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Waving hello...
By way of (If I get the concept of hashtags right):
Physically: living in the US midwest ;
Mentally: occupying as much of the interesting parts of the internet as I can.
I grew up reading mostly SF and science books, so I've seen myriad futures before, just not this particular one.
Interests: Learning, gardening, random and unofficial tutoring, STEM, archaeology, and whatever any of you might introduce me to.
What I'm hoping to find here: civil and engaging conversations

Time again to enact our traditional observance:

"Hey, it's the Equinox."
(sips coffee)
"Yep."
(also sips coffee)

...................................

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What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.

- Carl Sagan

#quotes

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The fact you're looking at this on an ActivityPub-enabled Fediverse app demonstrates that a community of focused individuals can create a global-scale network around an open standard that rivals (or, frankly, beats) pretty much anything capitalism could create, even at its 'best'.

And these communities create without profit motive - just because they share a vision and think it'd be a good thing. All they require is sustainability, not exploitative profit.

I think that's worth celebrating.

Rmond boosted

Testing a speculation: The shadow of the full moon at midnight around the Winter Solstice should be in the same place as the shadow of the sun at noon on the Summer Solstice.

Result: Yes, pretty close! (dim, overprocessed pic, taken a half-hour before midnight)

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Happy New Calendar Year!
(My new year was ten days ago,
Winter Solstice).
A friend suggested I call this the Year of the Tardigrade, an animal that can survive pretty much anything that's thrown at it. Here's hoping that we can as well.

6 months ago, I started a project that I've bneen thinking about for years.
I'm a scientist at heart, and have learned things mostly from reading.
The question often arises: What have I actually seen and measured myself? Lots of things, but now that I'm living in a permanent spot on the Earth, this project came to mind.

Just before the last Summer Solstice, I planted a post and set a 35 cm wide concrete disc on it horizontally. In the center, I drilled a hole and set a 10 cm high brass pin, sighted from that to the horizon at sunrise, and set another pin on the edge. Repeating that process at sunset, I ended up with the beginnings of a sundial.

I'm not marking hours, weeks or months, as those don't actually exist. This will show only what's actually happening in the interaction of sun and earth from direct observation.

This evening was clear, so I made a mark for the Winter Solstice sunset. I may have to wait another year to mark the sunrise, as the mornings have been cloudy. When the temperature allows, I'll drill holes and set in more pins at the marks I'm making.

Why am I doing this? Art? Sort of. Science? Yes, in the sense of "do it and see what can be learned".

Rmond boosted
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Waving hello...
By way of (If I get the concept of hashtags right):
Physically: living in the US midwest ;
Mentally: occupying as much of the interesting parts of the internet as I can.
I grew up reading mostly SF and science books, so I've seen myriad futures before, just not this particular one.
Interests: Learning, gardening, random and unofficial tutoring, STEM, archaeology, and whatever any of you might introduce me to.
What I'm hoping to find here: civil and engaging conversations

Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.