exploring the ancient temple complexes around angkor, cambodia was an amazing experience! angkor is said to be the largest religious monument/complex in the entire world as there are hundreds of temples surrounding angkor wat, covering something like 1000 square miles! the pictures i share here are spread throughout the temple complexes that we explored over three days!
the ankorian period of khmer rule started in the 9th century A.D. by the khmer hindu monarch, jayavarman II. the main temples began construction in the 1100's and the khmer ruled the region until the mid 1400's when the thai forces conquered, forcing the khmer to move their capitol to the present location of phnom pehn.
[sorry if this takes a while to load, i added the big pictures to show the details...]
must start the day with a solid cambodian breakfast!
the most famous temple of the bunch: angkor wat (with monks!).
a huge statue of buddha as you enter angkor wat.
monkey crossing.
the traditional peacock hats were fantastic!
the tourists were sometimes goofy ;)
conservationists have struggled to decide whether to restore all the temples to their original forms or let the trees continue to grow throughout. i'm glad they left some trees!
i love the details of the carvings, even though these structures are SO old!! i cant imagine what they looked like in their prime! the colors of the stones are amazing as well.
a decorated elephant!
some temples required serious(ly sweaty) climbs up steep stairs!
here are several scientists talking about a modern icon of physics and quantum mechanics: schrödinger's cat. what does the thought experiment involve exactly...? watch to find out!
its summertime in the northern hemisphere which means its a good time to look for the summer triangle asterism! if you go outside as the sun sets and face east, most likely the three brightest stars you see make up what we call the summer triangle.
each star in the summer triangle belongs to its own unique constellation. altair lives in the constellation aquila (the eagle), vega is part of the constellation lyra (the harp), and deneb acts as the head of the constellation cygnus (the swan). a "constellation" is one of 88 stellar groupings officially adopted by the international astronomical union based on ancient identifications, while "asterisms" are more modern associations of stars.
um - yuck! a man found a dead mouse in his loaf of bread in 2007. the company said they grease the pans over night then fill them with dough in the morning. somehow the mouse snuck in the pan and stayed between these two processes. i'm only posting this because they included the photo in the article!
ps. sorry if i've ruined anyone's breakfast with this post (especially if it happens to be their birthday) --go look at something uber cute, quick!!! toof cleaning!!
someone asked in the comments a while back if i could recommend some popular science books that are good for enthusiasts of many ages and backgrounds! i will only recommend books from the collection i've read, but i welcome people to leave suggestions and short reviews in the comments!
i read this book soon after i started studying physics, so i didnt have a lot of technical background at the time. i thoroughly enjoyed most of the book, but the last part gets a bit more complex. its ok if you dont understand the last few chapters of most of these books.... the point is to get basic introductions, learn the lingo, and see how much deeper your understanding goes than it ever has before. if you make it all the way to the end feeling like you really get everything - then congratulations!!!
i've gushed about this book before, but still completely recommend it for the sci-fi-story introduction and clear description of time, space, spacetime, and relativity on attainable levels.
feynman was an entertaining genius who enjoyed starting serious shenanigans wherever he went! in this book he shares some very interesting and often hilarious adventures that occurred as his curiosities about the way things worked got him into physics, and into trouble (like when he kept figuring out how to break the high security locks at los alamos scientific laboratory, for example)! interesting, entertaining, thought-provoking, and informative on several topics.
sagan and druyan remind us how important it is to investigate problems based on evidence and think critically about issues, as they dissect pseudoscientific fantasies that seem to persist in the public's mind (silly oprah); alien abduction, channeling past lives, communal hallucinations, faith healing, etc...
this little gem of scientific (and mathematical) fiction was brilliantly written in 1884!!! it's short, easy to read, includes adorable illustrations by the author and describes "the journeys of A. Square, a resident of Flatland, and his adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions). A. Square also entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions; a revolutionary idea for which he is banished from Spaceland."
i took a graduate course in cosmology from steven weinberg at the university of texas. i'm happy for the experience, eventhough it was an awful class! he should stick to science and writing about science, because he's much much better at those things than he is at teaching! regardless, this book is a good read about the modern day view of the very very beginning of our universe... it might be completely wrong, but its a relatively successful working theory, and the short book is a good read!
(UPDATE: since i made this list i read and enjoyed...)
i really enjoyed this short, cute book. mike tells his first-hand story of how he realized pluto should lose its status as an official planet. through this scientific tale, he shares the excitement of how astronomy, and science in general, is actually done.
and if youre entirely too impatient to go find a book to read, here's a great online general relativity course by stanford professor lenny susskind. you probably need several undergrad math and physics courses to fully keep up, but he's a quality lecturer and its worth a little watch i think!
now some clever person has thought of a way to harness this energy long enough to shock and surprise your friends (or enemies) when it releases! introducing the other manhattan project!
the trick is to freeze mentos inside ice cubes so that when the ice melts enough for the little candies to touch the coke in the glass, the carbon bubbles rapidly created on the candy surface form a fizzy explosion in your friend's glass!
admittedly, coke in a "manhattan" might make a pretty crappy drink, but that name is better than highball or cuba libre!
i'm curious if this works though. someone should test the method and record it! would the mentos be visible enough inside the ice cubes to cause suspicion from the potential victim?? i'm not so sure i would be comfortable with white things inside of the ice in my glass, but maybe i wouldnt notice.
i think if i could do a small fraction of the stuff gymnasts could do, i would probably try to flip over anything i could all day long. a great example is olympic gymnast damien walters! my favorite part of this compilation video is the strip move around minute 1:00!
i spent last weekend celebrating my birthday in the peak district of central england. we hiked though the hills and dales on a pleasantly crisp and warm day with blue skies!
in this video, dr. carl hart, a psychologist at the university of columbia, discusses some interesting ideas about the public's perceptions of drug use and abuse, and comments on some of the existing drug policies in the US. i've always thought the "war on drugs" was improperly directed. it seems to waste a lot of money on petty issues (i.e. arrests for marijuana possession) instead of focusing resources and energy on dealing with more hazardous substances.
i've actually been looking forward to turning thirty. i've celebrated thoroughly by enjoying a sunny weekend in the peak district with friends (pictures soon), despite acquiring tonsillitis last week. how many 30 year olds get tonsillitis, anyway? i dont know, but this one did!
i never created a list of "things to do before i turn X years old." i certainly have things i'd like to experience in life, but it seems silly to me to put a timeframe on most activities. why create pressure like that for myself? most likely my interests or circumstances will change over time, and i want to allow freedom for that to happen! expectations are inevitably met with disappointment when we're so focused on a goal that we forget to enjoy the intervening events!
for a bit of birthday fun, here is a picture of my big-cheeked self on my 3rd birthday. my family jokes that when i was a baby, you could see my cheeks from behind!
since trying to recreate old photographs is highly entertaining, here is my 30 year old self today:
i've nearly grown into my cheeks, i think.
it's also a good day to remember this piece of wisdom from jessica hagy...
