Shallow Thoughts : : Sep

Akkana's Musings on Open Source Computing and Technology, Science, and Nature.

Sun, 29 Sep 2024

Trinity Site

Last year in April, Dave and I finally got around to driving down for Trinity Site day.

Trinity Site is where the Manhattan Project scientists detonated the first prototype for the "Fat Man" plutonium atomic bomb that would eventually be dropped on Nagasaki.

Trinity Site is technically part of the National Park Service, but it's located on White Sands Missile Range and therefore is closed to the public most of the time. They open it two days a year, usually the first Saturday in April and the third Saturday in October — except that this year's April opening was canceled for unspecified reasons, and apparently they're going to cancel the April opening, leaving only October. This year it's October 21.

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[ 14:40 Sep 29, 2024    More travel | permalink to this entry | ]

Fri, 13 Sep 2024

How to Move Around More (Being an "Outdoor Person")

I like to think of myself as an outdoor person. I like hiking, mountain biking, astronomy, and generally enjoying the beauty of the world.

Except — let's not kid ourselves here — I'm really more of a computer geek. Without some sort of push, I can easily stay planted on my butt in front of the computer all day — sure, looking out the window and admiring the view (I do a lot of that since we moved to New Mexico), but still sitting indoors in the computer chair.

Earlier this year, the science podcast "Short Wave" played an NPR series called Body Electric that had a lot of interviews with scientists who have studied some aspect of the health benefits of motion versus sitting, and specifically, the idea of getting up and moving around for five minutes every half hour. They challenged listeners to try it, and featured statements from listeners about their improved health and energy levels.

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[ 18:55 Sep 13, 2024    More misc | permalink to this entry | ]