Day 161 - Self-portrait

When I was at the Air and Space Museum, I happened upon this thermal imaging camera... or something.  I actually have no idea what it was, but I had to take a self portrait. I think most people actually missed this until they saw me taking a picture of this screen.  So, yes, this is a little blurry, but I didn't have the opportunity to retake it.

I really don't like selfies...so, this is probably the closest I'll get to being on my own blog!  

Day 154 - Astrolabe

When I was in Washington, DC I spent a lot of time at the Air and Space Museum.  Though I'm not in the sciences, they do fascinate me.  Place like the Air and Space Museum are amazing displays of human ingenuity! This picture is one such display.  This is an astrolabe from early Islamic history.  An astrolabe is used to locate and predict the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, making it a useful tool for mariners (for navigation) and astronomers.  In the Islamic world, it was also used to calculate the Qibla (direction of prayer) and to find the times for prayers. Such simple (?) yet effective technology!