Wise words

The Veil nebula, a massive star that exploded 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, according to NASA. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA (public domain)

“Some 5 or 6 or 7 billion years from now, the Sun will become a giant red star and will engulf the orbits of Mercury and Venus and probably the Earth. The Earth then would be inside the sun, and some of the problems that face us on this particular day will appear, by comparison, modest.”

-Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience

I’ve been remiss in keeping up my blog, but posting quotes from books I’m reading seems like a good way to get back into it. Carl Sagan is one of my scientific heroes (although, having not studied science much, my list of scientific heroes is short and unsurprising: Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Matt Entler) because of his ability to explain concepts like THE ENORMITY OF THE COSMOS in very plain English. I’m working my way through his books, which will take a while because he was quite prolific.

May you ponder this perspective over your morning coffee.

NPR work in review

■ denotes on-air component
If You’ve Ignored Bitcoin Up Until Now, This One’s For You | Feb. 26, 2014
What Sbarro’s Woes Say About Where We Get Our Fast Food Now | Feb. 21, 2014
How The Big Cable Deal Could Actually Boost Open-Internet Rules | Feb. 13, 2014
Weekly Un-Innovation: There’s Nothing To See Here | Feb. 12, 2014
■ The Internet Flexes Political Muscle With Anti-NSA Protest | Feb. 11, 2014
Tech Week That Was: Industry Gossip, Wikipedia Starts Talking | Feb. 9, 2014
■ Facebook At 10: Amid Doubters, Company Eyes Next Growth Phase | Feb. 4, 2014
Tech Week: ‘Leaky’ Angry Birds And Digital Invades Cinemas | Feb. 1, 2014
■ As Windows XP Fades Away, Will Its Users Stick With Microsoft? | Jan. 24, 2014
Tech Week That Was: The Mac Turns 30, More NSA Rumblings | Jan. 24, 2014
Virginia Gay Marriage Shift Generates Sharp Response | Jan. 23, 2014

The rest of my NPR work can be found here.