http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions Clouds and cosmos: the atmosphere and beyond! Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:00:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In this day of Global Positioning Systems, computers and the Internet, it has never been so easy to know your exact position on the planet, down to a few feet. Such precision is rarely necessary for real life, except perhaps for those folks who has lost the ability to read ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/062599/where-are-you/ If all goes well, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will set down on the Martian surface near the planet's North Pole at roughly 7:53 p.m. EDT on Sunday (tomorrow). Two other missions, the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, are alive and well -- far past their designed lifetimes -- in widespread ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/052498/mars-beckons-again/ There is so much controversy over Daylight Saving Time -- who benefits?, does it really save energy?, is it worth the hassle? -- that maybe we should dump it altogether in favor of "Mecca Time." At least that is what some Muslim scientists meeting in Qatar have called for -- ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/042195/if-daylight-saving-time-wasnt-bad-enough/ I saw another UFO Saturday night. Once again in the car headed west, I spied a bright starlike object in the reddish post-sunset sky, low to the mountains. It was reminiscent of Venus as it appears deep in the sunset glow, but of course Venus is not in that part ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/041492/i-saw-another-ufo-maybe-two/ While most of us slept on the morning of March 19, hours before the death of famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was announced, a shot rang out in the Universe the likes of which are unknown in human history. By a preliminary analysis, this object was visible to ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/032190/why-not-the-clarke-event/ ...and we fell for it. Living in Paris in April 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote an article -- fully tongue in cheek, that suggested a way that Parisians might save money on candle wax and lamp oil. (Read it here: Ben Franklin's Essay on Daylight Saving.) Though meant as a joke, Americans ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/human-world/030888/ben-franklin-pulled-pariss-leg/ What's behind all this, an alien conspiracy? Is the government hiding something from us? Well, I think we all know what is going on. And if you don't know, you need to get informed. For anyone who has observed the skies for more than a few years, it is obvious ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/012885/the-stars-are-disappearing/ Let me start by saying that I do not know what most people of north central Texas saw and reported as a UFO last week. If the published reports are accurate -- then what they saw was very unusual at least, and if true, then we cannot rule out ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/012081/sundogs-bite-as-ufos/ Recently I posted a blog about "Listening to Astronomy." This was intended to refer to podcasts containing astronomical material, but of course it could be of interest and value to those who are blind or who have visual impairities. However, just today I have learned that NASA has funding the ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/human-world/011576/astronomy-at-your-fingertips/ Earth passed the December solstice more than a week ago, but another milestone comes tomorrow (Jan. 2). It's not one you would normally notice, nor one that you would logically expect. As the Earth orbits the sun, its distance varies by up to 3 million miles. Tomorrow, earth is at ... http://blogs.earthsky.org/larrysessions/science/010172/you-can-measure-the-sun/