Archive for October, 2010

Eternity: Sun Versus Shade

Recent news has included discoveries of new planets, supernovas and even changes in the rates of the contraction of the original expansion of the Big Bang. A few friends have shared that these various cosmic phenomena make them feel a bit weird, depressed or anxious. In contrast, it makes me feel better, not worse. I […]

Lawn Love, Part Two

Some garden writers seem to have an obsession with lawns.  Michael Pollan’s erroneous but extremely influential 1991 op/ed in The New York Times kicked off a two decade landscape architect parlor game.  However, the debate over the ecological and environmental value of lawns is much older.  Front or back worse?  Side lawn okay?  Organic lawn […]

Exoplanetary Progress Report

Four years ago, I nearly came out of my skin with excitement about “GL 581c“, the second planet from the star (“a”), which is the GL, which stands for Gliese, the name of the astronomer who discovered it. So, the star—or sun—is Gliese. I do not know what the 581 stands for. Matrix number, most […]