Here’s a link to the first photos from my mission to the sun, written about here.
Photo Memory of the Week
Cloud of the Week
Ladies and gentlemen, meet this week and last week's cloud(s). I stumbled across it while walking to a clematis-site sighting from the previous day. By the time I got somewhere without any intervening tree branches, the cloud and the colours had moved on. Forget carpe diem: this is more like arripe occasionem.
Place: Calgary
Posted: 2026 Oct 09/18Read my posts about clouds: here and here
Read knowledgeable stuff about clouds: here
As I grow older, my emphasis seems to be shifting from “What do I know?” to “What difference does it make?” This applies particularly to religion; I have a friend who insists that Jesus is God, or God is Jesus, and I ask, “What difference does it make?” If it doesn’t affect his relationship with the cashier at the grocery store, it’s meaningless. I ask the same question of the NASA solar mission (even though I admit to being fascinated by such things as the sun getting hotter as you move away from it) but I wonder what difference that knowledge will make to us humans on this earth. Will it change the way I live? Will it change the way I interact with you, say, or with my grandson? I’m not saying that NASA shouldn’t have done it, but I’d like them to spell out how this new (and unspecified) knowledge that they expect to gather might make a difference.
Jim T
Jim T – I don’t know whether NASA could put forward a compelling case for this mission. I think in general it’s hard to argue for basic research on practical grounds – at least, on specific and practical grounds. My impression is that they often don’t know what will come of a line of enquiry, but they’re pretty sure that something will.