Astronomy Picture of the Day(APOD)." Nice way to view these images by just scrolling through them.

A Photo for Each Day of the Year 2012

And since 2012 was a leap year, there are 366 photos selected by Time Magazine to illustrate the eventful year. The final picture chosen for the year was Hubble's stunning view of barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097, shown below.


Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097 - ESA/Hubble & NASA

Life of Pi



Life of Pi - movie poster



Finally saw Life of Pi in 3D and enjoyed it immensely. Having read the book sometime ago, I was aware of the story and its astonishing conclusion, so the movie didn't quite blow me away in the same manner as the book. However, it was a rather faithful adaptation and I'd read that the author, Yann Martel, was fairly happy with Ang Lee's rendition. When I read the book, the ending left me with a profound sense of loss, as though the rug had been pulled out from under me. It made me ponder why I believe what I do and if maybe all of us need to create elaborate mental and emotional constructs to help us get through life. It may be religious, it may be spiritual, or simply what we think is rational. We have a choice, but we don't often realize it. Whatever helps us cope is what we rely on and that's often the best we can manage, for better or worse.

Unusual and Creative Photomontage



This photomontage was made by Mmxx, using photographs by other authors whose names mentioned on the Wikimedia image info page.



APOD - Beautiful Star field



Open Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158 

Image Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)



A Little Post-Holiday Fun

The Piano Guy's amazing musical feat!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2013

Happy New Year!