Anyway, after balancing out the difficulties of learning about Astrophysics/Astronomy, combined with my false assumption that I’d be stuck in a desert somewhere with a small team staring out at the night sky, I decided to major in something a bit more practical but that I still enjoyed (Business, though looking back, I should’ve double-majored in Economics and Computer Science). But I still remained fascinated by space and spent many hours reading books and admiring high-resolution shots from the various telescopes and and other devices we send out in space.

Mars, baby, Mars

While watching Cosmos, which takes us on a journey through the known universe, from its very edge, back through to our galaxy, our solar system, and finally our planet, it struck me how little we’ve travelled in the past 40 years since the first moon landing. To many, it seems like we went to the moon and then flatlined in terms of space exploration progress.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know we’ve made tons of advances in this area over the past 40 years, but in the grand scheme of the universe, it’s really difficult to think we’ve made it very far. Currently, we have capabilities to go to Mars. There are an immense amount of variables, for instance we don’t know the effect of such a voyage on the human body, or even if we could survive outside the zone around the Earth.

Ensuring that any astronauts who make the trip have enough air, food, and water to get to Mars and back is not a simple hurdle. The logistics of such an adventure are overwhelming to any one person. But, today we have all the capabilities to plan out and solve these logistics. We may fail, massively, but not trying is an even bigger failure.

Such a mission would likely require global collaboration, as the costs, time, energy, and man-power required to run the trip are likely too high a burden for any one country to take on. But imagine if it happens. It would spark a new era of humanity, one where we work together to achieve an awe-inspiring goal, the first human on Mars.

Goosebumps ran up and down my arms just thinking about it.

The technological and logistical progress we’d make by going on such a trip would alone be worth the cost. The really big hurdle to cross is the danger to the human astronauts who make the trip. This danger is not to be taken lightly, but neither should it be seen as an impossible impediment. I can’t speak for any potential astronauts who’d make the trip, but going off my gut feeling, if I had gone along a career path that would make me a viable candidate for a trip to Mars, I would be more than willing to put my life on the line. I’m sure there’s a talented crew who’d say the same, the value and progress of going to Mars would outweigh the real possibility of not coming back.

What about you? If you were an astronaut (or are one), would you be willing to risk it all to go to Mars?

The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean

The first episode of the space series Cosmos, narrated by the Carl Sagan. Absolutely fascinating and a must-watch.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope for the awe-inspiring photo of Mars.

Do you watch Battlestar Galactica? No. Then you are an idiot.

– Dwight from The Office.

The show The Office has had many memorable moments, but it’s best moment came in reference to another show, the best show on TV right now, Battlestar Galactica.

Why is Battlestar Galactica the best TV show of all time? Ten reasons come to mind.

• 10. Season 3′s cliff-hanger

How intense was that cliff-hanger? I’m still on edge from it and it was over a year ago, that’s how intense. Starbuck comes through the clouds and looks at Lee Adama, tells him she knows where the mythical Earth is and we fly through space until we get a shot of that unmistakable blue orb we call home. Will they get to Earth? Will it be our Earth in present-time? So many tantalizing questions that I really hope get answered.

• 9. It’s a great example of how to make a good remake.

They paid tribute to the old Battlestar Galactica but at he same time didn’t simply update the special effects and call it a day. BSG is a complete revamping of the show to match current events. Countless shows and movies try, few succeed. BSG goes above, beyond, and past the original (which was also of top quality).

• 8. It’s the best genre ever.

For centuries, the best books have been written in the science fiction genre because it can encapsulate all other genres and has nearly no limitations. Battlestar Galactica is a shining example of political, philosophical, dramatic, and romantic story lines being given focus in a science fiction setting.

• 7. Awesome music – One of the best remixes of All Along the Watchtower ever.

• 6. It’s the 1984 of our time.

George Orwell’s 1984 was a critique on the British empire and a warning of the future written in that period’s most popular medium. BSG portrays the Iraqi occupation with through a flipped perspective and critiques our ever increasing reliance on science and technology over humanity and is a warning for us to not give over all power to robots.

• 5. They don’t milk it. One last season to rule them all.

Countless shows and movies go on for far too long, deteriorating into a mess far removed from the original fans fell in love with (The Simpsons). BSG is going out on their own terms without dragging on endlessly. You’ve got to hand it to everyone involved with the show for ending it while the content is still fresh and not simply beating the show to death to get a few extra bucks.

• 4. Smart, strong, and sexy women.

You can’t have good science fiction without sex and BSG has tons of it, even going so far as to give us some freaky-deaky robot human relations.



• 3. Awesome, amazing, breath-taking, photo-realistic special effects. Wow.

If you like explosions and fire-fights, you’ll love this show. Check out this clip of the Battlestars coming to the rescue of the humans who are under Cylon occupation. Youtube’s video quality does not do it justice but it’s impressive nonetheless.

• 2. Smart, strong, and sexy women that can be duplicated infinitely.

That’s right, there’s an endless supply of these three women in the BSG universe.



What, you want another reason?

• 1. Epic storytelling, epic acting, epic directing, epic producing, epic TV.

My words really can’t explain how well made this show is. Do yourself a favor, head over to scifi.com and check out this 8 minute recap of the first 3 seasons and then tune in to the SciFi channel tonight at 10 PM eastern and watch the best TV show ever made. I can’t over-hype this show.

Late to the Battlestar Galactica phenomenon? Don’t worry you can still catch up on previous Battlestar Galactica seasons (as well as the excellent mini-series and feature film) at Amazon.com:

• Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)
• Battlestar Galactica – Season One
• Battlestar Galactica – Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)
• Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 11-20)
• Battlestar Galactica – Season Three
• Battlestar Galactica – Razor (Unrated Extended Edition)

Check out the crazy resemblance John McCain has to Colonel Tigh, who I’m sure will be revealed as a Cylon in the final season of Battlestar Galactica, set to premiere in March.

What have you done New Hampshire! We might have a Cylon in office now!

Thanks to the Metamerist for the pictures.

The human survivors then rush around space, evading the cylons as much as possible and search for a rumored 13th colony, called Earth. Although the show’s premise seems to heavily science fiction, the show deals with many contemporary issues, such as the war on terrorism, and (from the wiki on BSG) “abortion, the use of biological weapons, and labour rights”.

One of the great aspects of the show, is the constant reference to the real world war on terrorism, such as when the humans find a new planet and occupy it, only to have the Cylons track them down and force them to live under their rule. The humans resort to suicide bombings against the Cylons; which really makes you think about whether it’s fair for the U.S. media to criticize the Iraqis for their use of suicide bombings.

Anyway the show normally airs on Sunday at 10:00pm but last week was the season 3 finale and season 4 doesn’t start until 2008! Aaargh! Anyone who hasn’t seen any of this show, I highly urge you to watch the mini-series and if you’re not immediately immersed, you simply don’t like good television.

This was intended to be a post about the essays I’ve already uploaded to this site but as it’s already a bit lengthy I’ll discuss those essays another day, for the curious the sidebar (the layout of this site maybe updated in the future), lists the schools I’ve attended, and the classes I have digital versions of coursework for. This collection isn’t complete and I’ll continuing updating it as I find more of my coursework from the last five years, although a lot of it is probably lost for good…