Author Archives: kathrynkellner

What Lies in the Great Beyond

Posted on May 1, 2018 by kathrynkellner

  As my last blog post for this class, I want to discuss one thing that has bugged me since we brought it up in lecture, and that is the Pioneer Plaque. For those of you who don’t know, the Pioneer Plaque is a plaque that was attached to the outside of the spacecraft Pioneer … Continue reading What Lies in the Great Beyond Continue reading →

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Lions, Tigers, and Water Bears – Oh My!

Posted on May 1, 2018 by kathrynkellner

Recently in class, we learned about extremophiles – creatures that can survive in extreme situations. My personal favorite extremophile is the water bear (whose official name is the tardigrade) because they’re the hardiest extremophile (in my personal opinion). “Tardigrades have the ability to withstand complete dehydration. Once desiccated, they have been frozen in blocks of … Continue reading Lions, Tigers, and Water Bears – Oh My! Continue reading →

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Life on Titan?

Posted on April 10, 2018 by kathrynkellner

  This past weekend I watched a new movie on Netflix called ‘The Titan’. The plot of the movie revolved around the idea that Earth was becoming uninhabitable and the solution that scientists came up with was to use experiments of forced evolution on former soldiers to create a type of ‘new human’ that could … Continue reading Life on Titan? Continue reading →

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“You Heard About Pluto? It’s Messed Up Right?”

Posted on April 9, 2018 by kathrynkellner

When I was a kid we had 9 planets. That 9th planet was Pluto, which was (unfortunately for my generation) demoted to just a dwarf planet in 2006 (NASA: Pluto in Depth). As outraged as I was as a child that Pluto got demoted, the truth is, besides knowing it was the 9th planet, I … Continue reading “You Heard About Pluto? It’s Messed Up Right?” Continue reading →

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Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus

Posted on March 22, 2018 by kathrynkellner

    “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus” was a phrase I heard a lot when younger. It was meant to describe how men and women sometimes have such big differences that it is like we come from different planets. I never really thought too much about the expression when I was younger, … Continue reading Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus Continue reading →

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Astronomy with a Twist of History

Posted on February 14, 2018 by kathrynkellner

As an anthropology major, it is cool to see my interest in archeology and what I’m currently learning in astronomy intersect through archeoastronomy. Archaeoastronomy is defined by dictionary.com as: “the branch of archaeology that deals with the apparent use by prehistoric civilizations of astronomical techniques to establish the seasons or the cycle of the year, … Continue reading Astronomy with a Twist of History Continue reading →

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Infinity

Posted on February 7, 2018 by kathrynkellner

  There is this prose poem that I love that I thought would be perfect to post on my astronomy blog. It’s featured on the blog website “I Wrote This For You” which is an alias for poet/short story writer Iain S. Thomas. The poem’s title is “The Importance of Correctly Numbering Things,” which you … Continue reading Infinity Continue reading →

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Johannes Kepler: A Sign of the Times

Posted on February 7, 2018 by kathrynkellner

Today I want to talk about Johannes Kepler (Born on December 27, 1571 at 1 PM; Died November 15, 1630). Kepler was the guy who came up with the three laws of planetary motion and basically, is the reason why we know how planets orbit things today (NASA). But did you know what was going on … Continue reading Johannes Kepler: A Sign of the Times Continue reading →

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The Amazing Cosmic Calendar

Posted on January 23, 2018 by kathrynkellner

  Recently in our reading, we learned about the cosmic calendar (pictured above) – a cool concept I’d like to share a little bit about on my blog. The cosmic calendar is the idea of what it would look like if we took the entire existence of the universe, all fourteen billion years, and compressed it into … Continue reading The Amazing Cosmic Calendar Continue reading →

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Intro To Me

Posted on January 19, 2018 by kathrynkellner

  Hi! My name is Kathryn K. I’m a senior at Vanderbilt University who is double majoring in Anthropology and Political science. I love human behavior, but I also happen to love animal behavior – like that of my own dog, Mickey, pictured above in a Santa outfit. Mickey is my only pet, and he … Continue reading Intro To Me Continue reading →

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