Three Years, Three Telescopes later!
Monday M.A.G.I.C.
(Memory, Appearance, Genius, Image, Conversation)
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from MAGIC!”
Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Enjoy the cosmic fireworks — Happy Fourth of July!
Dear Impossible Family,
First, I want to welcome 500 new subscribers to this bi-monthly M.A.G.I.C. Monday e-Mail list — I hope you’ll enjoy this ride through the Multiverse with your new family. (If you won one of the 100 meteorite samples from my giveaway with Startalk or Arvin Ash I will be sending your genuine space dust and some fascinating facts on the samples to you soon.)
When/if you receive it, please take a picture and tag me on social media: on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. If you weren’t among the lucky winners, stay tuned as I will be giving away more space schmutz, an NFT, and copies of all three of my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, Losing the Nobel Prize, and The Dialogue.
At work, this quarter closes with the end of my first opportunity to teach in person in 3 years [wearing a mask, no less!]. I’m looking forward to another historic milestone: our first Simons Observatory face-to-face meeting in person in 3 years which we are hosting in San Diego next week — and an outreach event open to the public!
Our reunion occurs exactly 3 years after we broke ground on the Simons Observatory — see picture of myself, Adrian Lee, David Spergel and Jim and Marilyn Simons from July 2019 below, under ‘Memory’. No one could’ve foreseen what was about to impact us — and the whole world — just six months later.
Thanks to the hard work, commitment, and perseverance on the very site where groundbreaking took place, our team now has three small aperture telescope platforms, numerous foundations and building structures and, most importantly, a phenomenal site team! We expect to get first light (microwave) next year — I’ll keep you posted.
Filmmaker Debra Kellner finished filming a documentary sponsored by the Simons Foundation called ‘The Eternal Sky’. She is planning to submit it to the Sundance Film Festival- so a new star may soon be born!
As the my first major work meeting approaches, I am feeling expansive and contemplating the “biggest picture”. As such. I’m reminded of this quote from Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius: “A person who does not know what the Universe is, does not know where they are. And a person who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who they are, nor what the Universe is.”
I’d like to think that you all are experts in the Universe and, therefore, know for what purpose we are here: to understand how the whole shebang began!
PS. I have a podcast which is downloaded over a million times a year. You should subscribe!
PPS. I have a mailing list which is read by over 5000 people, twice a month. You should subscribe!
Have a magical week!
