The Hubble Space Telescope just got some repairs and renovatiosn done and released the resultant photos. Some of them are remarkable--and you really don't have to be an astrophysicist of any caliber to appreciate them. It's just crazy to think that not only do colorful, intricate structures like these exist, but that they are so astronomical (no pun intended! :D) in size. A width of any number of light years is of course beyond my ability to even imagine. And also, to think that the pictures we see are years and years outdated, and that indeed at the moment of their taking, their subjects already looked utterly different, and maybe didn't even exist anymore.

Mmm. Moments like this make me really appreciate the rich connection between science and aesthetics and beauty. Sometimes I would walk out of gen chem last year when we were deep in our quantum mechanics unit and just marvel at the ubiquitous beauty transpiring below most of our noses. Even though I don't consider chemistry my primary level of interest, sometimes picturing what goes on at an atomic and subatomic level in our everyday lives is remarkable--even something as commonplace as light itself is so richly complex, so deft at eluding scientists' understanding...

From the microscopic to the massive, it all just forces me to look upon my daily stresses and woes, the small victories and defeats, as they really are--small pieces in a much bigger puzzle.

C'mon, any on-the-fence humanities vs. sciences people out there. Doesn't this make you want to jump ship and plumb the depths of natural phenomena, explore the uncharted jungles of neurons and the mysterious expanses of nebulae? Eh? Eh? :)