August Gems

Melting ice caps slow Earth’s spin, lengthening days at ‘unprecedented’ rate

“Knowing the exact orientation of Earth at any given moment is crucial when attempting to communicate with a spaceship, such as the Voyager probes that are now well beyond our solar system, where even a slight deviation of a centimeter can end up being kilometers off by the time it reaches its destination.”

The Earth’s Inner Core Reversal

“According to recent research published in Nature Geoscience, Earth’s inner core may have temporarily paused its rotation and begun reversing direction relative to the planet’s surface.”

This made me resurface this quote in my oldie on staying fresh:

“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer

This month has been particularly hot in France, with heatwaves. What are the implications for the planet?

Scientists have expressed concern about the potential impact of such heatwaves, which could become more frequent and severe, further destabilising the Antarctic ice sheets and contributing to global sea level rise. As reported in this Guardian article.

Mars Exploration

“I think that we should go to Mars not because it’s an easy escape, but because we have grown up and we’re using it as a training ground for a much more adult civilisation to take its first steps towards becoming interplanetary, and later on, interstellar. But we should also use all that technology to look back at the Earth.

Projecting ourselves into space is challenging our brains to find solutions that we would not otherwise be seeking on our planet.” — Nathalie Cabrol, director of SETI and author of The Secret Life of the Universe

Read my notes on Cabrol’s latest book.

Posters: Visions of the Future

JPL’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau presents: Visions of the Future.

“Imagination is our window into the future. At NASA/JPL we strive to be bold in advancing the edge of possibility so that someday, with the help of new generations of innovators and explorers, these visions of the future can become a reality. As you look through these images of imaginative travel destinations, remember that you can be an architect of the future.”

My favourite poster is below.

Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/55-cancri-e-jpl-travel-poster

“A global ocean of lava under sparkling, silicate skies reflecting the lava below: what better choice for an extreme vacation? Planet Janssen, or 55 Cancri e, orbits a star called Copernicus only 41 light years away.

The molten surface is completely uninhabitable, but you’ll ride safely above, taking in breathtaking views: the burning horizon, Janssen’s sister planet Galileo hanging in a dark sky, and curtains of glowing particles as you glide across the terminator to Janssen’s dark side. Book your travel now to the hottest vacation spot in the galaxy, 55 Cancri e.”

What is your favourite?

Pacing Myself before Back-To-School

I listened to this podcast episode about recalibrating and adjusting our inner pace as the holidays come to an end and back to school approaches.

“Yesterday, we juggled our working hours with the hours we had left for our loved ones, an activity or two, and the constraints of everyday life. The next day, time is different. Holidays destabilise our clock and force us to think differently about our rhythm.”

As a learner experience designer and teacher, I am preparing for back-to-school with new cohorts and different subjects. This post by Taruna Goel made me reflect on the pedagogies I use to design learner experiences and teach.

“What instructional models have you found particularly effective in your practice? How have you personalized these models to enhance engagement, learning, and transfer?”

Perhaps a mixture of ADDIE, 70 20 10 principles and human centred design. As shared in this oldie on propelling learner experiences.

I am also working on the workbooks of this book ‘Tous pédagogues’ to continuously improve my pedagogy and teaching practice.

Another post reminds me what this is all about:

“Curiosity is the source of wisdom and wonder. Fred Rogers once said in an interview, “Our society is much more interested in information than wonder, in noise rather than silence… And I feel that we need a lot more wonder and a lot more silence in our lives” I want to make space for both within my classroom.”

There is also this quote at the top of the post:

“Always be on the look out for the presence of wonder.” — E.B. White

This makes me resurface this oldie about wandering with creative generalists, which also begins with this quote. I wrote:

ABC of the Creative Generalist

Addicted to learning: keep learning at any age.

Balance for extensive research + sharing your cross-pollination of ideas/sense-making. It is your contribution to the world.

C for seeing the periphery, scanning the horizon, seeing beyond, sharing insights and seeing who else sees what you see.

Use your diverse skills for collaboration, cooperation, and co-creation.

If I had to refresh this post a bit, it would be: ABC of the neo-generalist:

Addicted to learning.

Balance for research and continuous learning powered by GenAI and PKMastery. Extracting and sharing the crème de la crème.

C for seeing the periphery, scanning the horizon, seeing beyond and the dimensions. Share insights and visions.

Use your skills, toolsets and mindsets to collaborate, co-create, cooperate and keep learning.

Happy Summertime

Did you enjoy this post? Check out the Tapestry Book.