This Blog's History: Becoming - Book Review

This Blog's History

Starting several years ago, every Friday I link back to a previous post I wrote. Why? I may be biased, but I think there's quite a bit of good, exciting science I post on this blog, and I like to revisit these old posts. Plus it is a way for new readers to see many of the cool science experiments I've done with my kids in the past without reading the blog from day one, which was over 1,000 posts ago!

Becoming

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post after finishing the book Becoming by Michelle Obama. My opinion of the book has not changed in that time. It is a fantastic book that I encourage everyone to read. Yes, I know Michelle Obama is viewed as a polarizing figure given she was the wife of President Barack Obama, but the book focuses very little on politics. When it does focus on politics, it is from the point of view of how family life is affected during a political campaign. This book has also encouraged me to be much more pro-active in reading books by black authors to widen my perspective. I've added a few already to my book shelf at home and share those reviews when I'm finished. This is a fantastic book so please read it!

Where do I go?

For the original post, click the link below. This links to the original post I wrote a couple of years ago.

Becoming

Status of the Mars Curiosity Rover

Mars Rovers

Mars has had a handful of rovers roam its surface over the last 20+ years. The rover missions started with Pathfinder in 1997 and hit big time with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers in 2004. Spirit and Opportunity lasted several years but finally ended this year when NASA declared Opportunity officially dead. The fourth successful rover mission to Mars was the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars in 2012. The Soviet Union launched two rovers, Mars 2 and 3, but neither was successful.

Curiosity Rover Status

With the ending of the Opportunity rover mission in early 2019 due to a massive planet-wide dust storm that blocked the rover from receiving solar energy, I found myself the other day wondering how the Curiosity rover fared in this storm. I realized I didn't know. I hadn't heard anything so I assumed it was still operational, but I decided to do a bit of research to find out for sure.

Curiosity self-image. - NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

The good news is the Curiosity rover is still functional and continues to send back data! NASA has a great website that provides up to date information on the status of Curiosity, which you can find here:

Curiosity Mission Updates

Curiosity started roaming the red planet in 2012. After its initial two year plan, the mission was extended indefinitely. So although the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are officially finished, there is still a rover on Mars sending back data. The Curiosity rover will not be alone for long. The next rover mission, Mars 2020 is in the works. Mars 2020 is scheduled to launch the summer of 2020 with an early 2021 landing date. That's less than two years from now!

Deceived: Stars Wars Legends - Book Review

Love of Books

I love books and am always on the look out for new (or old) authors and new series to read. I have far too many books at home, but I keep adding to my collection and I highly doubt I'll ever stop!

Deceived: Star Wars Legends by Paul Kemp

With a family book reading goal of 140 books read in 2019, I'm making a bigger effort to post books I've read to this blog. Books take us on a journey filled with knowledge, and as I've said before, a world without books is a sad world. I've been reading Star Wars books on and off for the last couple of years and recently finished reading Deceived: Star Wars Legends by Paul Kemp.

I enjoyed the book, rating it 4 out of 5 stars, but it was a repeat of a common story in Star Wars. SPOILER ALERT!!! Stop reading now if you don't want any spoilers!

The Empire is attacking the Republic and the story focuses on a young Jedi, Aryn, and her childhood friend, Zeerid. The story starts with Aryn's Jedi mentor dying by the hands of Darth Malgus. Aryn then vows to kill Darth Malgus to avenge the death of her mentor and goes off, with the help of Zeerid, to find and kill Malgus. Sound familiar? Not all that different from Star Wars Episodes 1 and 4!!!

Despite the lack of uniqueness in the story, I enjoyed it and the ending is not entirely as you might expect, so I haven't spoiled everything! If you or someone you know is a Star Wars fan, Star Wars books such as this are a great gift idea!

Climate One Podcast

Science Podcasts

I'm a big fan of science themed podcasts, as any reader of this blog knows. I'm constantly on the lookout for new science podcasts. Some I've kept on my must-listen to list for years. Others come and go as my mood changes. But as far as I'm concerned, there can never be too many science podcasts out there. I recently discovered a few, new to me, science podcasts that are great!

Climate One Podcast

Warming global temperatures are drastically and quickly changing the climate on Earth and these changes are not positive. From extinctions to drought to rising sea levels, climate change is greatly affecting how we live our lives. There are many science themed podcasts out there, but I've only discovered a few that focus on climate change. Many look at climate change in individual episodes, but only a few are dedicated to climate change in every episode. The Climate One podcast is one of those climate change dedicated podcasts.

The Climate One podcast is put on by Climate One at Commonwealth Club. Their website describes the group as:

"Climate One at The Commonwealth Club is a thriving leadership dialogue on energy, the economy and the environment. We bring together top thinkers and doers from business, government, academia and advocacy groups to advance the discussion about a clean energy future."

I've learned quite a bit listening to this podcast and I highly encourage you to check it out.

Climate One Podcast

What Is #16: A Green Dwarf?

The 'What Is' Series

A couple of months ago I started a new series on this blog titled "What Is". Thus far the focus is on the field of astronomy where we hear all sorts of cool science taking place in space. The goal of this series is to explain the details of different objects we hear about relatively frequently.

Stars

I have recently covered Black Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs, White Dwarfs, Red Dwarfs, and Blue Dwarfs. Brown Dwarfs are objects that were not quite large enough to fuse hydrogen, so they never reached full star status. White Dwarfs are the final stage of a low mass star such as the Sun. After these low mass stars shed away their outer layers, the stellar core leftover is called a White Dwarf. Black Dwarfs do not yet exist in the Universe, but eventually White Dwarfs will finally emit all of their energy, leaving behind a leftover core that no longer releases energy. This leftover core will be called a Black Dwarf. Red Dwarfs are the very low mass Main Sequence stars fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. Blue Dwarfs don't yet exist, but will once Red Dwarfs in the Universe are old enough to exhaust their hydrogen supply. Are there Green Dwarfs and if so, what are they?

Green Dwarfs

This may be a surprise to you, but guess what? There are no Green Dwarfs in astronomy! In fact, if you do a search for Green Dwarfs, you'll find some book titles and a type of tomato plant, but nothing on stars. In fact, there are no green stars. There are stars that emit more green light than the other colors in the visible spectrum, so technically you could call them green stars. However, these 'green' stars also emit a lot of red, blue, yellow, etc. light, which all mixes together as 'white' light. White light is a combination of all colors on the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Therefore there are no green stars and therefore no Green Dwarfs!

This Blog's History: The Death of Opportunity

This Blog's History

Starting several years ago, every Friday I link back to a previous post I wrote. Why? I may be biased, but I think there's quite a bit of good, exciting science I post on this blog, and I like to revisit these old posts. Plus it is a way for new readers to see many of the cool science experiments I've done with my kids in the past without reading the blog from day one, which was over 1,000 posts ago!

End of the Mars Opportunity Rover

The two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, successfully landed on Mars about half way through my graduate school years. Both continued for several years, with Spirit dying out in 2010. Opportunity continued for many more years, but eventually a massive dust storm put an end to it. I recently wrote a post on NASA officially declaring the rover dead. Need a tissue? It's okay to cry over this one! Amazingly successful missions but sad to see them end.

Where do I go?

For the original post, click the link below. This links to the original post I wrote a few weeks ago.

Death of Opportunity

Van Helsing TV Show

I'm a big fan of supernatural/fantasy/sci-fi/apopcalyptic TV shows. I just discovered Van Helsing on the Sy-Fy channel and have nearly worked my way through the first three seasons in preparation for the start of the fourth season. I have a bit of a twisted mind when it comes to good TV, but I LOVE this show!

Why do I love this show? Well, the end of the world is here and vampires are taking over the land! The series starts with the Yellowstone supervolcano blowing and darkening the skies, allowing vampires to come out during the day. Then there are all the twists. Vanessa can't be turned into a vampire but she can turn vampires back into humans. Now that's cool! Then there are the vampires that can't die! Yes, that's right, they dig themselves back up out of their graves! There are feral vampires, vampires that were friends but are now hunting their friends, elders, etc.

Basically this is your typical end of the world show, but with a lot of different twists you don't see in many other apocalyptic shows. The other thing I enjoy about this show is I find it more difficult to become attached to characters, which is good, because then I'm not as devastated when they die. I stopped watching The Walking Dead, primarily because they did such a good job connecting their audience to the characters that I hated it when a main character died! Sort of a catch-22, I understand, but so far I'm enjoying Van Helsing far more than The Walking Dead.

My kids...well, it's not really a kid show. I don't let my younger daughter watch. I'm okay with my older daughter watching, but she's shown no interest. In fact, if she walks by when a gory scene is on, she just keeps walking and shakes her head. LOL! Oh...and there's no real science in this show. There are vampires, so you can't expect good science. :-)

The Perfect Princess - Book Review

Love of Books

I love books and am always on the look out for new (or old) authors and new series to read. I have far too many books at home, but I keep adding to my collection and I highly doubt I'll ever stop!

The Perfect Princess by Irene Radford

I recently discovered author Irene Radford after an afternoon stop at the local used book store. There were a few books in the Dragon Nimbus series sitting there for about $2-3 a piece, so I couldn't help but grab what was available there. The Perfect Princess is the second book in the Dragon Nimbus series and after two books I am greatly enjoying this collection.

I wouldn't say Irene Radford's Dragon Nimbus books are unique. There are several other fantasy series out there that are similar, but I've really enjoyed this set of books. There are dragons, young magicians struggling with their powers, old magicians struggling with the changes in magic, kings, battles for land, etc. The perfect fantasy story line!

If you, or someone you know, is a fan of the standard fantasy story line, this series by Irene Radford is well worth checking out!

Science Fair Results

Science Fairs

Science fairs are a fantastic way of introducing the scientific method to kids and getting them excited about doing science! The goal of a science fair project is to pick a question, develop a hypothesis, experiment, and draw conclusions from the data that support or don't support the original hypothesis. A perfect way to put science in action! My 11 year old has participated in a science fair each of the last three years and did so again this year. My 8 year old was able to participate for the first time this year.

Science Fair Results

My 11 year old completed a project testing the efficiency of solar cells. There wasn't a school level fair now that she's in middle school, so she registered directly into the regional fair. Although she didn't place at the regional fair, she had a great time talking with other students, viewing their projects, and gaining valuable experiencing sharing science with others.

My 8 year old completed a project testing the strength of different types of tape. She did have a school level fair for all elementary projects and she finished first out of all third graders and third overall among third, fourth, and fifth graders. This moved her on to the regional fair which was a brand new experience for her. She was super excited on the day of the fair and had a great time. Her project won an honorable mention ribbon and the opportunity to walk on the stage. I think walking on the stage was her favorite part! LOL!

So in the end, science fair was a success in our family and both kids are looking forward to next year!

What Is #15: A Blue Dwarf?

The 'What Is' Series

A couple of months ago I started a new series on this blog titled "What Is". Thus far the focus is on the field of astronomy where we hear all sorts of cool science taking place in space. The goal of this series is to explain the details of different objects we hear about relatively frequently.

Stars

I have recently covered Black Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs, White Dwarfs, and Red Dwarfs. Brown Dwarfs are objects that were not quite large enough to fuse hydrogen, so they never reached full star status. White Dwarfs are the final stage of a low mass star such as the Sun. After these low mass stars shed away their outer layers, the stellar core leftover is called a White Dwarf. Black Dwarfs do not yet exist in the Universe, but eventually White Dwarfs will finally emit all of their energy, leaving behind a leftover core that no longer releases energy. This leftover core will be called a Black Dwarf. Red Dwarfs are the very low mass Main Sequence stars fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. But there are also Blue Dwarfs. How do Blue Dwarfs differ from their cousins?

Blue Dwarfs

A Blue Dwarf is not a term that came up often in my astronomy studies and not something I spend much time on in the astronomy classes I now teach. But there is a class of stars called Blue Dwarfs, or rather, there WILL BE a class of stars called Blue Dwarfs. When Red Dwarfs exhaust their hydrogen supplies, these small stars will increase in luminosity and increase in surface temperature. The change in surface temperature will change the surface color from red to, eventually, blue. Thus these stars will become Blue Dwarfs. Red Dwarfs are very small stars and take tens of billions of years to evolve into Blue Dwarfs. As the Universe is only 13.8 billion years old, there are not yet any Blue Dwarfs in the Universe. This is similar to Black Dwarfs that will one day exist, but don't exist yet.

This Blog's History: Polar Vortex Science

This Blog's History

Starting several years ago, every Friday I link back to a previous post I wrote. Why? I may be biased, but I think there's quite a bit of good, exciting science I post on this blog, and I like to revisit these old posts. Plus it is a way for new readers to see many of the cool science experiments I've done with my kids in the past without reading the blog from day one, which was over 1,000 posts ago!

Polar Vortex Science

In late January of 2019, the polar vortex brought cold air down from the arctic, putting much of the United States in a bitter chill for a few days. But this doesn't debunk climate change. In fact, it supports climate change. I wrote about this a few weeks ago, so check out that original post for more details. 

Where do I go?

For the original post, click the link below. This links to the original post I wrote a couple of years ago.

Polar Vortex Science

Family Book Challenge

Love of Books

I love books and am always on the look out for new (or old) authors and new series to read. I have far too many books at home, but I keep adding to my collection and I highly doubt I'll ever stop!

Family Book Challenge

A few weeks ago we setup a family reading challenge for 2019. We set the goal of reading 140 books, combined among the four of us, before the end of the year. If we meet our goal, we take a trip to a restaurant that the kids are always wanting to eat at. That may not seem like much of a goal, but this particular restaurant is not located near us. It is a 2-3 hour drive, one way, so we never go there, but if we reach the goal, I promised the kids we would do that drive just to eat at this restaurant. :-)

So far the kids have been reading more frequently, and as of the end of February we had 27 books read. Right now we are on pace to meet the goal, but there's still several months to go! If we meet the goal, 2020 will start with a new, more challenging goal with a more impressive reward. We haven't decided what the goal will be, but it will be something more impressive than a long drive to a restaurant.

Defecating Sloths

Yes, I titled this blog post "Defecating Sloths". :-) I recently wrote a post sharing with readers the very cool podcast called BrainStuff. They recently had a short, less than 10 minute podcast, on the pooping habits of sloths. Now that is a cool podcast topic!

So what did I learn? Sloths poop once a week. That's it! And when they do poop, they can lose 1/3 of their body mass and you can see the change in shape of their abdomen. Yikes! What's more, energy is a very valuable resource for sloths as they do not have much to expend and pooping takes quite a bit of their energy. Instead of remaining in the safety of trees to poop, sloths slowly climb down to the ground, go poo, and then climb back up. They intentionally place themselves in danger to take a poop. As a result, up to 50% of sloth deaths occur when they are attacked by predators while pooping! Pooping is a very dangerous activity for sloths!

Science, sloths, and poop! Now that's a great podcast! Check it out yourself here:

Why Are Sloths' Toilet Habits So Dangerous?

The podcast is only 4 minutes in length so there is no excuse not to listen to it now!

NASA Budget 2019

Politics and Budgets

If you pay any attention at all to politics, regardless if it is politics at the local, state, or federal level, budgets are always a sticking point and there is always a deep debate on what should and should not be funded. Everyone has an opinion on budgets and it seems as if it is always a struggle to come to a budget agreement.

NASA's Budget

Similar to all budgets, NASA's budget has been hotly debated over the years. Should it increase, should it decrease, and what programs within NASA should receive the greatest increase or decrease in funds? There's a great Wikipedia page that shows the fluctuations in NASA's annual budget over the years, compared to inflation and the overall federal budget

Budget of NASA

NASA's budget, covering inflation, peaked in 1966 and hit a low in 1980, setting aside the very early years of NASA. The last couple of years have been somewhat average over NASA's lifetime. The fiscal year 2019 budget (not yet on this Wikipedia page as of this writing) was increased to $21.5 billion, which is a significant increase over the previous year and good news for NASA's science programs.

So say what you will about the ugliness of politics and budget fighting, but this year NASA came out well.

What Is #14: A Red Dwarf?

The 'What Is' Series

A couple of months ago I started a new series on this blog titled "What Is". Thus far the focus is on the field of astronomy where we hear all sorts of cool science taking place in space. The goal of this series is to explain the details of different objects we hear about relatively frequently.

Stars

I have recently covered Black Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs and White Dwarfs. Brown Dwarfs are objects that were not quite large enough to fuse hydrogen, so they never reached full star status. White Dwarfs are the final stage of a low mass star such as the Sun. After these low mass stars shed away their outer layers, the stellar core leftover is called a White Dwarf. Black Dwarfs do not yet exist in the Universe, but eventually White Dwarfs will finally emit all of their energy, leaving behind a leftover core that no longer releases energy. This leftover core will be called a Black Dwarf. But there are also Red Dwarfs. How do Red Dwarfs differ from their cousins?

Red Dwarfs

Unlike Black Dwarfs, Brown Dwarfs, and White Dwarfs that are NOT fusion hydrogen to helium in their cores, Red Dwarfs are fusing hydrogen to helium. Red Dwarfs are stars on the Main Sequence (the hydrogen fusing portion of their lives). As the name implies, Red Dwarfs are red stars. Red Dwarfs are the smallest stars still able to fuse hydrogen into helium. They have low surface temperatures and give off more red light than they do blue light. Thus the redder appearance and name Red Dwarf.

Red Dwarfs have surface temperatures below 4000 K. For comparison, the Sun's surface temperature is about 5800 K. They range in mass from about 1/2 the mass of the Sun to about 8% the mass of the Sun. This is the lower mass limit for a star to be able to fuse hydrogen into helium. Every single Red Dwarf star formed in the Universe is still a Red Dwarf fusing hydrogen into helium. This includes Red Dwarfs formed as the first stars in the Universe formed. Not a single Red Dwarf has evolved into the latter stages of life. Red Dwarfs fuse their hydrogen supply so slowly that the Universe is not old enough yet for a Red Dwarf to evolve past the Main Sequence. Wow!

Isn't astronomy cool?!?!! Yes, yes it definitely is cool!

This Blog's History: What is a Black Dwarf?

This Blog's History

Starting several years ago, every Friday I link back to a previous post I wrote. Why? I may be biased, but I think there's quite a bit of good, exciting science I post on this blog, and I like to revisit these old posts. Plus it is a way for new readers to see many of the cool science experiments I've done with my kids in the past without reading the blog from day one, which was over 1,000 posts ago!

What is a Black Dwarf?

A Black Dwarf is a type of star that doesn't exist now, but will exist at some point in the future. For more details you'll have to read the original post. :-)

Where do I go?

For the original post, click the link below. This links to the original post I wrote a couple of years ago.

What is a Black Dwarf?

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Love of Books

I love books and am always on the look out for new (or old) authors and new series to read. I have far too many books at home, but I keep adding to my collection and I highly doubt I'll ever stop!

Becoming by Michelle Obama

This past Christmas my wife gave me a hardcover version of Michelle Obama's book 'Becoming'. My wife knows me very well. She knows I love books and knew I'd love this book. And I did! I started reading it a few weeks after the holidays and couldn't put it down. Well, actually I could put it down because I don't have the time to read a book from start to finish, but reading this book just made me jealous I don't have more time to read!

The book is broken into three parts in which Michelle Obama talks about her life growing up, her life after meeting her husband Barack, and their life together after he was elected President of the United States. Obama talks about her life growing up and the differences she had as a black child. She talks about being one of the only black women in her various places of work as she started her career in law.

It was an excellent book that sheds light on some of the disadvantages of being black in a country led by those who are white. It also sheds light on much of the behind the scenes action that took place while her husband was campaigning and serving eight years as President.

I won't give away spoilers, but I highly, highly recommend you read this book. I recommend you have your kids read it if they are middle school or older. One of my goals this year is to add more books by black authors and more books about black history to my reading list. I've read a lot of books and have many more on my list, but I've read very few black authors and I need to do better in this area. Black authors bring a different perspective and one I want to and need to learn more about.

The Death of Opportunity

We all knew it was coming. It was long overdue. But it's very sad to see the official end of the Opportunity rover mission on Mars.

Spirit and Opportunity

Spirit and Opportunity were the first large rovers to touchdown on the surface of Mars and move around. Pathfinder was the first rover, several years earlier, but was much smaller and really just a test of rover technology. Spirit and Opportunity were much more impressive and did a vast amount of science over their lifetimes.

Artist's conception of the Opportunity rover. - NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC

Spirit and Opportunity launched separately from Earth to Mars in the summer of 2003. Both landed successfully on the Martian surface in January 2004. They both started their expected 90 day planned mission, but they were far more successful than that. Both rovers had the goal of studying current features on Mars to study the past history of Mars. In the process they both returned data that makes it clear liquid water once existed on the Martian surface in large quantities.

Spirit found itself stuck in a sand dune in 2009 and by 2010 it was declared officially dead. That's a 5+ year lifetime for a rover that started with a 90 day mission! Opportunity kept at it for several more years. Eventually it found its solar cells covered in dust after a massive dust storm swept across Mars in June 2018. It was unable to collect enough solar energy through the dust covered solar cells and eventually lost all remaining power. NASA made several attempts to contact Opportunity, but on February 13, 2019, officially declared it dead. Opportunity continued for 15 years for what was expected to be a 90 day mission. WOW!!!

Spirit and Opportunity were two hugely successful missions that sent back vast amounts of data on Mars. The data will continue to be studied for years. These two rovers may be lost to us forever, but their impression on us will remain for generations!

BrainStuff Podcast

Science Podcasts

I'm a big fan of science themed podcasts, as any reader of this blog knows. I'm constantly on the lookout for new science podcasts. Some I've kept on my must-listen to list for years. Others come and go as my mood changes. But as far as I'm concerned, there can never be too many science podcasts out there. I recently discovered a few, new to me, science podcasts that are great!

BrainStuff Podcast

I recently started listening to the Stuff You Should Know podcast and posted on it a week or two ago. Both podcasts are part of Stuff Media and I learned Stuff Media has a whole host of very cool science podcasts! Since I can't listen to all of them, I've had a very hard time choosing! The BrainStuff podcast was an easy choice. Most BrainStuff podcasts focus on a relatively obscure topic and are only a few minutes long. We all have 5-10 minutes to listen to a podcast that teaches you something new! I highly encourage you to check it out. Like me, you might keep it, or you might not keep it on your list, or maybe your tastes continually change. Regardless, check it out and tell your kids about it! 

The BrainStuff Podcast

What Is #13: An Earthquake

The 'What Is' Series

A couple of months ago I started a new series on this blog titled "What Is". Thus far the focus is on the field of astronomy where we hear all sorts of cool science taking place in space. The goal of this series is to explain the details of different objects we hear about relatively frequently.

Earth Science

For the second post in a row in this series, the topic does not focus on space science. Instead, the focus is on earth science. A well-rounded astronomy enthusiast needs a good education in earth science. Last time I discussed frostquakes, which were quite frequent in the much of the U.S. during January's extreme cold spell. They are very different, however, from earthquakes, so today let's talk about earthquakes.

What is an Earthquake?

Earthquakes are the result of energy released from the ground when rock shifts against itself. That's a very basic definition, but a good one for the purposes of this post. Given this process of rock shifting is very slow, the energy build-up is slow, unlike a frostquake which is a quick build-up and release of energy. Given the slow build-up, earthquakes can be far, far, far more damaging than a frostquake. When the stress in the shifting rock causes the rock to break or fracture, all of this energy is released at once. This is much more common near fault lines in Earth's crust where plates shift against each other. Fault lines exist all over the world, as shown in the image below.

Major fault lines across the world. (www.mapsoftheworld.com)

This map only shows major fault lines, but there are many others. Take the mid-west U.S. for example. Although not known for earthquakes, compared to the west coast, there are fault lines throughout the mid-west and earthquakes have occurred. I've lived my entire life in the mid-west U.S. and experienced two earthquakes, although neither was much more than a small tremor. It felt as if a large semi was driving right by my house. No damage was done and there was no risk of life involved.

Earthquake hazards in U.S. - USGS

Richter Scale

Earthquake strength is measured by the Richter Scale, which ranges from 1 to greater than 9. It is a logarithmic scale, meaning the amplitude of the seismic waves for a magnitude 4 earthquake are ten times that of a magnitude 3 earthquake. It takes a about a magnitude 3 earthquake to feel something, although it is possible to feel a slight tremor below that. Once you get to a magnitude 4, some slight damage can occur and this increases quickly as the strength of the earthquake increases. The strongest earthquake on record took place in 1960 in Chile and measured 9.5 on the Richter Scale.

Preparation

No matter where you live, you need to prepare for an earthquake. Growing up as a kid we never had earthquake drills, but now schools throughout the mid-west, despite the lower likelihood, do annual earthquake drills. It's better to be safe and prepared than unsafe and unprepared. Many areas that rarely had earthquakes are now experiencing many more earthquakes due to fracking for natural gas. Earthquakes have become quite common in Oklahoma and parts of Texas due to fracking. For more information on preparing for earthquakes, go here:

https://www.ready.gov/earthquakes

This Blog's History: The Next Lunar Eclipse

This Blog's History

Starting several years ago, every Friday I link back to a previous post I wrote. Why? I may be biased, but I think there's quite a bit of good, exciting science I post on this blog, and I like to revisit these old posts. Plus it is a way for new readers to see many of the cool science experiments I've done with my kids in the past without reading the blog from day one, which was over 1,000 posts ago!

The Next Lunar Eclipse

You either saw or didn't see the January 2019 total lunar eclipse observable from much of the U.S., assuming it wasn't cloudy at your location. Shortly after that eclipse, I wrote a post discussing the next total lunar eclipse observable from the U.S., which doesn't occur until May 2022. Mark your calendars now.

Where do I go?

For the original post, click the link below. This links to the original post I wrote a couple of years ago.

The Next Lunar Eclipse