by Carl Kruse This post is taken from information provided by the SETI Institute on their upcoming online chat “Is a Sixth Mass Extinction the Future of Living Species on Earth?” The chat will stream Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 7:00 PM Pacific time live from the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The … [Read more…]
By Hazel Anna Rogers Space is on our minds. With the recent controversy surrounding billionaire escapades into space – Jeff Bezos paid $5.5 billion for a mere four minutes in space – people have begun questioning whether space travel and research are bygone dreams that should be left alone in favor of research into how … [Read more…]
By Carl Kruse The following blog post is an excerpt from information provided by the SETI Institute on their upcoming online chat “Can We Define Life? Should We?” hosted by Wendi Zhang and schedule for Wednesday, August 21, 2021 at 7PM PDT. The Carl Kruse Nonprofits Blog encourages all to tune in for what promises … [Read more…]
by Asia Leonardi From fires to bombings, from building speculation to structural risks, the list of edifices, neighborhoods, avant-garde buildings that we have lost in the course of our history is endless. Sometimes, this was due to unforeseeable agents, causes of force majeure, such as environmental disasters, war, invasions; other times, ignorance, superficiality, consumerism: such … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt In 1894, two ordinary men set off on a three-day walk through the south downs in England. Their names were Thomas Oakley and Hans Eagerton, and both hailed from London. A short fragment of their journey was preserved by a certain anthologist, Richard Eseat, who compiled a work dedicated to the summer: … [Read more…]
by Vittorio Compagno A bright red sphere millions of kilometers from here is what Mars meant for most people throughout human history. At first, it was just dance on the stage where the Sun and other stars revolved around the Earth, a luminous celestial body with its reddish reflections, until finally we recognized it as a planet. Before recent space missions, little was known about the red planet, … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers Intro by Carl Kruse Intro Every year we take some time to celebrate that moment on 25 April 1953 when Crick and Watson issued their findings on the structure of DNA, and of the benefits to humanity that such knowledge has wrought. Our previous celebrations of DNA Day on the blog … [Read more…]
By Fraser Hibbitt At the end of the fourth century B.C.E, a wealthy merchant sailed from Phoenicia to a port town in Athens. Though his ship was wrecked along the way, he managed to survive and made his way to Athens. This shipless man, Zeno by name, walked by a bookseller and happened on a … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers Readers of the blog know that we love celebrating the change of seasons. Today being the first day of Spring, Hazel gives us a roundup of some Spring folklore. Take it Hazel! For other takes on Spring see here and here. (Chinese – Yin Dynasty) Chien Ti and her sister are … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse Steven Spurrier, who almost single-handedly put California wines on the world map, died recently. In May 24, 1976 he organized what has come to be known as the “Judgment of Paris,” where he presented a blind mix of 10 whites and 10 reds from California and France to a panel of 1 … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers I remember the fat white bread maker sat on the kitchen counter throughout many years of my childhood, and the smell that wafted up in the morning before I could properly open my eyes. Bread is my father’s pride, a baby to nurture and encourage long after my siblings and I … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers North-east of Brighton, continuing past both the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex, one eventually comes to the gated entrance of Stanmer Park, a green haven of around 470 acres. To the south-west, the park connects all the way through the smaller Wild Park and then onto Hollingbury Golf … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt and Carl Kruse Einstein’s house in Princeton, New Jersey saw some of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. The little unassuming place stands today as private property due to the expressed wish in Einstein’s will that the house be not turned into a museum or memorial. The Historical Society of … [Read more…]
By Carl Kruse For some years now whenever Martin Luther King Day comes around I’ve made it a point to re-read his “Letter From A Birmingham Jail.” I sit down to briefly pay respect to the man and commune with some of his thought. That, and to give myself a jolt of moral fortitude during … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse It was on January 16, 2018 that Eugene Cernan — the Apollo 17 commander and last astronaut to walk on the moon — left our world. Cernan was famous for saying, “Dream the impossible and make it happen. I walked on the moon. What can’t you do?” What can’t you do indeed … [Read more…]