More from the Moon

When blogging the 'Earth Shadow' image the other day, I was reminded of the following quote from the Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders: 'We thought the mission was to go and study the Moon but what we actually discovered was the Earth.' He was referring, at least in part, to the Earthrise image.

Earth Shadow

I've seen lunar eclipses on a number of occasions. The Moon never goes completely black and the darkening lasts a while. I found this composite picture at APOD that gives an impression of the size of the Earth's shadow on the Moon during lunar eclipses. It is much larger than I had previously realised.

Wanted – Dead and Live

The topic of a wanted poster featuring Schrödinger's cat came up in conversation the other day. So, I thought about making one. However, it struck me that somebody else must have done it already. I was not wrong. This is perhaps one of the best I found. It is taken from a blog called 'But I Digress'.

Barcode - 5

Here is another barcode based upon the name of this blog. This time it is a 'Code 39 (ISO 16388)' barcode. If you want to find out more about this and other types of barcode, you could visit Neodynamic.

Some gloomy (or should that be sobering) thoughts

'They give birth astride a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more.'

Waiting For Godot - Act II
Pozzo's last words as he and Lucky leave.


'We know little about what happens when someone dies. The moment of death is not accompanied by the cessation of all biological processes. Thankfully, so, for if it were there could be no hope of transplant surgery.'

Unattributed. (It might even have been me in a note to myself! I found this while going through some old papers during the Christmas break.)

Happy New Year

I don't really go in for New Year celebrations. Once, the night when 1980 turned into 1981, I was at my desk working. I heard some sounds outside and remembered that it was, of course, New Year's Eve - except that it wasn't any longer. It was 12.45 am and I had missed the moment when 1981 had begun. It was no great loss.

Nevertheless, here is a photo I came across during the last half hour of 2011 which seems poignant.

Untitled - © Adara