Think ML Is Too Hard? STEM Students Are Already Halfway There
How I Finally Learned ML (and Why I Shouldn’t Have Waited) I first considered Machine Learning as something challenging yet feasible for me to learn when I attended the American Astronomical Society conference in Florida in 2016 and saw a fellow UIUC undergrad senior…
Guest Appearance on the Shine Bright Like The Firmament Podcast
I was recently interviewed for the Shine Bright Like The Firmament podcast, which is hosted by Madeline Shepley and features Catholics in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In this episode I spoke about the different legs of my journey: first,…
Modern Quadrivial Astronomy
I’ve spent several years teaching Physics and Astronomy in online schools that focus on classical education. But it wasn’t until a little over a year ago when a friend asked me about combining classical and modern Astronomy that I started to think about it deeply. How…
Learn the Northern Circumpolar Constellations
Because circumpolar constellations by definition never go below the horizon, classifying constellations as circumpolar is subject to one’s latitude. From the Equator no constellations are circumpolar, whereas from the North Pole all constellations above the horizon…
Family Roadtrip to See the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
I traveled across 2/3 of the country with my family to see the total solar eclipse, staying with many friends along the way. Our initial destination was Dallas. Two days before the eclipse, however, cloud cover models still forecasted lots of clouds over Texas. From…
Prepare for the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
On April 8, 2024, the Moon will cover the Sun for a few minutes, as seen from a small strip of Earth spanning parts of Mexico, USA, and Canada. The Moon’s shadow will sweep from southwest to northeast. Other regions of North America not in the direct shadow will…
Learn the Northern Summer Constellations
Although Summer nights can be short, at least it’s warmer! If you’re outside under a starry Summer sky (in the Northern Hemisphere), here are the constellations you can learn to identify. Note: All the images below are screenshots I took from the free…
My Astronomy Lectures Are Now Public on YouTube
Now that I’ve transitioned from teaching high schoolers during my PhD research years to working in industry, I’ve decided to make my lecture videos public. My course is from my perspective as a Catholic scientist and is divided in two halves: • The History of…
Brilliant Chess Moves from My Recent Games
I’ve been playing on Chess.com since late 2018. You can find me here or by searching for DoctorAragorn. I’m what you might call a serious hobbyist. After each game ends, a Chess.com engine classifies every move into one of the following categories:• Blunder: A very…
Making Quick Plots with Python and Matplotlib
Imagine being able to generate a plot with only one line of code. After I had spent some time coding in Python and generating plots in Matplotlib, I decided to make some shortcuts for each time I wanted to see a simple plot. Although plot_assistant was born in 2017,…
Extraterrestrials, AI, and Minds Beyond the Human
“Extraterrestrials, AI, and Minds Beyond the Human” was the title of the Society of Catholic Scientists Conference that was held June 4-6, 2021. Members met in Washington, D.C., while others (like myself) tuned in to a livestream of the talks. Here I do not wish to…
April-May Crash Course in Astronomy Is Open
“Astronomy is so cool, but it’s all over my head,” is a concept I hear a lot. This may be the case for you, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. In just 7 weeks, I can bring you up to speed with my Astronomy crash course. The first half of the course takes a…