We had a 1.8—hold on, we’ve been upgraded—a 2.0 earthquake (!) early this afternoon. The epicenter was within a one mile radius of Matt’s parents’ house, though only their dogs could tell you what really happened.

So, native [...]]]> It has been an exciting day out here in Virginia—I’m sure our “earthquake” was all over national news.

We had a 1.8—hold on, we’ve been upgraded—a 2.0 earthquake (!) early this afternoon. The epicenter was within a one mile radius of Matt’s parents’ house, though only their dogs could tell you what really happened.

So, native Californians (I don’t count myself in this case, as I barely remember the Whittier quake), can you even feel a seismic event of this size? According to a few locals, the answer is yes.

You might be thinking – what’s an Einstein ring? When two galaxies line up, the one in the front acts like a lens for the one in the back. From our perspective here on Earth, the light from the farther one is distorted and [...]]]> How exciting – scientists have discovered a double Einstein ring!!!

You might be thinking – what’s an Einstein ring? When two galaxies line up, the one in the front acts like a lens for the one in the back. From our perspective here on Earth, the light from the farther one is distorted and appears as a ring around the closer one.

As you can imagine, then, a double Einstein ring is when three galaxies line up. Two rings are created around the closest galaxy, one for each of the two behind it. As you can see in the picture above, there is a faint ring around a brighter ring around the near galaxy.

Rare, as the odds of this occurring are apparently about 1 in 10,000, and amazing! More information here or see the detailed original Hubble press release.

After [...]]]> While Allegra and Grandma Price were off to Chawton, Grandpa Price, Pop-Pop, Mom, Dad, and I braved the typical London fog and headed to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum. We headed to the London Bridge station and caught the overground train for a quick 7min ride to Greenwich.

After walking a bit (including some extra since we left the backside of the station), we found the site’s park and the hill on which the observatory sits. After a steep climb, we found ourselves staring through the thick fog at the world-famous red Time Ball, made all the more special after a couple of the readings from my last class, such as this book.

After copious exploration of the Flamsteed House’s Time Galleries, with its old clocks, new clocks, and everything in between, including Harrison’s first four maritime clocks, as well as astrolabes, telescopes, sundials, and sextants, we found ourselves standing on the Prime Meridian Line—Longitude 0°.


I’m in the West and Pop-Pop is in the East.

The Maritime Museum was also a blast. We saw more timepieces and astronomical equipment, as well as many models of historic British boats, old maps, a rocket boat and paddle boat engine, some politically-neutral items about the American Revolution, artifacts discovered during British explorations, items from Sir John Franklin’s disastrous Arctic expedition, and the Nelson Room, which contained the coat he was wearing when he was shot during the Battle of Trafalgar.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Mom, Dad, and Pop-pop headed off earlier to the underground Churchill War Museum, while Grandpa Price and I spent a long time in the two museums. Afterward, the two of us headed back to the hotel and to a pub for a couple of pints of delicious UK beer.

Coupled with reading about simultaneity and relativity in Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps in my History [...]]]> Matt again – So I caught this article a few weeks ago about the possibility that our dimension of time might collapse into a dimension of space. After thinking about it, I was disturbed. What does that even mean?

Coupled with reading about simultaneity and relativity in Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps in my History of Science class, I began to really wonder about multi-dimensional space and string theory.

After struggling for a few weeks, yesterday, while geeking out watching autonomous vehicles drive themselves around an old Air Force base in CA in DARPA’s Urban Challenge, I found a couple of sites that are starting to help me understand. I thought I would share them:

• String Ducky – hilariously educational!
• The Problem with Math – family fun!
• Imagining the Tenth Dimension – according to reviews, the book isn’t the most scientific, but this video is good

I found a couple of books I plan to read, but in general am starting to get a grasp for what this might actually mean. Of course, depending on the theory, there might be 10, 11, or even more dimensions. Since it’s all unprovable right now, here’s hoping it can be worked out one day. Otherwise, all these headaches were for nothing.