The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

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astronomy

Up to 60% of the objects nearest Earth could be “dark comets.”

12 July 2024 grant 0

PhysOrg reports on mysterious chunks of hard-to-see space rock all around us, even now. They contained – and might still contain – ice, which University of Michigan astronomers… Read the rest “Up to 60% of the objects nearest Earth could be “dark comets.””

Scientific illustration of Saturn eclipsing the sun, a dramatic image of the ringed planet backlit in space.

Science Art: Saturn Eclipse, Cassini Orbiter, 2006.

1 July 2024 grant 0

This is Saturn, as photographed (yes, it’s a composite photo, not a drawing) by Cassini as it passed in front of the Sun. Our Earth is visible, barely, if you zoom in and look “above… Read the rest “Science Art: Saturn Eclipse, Cassini Orbiter, 2006.”

A planet that is constantly exploding.

15 June 2024 grant 0

This discovery reminds me of some people I know. Mashable reports on the discovery 66 light years away of solar system “HD 104067,” with a planet so roiled by the graivty of its… Read the rest “A planet that is constantly exploding.”

Scientific illustrations of a demonstration of how the sun and moon's orbital planes have to line up in order for an eclipse to happen. A dapper young 19th-century fella in a suit is holding something like a saucer at arm's length, eyeballing it. The saucer is labeled with a "new moon" on one side and "full moon" on the other. Only when the disc is flat - that is, parallel to the fella's line of sight - is an eclipse possible. Otherwise, his sun-like eye will never be blocked from seeing both sides of the rim.

Science Art: Sun not in Plane of Moon’s Orbit – Eclipses Impossible, etc., 1898

12 May 2024 grant 0

This is an illustration — two illustrations, actually — from A New Astronomy for Beginners by David P. Todd. It’s actually an illustration of a demonstration, with … Read the rest “Science Art: Sun not in Plane of Moon’s Orbit – Eclipses Impossible, etc., 1898”

Scientific illustrations of rows of radio telescopes

Science Art: MeerKAT telescopes, 2018

29 April 2024 grant 0

They do look a little like meerkats, these big African satellite dishes. This is a photo from the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) / South African Radio Astronomy Observatory… Read the rest “Science Art: MeerKAT telescopes, 2018”

Scientific illustration of the planet Earth as seen from space, possibly the first such image ever created, at least in the modern era.

Science Art: Earth by Henry De la Beche, from Researches in Theoretical Geology, 1834.

3 March 2024 grant 0

This depiction of Earth might be the first such image of our planet as seen from space. No human (as far as we know) had ever been to space at the time Henry De la Beche drew this. He’d started… Read the rest “Science Art: Earth by Henry De la Beche, from Researches in Theoretical Geology, 1834.”

Building a telescope on the Moon.

16 February 2024 grant 0

BBC Sky at Night Magazine reports on NASA’s plan to look deeper into space than ever before by setting up a 9-lb (4-kg) radio telescope farther away than ever before – on the south… Read the rest “Building a telescope on the Moon.”

Scientific illustration of the Southern Crab Nebula, or the nebula inside the nebula.

Science Art: He2-104: The Southern Crab Nebula, 1999.

21 January 2024 grant 0

This is a nebula inside a nebula, caused by two stars pulling each other apart, as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

From the description at the NSSDCA Photo Gallery:

Images taken

… Read the rest “Science Art: He2-104: The Southern Crab Nebula, 1999.”

A magnetic galactic map in three dimensions.

17 January 2024 grant 0

The University of Tokyo might have solved some riddles about the formation of stars by creating the world’s first 3D map of the galaxy’s own magnetic field:

“Until now, all

… Read the rest “A magnetic galactic map in three dimensions.”

That planet is too big.

5 December 2023 grant 0

Ars Technica reports on a bafflingly huge exoplanet spotted by the Webb Space Telescope. It’s the size of Neptune, but closely orbiting a star much smaller than ours – a red … Read the rest “That planet is too big.”

Scientific illustration as an infographic depicting three basic types of planets discovered orbiting stars elsewhere in the galaxy.

Science Art: Exoplanets Poster, Institute of Physics, 2023

3 December 2023 grant 0

This is a… well, it’s pretty self-explanatory, really. Unlike most of the images collected here, it’s got its own description printed right on it. These are alien planets,… Read the rest “Science Art: Exoplanets Poster, Institute of Physics, 2023”

Scientific illustration of the solar system, as a map of the night sky, from the 1800s. It's like a Victorian planetarium.

Science Art: Planetary Systems, with Five Opening Flaps, from Geographical Studies by Levi Walter Yaggy, 1887.

1 October 2023 grant 0

I found this fascinating artifact in a wonderful article in Public Domain Review about Yaggy’s maps, pop-ups, and 3D diagrams of the Earth’s surface, habitats, and other … Read the rest “Science Art: Planetary Systems, with Five Opening Flaps, from Geographical Studies by Levi Walter Yaggy, 1887.”

SONG: Clockwork of the Sky

24 September 2023 grant 0

SONG: “Clockwork of the Sky”. (available as .wav here)

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: Based on BBC, 8 Sep 2023, “Asteroid behaving unexpectedly after Nasa’s deliberate… Read the rest “SONG: Clockwork of the Sky”

There’s a watery planet way out yonder.

14 September 2023 grant 0

Science Daily shares the latest James Webb Space Telescope discovery, of a large planet around a distant star whose chemical traces show a high likelihood that there’s enough water… Read the rest “There’s a watery planet way out yonder.”

Space mission seems to have changed asteroid’s orbit.

11 September 2023 grant 0

BBC is reporting on the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which touched down on the asteroid Dimorphos (which orbits larger asteroid Didymos) earlier this year. The test… Read the rest “Space mission seems to have changed asteroid’s orbit.”

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GRANT: something to believe in

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Tags

acoustics aeronautics agronomy anatomy anthropology archaeology astronomy biochemistry biology botany chemistry climatology computer science ecology economics electrical engineering electronics engineering entomology epidemiology evolution genetics geology linguistics marine biology mathematics medicine meteorology microbiology microscopy nanotechnology neurology oceanography optics paleontology pharmacology physics psychology quantum physics research robotics sociology space exploration theremin zoology
RSS Help Wanted: ScienceCareers
  • University of Illinois Chicago - College of Applied Health Sciences : Clinical Assistant Professor
  • The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids): SCIENTIST – Developmental, Stem Cell & Cancer Biology Program
  • University of Detroit Mercy: Tenure Track Faculty Biology
  • University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia: Assistant Professor
  • Mohammed VI Polytechnic University: SUSMAT-RC - Postdoctoral in Computer-Aided Design and Descovery of Sustainable Polymer Materials
  • Iowa State University: Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Computer Science
Honorary Troubadours
  • Jonathan Coulton, Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science.
  • Laura Veirs, who knows her way around a polysyllable.
  • Thomas Dolby, godfather of scientific pop.
  • Squeaky, fact-based rock about fusion containment & rocket science.
  • Cosmos II, a.k.a. Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher.
  • Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, astrophysicist who makes music from cosmic radio sources.
  • Dr. Jim Webb, astronomy professor and acoustic guitarist.
  • Artichoke, the band behind 26 Scientists, Vols. I and II.
  • They Might Be Giants, unrelenting proponents of scientific popular song.
  • Symphonies of Science, the people who make Carl Sagan and others sing.
  • Giant Squid, doom metal about the sublime horrors of marine biology.
  • Gethan Dick,6 scientists, 6 musicians, 1 great album
Related Projects
  • Squid Pro Crow
  • Grant Bandcamp
  • Grant Soundcloud
  • Penitential Originals Playlist
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"Is it a fact—or have I dreamt it—that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?"
— Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, 1851

grant balfour made this website.

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