Gravitational lensing smears images of more distant galaxies into crescent shapes within a few seconds of arc from the center of the lensing cluster and its own orbiting galaxies. …Read more
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What was the prehistoric artist celebrating when he sculpted the Venus of Willendorf? Did he or she perceive her as a deity, an ideal, as representative of female members…Read more
I ran across this the other day; I cannot warrant its authenticity but it rings true for what Richard Dawkins might have said. It’s a theme I have reiterated…Read more
The Poisson equation was at issue in the centuries long debate about whether an infinite stationary state universe would collapse under its own weight. It describes the behavior of…Read more
Around the year 1637 Pierre de Fermat boasted: “To divide a cube into two cubes, a fourth power, or in general any power whatever into two powers of the…Read more
After having posted the previous post on facebook, one of my facebook friends responded as follows: “Why do you post such material here rather than send it to a…Read more
We tend to think of lenses as transparent localized regions in space where optical refraction or gravitational deflection occurs. Light transmitted through these regions will pass a point at…Read more
An orchard in the distance may seem to be uniform greenish foliage, but when you drive by an orchard you witness first hand that there are certain angles at…Read more
Once in a while something occurs that causes us to consider one’s own thought on the matter. The Washington State (in which I reside) Republican party (of which I…Read more
‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ is worthy of much praise in my humble opinion but that is the extent of the plaudits I would assign to…Read more