apparently i found out my plant and the neighbouring ones have been infected by some ugly form of insects called cochineals... which you can try to kill with a natural remedy, i.e. a very concentrated solution of marseille soap and water. i thought it might turn useful for people, so i wrote it down, even though it's full of posts and stuff all over the internet telling you how to deal with these white little devils.
so, i tried it on, let's see what happens now. too bad i had a raptus a couple of days ago, before i found out this remedy, and cut away a lot of branches. hope they survive this huge amount of torture...
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
dying plant
here is my dying plant. don't really know what to do with it. anybody has a clue??
thus far i just quarantined it, but i fear the white filamentary stuff has already spread to the other babies... :(
maybe i go look for some bio-blog...
thus far i just quarantined it, but i fear the white filamentary stuff has already spread to the other babies... :(
maybe i go look for some bio-blog...
doomsday machine
no i don't want to talk about any world-destruction scenarios like the ones currently discussed on the media. yep, there's a huge particle physics experiment getting started these days, which will explore energies so high we don't really know how physics behaves over there. and journalists and people everywhere are sooo scared that we're somehow going to blow up. though it'd be kind of cool, we're not. don't worry.
however, i didn't refer to that kind of doomsday. like, end of the world doomsday. i was just referring to the one happening in my head. feeling terribly tired, kind of weak too. head hurts. the weather sucks, true, might be that. plus my plants are dying, at least some of them. there's a white, filamentary matter tearing them apart. and that's not in my head, that's real... and me really really tired. big headache. feels like i might explode. not sleepy though. damn.
however, i didn't refer to that kind of doomsday. like, end of the world doomsday. i was just referring to the one happening in my head. feeling terribly tired, kind of weak too. head hurts. the weather sucks, true, might be that. plus my plants are dying, at least some of them. there's a white, filamentary matter tearing them apart. and that's not in my head, that's real... and me really really tired. big headache. feels like i might explode. not sleepy though. damn.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
the age of disillusion
evidently it's a feeling widely extended beyond myself:
yet, somehow i'm not less confused just because others feel that way too. on the contrary, this common disillusion scares me even more.
when you're young and you're fascinated by science it's because you think it's this pure, neat thing:
principles --> methods --> results.
no compromises. nothing.
then you start practicing it, and you find out it's not neat at all. moreover, you realise the biggest compromise of all is just the one you accepted when you embraced science, thus withdrawing from the rest of society. society is not neat, it's not pure. and that's exactly the reason of its appeal. humans are not perfect, and that's why they're so freaking interesting.
so you find out that science breaks down and loses its charm right where everything else gains it. and when you realise it, you start thinking. and wondering...
neat is boring. true.
but at least it lets you sleep at night.
yet, somehow i'm not less confused just because others feel that way too. on the contrary, this common disillusion scares me even more.
when you're young and you're fascinated by science it's because you think it's this pure, neat thing:
principles --> methods --> results.
no compromises. nothing.
then you start practicing it, and you find out it's not neat at all. moreover, you realise the biggest compromise of all is just the one you accepted when you embraced science, thus withdrawing from the rest of society. society is not neat, it's not pure. and that's exactly the reason of its appeal. humans are not perfect, and that's why they're so freaking interesting.
so you find out that science breaks down and loses its charm right where everything else gains it. and when you realise it, you start thinking. and wondering...
neat is boring. true.
but at least it lets you sleep at night.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
I thought of that old joke, y'know...
the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken."
And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?"
The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs."
Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
Woody Allen, from Annie Hall
And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?"
The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs."
Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.
Woody Allen, from Annie Hall
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
the silence of the universe
i believe this is the first time i ever blogged about science, astronomy and the universe. whatever... i mean, it's what i do every day, and probably that's why i write about everything but that. i don't dislike it, i don't hate it. guess i just need fresh air, from time to time. but now that strange ideas float in my mind and new projects come out, i need to set my thoughts in order...
in 1977 a new probe was launched by NASA: its name was Voyager, its main goal to explore jupiter and saturn. but eventually the mission proceeded along its way, beyond these two giant planets, towards the borders of our solar system... it is still transmitting a weak signal, the scientific instruments will work for another decade and keep us in touch, so to speak.
a probe sent by mankind and travelling across the immensity of outer space: how cool is that?? it could even thrill little girls and gently push them along a perilous way. but i guess some things are better left unsaid...
the mission had an additional source of charm: the naive attempt to attach some sort of signature, more precisely a record, containing images, sounds and music. a sign of our history, of our planet, to be found by a possible extra-terrestrial civilisation. bach, mozart, along with chuck berry and african tribal music. waves, birds singing and greetings in dozens of human languages.
ok, it's all very romantic, the whole message in a bottle thing, whatever. trust me, the chances of "someone" finding our message are as low as the whole idea is charming, or maybe even more. but still, even being a pessimist and a cynic, even now as an astronomer, not even remotely considering the "contact" option, still i find the idea kind of sweet. the idea of a piece of us, a piece of mankind, travelling out there in the middle of nothing (literally!). no need to be discovered by any form of intelligent et's for me to find it sweet.
a few years ago, i was talking about that with a friend of mine. i guess (if she only read my blog!) she would understand this post is dedicated to her just by a quick look at the title :)
we were talking about the whole Voyager record thing and the music on board. she might have asked something about how the music could be actually played out there in space, and then i said, instinctively (like it was obvious... indeed!) that in outer space you couldn't possibly hear a sound. freezing moment. she was impressed. she never heard of anything like that. that the universe is... silent... she probably didn't care much about my subsequent explanation on sound waves propagation and the fact that the interstellar space is extremely underdense. whatever. science talk is boring, just stuff for geeks. yet she was amazed by the silence of the universe.
this episode, and the silence of the universe, always make me think about the distance between science and the rest of society. science is difficult, it's not for everybody: sadly, that's the way it is taught, and the way lots of people think of it. most of the time we talk about different things, true. but sometimes it really seems like we're speaking a different language. i've always thought i would have ended up as a scientist, and even when doubts arise, it's difficult for me to think and judge with a different approach.
So einfach wie möglich. Aber nicht einfacher. Einstein wrote that some time ago. As simple as possible, but not simpler than that. can't possibly disagree. from my point of view, this is the way, the only one i consider viable. it's not possible to simplify without limit. and not only in science.
yet, if not simpler, there must be a way to make scientific topics more interesting, funnier, but without the creepy feeling you're telling a fairy tale. the link is already weak, let's try and not lose it. guess being a scientist in an ivory tower would be even harder than in the middle of society.
the globular cluster M3: a bunch of some hundred thousand stars, all bound to each other...
image credits: my astronze friends, when it was fun :)
in 1977 a new probe was launched by NASA: its name was Voyager, its main goal to explore jupiter and saturn. but eventually the mission proceeded along its way, beyond these two giant planets, towards the borders of our solar system... it is still transmitting a weak signal, the scientific instruments will work for another decade and keep us in touch, so to speak.
a probe sent by mankind and travelling across the immensity of outer space: how cool is that?? it could even thrill little girls and gently push them along a perilous way. but i guess some things are better left unsaid...
the mission had an additional source of charm: the naive attempt to attach some sort of signature, more precisely a record, containing images, sounds and music. a sign of our history, of our planet, to be found by a possible extra-terrestrial civilisation. bach, mozart, along with chuck berry and african tribal music. waves, birds singing and greetings in dozens of human languages.
ok, it's all very romantic, the whole message in a bottle thing, whatever. trust me, the chances of "someone" finding our message are as low as the whole idea is charming, or maybe even more. but still, even being a pessimist and a cynic, even now as an astronomer, not even remotely considering the "contact" option, still i find the idea kind of sweet. the idea of a piece of us, a piece of mankind, travelling out there in the middle of nothing (literally!). no need to be discovered by any form of intelligent et's for me to find it sweet.
a few years ago, i was talking about that with a friend of mine. i guess (if she only read my blog!) she would understand this post is dedicated to her just by a quick look at the title :)
we were talking about the whole Voyager record thing and the music on board. she might have asked something about how the music could be actually played out there in space, and then i said, instinctively (like it was obvious... indeed!) that in outer space you couldn't possibly hear a sound. freezing moment. she was impressed. she never heard of anything like that. that the universe is... silent... she probably didn't care much about my subsequent explanation on sound waves propagation and the fact that the interstellar space is extremely underdense. whatever. science talk is boring, just stuff for geeks. yet she was amazed by the silence of the universe.
this episode, and the silence of the universe, always make me think about the distance between science and the rest of society. science is difficult, it's not for everybody: sadly, that's the way it is taught, and the way lots of people think of it. most of the time we talk about different things, true. but sometimes it really seems like we're speaking a different language. i've always thought i would have ended up as a scientist, and even when doubts arise, it's difficult for me to think and judge with a different approach.
So einfach wie möglich. Aber nicht einfacher. Einstein wrote that some time ago. As simple as possible, but not simpler than that. can't possibly disagree. from my point of view, this is the way, the only one i consider viable. it's not possible to simplify without limit. and not only in science.
yet, if not simpler, there must be a way to make scientific topics more interesting, funnier, but without the creepy feeling you're telling a fairy tale. the link is already weak, let's try and not lose it. guess being a scientist in an ivory tower would be even harder than in the middle of society.
the globular cluster M3: a bunch of some hundred thousand stars, all bound to each other...
image credits: my astronze friends, when it was fun :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)