The much ballyhooed total eclipse came and it went, more than a third of a world away. I didn't pay it much attention at the time, though I did marvel at some of the photographs of totality, while also staying aware that I had no way of knowing whether they were, in fact, of this totality rather than some previous event. A couple of people I know were there that I know of, and their accounts were terrific in a detached way. I also saved "Annie Dillard's Classic Essay: 'Total Eclipse'", which The Atlantic generously made available "until the end of August". But I didn't read it.

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Bugger. I've been dreading this news. I owe PPGB more than I ever said, more than I ever could say. Truly, the end of an era.

A few days ago, searching for something completely different, I came across a post by John Hawks -- The futility of science communication conferences -- which I duly bookmarked. The real point of that, of course, was to remind myself to go and read the foundation post: Communication, Literacy, Policy: Thoughts on SciComm in a Democracy, by Rick Borchelt.¹ It's a beaut, and not just because it pushes all my confirmation bias buttons.

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Continuing my efforts to bring old stuff into this new bottle, I came across a post from 3 January 2006.

my favourite list of 2005: The Year in Media Errors and Corrections. The parent site looks worth bookmarking for future entertainment.

Alas, Wayback Machine knows it not. At least the l...

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It was fun listening to Melvyn Bragg trying to get to grips with the ineffable mysteries of bird migration. The facts don't seem to have changed much since I taught the subject, decades ago,¹ although there are now many more of them. And almost all of those facts are clearly enough to make even Lord Bragg's mind boggle, as we heard throughout the show. But I kept waiting for one of the guests to make one key point.

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