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Thread: The thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. (The Space thread)

  1. #701
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    Quote Originally Posted by sandydandy View Post
    As I grow older I find I love this stuff more and more. Science - astronomy and astrophysics. I wish I loved it when I was in high school.
    Starting with this topic late-ish in life is what got me to the job I am in now

  2. #702
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    Quote Originally Posted by sandydandy View Post
    As I grow older I find I love this stuff more and more. Science - astronomy and astrophysics. I wish I loved it when I was in high school.
    Stick to "popular science", it all gets very technical and mathematical if you actually study it.
    I dropped physics after 2 years at university to major in mathematics and computer science. But I was finding the physics hard and not that fun anymore. Did have friends who stuck with it, one is an astrophysicist who ended up head of physics at the university. For all that I still remember explaining to him why you dont see full moons during the day! He was like "i deal with global clusters of galaxies, not the moon"

  3. #703
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  4. #704
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rare White Ape View Post
    Starting with this topic late-ish in life is what got me to the job I am in now
    Cool what do you do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dicknose View Post
    Stick to "popular science", it all gets very technical and mathematical if you actually study it.
    I dropped physics after 2 years at university to major in mathematics and computer science. But I was finding the physics hard and not that fun anymore. Did have friends who stuck with it, one is an astrophysicist who ended up head of physics at the university. For all that I still remember explaining to him why you dont see full moons during the day! He was like "i deal with global clusters of galaxies, not the moon"
    Definitely agree about it getting technical. I’ve been watching a lot of Professor Dave Explains videos and other science videos on YouTube in the last couple of years that have really piqued my interest. These videos teach in a way that relates to the average layman. I’m far from an expert in anything, but can probably comfortably carry on a conversation about science with another layman. I guess that should be good enough.

  5. #705
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    Layman also means you can just do the stuff you like!
    And it is good that the more you know the more you appreciate how it all works. Some people marvel at the mystery, I find it more interesting by knowing more, it might take some mystery away but replaces it with a deeper appreciation of how amazing it is.

    Get some basics right - especially gravity - will get you a long way in understanding planets, moons, rockets!
    And then you get quirky stuff like - Jupiter doesn't orbit the Sun! To "orbit" is usually taken to mean that the smaller objects centre of its motion is inside the large object. The centre (barycentre) of the Jupiter and Sun pairing is outside the Sun. So they are better considered as a binary system! Except that there are other planets involved...

  6. #706
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    Quote Originally Posted by sandydandy View Post
    Cool what do you do?
    During my injury layup I took the opportunity to study a laboratory skills course and now I have a job working in a pathology lab for the Queensland Government at the Gold Coast University Hospital.

    I basically increased my hourly pay by 50% over my previous job and I get to play with blood every day, and I’ve learned a LOT about the very small slice of healthcare that we deal with in the larger hospital environment, all with a little effort and dedication.

    And it all started because I got extra curious about astronomy one day and bookmarked the fantastic Astronomy Picture of the Day website a decade ago.

  7. #707
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    And we had some exciting local news...
    Earlier this month there was a loud explosion and a streak across the sky. Originally thought to be a meteor, it was identified as a bit of SpaceX junk.
    Well a sheep farmer found some bits in one of his paddocks...
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-...cks-/101277542

    This is the next town to us. Do love the Aussie farmers.. Mick and Jock!

  8. #708
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    So we are approaching Artemis launch time!!!

    This is big, launch of a new rocket. So its not crewed (sorry mannequins) but its still a huge step in returning to space, well more than just low earth orbit!

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    Yeah I am pretty excited. Launch will be sometime after 8pm our time.

  10. #710
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    Yup! Got an alarm set (in case Im napping)

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