Here and Gone

CHRISTMAS VACATION: We've been away from the blog for about a week, caught up in Christmas-y doings.

On Christmas eve, we hosted 20 or so people at our place. We had lots of food and fun and watched the Seahawks (lose, on the last play, might I add).

But it's only a game and we had a great time with family and friends. And, unlike the game, the gingerbread didn't leave a bad taste in our mouths. ;)

ALL GONE: In many ways, 2016 has been a cruel year. The world has lost so many icons. It started back in January, with the passing of the magical, irreplaceable David Bowie. I don't think I'll ever get over that. Also gone this year, Prince, a musical phenom, the remarkable Leonard Cohen, and entertainer George Michael, a gifted and long-suffering soul with a philanthropic heart.

But it's not just musical maestros that have passed. Last week, we lost Pier Sellers, a space shuttle astronaut and climate scientist. Sellers was on "our" shuttle flight - STS-132. We got to see him hurtle space-ward, in a column of fire and smoke, from the NASA Causeway in Cape Canaveral in May of 2010.
       CREDIT: NASA

Sellers' death came just under a year after he shared he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I remember reading the announcement in a poignant editorial he penned for The New York Times. He wrote about how his prognosis added a sense of urgency to his work on climate change, and shared that he had decided he wanted to spend his remaining time with people he loved, and doing the work he was passionate about. 

When he was selected to the elite astronaut corps in 1996, Sellers was the project scientist for Terra, NASA's flagship Earth observing system, Terra. He took a part of Sir Isaac Newton's famous apple tree to space with him. 

All totaled, Sellers spent 35 days, 9 hours and 2 minutes in space. He also had the rare opportunity to be a spacewalker, amassing more than 41 hours on six extravehicular activities. 

On Christmas morning, Earth lost another pioneer. She wasn't a household name, but astronomer Vera Rubin's work led to the theory of dark matter. That's a pretty big deal. 

As a child in Washington D.C., Rubin was fascinated by the stars. Her father helped Vera build a telescope and encouraged her studies. In 1948, Rubin graduated as Vassar's only astronomy major. In subsequent years, Rubin pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. 

I love this Carnegie Institution 1965 photo of Rubin taken at the Lowell Observatory.

We've been reading some Rubin quotes over the past couple of days. Here is a favorite: 

"I live and work with three basic assumptions:
1) There is no problem in science that can be solved by a man that cannot be solved by a woman.
2) Worldwide, half of all brains are in women.
3) We all need permission to do science, but, for reasons that are deeply ingrained in history, this permission is more often given to men than to women."

Also, Rubin was a voice for scientific literacy at all levels. In a commencement address she once said. "We need senators who have studied physics and representatives who understand ecology." 

Amen to that, Vera!