Daily Thoughts 08/29/2016

Dante Aleghieri, Andrea del Castagno, 1450

Daily Thoughts 08/29/2016

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I read the newspaper on the way to work.

I checked the displays and the gift books this morning.

I read a copy of Publishers Weekly.

I have an interview at 11:00 a.m.

I spent some time both in the computer lab and with the public computers.

I also have been doing some planning for programming for October focusing on coloring and chess.

There is a Fundamentals of Computers Class and a Beginning Microsoft Word class in the computer lab.

Subway Reads
http://www.subwayreadsny.com/


Web Bits

The Fierce, Forgotten Library Wars of the Ancient World

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-fierce-forgotten-library-wars-of-the-ancient-world

Area Library Publishes Online Literary Magazine

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/entertainment/books-literature/area-library-publishes-online-literary-magazine/nsNJw/

He Tried to Check Out a Robert E. Lee Book from the Library and Got Jailed Instead

http://napavalleyregister.com/news/nation-and-world/he-tried-to-check-out-a-robert-e-lee-book/article_25755bf8-e202-5fd1-b92c-8fd1ebc40fbe.html

Libraries Have Secrets:  The Private Rooms of North Jersey's Public Libraries
http://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/libraries-have-secrets-the-private-rooms-of-north-jersey-s-public-libraries-1.1651103

Aliens and Libraries and Stuff. (Because I Can).

 

I  remember talking to a fellow librarian who said their goal was to be the first librarian in space.  I still have not seen that happen.  There is a blog about the first library to send something to space which is kind of fun. First Library In Space http://firstlibraryinspace.org/

There is also Story Time In Space from the International Space Station which is kind of entertaining.

http://storytimefromspace.com/

I have been reading about SETI a lot recently.  There have been some really interesting announcements in the last few days.  There may be an alien signal.  Alien Life, or Noise? Russian Telescope Discovers 'Strong Signal' from Sun Like Star.  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/29/russian-radio-telescope-strong-signal-hd164595-seti

Also,there may be an earthlike planet in Proxima Ceti  b. This until recently was purely science fiction.  Closest Potential to Our Solar System Found

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/health/proxima-b-centauri-rocky-planet-habitable-zone-neighbor-star/ 

  I remember reading adventure stories about traveling to other stars when I was a teenager.  Now I can read about it in real life in the news.  There is even a proposition to send a probe to another star.  $100 Million Plan WIll Send Probes to the Nearest Star  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/100-million-plan-will-send-probes-to-the-nearest-star1/

 

Reading this material reminds me of the science fiction I read as a teenager.  It reminds me how much closer we are to the future than most people imagine.  It seems to me to be a hands breadth away.

The idea of a strong signal from SETI has some implications for our everyday life already.  People have been studying pulsars recently.  Radio Signals from Pulsars Appear to Move Faster Than Light.  http://phys.org/news/2010-01-radio-pulses-pulsar-faster.html

You might think what does this have to do with my every day life.  It will introduce new concepts and technology which people have only imagined before.  Device Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster than Light.  http://www.universetoday.com/33752/device-makes-radio-waves-travel-faster-than-light/

I remember reading about something like this in a science fiction novel called The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.  There was a device in the story called an ansible which allowed faster than light communication.

Maybe one day we will use a device like an ansible to talk to an alien civilization.  The world is becoming stranger than you might imagine.  I like the idea of incomprehensible things happening in the universe.  There was even talk for a while about an alien megastructure.  This shows that there are things which we don't understand out there and I am perfectly happy to know this.  It reminds me of philosophical concepts like cosmic time and how we fit in the universe.

Alien Megastructure? 'Tabby's Star Continues to Baffle Scientists

http://www.space.com/33813-alien-megastructure-mystery-tabbys-star.html

I have been reading less science fiction recently and more nonfiction.  I read about people like Elon Musk who founded Space X and Burt Rhutan of Scaled Composites.  The future is being built right now and we can read about it every day if we want to.