Space

I envy the world of astronomers. Their work is to bring their attention beyond the intensity of our day to day involvement. Their job is otherworldly.

The job is also not escapist. Most of us learn about our world from the inside out, in some way the astronomer learns about it from the outside in, outside being the vastness of the universe.

These two articles are recent. Both cause you to contemplate the dimension of our tiny place here. This is helpful when faced with the ordinary stresses and tensions of each day, the way our world becomes microcosmic.

Potentially habitable planet found

Black Hole Cluster Breathes Out Enormous Gas Cloud

We talk about the shrinking of the world in terms of the speed with which we can communicate and travel, the world has gotten smaller. I was saddened to see that in the Catholic world an area of spiritual space had also gotten smaller.

Limbo no more.

I am of the generation that probably will not live to see the complete melting of the Arctic ice cap. For me that's a hard thing to fathom. The next generation probably will see it in their lifetime and they will have to deal with that loss on some level. The generation born in the 2030 to 2040 time will grow up without there ever having been an Arctic ice cap. It will be an historical period.

Arctic melt faster than forecast