Ancient Mars

The evidence just keeps rolling in that Mars once had water. It might still have some, actually, and that's why the Curiosity rover is there now, exploring the Red Planet. Here's my favorite photo of the week, from Mars Express, showing possible evidence of an ancient river or area of flowing water. Pretty exciting, isn't it?

Snowy Night

Tonight is the perfect night for good books and a Bell's Midwest Pale Ale. Since it's dark and snowy, I thought I would get out my Library of America collection of American Fantastic Tales. Great horror stories in there. And dinner is just about ready.

Photographing Iowa

One of my favorite websites is Flickr. The photography on that site is incredible and it is the largest repository of photos on the entire web. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to meet other photographers in and around where you live.

Since I moved to Iowa back in the fall of 2005, I have been trying to become a better photographer and capture some of Iowa's great beauty. My camera is just a little point-and-shoot, but I've caught some fun shots along the way. The folks who post three of my favorite Iowa photo groups, though, are real pros.

If you want to see more of Iowa's beauty and see the stories of everyday Iowans, check out these three Flickr pools. They are so much fun to subscribe to or browse through.

Iowa - Land Between Two Rivers

After the Storm

Iowa

Iowa Senate Chamber

Des Moines Iowa

I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down

Paper Towns

Reading John Green's Paper Towns brought me back to high school era thinking, but not in a nostalgic way. The novel is set in Orlando, Florida and the main characters are high school seniors, trying to navigate their way through the labyrinth that is adolescence. In the past I have found that I don't care too much for books like this, mainly because I find them to be trite, sappy, weird, or the author is just trying too darn hard to recreate their own past.

This book is different, though. Green does a great job of showing you glimpses of high school students as they are perceived to be (party-obsessed, goofing off) but also their inner spirits, the ones you don't see often enough in literature or films. Green has the ability to capture the feelings and difficulties that some students go through: their inability to fit in, their strong desire to leave where they were raised, their furious pursuit of being left alone by their parents. But when Green writes it, it doesn't seem cliche. When he writes it, it seems truly realistic, as if you are, at times, watching a documentary.

Of course there are scenes that just flat-out make you laugh, but you really smile when he focuses on the discovery of new writings, of new music, of exploring a world outside Orlando that seems more vast than it could ever be. These characters remind you that even though we are constantly bombarded by the different high school archetypes (nerd, jock, goth, introvert), often times there are many students who transcend those boundaries, and the results are refreshing. So if you're looking for a fun read, give it a shot.

Knowing Our Sun

Do you know about the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)? It is one of NASA's greatest achievements because it has allowed us to learn all about our sun. The probe has been up there for about three years now and has been consistently beaming back the most amazing images and video of the sun we have ever seen.

It is scientific instruments like the SDO that allow us to know more about our world. We can gain confidence about future events and be able to explain things to a young child that asks us what that bright thing in the sky is. Put simply, science allows us to satiate our curiosity while at the same time increasing our demand for new knowledge. The SDO gives us a chance to ask better, stronger questions about our world.

Now, enjoy this incredible video put together by NASA. You will be floored by the imagery of our sun.