Science and the Oscars

As some of you know, and others don't, the Academy Awards have a special place in my life. Not only does it remind me of the many hours I spent working at a Blockbuster Video. Yes, there used to be actual brick and mortar stores that rented videos to customers. They even had VHS...these are tapes. I was there for the transition to DVDs. Anyways...I digress.

The Oscars serve as a yearly reminder to me that I'm able to walk, because of God. In God's infinite wisdom, science was created, and all of the tools at the doctors' disposal were used to repair my back. So, I'm going to give you a few of the reasons that I love science, and The Martian.

I love that we live in the time of the large hadron collider. If you don't know what it is, Google: large hadron collider. This amazing machine is a 27km tunnel composed of superconducting magnets that allows scientists to measure and observe the smallest particles that humans have seen. Essentially, they're looking for what could resemble the big bang, and what the, for lack of a better word, Force is. "The Force is what binds the galaxy together." - Ben Kenobi

A little over 2 weeks ago scientists observed the effects of 2 black holes colliding in space over 1 billion light years away from Earth. What the scientists observed confirmed another piece of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, that gravity acts more like waves than was previously thought. Stephen Hawking has said that this provides us with a new way of looking at the universe. Maybe this will provide us with the information we need to embark upon light travel, and visit other planets or galaxies...see Interstellar.

The last line of The Martian is: "At some point, everything's gonna go south on you... everything's going to go south and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home." Science allows us to solve problems. Keep solving problems. Don't get distracted.

God has set all of this in motion. I'm curious to see where it leads. We have immense knowledge at our disposal to provide water to the thirsty, explore the expansive universe, shelter the refugee, heal the sick, and restore the hurting. Science is a tool at our disposal, and we should continue to be mystified by how much we don't know.

Here's the first 'full-view' photo of Earth from space. Ponder that for a moment.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/photography/photos/milestones-space-photography/earth-full-view/

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue...

For those of you who don’t truly know me (if there are any readers who fit that description), I absolutely adore holidays of any kind.  If I can celebrate it, I’m in.  I like special occasions, large or small, acknowledged by others or not, half birthdays included.  I will admit that Leslie Knope, with her color coded binders, gifts for every day of the year and seemingly unending time to devote to these celebrations, definitely has me beat in the celebrating things category.  However, not many people do.

      So, this week has been book-ended by two celebratory events; Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day.  Ironically, these are two “special” occasions that many people either choose to ignore or choose to loudly and actively criticize.  To each their own and all of that.  I will not claim that these two days of the year, like all days of the year, do not have their faults.  Super Bowl Sunday especially has dark secrets that need to be brought to mainstream consciousness and addressed. 

      That being said, we did have a Super Bowl party, but our only Valentine plans involve going to see what will, of course, be an instant classic and Oscar contender, Zoolander 2. 

      My point in this particular rambling is not to say that we should make a huge production of everything or that we should engage in stress related to decorations, gifts or planned celebrations.  My point is that we have so many things in life and in our neighborhood, town, country and global community that are stressful, so many days that don’t go the way we want, so many tough situations/sicknesses/losses/fights to overcome, so many tragedies.  As far as I’m concerned, we don’t take enough time to celebrate.  Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, any and every day is given to us as an opportunity to be thankful, to look back over the experiences we’ve had and to mark that time. 

      I would be remiss if I didn't at least acknowledge that today is Ash Wednesday.  This is another day in which we mark time.  I understand and appreciate how important it is to be aware of days that aren't necessarily celebrations, but are observances.  Ash Wednesday reminds us that from dust we come and to dust we will return.  Ash Wednesday, though, also reminds us that we are participating in a season where we are lucky to know that Sunday is coming.  Easter Sunday, with all of it's wonder, joy and love is coming...

      Back to my not-so-serious rambling of the day...Valentine’s Day is one of those celebrations where people have the misguided notion that if they aren’t in a romantic relationship, then they can’t celebrate.  Not true!  I couldn’t and wouldn’t argue that candy and greeting card companies are benefiting from this holiday, but that doesn’t have to take away from what this day can be.  It can truly be an opportunity to celebrate love; love that could be romantic or friendship based or familial or agape or any other relationship you can claim.  It can be a chance to celebrate love that has been, that will be or that could be, not just that currently is.  So, celebrate!  After all, it is Valentine’s Day Eve-Eve-Eve-Eve!