Beyond Bones

By Ralph E. Phillips, HMNS Docent I can’t seem to get enough time … that is to say I keep thinking and digging into our concept of time.  Why are there 60 minutes in an hour instead of 100? Why 60 seconds in a minute? Why 7 days in week?   What would “Metric time” […]

On January 13, 2011, Minneapolis Community and Technical College astronomy instructor Parke Kunkle caused a stir by announcing that horoscopes are wrong because the zodiac has shifted. Not only do most people ‘belong’ to the sign immediately before the one they are traditionally assigned to, but there is a 13th ‘sign,’ Ophiuchus. This then, is an […]

In July 2009, I had a rare opportunity to travel with an HMNS sponsored tour group to the path of a solar eclipse. That eclipse occurred the morning of July 22, 2009, and was visible in Asia and the Pacific. Unfortunately, clouds marred the event as seen from our location just outside Shanghai. But since […]

In theory, archaeologists set out on their digs with specific goals in mind. They want to find out when a site was occupied and what people were doing at that time. They also want to know the bigger picture: how did people at the site they are digging interact with those living elsewhere? In practice […]