Imagination will often carry us to the worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.
In the Memory of Astronomer, Researcher, Educator, Communicator, Advocate and Activist who taught us importance of understanding Science. Carl Sagan tribute account.
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Imagination will often carry us to the worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.
We're not separate from the cosmos- we're its outcome. Every choice we make, every idea we create, is the universe expressing itself through us. Small actions, big meaning—our lives are a chance to let the cosmos shine through.” - Carl Sagan- cosmos- stars- We are their children
Professor Hans Bethe explains superconductivity in his lecture titled " My Relation To Early Quantum Mechanics" at MIT November 21, 1977.
“Not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you're in love, you want to tell the world.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
If the price of God’s mysterious plan is the lives of innocent children, then perhaps it is a plan not worth worshiping.
But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine. ― Carl Sagan
"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot."
When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent. - Isaac Asimov
Professor Brian Greene explains Einstein's theory of gravity.
So many galaxies, so many stars - yet only one Carl Sagan. Let us do better, humanity: we need more voices of reason, more proponents of awe, more prophets of wonder, and more reasons to feel gratitude for the magnificence of our existence.
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. - Galileo Galilei
"Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy.” ― Carl Sagan
The danger is not so much that machines may become like humans, but that humans may forget what it means to be humane.
When Ted Turner asked Carl Sagan if he was a socialist, Sagan gave the answer America keeps failing to learn.
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true. - Carl Sagan
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good. - Carl Sagan
NEWS🚨: Scientists have designed an interstellar ship that can transport up to 2.4k people one-way to Alpha Centauri. The project’s goal is to reach the potentially habitable planet Proxima Centauri b. Credit: Giacomo Infelise, Veronica Magli, Guido Sbrogio', Nevenka Martinello & Federica Serpe
Tyranny is not born overnight. It’s built one compromise at a time.
The atoms within you once burned in the heart of stars, chaotic and lifeless, and yet here you are, after half a dozen or so billion years, arranging them into love, questions, and hope. You are a miracle, a thermodynamic miracle.
Beautiful slow-motion surface tension demonstration.
Went to the Moon twice, flew in space 4 times, commanded Apollo 13 - Jim Lovell has died at 97. A superb, humble and inspiring man. Rest in peace.
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Happy Birthday to one of the titans of Quantum Mechanics, Paul Dirac, born 123 yrs ago today. Dirac is one of the pioneers of Quantum mechanics and the first physicist to predict the existence of anti-matter. He received the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Erwin Shcrödinger.
Discovery Alert! NASA’s Hubble & Chandra telescopes have spotted a rare intermediate-mass black hole, HLX-1, blazing with X-rays in galaxy NGC 6099 - a cosmic clue to how supermassive black holes may form. A mystery worth watching. Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang; Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Most people inherit their beliefs. They rarely examine them.
Sine wave shown beautifully .
BREAKING: Webb Space Telescope may have spotted a Saturn-sized planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A — the closest Sun-like star to Earth! If confirmed, it’s the nearest planet seen orbiting in a habitable zone. A game-changer for exoplanet science! Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. Time, in other words, he said, is an illusion. — A. Einstein (1879-1955)
"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."
This planet is run by crazy people. Remember what they have to do to get where they are. Their perspective is so narrow, so...brief. A few years. In the best of them a few decades. They care only about the time they are in power. - Carl Sagan, Contact
The physics of light refraction through broken glass
Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Carl Sagan explains the 4th dimension
Majestic coronal loops dance above the Sun’s surface huge arcs of hot plasma shaped by magnetic fields. These stunning loops can last for days and are often found near sunspots. Some even unleash solar storms affecting Earth’s space weather! Credit: Andrea Vanoni
"You go talk to kindergartners or first-grade kids, you find a class full of science enthusiasts... You go talk to 12th graders and there's none of that. They've become incurious. Something terrible has happened between kindergarten and 12th grade."
The double slit experiment was pivotal in demonstrating the wave-particle duality of light and matter. When particles like electrons are fired through slits, they produce an interference pattern typical of waves, not particles.
We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. - Carl Sagan
Authoritarians don’t need to burn books - they just flood the shelves with lies.
Astronomers have found a giant planet orbiting its star backwards, defying planetary formation theories! This rare retrograde orbit could reveal dramatic past interactions with other stars or planets. Space just got weirder. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva (Spaceengine)/M. Zamani
"Tesseract" can mean many things: an OCR engine, a 4D hypercube in geometry, the Space Stone’s container in Marvel, a British metal band, or a premium e-scooter by Ultraviolette. One word, many dimensions.
The last known picture of Albert Einstein, taken in March 1955, in front of 112 Mercer Street.
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.” — Richard Feynman
NEWS 🚨: Australia's historic first-ever orbital rocket crashes after attempting to take off It lasted about 14 seconds
Carl Sagan ~ Galaxies beyond our own 🎥 Royal Institution Lectures
"Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars."
“Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.” — George Carlin
It’s not enough to declare rights on paper. A free society depends on citizens who are educated, who ask skeptical questions. Without that, power slips away from the people, and the government begins to rule, not serve.
A Helix Nebula Deep Field This stunning image captures the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a nearby planetary nebula shaped like an eye. Formed from the remains of a dying star, it glows due to intense radiation from its core. Taken over 12 hours with a telescope in Greece. Credit: George Chatzifrantzis
Carl Sagan explains how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round and calculated its circumference over 2,000 years ago.
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
History repeats itself, and yet we do not learn from history.
For the first time we have the power to decide the fate of our planet and ourselves. This is a time of great danger, but our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. - Carl Sagan
The role of intellectuals is to challenge authority, not serve it.
What do you think would have surprised Carl Sagan in 2025?
Brief History Of World's oldest question in mathematics by Prof Brian Cox. 🎥 BBC
The difference between Knowledge and Experience
How old will you be when Halley's Comet returns in 2061?
“Conservatism is only as good as what it conserves.” — Friedrich Hayek
I don't have any faith, but I have a lot of hope, and I have a lot of dreams of what we could do with our intelligence if we had the will and the leadership of how we could take all of our intelligence and our resources and create a world for our kids that is hopeful. - Ann Druyan
Carl Sagan's prediction of America, made 30 years ago.
Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth. - Albert Einstein
NASA says: “Uranus is warmer than we thought. New computer modeling techniques revealed that Uranus generates internal heat. This is similar to our solar system’s other giant planets, like Jupiter or Neptune.”
The universe is not obligated to make sense to you. But you are obligated to try.
This isn’t the end. We are going to the stars.
Another day of reminding everyone that: "If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."
Apollo 11, Daily News, July 21, 1969.
Jefferson believed that the habit of skepticism is an essential prerequisite for responsible citizenship. He argued that the cost of education is trivial compared to the cost of ignorance, of leaving government to the wolves. He taught that the country is safe only when the people rule.
Carl Sagan in 90s: "we are made of starstuff"
"Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe..." - Carl Sagan
We've arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. ~ Carl Sagan
Listen closely as Carl Sagan explains how regular people can create change!
Nothing disturbs me more than the glorification of stupidity. - Carl Sagan
Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. - Carl Sagan
If something can be destroyed by the truth, then let it - be it a person, a government, or an empire built on lies.
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff. - Carl Sagan
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true. - Carl Sagan
Demonstration of double pendulum chaos
Carl Sagan when asked about the Evidence for God or a Creator.
The largest black hole ever discovered can fit 30 billion suns. We found it with gravity and bent light Image credit: ESA/Hubble, Digitized Sky Survey, Nick Risinger, N. Bartmann
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Isaac Asimov
"Questioning is the way of learning," Encourage your children to ask questions, not to accept existing answers.
NASA saves Voyager 1 mission by successfully reviving frozen thrusters from almost 24 billion kilometers away
"So many books, so little time." - Frank Zappa #booksky
Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy. - Carl Sagan
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
"The heart of physics is trying to understand what's real." -Richard Feynman
“What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean.” - Isaac Newton
Carl Sagan on why books are human’s greatest invention:
New insights from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal long-lived carbon dust shells around multiple Wolf-Rayet stars evolved giants nearing the end of their life. Once seen only in WR-140, these shells may be vital building blocks of stars, planets, and possibly life. Credit: NASA/Webb
"The bamboozle has captured us.”
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” ~ George Orwell, 1984
"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” ― Arthur C. Clarke
You don't like it? Go somewhere else! as said by Richard Feynman in one of his lectures at University of Auckland.