Category: Science

Composer Vangelis to Release Album Inspired by ESA’s Rosetta Mission

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Best known for composing scores for films such as Blade Runner or Chariots of Fire, Vangelis will release on September 23rd 2016 an album inspired by and dedicated to ESA’s Rosetta Mission.

Vangelis_Album

What is the ESA and Rosetta Mission?

The ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosetta Mission was launched in 2004 with the mission to “to chase, go into orbit around, and land on a comet” (Source: sci.esa.int). After a 10-year-long mission, the Rosetta spacecraft landed on November 12th 2014 on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This September, the Rosetta spacecraft will complete its mission “in a controlled descent to the surface of its comet” (Source: sci.esa.int).

Why is this important?

Apart from the scietific significance of this mission, which you can read on ESA’s homepage, the collaboration between ESA and Vangelis is just an amazing piece of music.

As much as I love science fiction, there is nothing more exciting than science fact. Just watch any documentary about the creation of the universe and you’ll be in awe about the beauty (& terror) the universe has to offer. I’ll be honest, I’m just an artsy humanities student with the secret wish to have the brains to study astronomy or astrophysics.

So once in a while, I like to escape science fiction in order to admire science fact and what better way to do it than listening to an amazing ‘soundtrack’. If you’re like me and you’re mezmerized by Vangelis’ composition, you can listen to two more of his compostions on ESA’s Youtube channel.

Vangelis’ album titled ‘Rosetta’ can be purchased on amazon from September 23rd onwards. 

Vangelis’ official web site: http://elsew.com/data/latest.htm
Vangelis’ official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VangelisOfficial
Pre-order at the Decca online store: https://store.udiscovermusic.com/artist.html?a=vangelis

#DistractinglySexy Shows Women In STEM in Their Natural Habitats

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Sometimes, I read awful things online that make me angry. Often (though not as often as I would like), I later get to see awesome reactions from people who disagree with the original awful statement.

IDon'tWantToLiveOnThisPlanetAnymore

One of the best things is seeing an overwhelming awesome response before I even see the awful thing. The awful thing becomes only a blip on the radar compared to all of the awesome. Last week, this is exactly what happened.

The hashtag #DistractinglySexy started trending on Twitter, and I thought it was so cool to see all of these women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields share photos of themselves at their jobs. It wasn’t until later that I found out why.

Last week, Nobel laureate Tim Hunt shared what he considered the “trouble with girls” at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul. “Three things happen when they are in the lab,” he said, “you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them, they cry.” He advocates for gender-separated laboratories.

As a rebuttal, #DistractinglySexy was born.

I’d like to share some of my favorites. Behold the awesome!

Some scientists are also blogging about #DistractinglySexy. Check what Anne Hilborn, Elizabeth Tasker, and Bouncing Bertie (who is, admittedly, a dog, but one who shares living quarters with a female human scientist) have to say.