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Last night my suspicion was aroused by unusual behaviour by two people I THOUGHT I knew well - Mrs PeriodicVideos and YouTube buddy Destin (from Smarter Every Day).

I have since found out they have been in secret contact for weeks.

But it's okay - they were only conspiring to get me THE BEST PRESENT EVER!

It was this signed photo of Neil Armstrong!

BACKSTORY

I am a big fan of the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.

Many years ago - when I finally had a job and some money - I started collecting Apollo memorabilia.

Most notably the autographs of moonwalkers.

I know it is silly - but we all have hobbies!

Over time I've accumulated quite a collection but never Neil Armstrong.

This is because he had "retired" from signing autographs and buying a second-hand version is super expensive (and risky, with forgeries everywhere!).

THE MIDDLE PART

I left my collection in Australia when I moved to the UK in 2002.

But eventually I had it shipped to the UK.

Mrs PeriodicVideos admires my passion but does not particularly like space photography plastered everywhere.



So most of the collection lives in a secure trunk, with just a few pics on "public display".

For very special (and nerdy) guests I unlock the trunk and show off the collection.

Many of them are framed with elaborate plaques and mission patches, etc.

One such guest was Destin, who stayed with us in the UK last year (along with his wife Tara).

Destin has a long family history with rocketry and NASA.  I am sure he will be an astronaut one day.

He loved the collection and, like everyone, was told that it is missing a Neil Armstrong.

The elephant not in the room, I guess!

THE LAST BIT

Unbeknownst to me, Destin and Mrs PeriodicVideos plotted to acquire a Neil Armstrong autograph.

(Of course, the great man sadly died last year - an older signature is the only option)

I had no idea, but my wife was being suspiciously guarded about her email communication in recent weeks!

(I have since learned it was because Destin was using "Neil Armstrong" in the email subject fields!!!!)

And last night - very much out of character - she asked me to switch on Skype so she could test something!?

Then Destin called me and the trap was sprung.

The signed picture was revealed and Destin was able to enjoy (and photograph) my bemused response.


I later learned that Destin - ever the stickler for detail like Armstrong himself - had put the autograph through a rigorous and costly authentication process.

I feel a bit disappointed that I was perhaps not excited enough about the gift - but honestly after all these years, I was just a bit shocked.

Best present ever.

Thanks guys!

For while we've been following Ed Lester's work in the world of nanoparticles.

Check it all out here: PLAYLIST

The University of Nottingham professor is heading a spin-out company with ambitions to take the technology further.

Here's the latest video - an ambitious four-day run of the company's nanoparticle reactor.

Of course, running a new reactor for four days continuously will not be without problems?



SHYMAN research project.

Brown papers from these Numberphile videos are currently available on ebay.

Click on the link under the video if you're interested.

Thanks for supporting Numberphile.

(LIST LAST UPDATED 21 NOV 2013 - some may no longer be available)


GOOGOLPLEX ON EBAY


FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM ON EBAY

I just spent a few days at the Start Point Lighthouse - which I loved.

Got a little bit of video which I may put together soon.

But for now, here are some photos...

Wearing my Numberphile hat, many people have drawn my attention to the recently uploaded Adam Spencer TED talk about Monster primes.

I just thought I'd use my blog to group reply...

I actually watched it on the day because I was lucky enough to be at the TED Active event earlier this year (as a guest of TED-Ed).

And I thought it was great - can't believe they took so long to "publish" it!



Great to see a fellow Aussie on the TED stage too!

Numberphile has also done plenty on the subject, including this.



And here is our whole prime number buffet.

PRIME PLAYLIST

I've always been intrigued by "The Green Flash" - but had never seen it until making this video at the Very Large Telescope in Paranal.

I really enjoyed this film because it captures some of the magic and excitement experienced by amateur astronomers - and shows observing is more than just watching a static sky!



And here is a shorter version for those with lesser attention spans.



Pete Lawrence captured a great series of images during the sunset.

But this compilation really shows them off beautifully.

It also shows there was some blue light in there - an even rarer sight.

This will be my final entry from Chile (and I also note it's my 500th blog post).

Today we started early and visited the extraordinary ALMA Observatory.

At an elevation of 5000m, its antenna are high on the Chajnator Plateau.

We even took oxygen as a precaution, but thankfully did not need it.

However the altitude was evident - thinking became muddled and physical exertion more difficult.





The array of antenna were an amazing sight, set in a natural amphitheatre of Andes mountains.

But perhaps the highlight of the day was meeting Denis Barkats.

Denis is a Sixty Symbols viewer who contacted me after hearing we were in Chile.

Not only is he a man with great taste in videos (!) he's also a commissioning scientist at ALMA, and knows the place back-to-front.


So Denis joined us for the trip to the plateau and became the star of the video.

He did a great job explaining the facility.

Stay tuned for a slew of great films from this trip, on both Sixty Symbols and Deep Sky Videos.

I'm now back in Santiago and looking forward to getting home (without looking forward to the long flight!)

A special thanks to Laura Ventura from the European Southern Observatory for being a great guide and host.

Chile Diary - Day Four
Chile Diary - Day Five
Chile Diary - Day Six