Boom De Ya-Da, Boom De Ya-Da

So I've written the top of this post about five different times, and I really don't know what to put. I really want to be all thoughtful and introspective, but really theres only one way to describe my first week at Daily Planet ....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! ehehehehehhehee.

Just to get it out of the way. 

<----- Here is me being a huge fanboy ubernerd. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

It's been so amazing seeing everyone of my classmates' work over the last week. People are hitting the front page, getting on the air, and making it on TV. 

Speaking of TV. I was on TV! (12:40) One of the other interns (Natalie Clark) and I were supposed to be shoe models for a story about how walking in high-heels puts less stress on your knees than running shoes (weird eh?) when the camera man snapped wide and... there we were!

What's even more fun than being on TV is that some of my WORK got on TV. My job is to, every morning, come up with a long list of stories for the Planet Now section of the show. My boss, one of the show producers, then shortlists it. We take it to the story pitch meeting, where the show producer cuts it down to what will be on the show that day. 

My boss and I then cut video, write scripts, make phone calls to researchers etc, and put together the Planet Now and Weird Planet sections of the show. In only one week I've had the chance to write five stories. Two of which went through unedited. Yes!

I'm very excited to head into next week. I'm supposed to go on a film shoot Friday, I have a meeting with the Executive Producer, and hopefully I'll learn a ton more about making science fun!

I look forward to hearing everyone else's stories, and I hope they're having as much of a blast as I am!

This year's solstice - The longest day of the year

I'm not crazy. I swear. I'm also not making some point about the meaning of existence. Actually, it's all really quite simple.

We hear about the winter solstice being the shortest day of the year, and we take it to mean we have less sunlight hours today than any other day of the year. The tilt of Earth's rotation around it's axis causes the northern hemisphere to be tipped away from the Sun. So rather than rising high in the sky, it skips along the horizon. This means less daylight hours today than yesterday.

Today, however, December 21st, 2009, is longer than yesterday. In fact, this year's winter solstice has more daylight than any other winter solstice in history.

The simple reason is: the Earth's spin is slowing down.

Tidal friction is one of the leading causes.

The moon's gravity pulls not only the oceans towards it, causing tides, but it actually stretches the Earth.

These distortions cause friction which saps energy from the Earth. When the Moon was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, the day was about six hours long! And this isn't just sunshine day, this is six hours for a full day/night cycle.

It's not a speedy decrease, though. We've picked up only about two milliseconds in the last 190 years. Right now we get about nine hours of sunlight at the winter solstice in mid-latitudes. Next year, it will be a tiny little bit more.

So, if you are one of those who want to find meaning in everything... take solace in the fact that even on the darkest day of the year, it will only get brighter.

*images courtesy of Museum Victoria, and the Department of Physics at the University of Oregon*

Digging up the Dino Guy

While I'm definitely an avid fan of science and all the spectacularness it brings, I'm also pretty keen on education. Especially, that's right, science education. 

When I got the opportunity to make a radio documentary, I wanted to do something science-y. I also wanted to shirk the negativity thats extremely common in the media, and create something happy. 

Poking around on the internets for armchair scientists, I came across the Open Dinosaur Project. And lo-and-behold there is an interview with one of the project's volunteers, a London man named Bruce Woollatt. 

The Open Dino project is all about crowd sourcing dinosaur bone measurements, to give keeners without PhD's the chance to help advance the science. Above been a huge dino-fan, Bruce makes dinosaur models. Many of these have worked their way into the London Children's Museum.

Bruce also teaches art classes for kids at the Library, and I was delighted when he invited me into his home to see his latest creation, a 1/10 scale Tyrannosaurus Rex. You can follow along with Bruce's work here. 

But as for MY work, I got a good insight into probably one of the best ways to develop the wonder that's so important in children. Thanks Bruce, and keep up the good work.