Eclipse - Friday 20.3.15

We had a go at recording the near (80%)

TOTAL ECLIPSE of the SUN 

earlier today.

 Binoculars were pretty good,

 as you can see.

We had 2 small, but perfectly formed images.

Through the camera, more tricky as we couldn't look through the view finder and we don't have a screen view.

OK result.  Out of focus, and tricky getting a decent light reading too. 

Ho-Hum

Maybe next time I'll have more luck - November 2050 - the next good one here in the UK.

Hope I'm still alive at 95!

"Cracking Gromit"

Sometimes when I'm working my mind wanders and off I go on a spiralling trail of consciousness. 

This time, as I painted endless skirting boards I began to think about those

 paper crack thingys 

Where does that noise come from? 

Sonic boom?

Then my thoughts meandered onto:- 

Why does the sea make a noise?

Does it need a solid object to convert kinetic to sound energy?

Do water molecules make a sound as they chaotically rub and bump/bump and grind (titter titter) against each other.

Does the sea make sonic booms? If it does, is that to do with cavitation?

Perhaps it's the opposite of cavitation, you know, trapped air popping out of its confinement.

Is it because there's somebody there to hear it?

Does it only create sound when it comes into contact with a solid object like pebbles? 

I'm sure when we've been out on 'swelly water' and the very top of the humongous green bulge looming up beside me has begun to crumple and then frizzle with a fringe of white rippling fingers, that I could hear the fizz of the nascent breaking wave, hissing snake like, menacing, before it collapsed, roaring, on to me rolling me over. Or perhaps that was the sound of my blood rushing past my ears in panic mode.

Or, could it be one lump of sea slapping against another lump of sea?

If it's a common place SLAP, let me posit this little question,

Why does a slap make a noise?

Keep your hair on,

IT'S ONLY A QUESTION

AND THERE WERE MANY, MANY MORE

!!!!!!

I must get out more

: )

Higgs Boson

A couple of days ago scientists at CERN announced that they might have seen the Higgs Boson. We heard this momentous news as we were drinking tea in bed, listening to this on Radio 4, before the start of another day in paradise. They called the HIGGS BOSON 'THE GOD PARTICLE'. This got us talking. The gist of our musings are below.

Why Higgs BOSON?

Surely if it's the GOD particle, it should be the Higgs Commodor, or Admiral etc. Boson seems a bit lowly to us.

Why THE GOD PARTICLE?

Well, we decided, it must be very small as it's the source of all matter in the universe, it makes the stuff that makes the atoms, which makes it hard to spot when on it's own. It's probably as small as a mote of dust. In fact it could be a mote of dust. After all, dust is everywhere, in the air, on my shelves, under our bed. It behaves like the HIGGS BOSON too, by getting together with other dust particles to form all too visible sheets, clumps, fluffy lumps. Given time, dust could form itself into a universe.

Those guys at CERN have spent all that money and time looking in the wrong place. A window with sun rays that sparkle with motes of dust, or a grope under a bed would have given them the answer to their question.

Failing that, the clue's in the name, THE GOD PARTICLE.

They say GOD IS EVERY WHERE,

well SO IS DUST.