A Tribute to Rosalind Franklin by Fraser Hibbitt for this Carl Kruse Blog Every year we here at the Carl Kruse Blog take time to celebrate that moment in April 25, 1953 when Watson and Crick published their findings on the structure of DNA, and of the benefits to humanity that such knowledge has wrought. … [Read more…]
by Christine Tomasa for the Carl Kruse Blog The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, often referred to as the “Doomsday Vault,” stands as a monumental safeguard for global agricultural biodiversity. Situated on the remote island of Spitsbergen in Norway, approximately 1,300 kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle, this facility serves as a repository for the world’s crop … [Read more…]
By Carl Kruse The Mountain View, California-based SETI Institute recently discussed a new research project that looked for signs of alien intelligence in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The study involved several other academic institutions and used the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in Australia to focus on low radio frequencies, e.g., those in the … [Read more…]
By Erasmus Kruse Introduction The cosmos, with its vastness and unpredictability, poses a myriad of challenges to Earth and its inhabitants. Among these potential threats, the impact of near-Earth objects (NEOs) remains a significant concern for planetary defense. In response to this, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) has spearheaded the Double Asteroid Redirection Test … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse The Silicon Valley Astronomy Series returns on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 with a presentation titled Water Above, Water Below, Water Within: The Many Roles of Water in Making Planets Habitable. Dr. Laura Schaefer from Stanford University will provide an illustrated, non-technical lecture of the topic. It all takes place at the Smithwick … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt for the Carl Kruse Blog General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began? Lionel Mandrake: I… no, no. I don’t, Jack General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers for the Carl Kruse Blog Night falls and it is not black, for we are scared of shadows, and so we illuminate the dark and make it more like day. Night falls, but we see the crests of the waves surrounding the city as though they themselves were bordered by thin … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse The SETI Institute will host an upcoming chat that explores the secrets of the solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. Two scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland – Dr. Stefanie Milam and Dr. Geronimo Villanueva will participate in this discussion into the unknown. Communications specialist … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt for the Carl Kruse Blog DNA resounds with the connotation of Life. Not of the experiential life, but the “deep” life of our physical presence, our ancestry. The little arc in the story of the discovery of the double-helix structure, James Watson dreaming of two snakes intertwining, grants us the pleasure of … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse Every Martin Luther King Day I read King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” for a jolt of moral fortitude and to connect — even if in a distant way — with a great man. I have written before about the impact King’s Letter has on me (see links below) and I thought … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt for the Carl Kruse Blog Less than a week ago, astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake passed away in his home in California. He was one of those rare examples in which a childhood fascination directly informs their career, their pursuit, and entanglement with the world. Drake’s equation, perhaps only second in fame … [Read more…]
by Asia Leonardi for the Carl Kruse Blog When talking about progress and development we inevitably recall the scientific advances of Western medicine. And there is no doubt medical technology has made huge steps over the years: in 1900 global life expectancy was about 30 years; in 2000 about 63. Every day, antibiotics save the … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers for the Carl Kruse Blog It was as if it was meant to be. At the end of 2021, when most of us were just wishing we might be glimpsing the rear end of the Covid-19 pandemic, astronomers in Western Australia looking earnestly at the night sky were greeted by inexplicable … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers for the Carl Kruse Blog Artificial intelligence, more commonly known as AI, is a branch of computer science that focuses on the creation of intelligent task-oriented machines — tasks that might usually require some degree of human intelligence. This is a general definition, and one which perhaps lessens the fear-riddled narrative … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt for the Carl Kruse BlogOne of the most innovative technological conceptions to come to fruition in the late twentieth century was, and is, Artificial Intelligence (AI). If humanity has always looked to create and extend their collective consciousness beyond the bounds of within, then AI is the latest and greatest manifestation of … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse The Carl Kruse Blog sponsored a 17 November 2021 discussion organized by the SETI Institute on whether UAPs, commonly called UFOs, deserved more attention from the scientific community. Hazel Anna Rogers, a regular contributor to our blog, took in the chat and then summarized her impressions of what transpired. Here is Hazel’s … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse The following post is an excerpt from an announcement by the SETI Institute for their upcoming online chat “UAPs: Are They Worth Scientific Attention” This SETI chat is sponsored by Carl Kruse, the curator of the Carl Kruse Blog, and is slated for Wednesday, November 21, 2021 at 7:00PM PST. “UAP” – unidentified aerial … [Read more…]
by Hazel Anna Rogers for the Carl Kruse Blog There is a woman on Instagram, whom I will call Clarice, who’s online presence has grown exponentially over the last six or seven years. I first discovered Clarice on YouTube, as she was a relatively popular member of the High Carb Low Fat vegan community who … [Read more…]
by Fraser Hibbitt for the Carl Kruse blog It is strange that some of the most harrowing passages in Mr. Bessel Van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score are excited from dry facts. When he writes of the revenge stories told to him by his Vietnam veterans, the savage and brutal events pierce the … [Read more…]