Search MnSTA

Andrew Fraknoi, Emeritus Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, provided the following free resources:

Public Lectures on New Developments in Astronomy on YouTube

• New lectures have been posted, free of charge, on the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures YouTube site, including:
• Eliot Quataert on the first image ever taken of a black hole
• Jeff Moore on the New Horizon encounter with the most distant object we have ever visited
• Kevin Hand on ocean worlds in our solar system
• Claire Max on how adaptive optics shows us a sharper universe.
  These (and many other non-technical illustrated talks recorded in HD) can be found at: http://youtube.com/SVAstronomyLectures  (The series has 2.9 million views world wide.)

Resource Guides for Astronomy Education

          Updated resource guides for astronomy educators (and their students or audiences) have been posted on line.  They include:

• The Contributions of Women to Astronomy: http://bit.ly/astronomywomen
• Web Resources for Debunking Astronomical Pseudo-science Claims: http://bit.ly/pseudoastro
• Annotated Catalog of 250+ Pieces of Music Inspired by Astronomy: http://bit.ly/astronomymusic
• Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy (An Annotated Guide Organized by Topic): http://bit.ly/astroscifi
• You can find other guides at: http://www.fraknoi.com/resource-guides-on-astronomy-education/

The Free On-line Astro 101 Textbook Reaches 300,000 Users

          The free, on-line Astronomy 101 textbook, published by the non-profit OpenStax project at Rice University (part of a national program to reduce college costs) has now had over 300,000 readers and has been adopted in more than 700 institutions.  A new library of 1,100 multiple-choice questions is now available to adopters, and a free open-resource hub has over 30 helpful ancillary materials.  A new app makes free downloading on phones and tablets easier.  See: http://openstax.org/details/astronomy

Big Picture Science Radio Show

          Big Picture Science, a weekly radio program hosted by Seth Shostak and Molly Bentley, and produced at the SETI Institute, features segments on many aspects of science and its interactions with popular culture, done with verve and humor.  You can search for topics or guests and download segments free of charge at: http://radio.seti.org/episodes

A Humorous Science Fiction Story

          A personal note from your moderator: "Sci Phi Journal" (an on-line magazine of science fiction and philosophy) just published my very short and humorous story about the first message humanity gets from an extra-terrestrial civilization. Here it is, just in case you have a moment to inject a little humor in your day:

https://www.sciphijournal.org/index.php/2019/12/20/the-unwelcome-reply/ 

Andrew Fraknoi's website