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Someone to watch over me
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The observer effect may be defined as the disturbance of a system by the act of its observation. This means that measuring in itself alters the value measured, such that the status of the system being assessed is reported falsely. Dipping one’s toe to test the water temperature changes the temperature of the water…
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Scraping the barrel
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Creativity is shaped by inspiration in response to conscious or subconscious prompt: simple patience, chance encounter or studied observation is rewarded with lightbulb moments, one notion prompting another, making new connections (especially while asleep), shaping and reshaping, gathering pace and focus like a determined toddler, until we have a lamp to illuminate our way.…
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Just add water
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One way to make something beautiful is simply to add water. Witness Bob Ross (The Joy of Painting) – Saint Bob, as he’s known in our house, not just for his built-in halo, but for his kindness and capacity to gently empower would-be artists of all ages and abilities. A snowy mountain scene beautified…
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I’ll name that tune in one
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As David Bowie and Bing Crosby shared Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy on the 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas Special, it was truly a meeting of titans past and future: mahogany Bing in his reassuring cardigan, the odd Werther’s Original no doubt secreted about his person, aside the unsettling, luminescent Thin White Duke. It is…
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All that we leave behind
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Antoine Lavoisier’s law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. Other than the odd satellite, outbound/returning spaceship (aliens are presumed to take themselves and their litter home) or meteor, the earth is a closed system for matter. We’re stuck with the building materials that we have. Round…