In the midst of the cultural brouhaha I wrote a recent article on whether to honor Confederate generals (we should not), but today received an image of a decapitated Christopher Columbus that hit closer home. As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico, an island Columbus landed on, whose first governor was Juan Ponce de … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse Peering at the stars many of us wonder if anyone else is out there. At least I wonder and assume everyone does as well. And in the vastness of space someone else is likely looking back, wondering the same. And if not what a waste of space. Even if the probability of … [Read more…]
by Carl Kruse Much like the favorite extraterrestrial hunting software program SETI@home, the Rosetta@home initiative leverages idle computing time across the globe to crunch data. It takes its name from the “Rosetta Stone” tablet, which enabled deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Rosetta@home seeks to decipher protein structures to help find cures for devastating diseases, including COVID-19. The … [Read more…]
By Carl Kruse Most of us wonder when looking at the sky – into the infinite vastness of space — if there could be intelligent life out there, other beings we could communicate with, learn from, or even meet one day. In spite of decades of Hollywood films depicting E.T.s we have yet to find … [Read more…]
It was in April 25, 1953 when Watson, Crick, and Wilkins published their seminal paper on DNA and today a group of us crazy people celebrate what that knowledge has done for human well-being. Happy DNA Day! We covered last year’s DNA Day in another blog post and this year we return to give it … [Read more…]
The icy mountains of Norway are the perfect hideyhole for preserving anything important against time, the elements, maybe even alien invasion. The Svalbard Seed Vault, which we talked about here and also here, isn’t the only cool archival project in the region. Surrounded by glaciers, permafrost, and polar bears, GitHub is readying to store valuable … [Read more…]
In 2008, Norway gifted the world the Svalbard Seed Vault, also known as the “Doomsday Vault.” This self-sustaining facility, carved into a mountainside and surrounded by permafrost, protects heirloom seeds from future apocalyptic conditions. The idea is if we ever need to restart society these precious plant species will not be lost and our food … [Read more…]
The advance of our science begets knowledge — and control — of our environment, so much so we often seem not of this world but above it. Grand masters. But there’s no escaping we are part of nature and sometimes it’s a microscopic thing like the corana virus that reminds us of how intimately we … [Read more…]
Six Poems By Otho Campbell Presented by Carl Kruse “No good deed goes unpunished,” is just one of Murphy’s laws. The golden rule: A fantasy, like elves and Santa Claus. People take advantage of the kindness you commit. Jean Valjean would just buy drugs, with the bishop’s candle sticks. The road to hell, as we … [Read more…]
I wrote about Giving Tuesday last year and this year I do it again. For those who wonder at the idea of a Giving Tuesday or Giving Wedensday, rest easy knowing that Giving Whenever is usually a good time indeed. Pick your favorite person or charity, show them some love. The truism that you cannot … [Read more…]
Living north of the equator it’s three short months between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. Summer comes and goes quickly and when mid-September comes, we know it’s all nearing a close. The heat of summer often lingers while the light declines and the withering leaves crackle underfoot as the trees begin their seasonal … [Read more…]
Every April 25 some of us commemorate the day in 1953 when Watson, Crick, Wilkins, et al (particularly Rosalind Franklin who received little credit at the time) published their paper on the structure of DNA. Today we celebrate the scientific advances that the understanding of DNA has made possible. I met Francis Crick in the … [Read more…]
It’s Memorial Day in the USA, a time the country honors those fallen in wars. Here’s to the day when there are no more wars and no further need for Memorial Days. Last year and the year before I wished the same. Another Memorial Day Wish A Memorial Day Wish Carl Krusehttps://carlkruse.org Email: carl AT … [Read more…]
A MLK Tradition: Reading A Letter From A Birmingham Jail by Carl Kruse It was on a Martin Luther King Day in 2006 that I first thought of reading some of King’s original work to honor the man behind the U.S.A. holiday and remembered an essay that was in a Norton anthology back in college … [Read more…]
Help SETI Answer The Question: Are We Alone?by Carl Kruse Every year the good people at SETI @ HOME make a fundraising drive to support their efforts in tackling what is one of the great remaining questions of humanity, is there intelligent life besides us in the universe? While the answer to the question is … [Read more…]
Happy Winter Solstice by Carl Kruse Since before anyone kept records people have celebrated Winter Solstice, the shortest day-longest night of the year, and that happens to be today. And every year around now I share a quick note to celebrate the solstice ( See https://carlkruse.org/happy-winter-solstice/ for a similar solstician greeting.) In prehistoric times people … [Read more…]
Here’s to RESPONSIBLE CHARITY and their work in Kolkata, India by Carl Kruse I have written before about my friend Hemley Gonzalez’s organization, “Responsible Charity,” (Carl Kruse blog) and the work done helping those less fortunate in Kolkata. Unlike other aid groups, Responsible Charity is secular and humanistic, where science, reason and compassion come together … [Read more…]
Here’s To A Great Summer Solstice By Carl Kruse The ebb and flow of the seasons is one of life’s constants and today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day, shortest night of the year, marking the beginning of summer. Some say it marks mid-summer, but no matter. Water flows, flowers bloom, trees sashay, the … [Read more…]
Yet Another Memorial Day Wish By Carl Kruse It is Memorial Day once again in the U.S.A., that time the nation honors its soldiers who died in combat. As I do every Memorial Day, I take some time to reflect on war and death, wishing that in some future — which seems impossibly distant — … [Read more…]
