The extracurricular activity I enjoyed the most in high school was band, far and away. I played trombone and marched in the Oxford (Alabama) High School band my freshman and sophomore years, and it was a blast. We were adored at home, just a click under the football team as far as peer respect in … Read more
It would be difficult for me to overstate my affection for chess. I think it is the finest, most beautiful game ever conceived. Part of its seduction is that I believe that a true “solution” for chess lies just beyond human ability. It is that gap that attracts, and makes, lunatics. (The best chess players … Read more
Did you see the new image of the gigantic hexagon at Saturn’s north pole yet? The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft just imaged it. The Voyager probes took pictures of this feature over 20 years ago, but not with this detail. At Saturn’s north pole, we’ve apparently encountered a remarkably regular, naturally occurring hexagon that is 15,000 miles … Read more