The Lensman's Children

PAY IT FORWARD We are coming up on the second anniversary of the death of my father-in-law, Anthony Sarcich (to cancer) and the third anniversary of the death of my father to a different debil...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/pay-it-forward-we-are-coming-up-on.html

GRAND Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of NGC 7424, a face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Grus (yes, Grus).

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/grand-todays-astronomy-picture-of-day.html

FLAMING STAR Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows AE Aurigae and its surrounding environs, the Flaming Star Nebula. AE Aurigae is energetic, and does a beautiful job of lighting up the s...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/flaming-star-todays-astronomy-picture.html

SLOGGING THROUGH Interesting article (with pictures) by Michael Yon on mud and the military .

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/slogging-through-interesting-article.html

THE PLAY'S THE THING Via Winchell Chung , thoughts on conflictless plots for stories .

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-plays-thing-via-winchell-chung.html

HERE COMES THE FLOOD What would Mars look like with water ? Puts me in mind of Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/here-comes-flood-what-would-mars-look.html

SKYGLOW In this edition of NASA's Image of the Day Gallery , the Earth at night. No wonder I can't see the Milky Way from my backyard any more!

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/skyglow-in-this-edition-of-nasas-image.html

NURSERY CRYMES In this edition of NASA's Image of the Day Gallery , the stellar nursery NGC 604.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/nursery-crymes-in-this-edition-of-nasas.html

BETRAYAL Lego has "sold out"? Wouldn't this be true years and years (over a decade) ago? Perhaps these themed sets have, instead, saved the company? After all, one can still buy plain bricks, c...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/blog-post_2601.html

MORNING DOG WALK > Night snow melting >  Blue skies (no pain), hawks >  Mid-winter, warm spell

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/blog-post_6.html

HOMESTEADING IN THE FANTASY UNIVERSE An excellent post by Saladin Ahmed about fantasy worlds published by NPR . Who is Saladin Ahmed you ask? I refer you to this post and to this post on th...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/homesteading-in-fantasy-universe.html

MINAS MORGUL Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a dark nebula in the constellation of Scorpius, NGC 6231, popularly known as The Dark Tower.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/minas-morgul-todays-astronomy-picture.html

HELENE Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of Helene, one of Saturn's smaller moons. Helene orbits at the leading gravitationally stable Lagrange point created by Saturn and another of Sat...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/helene-todays-astronomy-picture-of-day.html

TAKLIMAKAN DESERT NASA's Image of the Day Gallery serves up a view of the snow-covered Taklimakan Desert.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/taklimakan-desert-nasas-image-of-day.html

SUNRISE AND MOUNTAIN TOP Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is stuff my dreams are made of. Strange new worlds, stunning vistas! Sunrise on the central peak of Crater Tycho, our Moon. Tell m...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/sunrise-and-mountain-top-todays.html

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Attention on deck! The Commandant of the United States Marine Corps has issued a new version of the Professional Reading List . Lots of good stuff here, folks. Recomm...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/professional-development-attention-on.html

REFRACTIONS You think you have a telescope? Hah. You don't have a telescope. You don't even know what a telescope is! Now THIS, this is a telescope !

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/refractions-you-think-you-have.html

ORION BUILDING Another shot from NASA's Image of the Day Gallery . The Orion capsule, undergoing assembly.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/orion-building-another-shot-from-nasas.html

THE COMING OF THE SHADOW The Cassini orbiter is still (!) operating out in Saturn Space (and Beyond the Infinite), sending back spectacular images (and lots of other data) such as this . If you...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-coming-of-shadow-cassini-orbiter-is.html

BOOM GOES THE PLANET In another installment from NASA's Image of the Day Gallery , Tolbachik, an active volcano in Russia, is imaged by the Earth Observing-1 satellite.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/boom-goes-planet-in-another-installment.html

RING RING In this installment of NASA's Image of the Day Gallery , we see NGC 1097, focusing especially on its star-forming regions...and...not seen, but felt...its supermassive central black h...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/ring-ring-in-this-installment-of-nasas.html

ANOTHER WINTER CLUSTER Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is another great winter cluster pair, M35 and NGC 2158, both in the constellation of Gemini.

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/another-winter-cluster-todays-astronomy.html

WHAT MAD UNIVERSE Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is of "Einstein's Cross". A cross-like set of "clumps" set into a galaxy are not clumps within the galaxy at all, but the result of that ...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-mad-universe-todays-astronomy.html

2012: THE YEAR IN REVIEW Another trip around the Son on the Third Rock! How did 2012 go? I managed to read 446 short works last year (the exact number is always a slippery one as I manage ev...

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-year-in-review-another-trip-around.html

LAST ON THE MOON A blast from the past: the crew of Apollo 17 takes a little spin on the Moon .

http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/2013/01/last-on-moon-blast-from-past-crew-of.html