►
Description
Ariel Waldman is the chief organizer of Science Hack Day, a globally distributed two-day-all-night event where anyone excited about making weird, silly or serious things with science comes together in the same physical space to see what they can prototype within 24 consecutive hours.
In this talk, Ariel describes the often surprising and interesting ways that all of us can interact with the science of space exploration.
About CodeConf
CodeConf improves the software community by providing a forum for thought-provoking talks and forging social connections. The third installment of the CodeConf series took place in Nashville in 2015. Attendees came together to discuss open source, best practices, documentation, and community.
For more information on this year's CodeConf, go to:
https://codeconf.com/
A
A
A
I
always
like
to
start
my
talks
with
this
image,
because
this
is
an
image
taken
from
one
of
my
favorite
spacecrafts,
voyager
voyager
one,
and
if
you
can
see
that
tiny
little
pale
blue
speck
of
a
pixel
there
that's
earth
as
seen
from
about
four
billion
miles
away.
So
that's
where
you
can
find
me
if
you
need
me
also
in
san
francisco,
though,
and
why
I
love
this
image.
So
much
is
because
it
shows
us
how
space
exploration
often
changes
our
view
of
ourselves
and
our
place
in
the
universe.
A
But
similarly,
I
think
we
should
change
how
we
view
space
exploration
and
that's
what
a
lot
of
my
work
focuses
on.
I
work
on
hacking,
space
exploration
essentially,
but
it
should
really
be
called
hacking
space
observation,
because
that's
really
the
relationship
that
most
of
us
have
with
space
exploration,
we're
often
observing
astronauts
and
government
agencies
exploring
on
behalf
of
us,
but
we
ourselves
aren't
doing
much
exploring,
and
so
this
actually
relates
to
my
own
personal
story,
because
I
actually
don't
have
a
background
in
science
whatsoever.
A
If
you
haven't
seen
it,
I
totally
recommend
it
it's
this
documentary
about
nasa
trying
to
figure
out
how
to
send
people
into
space
in
the
early
days
and
and
how
they
were
trying
to
figure
it
out,
and
I
became
so
incredibly
inspired
by
this
documentary
that
I
decided
to
send
someone
at
nasa
an
email
saying
that
I
was
a
huge
fan
of
what
they
were
doing
and
if
they
ever
needed.
Someone
like
me
someone
completely
without
a
science
background
that
I
was
around.
I
didn't
expect
to
hear
back
from
it.
A
It
was
sort
of
like
a
geeky
fangirl
moment
so
to
speak,
but
serendipitously
I
was
able
to
get
a
job
at
nasa
from
that
email
and
it
completely
changed
my
life,
and
so
I
just
wanted
to
share
a
quick
clip
from
this
documentary
that
might
sort
of
explain
why
I
found
it
so
inspiring
see
if
we
can
get
the
sound.
Let's
launch
a
man
into
earth
orbit.
A
A
But
nasa
in
the
early
days
they
didn't
yet
know
space
exploration,
they
they
didn't
know
what
they
were
doing.
They
were
figuring
it
out
as
they
went
along,
and
so
I
was
watching
this
at
home
going
like.
Well,
I
don't
know
anything
about
space
exploration.
I
want
to
work
at
nasa.
That
sounds
amazing,
and
so
I
got
that
chance
and
it
was
completely
life-changing
and
it
really
changed
my
view
of
nasa
from
being
a
bunch
of
rocket
scientists
to
being
a
bunch
of
space
hackers
that
they
were
figuring
out.
A
Space
exploration
as
they
went
along
and
so
working
at
nasa
was
really
great.
It
was
like
getting
paid
to
go
to
school.
I
got
to
learn
about
dark
matter
and
robots
and
all
these
different
things,
but
one
of
the
most
important
things
I
ended
up
learning
while
I
was
at
nasa
was
that
I
didn't
even
need
to
work
at
nasa
in
order
to
explore
space,
and
so
I
left
and
I
created
spacehack.org,
which
is
a
directory
of
ways
to
participate
in
space
exploration.
A
To
sort
of
help
their
mission
and
help
get
people
ready
to
go
to
mars
one
day,
there's
also
cool
projects
on
space
hack,
like
galaxy,
zoo,
radio,
where
you
can
actually
discover
black
holes,
classify
and
potentially
even
discover
new
black
holes
that
no
one's
discovered
before,
which
is
pretty
awesome
and
then
more
recently,
a
project
that
I
created
with
a
friend
from
the
seti
institute,
which
is
the
search
for
extraterrestrial
intelligence
institute.
My
friend
lisa
ballard
and
I
got
together
and
we
created
a
site
called
space
probes.
A
The
url
is
spaceprob.es
and
this
site
essentially
shows
and
catalogs
all
the
human-made
machines
that
freckle
our
solar
system.
So
all
of
the
active
space
probes
that
are
out
there
in
our
solar
system
at
the
moon
and
beyond
this
site,
catalogs
it
and
what
we
actually
did
for
this
is
we
scrape
the
xml
from
nasa's
deep
space
network,
which
is
the
actual
satellite
network,
or
rather
antenna
network
that
works
to
communicate
with
all
these
space
probes
out
in
the
solar
system.
So
we
scraped
xml
from
that.
A
I
think
every
10
minutes
or
so,
and
then
we
have
our
code
up
on
github.
If
you're
interested,
I
think
our
username
is
space
hackers,
if
you
want
to
check
it
out,
but
it's
quite
a
fun
project,
so
you
can
see
all
the
distances
change
and
you
can
actually
see
where
all
these
space
probes
are
at
any
given
time.
A
Other
cool
space
hacks
that
I've
come
across
is
one
that
was
called.
What
color
does
the
internet
think
pluto
is
and
why
I
love
this
hack
is
because
it
shows
that
you
don't
have
to
necessarily
be
using
data
from
nasa
in
order
to
do
cool
space
hacks.
You
can
also
just
create
your
own
data.
In
this
case
someone
actually
did
a
bunch
of
google
image
searches
and
they
were
able
to
actually
extract
the
illuminated
pixels
that
depict
the
color
the
color
that
people
depict
pluto
as
in
blog
posts.
A
They
extracted
all
the
illuminated
pixels
and
then
were
able
to
create
this
grid,
and
you
can
sort
of
see,
there's
like
a
pretty
half
and
half
distribution
between
the
warmer
hues
and
the
cooler
hues,
which
is
pretty
interesting,
also
interesting,
because
the
new
horizons,
spacecraft,
which
is
the
spacecraft
that's
going
to
pluto
right
now-
is
about
18
days
away
from
reaching
pluto.
So
we're
going
to
have
for
the
very
first
time
close-up
images
of
pluto
and
hopefully
the
internet
will
start
weighing
in
that
it's
more
of
a
red
issue
than
a
bluish
hue.
A
But
I
guess
we
can
figure
that
out
as
time
goes
on.
Another
cool
hack
that
I've
come
across
is
a
group
of
people
who
wanted
to
essentially
3d
scan
supernovas
supernovas
are
awesome,
they're
beautiful.
We
get
these
lovely
images
of
them
like
this,
but
we
don't
really
get
a
sense
of
them
in
space
so
to
speak,
and
so
we
can't
exactly
take
a
connect
and
hold
it
up
to
the
sky
and
hope
to
get
a
3d
scan
of
a
supernova.
A
That
way-
and
we
can't
exactly
shrink
a
supernova
down
and
and
put
it
through
an
mri
machine
and
get
a
scan
of
it.
That
way,
but
that's
sort
of
what
a
group
of
people
who
were
hacking
around
with
stuff
at
harvard
did
is
they
actually
took
the
open
source
tool,
3d
slicer,
which
is
usually
used
to
take
a
bunch
of
mri
scans
of
a
brain
and
then
put
it
through
a
3d
sort
of
fly
through
map.
So
they
took
this.
A
This
open
source
tool,
3d
slicer,
and
instead
of
feeding
it
these
brain
scans,
which
it
usually
sees,
they
fed
it
supernova
data
and
supernova
images,
so
they
actually
fed
it
the
cassiopeia,
a
supernova
remnant
and
they
were
able
to
create
this.
So
this
is
actually
the
very
first
3d
fly
through
of
a
supernova
remnant
that
had
ever
been
created,
and
this
was
because
the
medicine
department
teamed
up
with
the
astronomy
astronomy
department
and
they
were
together
able
to
actually
produce
this
3d
scan
of
a
supernova
which
is
really
really
cool.
A
So
some
of
the
things
to
come
out
of
nyack
have
been
things
like
the
comet
hitchhiker,
which,
when
I
first
heard
about
it
being
a
bit
of
a
space,
geek
snob.
I
guess
I
was
like
well.
Why
do
we
need
a
comet
hitchhiker?
We've
already
got
a
space
probe,
that's
at
a
comet
called
rosetta
and
it's
super
awesome.
Why
do
we
need
another?
Not
that
I
would
ever
complain
about
having
two
space
probes
out
of
comet,
but
I
didn't
know
how
this
was
necessarily
futuristic,
so
what
the
comet
hitchhiker
actually
does.
Is
it?
A
A
And
then
this
is
a
really
cool
one
that
essentially
uses
computer
science
and
computer
vision
and
a
bunch
of
great
algorithms.
What
you're
looking
at
here
is
the
moon
and
and
the
sun
as
it
goes
across
the
moon
on
any
given
day,
and
what
you're
actually
witnessing
here
is
like
this
little
rover
trying
as
hard
as
it
can
to
only
stay
in
sunlight
at
all
times.
So
it's
sort
of
like
a
video
game
where
you
know
the
rover
is
going
like.
A
Okay,
the
the
dark
bits
are
lava
like
don't
touch
them,
and
so
what
this
project
actually
does
is.
It
is
able
to
calculate
a
route
in
which
a
rover
can
always
stay
in
sunlight.
Why?
This
is
important
is
because
rovers,
a
lot
of
times
are
sent
up,
only
work
off
of
solar
energy,
and
so,
if
they
can
continuously
stay
in
sunlight,
they
can
keep
working,
keep
doing
science.
They
don't
have
to
go
to
sleep
overnight.
So
this
was
a
pretty
interesting
project.
A
That's
able
to
be
done
now,
because
now
we
have
even
better
maps
of
the
moon
than
we
even
used
to
so,
as
I
mentioned,
nyack
is
open
for
anyone
to
propose
to
the
first.
Let's
see
the
first
proposals,
I
think
are
usually
due
around
october
or
so,
and
they
just
to
start.
They
only
ask
for
like
a
three-page
white
paper,
so
you
can
actually
submit
a
three-page
white
paper
on
what
your
concept
is,
how
you
would
prototype
it,
how
you
would
research
it
and
anyone
can
apply
and
get
funding.
A
So
the
mission
of
science
hack
day
is
just
to
get
excited
and
make
things
with
science.
They
can
be
silly
things,
they
can
be
serious
things,
it
doesn't
matter
it's
just
about
making.
You
know
things
with
science,
so
I
lead
the
organization
for
the
san
francisco
event,
which
actually
last
year
and
this
year
is
taking
place
at
github
headquarters.
A
This
is
a
photo
from
last
year
if
you
are
located
in
the
bay
area.
The
next
one
is
in
late
october,
so
keep
an
eye
out
for
that,
and
science
hack
day
is
an
event
where
it's
grassroots
and
it's
open
and
no
one
owns
it.
It's
not
an
organization,
it's
not
a
franchise.
You
don't
need
permission
to
organize
one.
Anyone
can
organize
one,
and
so
I
had
the
pleasure
of
visiting
a
bunch
of
science
hack
days
last
year,
all
over
the
world
I
traveled
to
medellin
in
colombia.
A
A
A
I
don't
know
why
they
just
did
so.
What
you're
actually
looking
at
is
a
a
makeshift
wind
tunnel
and
someone
actually
recorded
the
wind
drag
of
each
individual
letter
and
then
waited
each
individual
letter
so
that
all
the
letters
would
have
equal
wind
drag.
So,
if
you're
wanting
a
typeface
in
which
all
the
letters
have
equal
one
drag,
it
looks
something
like
this
again.
I
don't
know
why.
But
this
was
a
physicist
who
was
playing
with
typography,
which
is
something
that
I
love
other
hacks
to
come
out.
A
Science
hack
day
have
been
ones
like
this
one.
This
is
a
prototype
of
a
lamp
that
would
light
up
every
time
an
asteroid
passed
by
the
earth.
So
it
was
sort
of
like
a
near
death
lamp
you
could,
you
could
put
it
on
your
desk
and
freak
out
your
co-workers
with
it.
So
asteroids
and
near-earth
objects
pass
by
the
earth
actually
fairly
frequently.
So
this
is
actually
quite
a
fun
lamp
to
have
one
to
come
out.
A
More
recently
was
a
hack
called
the
satellite
symphony,
and
this
is
a
hack
where
you
can
go
in
and
you
can
type
in
any
location
around
the
earth,
and
you
can
see
all
the
satellites
that
are
currently
overhead,
but
satellite
symphony
doesn't
just
show
you
all.
The
satellites
are
currently
overhead,
but
it
also
puts
them
to
music
based
on
how
far
fast
they're
going
and
how
far
away
they
are,
and
so
why
I
love
this.
A
So
much
is
because
when
you're
at
school
or
you're
at
work
or
at
home,
you
get
a
sense
of
how
congested
the
traffic
is
outside.
You
get
a
sense
of
how
busy
it
is
or
how
quiet
it
is
outside,
but
you
never
really
have
that
sense
for
all
the
stuff,
that's
overhead.
So
what
satellite
symphony
does
is
it
gives
you
sort
of
more
of
an
ambient
awareness
of
how
crowded
or
not
it
is
over
your
head
at
any
given
point
one
to
come
out
of
this.
A
This
was
from
san
francisco
last
year
at
github.
Actually,
I
think
it
won
best
in
show
it
was
an
interactive
planetarium.
Essentially,
they
had
created
a
planetarium
in
which,
instead
of
just
lying
back
and
observing
all
the
stars
over
you,
you
could
actually
explore
the
stars
and
the
planets
and
galaxies
through
using
your
hands
and
actually
get
information
about
any
given
planet
or
or
star,
and
get
more
of
a
physical
sense
of
the
distances
between
these
things.
And
so
this
is.
A
A
But
my
all-time
favorite
hack
from
a
science
hack
day
was
the
beard
detector,
essentially
a
device
that
would
detect
when
someone
needed
to
shave,
which
was
a
silly
hack.
Essentially,
this
guy
wanted
to
detect
when
he
needed
to
shave,
and
so
he
took
a
usb
microscope
like
the
one
you
can
see
here
and
he
held
it
up
to
his
face
and
got
this
really
gross
image
of
all
the
stubble
on
his
face.
I
hope
you
all
enjoyed
lunch
and
he
wrote
some
basic
code
and
used
an
open
computer
vision.
Library
and
the
result
was
this.
A
And
this
is
what
I
love
so
much
about
hacking,
space
exploration
and
hacking,
science,
it's
really
about
creating
sparks
for
future
ideas
and
future
collaborations,
and
I
just
showed
you
a
bunch
of
really
awesome
hacks,
but
I've
been
in
nashville
only
a
little
bit
of
time.
But
already
I
get
a
sense
that
there's
a
lot
of
awesome
geeks
here
and
I
think
it
might
be
time
for
a
science
hack
day
in
nashville.
So
if
you
all
could
help
me
create
that
that
would
be
awesome.
A
So
with
that,
essentially,
when
it
comes
to
space
exploration,
there's
a
lot
of
things
that
you
could
be
searching
for,
you
could
be
searching
for
extraterrestrials
or
you
could
be
searching
for
exoplanets.
But
to
me
it's
really
the
search
for
experimentation,
that's
so
incredibly
precious
and
I
think
we've
found
it
through
hacking,
science
and
hacking
space
exploration.
Thank
you.