Poetry by the Iguana, and Other Stories

Many people have unexpected gifts, and the Iguana surprised everyone by telling his view of the galaxy in poetry. Everyone but me, that is. I've always known he speaks in lyrics!

Hi! Zantippy Skiphop here! I tell the tales of my adventures in the galaxy with my friends! Iguana likes to stay in his Earth swamp, so his book got written while I was trapped in an extraterrestrial jail. Don't worry, I escaped, so we are all about to tell you lots more stories!
Love,
Zantippy

Sunday, July 22, 2012

I'm Now Writing Space News for Active Astronomy!

Exciting news! I'm now writing Space News articles for Active Astronomy! So happy!!! My main focus will be astrobiology, the study of conditions that could allow life to exist on other planets or moons. Hopefully one day that term will include the actual study of extraterrestrial critters!



My first article is on this guy, Curiosity, the newest member of rovers exploring Mars. Curiosity will land on August 5, at 10:30pm U.S. Pacific Time. Curiosity carries the Mars Science Laboratory, and its primary mission is directed towards astrobiology. I'll be covering all the Curiosity news for Active Astronomy!

Please visit and let me know what your thoughts and feelings are about the exploration of our star system!

16 comments:

  1. Its life Jim but not as we know it...seriously thats really cool news.but we already know the there is life out jut that we are lacking scientific proof.We love all this stuff can't wait see what else they find

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  2. COOL COOL COOL!!!! I do not believe there is intelligent life, but microscopic life, even sentient lifep perhaps. Let's face it, human beings are not necessarily "intelligent" lifeforms, even if we are most certainly self-aware! LOL.
    Oh, to travel The Final Frontier! I love movies in space, even if the visuals are CGI.
    I am thrilled for you. Rabbit people are the most evolved of our species and deserve kudos and good things.

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  3. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/communion-on-the-moon-the-religious-experience-in-space/259826/

    My family priest (Eastern Orthodox) sent this link in an email. Perhaps he fancies himself serving divine liturgy on Mars?
    Buzz Aldrin shared a previously unknown event-that he took communion in space. It is a very nice article on the juxtaposition of religion and science.

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  4. That's pretty interesting. I'm not sure why people were surprised - they were blasting off into space for pete's sake, and people express their profound feelings in different ways. Thanks for sharing that, brandi! (And I secretly agree on the bunny people thing, don't say I said so :D )

    Hi Speedy, your mom lets you watch Star Trek? :)

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  5. Do people think the only way to understand Earth and her history is to study Earth alone? Like am ecosystem, the celestial bodies affect and interact with one another. If something happens to Jupiter, our whole solar system will could become extinct or change so drastically that climate change on all moons and planets could happen and life as we know it on Earth would cease. I daresay our solar system is as delicate and balanced as an Earthly ecosystem. The study of Mars IS the study of Earth. Mars should have been, could have been, would have been THE planet teaming with life. Why is it not, why has it been Earth that is so blessed? In all the worlds that man knows of, Earth is not just a planet with life, but life soo abundant that it defies logic and boggles the brain that it should exist in this seemingly violent and lifeless solar system.
    I am not satisfied with the answers and arrogant speculations from the religious right. I belong to the oldest Christian sect in the world, and even Eastern Orthodoxy does not dare to arrogantly claim human and earthly supremacy over the cosmos. We believe in, and love, mysteries.
    The cosmos is a mystery, and I cannot wait to see it unfold as much as it will in my lifetime. Oh, to be our great grandchildren looking into the night sky, whether from our own Terra Firma or from Mars!

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  6. I don't know a lot about the Eastern Orthodox church, but I have always loved how they embrace mystery. I was raised religiously where there has to be an answer or opinion on everything, instead of just being content with "I don't know". And that attitude extends to people who have come to different "answers". I just can't live that way and it's why I love science so much. It's a spiritual journey into mysteries, but with actual roads. Part of me doesn't even want to ever find out certain things because I want that mystery - like, I like the journey more than the destination, maybe? At the same time, the whole life thing is something I DO want to know and be a part of.

    It will be SO cool one day, to be looking up at Mars and knowing there are humans living there. Every generation for the last half century has been told it will happen - maybe it will soon, because there seems to be more of a concerted effort lately to at least get it emotionally off the ground. I hope it happens while we are still here but personally yeah, it may be for our great grandchildren!

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    1. who knows what the future will bring?We can't wait to find out,humans are able to do so many amazing things if only all humans thought that way thing would so much better

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    2. Yes - I try to believe that we WILL one day live up to our potential as humans and won't our path forward controlled by greed and ignorance (or really, kept back by those things). But at least we can still get good things done, even though it's often an uphill battle and in reaction to harmful behavior.

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  7. Did you see that crazy full moon the other night? I hear that the moon used to be much closer to earth millions of years ago and it dominated the night sky. Immagine the tides it would create today, and the pull it would have on pregnant and menstruating women if the moon were that close. It is supposed to be slowly spiralling out of Earth's orbit as well.
    Would we have Less or More "lunatics" when the moon is just a speck in the sky?

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    1. :) yeah, like when the moon looks the sizes of Mars' moons? I think sometimes what an incredible sight that must have been when the moon was much closer, and we were mostly outdoors at night, with it dominating everything. I'm glad we get to be here while it is still pretty big!

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  8. WOOHOO!!! Curiosity A-Go-Go! Looking forward to more articles! Amazing that he/she (certainly not an IT) started transmitting photos right away. So EXCITING! Go TEAM MARS!

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  9. :D :D :D :D :D !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Yeah I've definitely started saying "she"!!! Think I may be making some bad typos, got to bed like at 5am - ooooh I keep meaning to put a link to the articles somewhere on the side. I love it that you love rabbits and geeky sciencey stuff!!!!!!! Maybe I should make a page, "Geeks and their rabbits" lol! Man I was patting mine a LOT last night, going with "Keep calm and pat a bunny" lol.

    Here I'll link you directly:

    http://www.activeastronomy.org/

    That is all but the last two - the second to last I put on my science blog since it has tons of embedded music videos, and the last I wrote at 3-4am so I woke up scared if I mailed him crap lol. Here's my science blog:

    http://childofeuropa.livejournal.com/

    How was your weekend? I stepped in a fire ant nest already today o~O

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  10. I am always wondering how anyone can live in FLorida. Between the heat and constant humidity....blach. However, I have tolerated this horrible Oklahoma scorching heat AND the humidity on top of that for a long time now. What got me thinking about that was your mention of fire ants. Now, granted, the most awful experience I have ever had with ants was living in Texas. You just about had to perform an exorcism to get rid of those ants. Big red, small red, red with black butts...horrible spiteful little creatures. I had a hamster that I let out to wander and have fun every day. One day, I went looking for him and his feet were COVERED in little red ants with black butts. I almost threw up just imagining the pain he was in. I rinsed his feet and poured peroxide on them, then slathered them with calamine lotion to soothe the little things. My mom had to take him to the vet and he got a little dropper with his medicine. His little feet scabbed up like he was a leper and eventually the swelling went down and the scabs fell off and he had new pink skin on his feet. Then I gave him Dr. Pepper and killed him.
    thanks for the links!

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  11. LMAO!!! Brandi you have this way of talking about the most horrible things and making it funny at the end! Poor little guy! What was his name? What was it about Dr. Pepper, or was it just a coincidence? I want to avoid that if I ever have a tiny rodent being who wants Coke. He sounds like a happy hamster :)

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  12. Hi, Brandi! I got an email that you posted again, but don't see it - oh man I'm always surprised when small pets survive their kids at all! I had gerbils and LOVED them but not sure they loved me lol.

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