Lagrange Points When I was in high school physics class learning about gravity, I recall wondering if we could determine the size, or at least the mass, of the universe by calculating how much gravitational pull the planet “feels.” If the planet is tugged more in one direction, could we determine where we are in […]
James Webb Space Telescope If you’ve followed the newsletter from the early days, you’re well familiar with the Hubble Telescope and its myriad astronomical contributions. Some of the most resplendent images of the universe have come from the famed telescope. One might argue all of the most gorgeous imagery of the cosmos to date has
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NORAD In December 1948, in the interregnum between the end of World War II and the raging depths of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force provided a bit of levity in the face of growing nuclear tensions. They pushed a notification that their “early warning radar net to the north” had picked up a
The Wandering Meatloaf Chitons are a class of mollusks specific to the oceans of the planet. Unlike some mollusks with which you might be familiar, chitons appear more like blobby flapjacks than the normal shell topographies of a clam or a snail. When a snail feels threatened she can dive into her hard home; when
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Call of the Void Can I confess something? I tell you this because, as an artist, I think you’ll understand. Sometimes when I’m driving on the road at night, I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate
Apesongs Primatologist Dian Fossey famously studied vocalizations in gorillas. For my money, she produced the greatest piece of evidence that these great apes and humans descended from a shared ancestor at some point in the distant past: the most common form of communication in gorillas is belching. (credit the notion to Steve Mirsky, cited in
Tetrapteryx Ecologist and conservationist William Beebe produced a litany of astonishing scientific achievements. He pioneered the holistic study of biomes, now the standard procedure. He became the first human to study deepsea fishes in their native environments. He discovered the odd phenomenon of army ant death spirals. His first natural love, however, belonged to
The Unsilent Spring The sedge is wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing. – John Keats, “La Belle Dame sans Merci” My absorption in the mystery and meaning of the sea have been stimulated and the writing of this book aided by the friendship and encouragement of William Beebe. – Rachel Carson, dedication in
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The Bathysphere In our previous exploration on the death spirals of army ants, we met the enigmatic William Beebe, ornithologist, entomologist, ichthyologist, and conservationist. Beebe pioneered a holistic approach to ecology. In order to understand a place in totality, one must study the place in totality. Having practiced this method multiple times in the
The Army Ant Death Spiral Renowned ecologist and conservationist William Beebe’s 1921 tome, Edge of the Jungle, chronicled an incredible event in the teeming forests of Kartabo in Guyana. In the recorded history of entomology, no human had witnessed anything like it. He wrote: Yet, whatever the simile, the net of unconscious precedent is
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