About me
I am a graduate of Grinnell College with a degree in Biological Chemistry. The name of this blog is derived from the name I use in Chinese, 孟柏民 (Mèng Bómín).
I can be reached by email at:
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Author Archives: Meng Bomin
Best view of Earth ever
Via Phil Plait, here is an amazing timelapse series taken from the International Space Station and assembled by James Drake as it flies over the Americas from north to south during the night: The timelapse starts over the clouded North Pacific … Continue reading
Ten years on
As today is the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, I thought it would be appropriate to mark this moment of solemn remembrance … Continue reading
A Canadian majority government
Canada just held its federal election, triggered by a political scandal concerning the conduct of the previous election, and it appears that the results have been disastrous for Canada’s opposition Liberal Party. In the past few weeks, the New Democrat … Continue reading
Posted in Current events, Politics
Tagged Canada, election, Harper, Ignatieff, majority government
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The end of an era
So long as I’m commenting on foreign policy matters, I might as well devote a short post to the big news from yesterday that U.S. special forces found and killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The title of this … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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A good discussion of policy regarding Libya
Yesterday, Bloggingheads.tv posted this discussion between Robert Farley and Daniel Larison. In summary (for those of you without a spare hour on your hands), both men were opposed to the intervention in Libya from the start and if you look … Continue reading
I have joined the United States Navy
Today, I affirmed the United States oath of enlistment and officially joined the United States Navy. I am currently set to ship out in December, but that could change in the coming days, weeks, or months. I don’t have much … Continue reading
What Americans should fear most
I’ve been thinking about the statement that Newt Gingrich made in front of John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church church last month: I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively … Continue reading
An Earthly haze
Wired Science has a short piece on the Solar Dynamics Observatory‘s eclipse season and features an image of a partially occluded sun, much like the one below. As the article describes, the shadow of the Earth does not form a … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Science
Tagged atmosphere, earth, Geosynchronous orbit, SDO, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Sun, ultraviolet
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Mercury Rising
Yesterday, the MESSENGER spacecraft released the above image as the first of the main stage of its mission, orbiting around the innermost planet and surveying the surface. When that’s complete, we will have the first complete detailed map of the … Continue reading
The New York Times explores the 2010 Census
Last year, I pointed to an interactive racial/ethnic dot map modeled on the maps of Eric Fischer that The New York Times had created using the Census projections available at the time. With the release of the 2010 Census data, … Continue reading
Meng Bomin 