Author: Brendan Barry

  • One Million Covid-19 Deaths

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    This past weekend the United States surpassed one million deaths due to Covid-19. To put that in other terms, imagine the entire city of San Jose, California simply dead. Or just a little bit more than the entire city of Austin, Texas. Estimates place the number of those infected at about 80 million. Back of…

  • Off the Deep End

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in

    Summer rapidly approaches. As does this weekend. Combining those two elements, we can thank xkcd for a wonderful explainer about how the deep ends of pools form. Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

  • Black Holes and Revelations: Remastered

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    Two years ago I posted about how the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration managed to take the first photograph of a black hole, in particular a supermassive black hole at the centre of the M87 galaxy, one of those galaxies far, far away that we see at a long time ago. This morning, the same group…

  • Political Hatch Jobs

    Political Hatch Jobs

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in , ,

    Earlier this week I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the political prospects of some of the candidates for the open US Senate seat for Pennsylvania, for which I and many others will be voting come November. But before I get to vote on a candidate, members of the political parties first get…

  • All the Colours, All the Space

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    Everyone knows inflation is a thing. If not, when was the last time you went shopping? Last week the Boston Globe looked specifically at children’s shoes. I don’t have kids, but I can imagine how a rapidly growing miniature human requires numerous pairs of shoes and frequently. The article explores some of the factors going…

  • Madagascar

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    Well we made it through the week. Yesterday we looked at plate tectonics and the future shape of the world. So today it’s time to look at a map recently made by xkcd. Specifically it looks at the world through the lens of Madagascar. Greenland isn’t as big as it looks on Google Maps. So…

  • The Continents Will Fall Off the Flat Earth

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    To be clear, we know the Earth is round. At least most people know that. Some people delude themselves. We also know that sitting atop the mantle we have plates of rock that move around. Sometimes they slip underneath others. Other times they collide and crumple. Plate tectonics explain why there are so many similarities…

  • The Potential Impacts of Throwing Out Roe v Wade

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    Spoiler: they are significant. Last night we had breaking news on two very big fronts. The first is that somebody inside the Supreme Court leaked an entire draft of the majority opinion, written by Justice Alito, to Politico. Leaks from inside the Supreme Court, whilst they do happen, are extremely rare. This alone is big…

  • The Pandemic’s Influence on Home Design

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    I took last week off for the Orthodox Easter holiday. But I am back now. For some of the time I was away, I stayed at an old stone farmhouse that the owners renovated into a short-term rental. That made me think about what I would want or need in my own space. Of course…

  • Waiting for the Family Tree

    —

    by

    Brendan Barry
    in ,

    I spent the past weekend in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on a brief holiday to go watch some minor league baseball. That explains the lack of posting the last few days. (Housekeeping note, this coming weekend is Orthodox Easter, so I’ll be on holiday for that as well.) Whilst in Harrisburg I did other things besides watch…