Stars in your eyes

Just because it's astonishing: time-lapse video of the Milky Way over Texas. It gets good around 23 seconds, and the full-screen view is accessed by clicking the icon next to 'Vimeo' on the horizontal tool bar.

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Abandon hope

Hopefully you all know that ours is the last generation to live a 'first-world' lifestyle, thanks to the destructive effects of… er … our first-world lifestyle (meanwhile everybody else is suffering now). Neal's sent me a link to this video, which graphically demonstrates the real, physical impact of our selfishness on the world. It details the ever-decreasing Arctic ice coverage - without it, we're entering a period of accelerating temperature rises with associated feedback. Soon it will be too late - feedback means that there's no going back and we'll end up like Venus.