Public Posts

Margaret D. Foster, seen in her lab. The original caption by the National Photo Company is "Miss Margaret D. Foster, Uncle Sam's only woman chemist, Oct. 4/19" - that's possibly a bit misleading, though she definitely was the first female chemist in the United States Geological Survey team.

Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American writer, poet, singer, and civil rights activist.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Comet Lemmon has been putting on a show for cameras around the globe. Passing nearest to Earth in late October, the photogenic comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) sprouted two long and picturesque tails: a blue ion tail and a white dust tail. The ion tail is pushed away from the coma by the ever-present but ever-changing solar wind, at one point extending over 20 times the diameter of the full Moon -- as captured in this long-duration exposure. The shorter and wider dust tail is pushed away from the coma and shines by reflecting sunlight. The featured picture, captured two weeks ago, framed the comet behind Lomnický Peak of the High Tatra Mountains, home to the Slovakian Lomnický Stit Observatory. Comet Lemmon is now fading as it heads away from planet Earth. The huge shedding snowball will round the Sun later this week.

Photo by Robert Barsa

Photo art “Miracles of nature” based on a yellow ginkgo leaf and intentional camera movement.

Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Did you hear the one about

Saratoga Passage - Camano Island

Bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma), Red Sea, Egypt.

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) - Born Thomas Pain; was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain.

Quote Source: ― Thomas Paine, A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North America