science - Mark Marchand blog

Cover of the new book on Albert Einstein's life: "Einstein - The Man And HIs Mind."

Book Review: A photographic tour of one of the world’s greatest minds

Post published:March 3, 2023

By Mark Marchand If you stare long enough into his eyes in the many photographs of the man, you might begin to see faint images of atoms splitting … light waves being bent by the sun’s gravity … equations rolling by … a man descending in an elevator … or even musical notes dancing across a staff. This man is Albert Einstein, who peers at us from a new collection of photographs taken over a lifetime during which his “thought experiments” and other work shook the foundations of physics and…

Melting in the waters around Antarctica

Climate change in social media: One man’s pursuit of truth

Post published:July 3, 2021

Each crisis of our 21st century world gives birth to new “warriors” who use truth and science to help us safely navigate calamities. Our ongoing pandemic is a prime example. Out of the chaos of a muddled anti-science leadership effort in 2020 emerged dedicated scientists, researchers, and companies who swiftly developed vaccines that are saving millions of lives and slowing COVID-19’s spread. And of course, there are our doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who fought valiantly against the rising tide of infections. Where would we be without them? As the pandemic…

Photo: Courtesy of NASA

A Book Review: “The New Climate War”

Post published:February 25, 2021

There is a new type of warrior emerging in the ongoing tussle between the evidence-based science of climate change and the diversionary tactics of fossil-fuel companies and political supporters. This rare but growing cohort in the winnable battle against climate change denial are scientists who can effectively communicate about complex science. They’re also willing to engage in pitched social media, news media, and other battles against the trolls, bots, and uber-conservative news outlets who are telling us to move along … nothing to see here. Photo: Courtesy of NASA One of the…

The 50th anniversary of landing on the Moon – A personal reflection

Post published:July 22, 2019

It’s been a half century since we landed on the Moon. It was an important moment in my life and, I suspect, for millions of others. I have spent years studying the nine-year NASA program, leading up to the Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969. During that time, I have read hundreds of historical records, books, and other accounts of this amazing achievement for humankind, attempting to find some sort of personal meaning. I wrote about it in this Op Ed published last weekend in the Times-Union daily newspaper in Albany,…

‘I’m being followed by a Moon shadow…’

Post published:August 25, 2017

(Headline: Lyric from "Moon Shadow," written and sung by Cat Stevens, 1971) It's Aug. 21, 2017, and much of the Western Hemisphere is glued to TVs, the sky, and computer screens. Let's meet our players for the afternoon's drama. First there's the sun, the fiery provider of heat and light to our precious planet. Our own personal star is hurtling through the cosmos at a relative speed of about 45,000 miles per hour. The second participant is our faithful satellite, the moon. At a distance of about 240,000 miles from its mother…