Lettuce + ISS = Space Food

For the first time (technically speaking this is the second time) astronauts have managed to harvest and are getting ready to consume a deep purple colored lettuce variety going by the name of "Outredgeous Lettuce", where the entire process took place in the ISS (International Space Station).

This opens up the way for future space expeditions having the ability to last a lot longer than what was originally packed into the space shuttle while at Earth. All you need is some blue and red wavelength light from LED's (with some green thrown in to enhance visual acuity) and some seeds placed into the "Veggie" unit for a delicious green meal grown in just over a month. The NASA article goes into a lot more depth about what this means for the present and the future of space travel, along with a nifty video so give it a look.

Do not go gentle into that good night - Dylan Thomas, 1952

Sometimes a little poetry can help to relax the mind greatly. One such work I would like to share is from Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The poem called Do not go gentle into that good night comes from his book called In Country Sleep, And Other Poems which he wrote in 1952 while visiting Italy with his family. The poem is as follows:

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night. 

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night. 

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

The poem can also be viewed at poets.org with the copyright holder's permission.