Xcentric Diffractions

Xcentric Diffractions

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Ahead of Schedule

Ahead of Schedule

Have you ever tricked yourself into thinking you were ahead of schedule? I sure have. And I seem to be pretty good at it, too. Like right now, for example. It all started with the lettuce. The "Salad Bowl" and "Outredious" lettuce heads had been heroic

Image of two machinist's calipers. The calipers are bright metal, slightly rusted, and appear against a black background.

The Measure of Mayhem

All of Ours

Hundreds of thousands of stars are crammed together in that one spot, each seemingly fighting for elbow room among its brethren. At the center of the clot, the stars are packed so closely together that you can't find any black sky between them. It's like an

Dunebunker Gives Trump Her Soapbox Derby Trophy

Dunebunker Gives Trump Her Soapbox Derby Trophy

Look Long, Look Deep

Look Long, Look Deep

hidden adjective 1 : being out of sight or not readily apparent: CONCEALED 2 : OBSCURE, UNEXPLAINED, UNDISCLOSED | hidden motives It was out there somewhere. IC 342: the "Hidden Galaxy." On my home turf I spend a lot of time at the edge of a field observing a small bit

Happy New Year, Spinach!

Happy New Year, Spinach!

Ten days on from the Winter solstice and I imagine the days are staying lighter just a shade longer. If they aren't, they should be. The truth is today, the first day of 2026, will have 36 seconds more daylight than the last day of 2025. I guess

Stealing the Common From the Goose

Stealing the Common From the Goose

The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose. – Anonymous, "The Goose and the Common" I started writing about Reflect Orbital as a mental health distraction from the

A graph of solar panel energy output versus hours of the day on Nov 5-6, 2025. 28.6 kWh of electricity was produced during daylight, and 0.0 kWh or electricity was produced under a full moon.

At the Circus

“If you can come up with something that [rich people will] regard as special, you can really make a lot of money selling to them,” said Robert Frank, a professor of management and economics at Cornell. “So, a lot of the ingenuity in the economy gets directed to things that

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

I am not an engineer, let alone an aerospace engineer. The closest I come is a sort of, kinda, genetic engineer, which is very much not the same thing. Any screw-ups in this post are mine and, if you spot any, I welcome corrections. In the previous post we talked

Demands on Sunlight

Demands on Sunlight

It's time for some silliness. At least I think it's silliness. Because if it isn't silliness it's a nightmare. A flash in the pan In the pre-dawn morning of February 4, 1999, a bright beam of light swept across Western Europe. Starting

A star map of the Western sky shows constellation Cygnus, the Swan, with the star Albireo circled at the head of the Swan.

Autumn's Swan Song

Happy Thanksgiving. Albireo is the 5th brightest star in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. This time of year, in the early evening, Cygnus is rapidly disappearing below the Western horizon, with Alberio – at its eye, or beak, depending on the cartographer – out front in the lead. Like snow geese headed

A quarter coin is balancing on its edge on a colorful background

Georgia Floyd County GOP Declares Heads AND Tails!

Alone On a Hill

Alone On a Hill

Day after day Alone on a hill The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still – Lennon-McCartney, The Fool on the Hill, 1967 It was quiet on the hill. Sitting in the afterglow. Waiting for the comet. "You look like you are here for more than the sunset,

Spelunking the Cave

Spelunking the Cave

Long-Term Weather Pattern Unsameness Attributed to Scuzzy Joule 533nmHouse Gas Farts

Long-Term Weather Pattern Unsameness Attributed to Scuzzy Joule 533nmHouse Gas Farts

Tariffs R Us

Not The Rabbit Wars

Not The Rabbit Wars

The war you are in is not always the war you think you are in. I told all my friends and relatives, “The Rabbit Wars have begun.” They knew what I meant. It was not exactly “news.” We’ve always had to share the garden with rabbits. That’s only

Exceeding the Limit

Exceeding the Limit

“There are three interesting things about NGC 5907 – the Splinter Galaxy,” said Max. “Oh, yeah? Like what?” I asked. We had cruised to rest in a vast interstellar region towards the outskirts of the Splinter Galaxy, just inside the circling dust and smoke lanes. A galactic park, in effect, where

What Part of "Absolute Immunity" Do You Not Understand?

What Part of "Absolute Immunity" Do You Not Understand?

Trump to Return Alaska to Russia in Exchange for Epstein Files

Trump to Return Alaska to Russia in Exchange for Epstein Files

Searching for a Splinter in a Smoke Stack

Searching for a Splinter in a Smoke Stack

"I don't think we're going to make it, Max. I can't see a thing." That was strange. There wasn't a cloud in the night sky, the usual Spring humidity was uncharacteristically low, and the upper atmospheric currents were reported to

Congressman John McGuire (R Va-5) Takes Out Big Bird

Congressman John McGuire (R Va-5) Takes Out Big Bird

Trump Finishes Last at International Best Hat Contest

Trump Finishes Last at International Best Hat Contest

The Sound of Hollow

The Sound of Hollow

Keep It Forever With You

Keep It Forever With You

The wind whistled through the tack, rustling the straps on the luggage tied up top. It was not clear which was worse, the miles of rutted path, or the miles of mud threatening to suck the horseshoes right off the team straining to make forward progress. A sharp chill was