I always have been interested in extraterrestrial life. Back to when I was a kid, so impressed by the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. In that movie, creatures from another planet came to earth with an ultimatum: Be good and peaceful – or be destroyed. With all the problems our earth has, I hope that peaceful aliens will come with that same kind of ultimatum for earth today. That is the only way I will see peace in my time.
With all my interest in extraterrestrial life out there in the universe, I never really have learned much about our universe.
A few weeks ago, though, I stumbled upon Neil DeGrasse Tyson videos on YouTube.
Tyson is a renowned astrophysicist, a popular presenter who explains abstruse topics in a marvelously simple, exciting way.
I am now into a new hobby: Collecting interesting tidbits about the universe from Tyson’s presentations, and from articles on the internet.
I enjoy having Siri find facts of interest online. For example, I asked her, “How long does it take light to reach us from the closest star?” I take a screenshot of the answer and paste the screenshot into the Universe Note on my iPhone. Just above the screenshot, I record my voice reading what it says on the screenshot. Then I erase the screenshot. Why? So that I can have Siri read me the entire universe note. Siri cannot read screenshots.
I am categorizing my notes according to Solar System, Galaxy and Universe.
I will have a section on things that Tyson says are fascinating. For example, he says most astounding fact about the universe is not that we are in the universe, but that the universe is in us. That is because we are composed of the elements that existed in the universe from its very inception.
Tyson advises us that if we ever encounter an alien, the best thing to do is take something that belongs to him. That way we can verify our encounter later. Tyson says he always looks up when he goes outside. I always look up when I’m in my pool every day. I always have something to say to God at that time.
Maybe by learning more about the universe I will have more hope of meeting one of those peaceful aliens one day. You can be sure I will take a souvenir from him.
Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com
