Outside of space and time

One of the philosophical questions I have been grappling with recently is consciousness outside of space and time.

We live in a world bounded by space and time. We seem to live in a vast universe with time flowing from the past into the future. Trying to imagine things outside of these is all but impossible. 

I am reminded of a book I read in the 1960s where everything had just 2 dimensions. Thinking outside of these was almost impossible. An object passing through this world might get larger, then smaller, but it might be hard to understand this in a 2-dimensional world. 

The book may have been called Flatland. There are books called this on Amazon, although I am not sure if these are the same book in more recent editions? It was first published as a novella in 1884, so these may well be the same.

I sometimes think we might be like that: unable to think unless they are within the bounds of experience of our finite brains. 

We are used to think in our world view, but this may be a very narrow.

See https://www.amazon.co.uk/

Tim Peake - NOT amateur radio

Thankfully, Tim Peake who had spent 6 months on board the ISS, has returned safely to Earth. He has done much for the UK in space. We must not forget that space is still a hazardous environment. Getting back from space is still very hazardous.

Severe solar storm

We are currently experiencing the most severe solar storm in very many years with HF very badly disturbed. There are auroras expected far further south than normal. This is a result of a CME event on the Sun interacting with the magnetic field of our planet.

If the weather is clear, check for a visual aurora!

It is also worth keeping eyes and ears alert for auroral propagation on 10m, 6m, 4m and 2m. I have in the past worked stations via aurora using QRP SSB and CW with very simple wire antennas on 10m and 6m. As frequency goes down SSB becomes more possible. What may be a very rough hissy CW note on 2m maybe a fairly decent SSB signal on 10m. The 10m and 6m bands are very worth a try when there is an aurora about.

See http://spaceweather.com/ .

Want to launch your own satellite? You can!

Interorbital Systems of California have introduced a kit to allow you to build your own satellite! The price of the Tubesat kit ($8000) includes the cost of a launch into space as well.