Richard Feynman, NASA, and the genius of humor

The Obama administration recently announced that funding will be cut for NASA manned-space exploration projects, including a return trip to the moon in 2020.  Instead, more funding will be directed towards NASA Earth-observation and monitoring missions, in hopes of better understanding our planet and its changing climate.  Thinking back over the history of manned space exploration, NASA has certainly accomplished...

Fear and logic in Las Vegas – a perspective on the unsustainable

I went on a trip to Las Vegas this weekend.  Vegas is a favorite pastime for many Southern California citizens, and not being a native myself, I’ve decided to try to blend in with the locals, so to speak.  But the fact is that the careless pleasures of Sin City don’t leave a very good aftertaste on the discriminating palate of an earth scientist. The desert jewel is not only an environmental disaster, it also...

Earth, actually: seeing the true nature of our great planet

What’s the idea behind the website “ActualEarth.org” ? It’s simple, really.  It’s meant to convey one basic idea — that there is an amazingly beautiful, profoundly intricate world all around us that escapes our everyday perception. When we’re caught up in our busy lives with attainment, achievement and satisfaction, how much time is missed in witnessing the perfect, whole and ever-changing...