Coulda

Woulda

Shoulda

I talked to Carl Sagan on the phone a few years before he died. One of the best 10 minutes of my life.

Since Hulu is a load of crap if you're outside of Amerricuh, here's that episode on YouTube. Link (new window)

/proxies are not for the lazy

billlllions and billllllions

The woman introducing the show seems to have missed that the cold war did advance science, just not the "happy science" that she seems to approve of.

Pale blue dot? I say this here is a marble!

Tr0mBoNe: Since Hulu is a load of crap if you're outside of Amerricuh, here's that episode on YouTube. Link (new window)

/proxies are not for the lazy

This.

And, here's the redneck version (new window).

Subby probably houlda double checked his typing.

houlda been a contenda

shenanigans.

carl's birthday is on monday. MONDAY!

Hey guys....

can we not say how old dead people would be on their birthday

they are dead

you stop aging when your dead

That's "Birthday", with a "B"

RickyBRicky: The woman introducing the show seems to have missed that the cold war did advance science, just not the "happy science" that she seems to approve of.

Orly? Does ARPAnet ring a bell?

Tr0mBoNe: Since Hulu is a load of crap if you're outside of Amerricuh, here's that episode on YouTube. Link (new window)

/proxies are not for the lazy

Cheers.

Also, Hulu, fark you.

karasoth: Hey guys....

can we not say how old dead people would be on their birthday

they are dead

you stop aging when your dead

Well, you certainly don't get any younger. Inanimate objects can be referred to by an age, why can't corpses?

"Thus would he sing and to thee, thou child with the eyes of passion
Watching his face in the dark, in the silent light of the stars, while he in his godlike fashion
Maketh his mock at the fears of men, nor spareth to lay the lash on. "

- 'The Wisdom of Merlin' by Wilfred Scawen Blunt (1914)

karasoth: you stop aging when your dead

Um, I would argue that, without the biological processes staving off decay, the ravages of aging are much more pronounced on a corpse than a living body. You age faster after you die, or at least, more dramatically.

holy crap, i just googled him the other night to see what he died of.. wweeeiiiirrrrdddddddd. i think the aliens are definitely behind this coincidence!

karasoth: you stop aging when your dead

You stop celebrating birthdays...but not aging.

You know, I loved Cosmos and Sagan back in the day. Read all his books. Cried (real man) tears when he died. Still miss what he was and represented; no one has filled his shoes.

But Cosmos the TV show hasn't aged well. It's plodding, he tends to drone, there is empty rhetoric. Still good, but the flaws nag at me. Compare it with Connections by James Burke, produced around the same time with lower production values. You need to smoke crack just to keep up with that guy. I'm not even into history, but I watch that show I'm pumped.

I remember watching Cosmos with my dad when I was a kid. Good stuff.

"We are made of star stuff."


/Thanks Carl

feanturi: Well, you certainly don't get any younger. Inanimate objects can be referred to by an age, why can't corpses?

I think you take the age from the time the inanimate object obtained its current form. You don't date a coffee table by the tree THAT DIED to give you its wood.

I think the correct thing to say would be, "Carl Sagan's corpse is X years old today" -- taking X from the date he died.

Obviously, the rules change for Zombie Feynman.

Only legitimate use of the autotuner I've seen (new window)

92% of the universe is female.

/look at the night sky, where does it end?

enry: Only legitimate use of the autotuner I've seen (new window)

Yes, this is an awesome piece of work.

My only college regret is that I chose to go to class instead of going to hear him speak when I had the opportunity.

This just in. Death has a 100% mortality rate.

Story at 11.

greenapple2step: Death has a 100% mortality rate.

You cannot kill that which does not live.

Bacontastesgood: But Cosmos the TV show hasn't aged well. It's plodding, he tends to drone, there is empty rhetoric. Still good, but the flaws nag at me.

I'm watching it on Netflix these past couple months, and I have to say- I strongly disagree. Although it's dated in terms of appearance and it's a bit slow in places, I find it to still be a fascinating and easily accessible series.

Cosmos was a great series.

/Turtlenecks and tweed jackets FTW

I've been making my way through the series the last few weeks for the first time. It's awesome. It's particularly exciting to watch his excitement at upcoming research and future advances and realize that what seemed so difficult a few decades ago we now take for granted. We're actually on the verge of discovering Earth-sized extrasolar planets and I really wish he could be here to see it. At the time Cosmos was made we had yet to find our first hot Jupiter.

As a kid I read the book Cosmos and it definitely helped make me who I am today. Carl was a genius not just of science but also as a teacher, and he had the ability to inspire awe and wonder.

We already had a happy birthday Carl thread a few days ago. Why does this attention whore need dozens and dozens of them?

I just watched Contact last night. An excellent movie and an even better book.

RickyBRicky: The woman introducing the show seems to have missed that the cold war did advance science, just not the "happy science" that she seems to approve of.

That is Ann Druyan, his wife.

According to Wiki, Sagan should have turned 75 in two days, or maybe I'm crazy.

I don't know why everyone promotes Hulu in conjunction with Cosmos; you can also stream it on Netflix.

/yes one is free but it's owned by schmucks who are going to start charging for it soon anyway

Billions and billions of birthday wishes.

RickyBRicky: The woman introducing the show seems to have missed that the cold war did advance science, just not the "happy science" that she seems to approve of.

Sagan's wife, though I'm sure she's a nice lady and all, has always come off as a hippy-dippy doof. That doesn't detract from the awesomeness all that Sagan was though.

Cosmos needs to be updated to 21st century science. We've come leaps and bounds since it was first aired. Back then there was no Hubble and Voyager had only been launched 3 years prior. Perspective on the place of humanity in the cosmos is desperately needed. There's soooooo much more to cover!

Many, many good childhood memories.

Sagan is the man most responsible for my scientific bent and my interest in astronomy and cosmology.

As a kid, he did something that few teachers could do, he caused a great deal of awe and inspiration. I wanted to learn more about the universe around me. I had one of the first major epiphanies in my life because of him, and also had the realisation of just how small and insignificant we all are because of his teachings, which lead to a value of life. I also became something of an existentialist as a result of my studies.

The universe is a hostile force which will probably destroy us, life, both the lives we live and life as a whole is to short to waste time fretting about useless things. Seize the day and all that stuff.

Contact, the movie, is my favorite movie. I finally got around to reading the book, and it is so much better than the movie. The way he worked Pi into it is amazing!

CPT Ethanolic: I talked to Carl Sagan on the phone a few years before he died. One of the best 10 minutes of my life.

Wow, you'd think Sagan could have managed to keep your interest more than 10% of the time...

enry: Only legitimate use of the autotuner I've seen (new window)

Thanks for sharing that was beyond cool....

I used to have a lot of respect for Carl Sagan. But he basically whored-out his principles and betrayed his god Science when he did that that chop-job on Immanuel Velikovsky.

Many of Velikovsky's ideas are arguably incorrect, but Sagan's attack-dog performance didn't counter those ideas so much as consist of one long ad hominem attack against Velikovsky. A sorry, sad legacy for what was one of the great popularizers of science.

For info on this, see: http://www.amazon.com/Sagan-Immanuel-Velikovsky-Charles-Ginenthal/dp/1561840750/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257608506&sr=8-1

Too many of my heroes are dead. *raises a glass to Carl Sagan*

Wonko Fortytwo: "We are made of star stuff."


/Thanks Carl

Link
/Link

Why all the Hulu hate? It's an awesome site. As far as them charging? So what? They haven't said how much they will charge. I don't think charging $5 or so a month is asking too much you cheap bastards.

Especially if the get more programing.

enry: Only legitimate use of the autotuner I've seen (new window)

That was actually quite beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

/right click
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