Return of the Yep Yep Martians

Remember the Yep Yep's from Sesame Street? I do.





Thanks to Joey for the tip!

New image of Cassiopeia A

The people at the Hubble Space Telescope have released a new image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The star is the youngest supernova remnant in our galaxy and therefore interesting to astronomers to study. It's only about 340 years old. Somewhat mysteriously, there are no records of it being observed in the 17th century. Perhaps it first appeared in the daylight sky and no one noticed. By the time it appeared in the night sky it would have faded from naked eye view.

Swoon 154 - August 28, 2006 - Sounds from the Basement

Air Liquide - Uludag Part One (Blue Planet)
Aphex Twin - Entrance to Exit (Volume)
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - Whitney Joins the Jams (KLF Communications)
Akufen - Quebec Shuffle rmx (Perlon)
Richie Hawtin - Orange (M-nus)
Paperclip People - Remake "Uno" (Planet E)
The Grid - Cybernetic (Volume)
Salt Tank - Dreams (Volume)
The Ambush - Sun (Volume)
Hazed - Bells (Plus8)
Plug - A Subtle Blend (Blue Planet)
Gescom - Key Nell B (Skam)
Bola - Koka Maim E (Skam)
Arovane - evlecc (DIN)
Flowchart - Flutter By Butterfly (Wurlitzer Jukebox)
Derrick May and Carl Craig - Kaotic Harmony (Transmat)
Hexes and Ohs - Alive Until Saturday Night (Noise Factory)

Hexes and Ohs will be performing live tonight at the Mansion House in St. Catharines. Show starts at 8.

Black Forest Star Party

As others have noted, this year's Black Forest Star Party was a washout, due to excessive clouds. Luckily, there was not much rain, and the lightning seemed to pass close, but not too close.

It was my first time there, so I was disappointed, because there wasn't much observing. However, it seems like a great place to observe, with very dark skies, so I hope to go back.

Swoon 153 - August 21, 2006

Mstrkrft - Easy Love (Last Gang)
Red Norvo - Night and Day (DJ Logic mix) (Savoy Jazz)
Birdy Nam Nam - Migration (Uncivilized World)
Coldcut - Just For The Kick (Ninja Tune)
Rocky G - Solar (Fool Skool)
Amen Andrews - London (Rephlex)
Q-chastic - a1 (Rephlex)
L'usine ICL - Dr. Chinme
Wechsel Garland - Swim (DJ Kosi's mix) (Kalk)
Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy (Warp)
Exercise One - 12 Years
Barem - Camploco (Foundsound)
Paranoid Jack - Last Daze (Thrust)
Minilogue - Ahck
Sleeper Thief - Freefall
Madonna - Get Together (James Holden mix)
Lady B - Cruising Around Motor City
Anoice - Track 6

Swoon 152 - August 14, 2006

Ellen Allien & Apparat - Turbo Dreams (Bpitchcontrol)
Plaid - New Family (Warp)
Caribou - Dundas, Ontario (remix) (Domino)
Mstrkrft - Work On You (Last Gang)
Legion of Green Men - For Maria, Wherever I May Find Her (Post Contemporary)
Curtis Fuller - Minor Vamp (Basement Boys mix) (Savoy Jazz)
Joe Silva - Life in Suede (Purespace)
Anja Schnedier and Sebo K - Side Leaps (Magda remix) (Mobilee)
CCCP - Cosmodrome Baikonur (Sleeper Thief remix)
Chelonis R. Jones - Deer in the Headlights (DJ Hell mix) (Get Physical)
Marc Romboy and Blake Baxter - Freakin' (Robert Babicz mix)
Barem - Cilindro (Foundsound)
Phonique - What I Play (Simple)
Matthias Schaffhauser - Coincidance (Trentemoller mix)
Plaid - Super Positions (Warp)
Rocky G - The Curious Robot (Fool Skool)
Nathan Fake - You Are Here (FortDax mix) (Border Community)
1-Speed Bike - The Ground is Really Unforgiving When You Fall (HRSTA mix) (Broklyn Beats)
Soma Sonic - Could It Be Real (Subsonic)
Fidgital - Ground Zero (Fidgital)

PNAS Profile of David Allis

Once again, if you subscribe to PNAS, you can read another profile I've written, this time on David Allis, a biochemist at Rockefeller University, who studies histones.

Without histone proteins, DNA strands would be little more than chaotic tangles. In the last decade, biologists and biochemists have found that histones, essential for packaging DNA in all eukaryotic cells, are not merely storage structures, but they also provide an active platform for DNA modification and remodeling, resulting in dynamic regulation of the genetic template. Biochemist C. David Allis has helped elucidate much of this knowledge and has played a major role in ushering in the modern era of chromatin biology. Consisting of DNA, histones, and other proteins, chromatin is the building block of chromosomes, and modifications to histones and chromatin may help extend the informational content of DNA.

Andrew Marks profile

If you subscribe to PNAS, you can read my profile of Andrew Marks, a heart researcher at Columbia University. Here's paragraph one:

Heart failure is the leading cause of death in developed countries and is often caused by blockage of coronary arteries. One of the recent medical technology successes in battling cardiac disease has been the drug-eluting coronary artery stent, which acts as a scaffold to keep arteries open and releases therapeutic agents. The development of such drug-eluting stents was pioneered by cardiologist Andrew R. Marks, elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2005. A research scientist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York), Marks is Chair of the Department of Cellular Physiology and Biophysics and Director of the Clyde and Helen Wu Center for Molecular Cardiology.

Swoon 151 - August 7, 2006

Sourmash - Pilgrimage to Paradise (Hardfloor mix) (Rising High)
Chris Jongkind - Shin-Nihombashi (Shiodome)
u-ziq - phi 1700 [u/v] (Rephlex)
Richard Devine - Helix Stair Helve (Sublight)
Squarepusher - F-Train (Warp)
Fond of Tigers - The Suburbs Are For Lovebirds
Caribou - Silver Splinters (Domino)
Chemical Brothers - Boxer (DFA remix) (Astralwerks)
Coldcut - Everything Is Under Control (Solid Groove mix) (Ninja Tune)
Circulation - Turquoise (Circulation)
Joe Silva - Floaters
Disco Evangelists - De Niro (exp)
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Edison (Bpitchcontrol)
Nathan Fake - Dinamo (Traum)
Air Liquide - Synsonic (sm:)e)
Mstrkrft - She's Good for Business (Last Gang)
Random Factor - Broken Mirror (20/20)

August 2006 Top 10

SCSI-9 - When She Said Goodbye (Kompakt)
Michael Mayer and Reinhard Voigt - Transparenza (Kompakt)
Wechsel Garland - Not Easy EP (Kalk)
Madonna - Get Together (James Holden mix)
Solenoid - Drack Soul (Ware)
Barem - Campo Madness EP (Foundsound)
Jesse Somfay - Small Pebbled Forest
Maderfotor - Scissor (Ware)
Ripperton and She DJ Masaya - I Love (Nummer)
Mr. G - E. S. G. 's

Sky & Telescope's new almanac

Sky & Telescope has replaced and upgraded their almanac to Skytonight. It gives more information on the planets in an easier to use format. Just pick your city and it gives you all the night sky information.

Swoon 150 - July 31, 2006

Klimek - Pathways (Kompakt)
Crowdpleaser & St. Plomb - New Times Roman (Mental Groove)
The Field - A Paw in my Face (Kompakt)
Ripperton and She DJ Masaya - I Love (Nummer)
Wechsel Garland - Mutes (DJ Koze mix) (Karaoke Kalk)
Barem - Campoloco (Foundsound)
Oxia - Change Works (Kompakt)
Giorgios Gratzigristos - (K2)
Wechsel Garland - Be (Lawrence mix) (Karaoke Kalk)
Fairmont - Gazelle Tool (Border Community)
Mikkel Metal - Align (Ware)
Broadcast - Come On Let's Go (Two Lone Swordsmen mix) (Warp)
Christian Dittman - Hasta Cuando (Nummer)
Triola - Polarzipper (Wighnomy Bros. remix) - (Kompakt)
SCSI-9 - When She Said Goodbye (Kompakt)
Solenoid - Drack Soul
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Jet (Bpitchcontrol)
Maderfotor - Scissor (Ware)
Michael Mayer and Reinhard Voigt - Transparenza (Kompakt)
Bookashade - In White Rooms (Get Physical)
Ame - Rej (Jett)
Boards of Canada - Left Side Drive (Warp)