Traveling: Israel and Istanbul

I just returned from the 30th Jerusalem Winter School in Theoretical Physics. It was an intensive school focusing on modern cosmology and galaxy formation with lectures from experts in the field. You can watch the lectures on online here and you can find the slides of the lectures here. In addition to just attending lectures in a boring conference room I of course got out and saw some sights in Israel like the old city of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and Masada. Since I was in the region I also struck out to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is a place I have always wanted to see for the history, culture, and people. It was a long and winding trip and to sum it all up here are a few pictures. 

 The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. 

Candles being lit in a church.

The ubiquitous surveillance camera and the old city at sunset.

View of a gate with of Jerusalem city walls in background.

Views of Jerusalem city walls through a gate.

An old column outside Mary's tomb.

The Hagia Sofia in Istanbul.  Galata tower at night.

The Nusretiye Mosque near the Istanbul Modern Art Museum.

A crescent moon over what I think is the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. The crescent moon is one the symbols of Turkey.

Alexander the Great as depicted on Alexander's Sarcophagus which is actually not his Sarcophagus but probably that of some governor of Sidon.

The Basilica Cistern is a 6th century Byzantine construction near the Hagia Sofia that held water for the city. It is quite eerie.

It is a long tradition to respect and live with animals in Istanbul. Beautiful cats and dogs wander throughout Istanbul. They are wild and may go where they want, but they are offered food and shelter so often stay near areas that are kind to them. It is kind of wonderful.

A shot from inside the Hagia Sofia taken during sunset.

A picture of yours truly inside the Hagia Sofia.

Sobre el Futuro and the Lindau Nobel Laureate Conference

It may appear that I haven't been busy lately because of the death of posts here at The Astronomist. You would be right to suspect that in reality I have actually been extremely busy. I passed my general exam here at the University of Washington and I am now a proto-doctor or a PhD candidate as it were. Regardless, now that this hurtle is out of the way I just have to do a thesis. In the spare time I have been up to so many other things. I did an interview with WHAT which is an organization that aims to raise a discussion about philosophy, science, and culture. They are based out of Spain, but the idea is international and focuses on people. I was interviewed as part of their series sobre el futuro or about the future where I talked about the future of the universe and the future for humans on Earth. I really, like the quote they caught from me, "No creo que ningún astrónomo piense que estamos solos en el Universo." You can watch the interview here.


Next up I am traveling to Lindau Germany once again to cover the Lindau Nobel Laureate Conference. I will be writing with the Nature blog team. I am very excited to be returning to Lindau this year. I first covered the Lindau Nobel Laureate conference in 2010 and at the time I really didn't know what to expect. I found that Lindau is an amazing place where ideas are exchanged at a rapid pace and discussions of science and the future are pervasive. I love it. I will be attending the conference from the journalist perspective of course so I will be interviewing people, including Nobel Laureates, while at the same time learning and communicating what I discover to a larger audience. If you haven't heard of the Lindau conference before (or even if you have) I recommend checking out the Lindau Mediatheque where they have videos of the lectures given by the Laureates. I am already blogging over on the Lindau blog; the conference starts on July 1st and lasts an entire week. Please go check it out and I will talk to you again from Germany.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson shares some thoughts on his life and his experience in astrophysics.

The Most Astounding Fact

We are part of this Universe, but perhaps more important is that the Universe is in us. You may have even heard it stated as a fact that we are made of stardust. What does this mean? Well in the early early Universe, a few minutes after the big bang, the Universe consisted of only hydrogen, helium, and a smidgen of lithium. There was no oxygen, carbon, or any other heavy elements. Complex life had to wait. It took hundreds of thousands of years for stars to form. Eventually in the cores of massive stars the atoms of which we exist were forged under massive pressure and heat through the process of fusion—the merging of lighter atoms to create heavier atoms. The key to unlocking those delicious elements was fantastic stellar explosions. We could say the stars died for us.

Humans are at least 60% water by mass (this is the most uncertain number here because after you drink a few beers this number quickly starts to change). Water is by mass is 11% hydrogen. Thus the mass of hydrogen in our body from water is at least 7% though of course there is lots of other hydrogen in our body from other molecules (lipids, amino acids, and so on). A better estimate is that we are 10% hydrogen by mass (if we do our accounting by number of atoms in the body we are 63% hydrogen atoms). Ultimately every atom in us is that is not hydrogen was forged in stars, and so 90% of the mass in our bodies is stardust.

Science writing versus writing like a scientist

It is a fact that I have written more fiction in my life than science writing and more science writing that I have scientific papers. When my advisor has asked me to write I am able to naturally come up with an abstract and an introduction like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. I summarize the current state of the field neatly and present our results as the natural evolution of what comes next. Then when it comes to writing out the details of the research and the work I slow down. My advisor has a bit of criticism about the introduction (it is not specific enough they say), and plenty of criticism for the rest of the writing as if my entire style is not adequate. What is with the style of science writing in grants and research papers?

It as if scientists are bound to a certain kind of writing that is dry, concise (and it has to be when we have to pay per page published in most research journals), and standardized. I think many scientist would agree that our language doesn't have to be dry as long as it is standardized. Expository writing is different from other kinds of writing sure, but we have to ask ourselves how and why? Science writing for journalism is different than that of science writing for papers of grants even though they are both technically expository writing. I wonder if this is because they must be or because mediocre writing has become the style in science papers. Adam Ruben has written a wonderful opinion piece over at Science magazine mocking some of the quirks of scientific paper writing. The piece is worth a read and he includes a list of science paper tropes which are hilarious. Here is an excerpt:

1. Scientific papers must begin with an obligatory nod to their own relevance, usually by citing exaggerated figures about disease prevalence or other impending disasters. If your research does not actually address one of these issues, pretend it does, because hey, that didn’t stop you on the grant application. For example, you might write, “Twenty million children die of scabies every day. OMG we built a robot kangaroo!”

2. Using the first person in your writing humanizes your work. If possible, therefore, you should avoid using the first person in your writing. Science succeeds in spite of human beings, not because of us, so you want to make it look like your results magically discovered themselves.

3. Some journals, such as Science, officially eschew the passive voice. Others print only the passive voice. So find a healthy compromise by writing in semi-passive voice.

ACTIVE VOICE: We did this experiment.

PASSIVE VOICE: This experiment was done by us.

SEMI-PASSIVE VOICE: Done by us, this experiment was.

Yes, for the semi-passive voice, you’ll want to emulate Yoda. Yoda, you’ll want to emulate.

Read on you will want to, like a scientist you must write.

Scratching the Surface

Perth, Australia - I found myself in a coffee shop in downtown Perth today just as I would likely of been in Seattle. It was as if I were in a parallel dimension and indeed I talked about parallel dimensions with some new friends I met. I asked them about places in Perth and they asked me about the Universe; I think I learned as much about Perth as they learned about the Universe.

I walked north towards a pub they recommended, but on the way I discovered something much more interesting. I stumbled upon the Scratching the Surface art show. It was a visual art gallery opening by several young artists just beginning to make they mark upon they world, or as they said just scratching the surface. I was walking along the street when I took a double take upon seeing book pages folded upon themselves in a mysterious manner. It was Pascal Proteau's work from recycled books. One of the most imposing works was a massive balance of books holding upon itself a crooked balance of folded book pages.

Nathan Brooker presented a series of works that were reminiscent of Andy Warhol in their repetition and bright colors. Some of his work was shocking. The image below is tame, but the Nathan did many more interesting things which cannot be shown (here is a seriously not safe for general consumption, very intense and shocking do not click here if you don't want to be offended image of Booker with art).

There was lots of shocking art including strange embroidery by Carla Adams. She used homely materials to create dangerous and daring works. I assure you that the image here is the most tame possible from the work she had on display. I asked her what had turned her mind to think of such juxtaposed concepts and she said that it was exactly that, the juxtaposition itself of feminine handy work and male homosexuality.

I was drawn in by the strange folding of books, but it was Ian Williams piece that really stole the show for me. He called it 'Under the Influence', but whatever the influence was it was inspired. An acrylic on oil board piece it was a work of labor as he told me it was painted with acrylic then sanded down then painted again. The entire piece had a subtle checkerboard texture pattern which resulted. And the eyes. The eyes followed the viewer from every angle. This piece was also amazingly large (1.8 by 1.2 meters) which added to its captivating features. It was a stunning piece. He is a talented artist.

Finally, here is a piece of art created just this evening by a friend who I know only as Silvia. She was an art student at the same school in Perth (CIT) as all the artists featured above. I went to a bar (with the aptly artistic name Ezra Pound) with her after the art show and she drew this for (or rather of) me.

It was a strange day in a strange place, but it was fantastic. Tomorrow, I head north into the desert and the Outback.

Nostalgia de la Luz

The present does not exist. All notions of the present are built upon the history of light. Patricio Guzmán's makes these surreal claims as he narrates in his documentary Nostalgia de la Luz (or Nostalgia for the Light) as he draws out the connections between astronomers and those searching for bones in Chile's Atacma Desert. Guzmán is obsessed with history and talented at drawing strange parallels in this compelling film. Chile under the rule of Pinochet in the '70s has a dark history of kidnapping, concentration camps, and mass murders of political dissidents. Chile also has clear dark skies which astronomers have fallen in love with.

I saw this film this evening and I was impressed. It takes one of the best parts of astronomy and projects it on to a real human conflict in a way that is scientifically tasteful and touching at once. There is a lot that could be said about the film and the director as well who was in exile from Chile in the '70s, but there is an easy way to summarize the film: the most profound questions about the Universe and human existence are the same. However, this summary doesn't do the film justice as it uses strong imagery to evoke what can't be said. I did not know that the half illuminated moon and a human skull looked so similar. In the end though you are left with the realization that those searching in Chile's deserts will not be able to change the past.

100 Images of Macchiatos

I drink a lot of macchiatos. If you don't know, a macchiato is an espresso coffee 'marked' with steamed milk.

You can see a larger version  here. I work in coffee shops almost daily here in Seattle, and over the last year or so I took these pictures of each drink I had. Each coffee shop and barista has a different way of making the drink and I didn't take each picture in any particular way to standardize them, but I really like the result: a collage of consumption of coffee: 100 images of macchiatos. A little while ago I posted Thirty Five Images of Space Helmet Reflections which was a similar image, alas, while I would like to of been wearing one of those space helmets the reality is that I spend my time merely dreaming of the stars in coffee shops.

The Nobel Laureate Meetings in Lindau

I have been on blog sabbatical for some time, but I am going to be back in full force in about two weeks blogging from a lake in southern Germany. I have been invited to Lindau Germany to cover the 60th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in about two weeks. You can follow what I have to say along with several other bloggers on the Lindau Blog and you can also submit an original and stimulating question you would like to ask a Nobel Laureate.

One of the goals of the Lindau conference is to facilitate dialogue between Nobel laureates and young scientists. The conference will consist of lectures by the Nobel laureates followed by panel discussions between the young scientists and laureates. There will be an exchange of ideas on basic research as well as applications in fields such as medicine, physics, chemistry and economics. It is great to see this atmosphere of exchange between the various generations and the encouragement to young scientists for the future.  Personally, I am very excited to hear the talks and have the opportunity to ask Nobel laureates questions. I could use some recommendations on good questions to ask a Nobel laureate. Some questions I have thought of

• What was an assumption you or your field had that has turned out to be completely wrong?
• As a young researcher, how can we deal with the reality of daily failures and obstacles?
• What kind of fundamental research could lead to unexpected applications in daily life?

So, what would you ask?

Ten Thousand Things

I have been rather busy lately with finals, my graduate qualifying exam, and ten thousand other things. I had no time to blog and further I still have to figure out what happened last night because I was all too alacritous to celebrate with the graduate students after the qualifying exam (they threw us a fiesta afterwards where every time you mention the qualifiyng exam you have to take a shot).

On top of all that the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) collaboration meeting was this past week here in Seattle. The MWA is a radio telescope array that will explore a new scientific frontiers: the epoch of reionization, transient radio events, solar heliospheric and ionospheric research.

I have been getting involved with this project so now that the school semester is over it all starts again with research this summer. More on that as it develops.