Children lined up standing on a beam. The girls have various postures. One child looks especially intent on the instructor's words.

Focus.
Posture.
Drive.
It's been here all along.

This photo is from 7 years ago. Our gymnast is the one in fuchsia.

This year she competes in Xcel Gold.

We appreciate the Xcel track for USA Gymnastics. Her coach has more freedom to build routines that highlight her strengths.
@usagym.org

I was going to share a then/now memory, but she has become a more private person and hasn't wanted to share many photos lately.

I am a Space Botany Nerd and my oldest child is a Gymnast. When I announced her birth to my lab mates they joked that she had finished her neutral buoyancy experiments and decided to start experimenting with 1g. I laughed, but they were right. She has been building those muscles since Day 1.

I love the word Phyllotaxis. It's delightful.

A brilliant rainbow butterfly kite flying against a pale blue sky with striped clouds. The ocean is behind it, with a launch pad in the distance.

As the world around us feels impossibly dark, I am building a life of light and joy.

Children running together on the beach. They are wearing long sleeves to protect against the sun. They fly two brilliant rainbow butterfly kites against a pale blue sky with striped clouds. The ocean is behind them.

I have had this kite for over a year and this was its first time flying. I had asked for kites for my birthday a handful of years ago, along with an opportunity to fly them with the family. The kites were provided. But the opportunity never materialized.

Until now.

Children are flying a kite on a beach. Waves tumble in the distance. A pink shovel is in the foreground.

Yesterday the wind wasn't the best for kite flying. We brought a kite to the beach anyway. And we had a wonderful time getting it into the air.

A view of Atlantis surrounded by a children's tour group, with gray haired experts explaining the ins and outs of the Shuttle.

For those who worked on the Shuttle program, this building is a sacred crypt. It contains the old husk of their Bird on display, showing the scars and wear after its final re-entry. Children laugh and play around them, as they stand there remembering, paying their respects.
Here is Atlantis.

Their curiosity is always met with stories.

This is a place of contrasts. Of sadness. Of joy. It is a place of learning.

We love the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. 8/8

They walk downstairs to the Columbia and Challenger memorials, and gaze on the twisted wreckage. They stand there in stunned silence as tears stream from their eyes. Sometimes a curious child looks up and asks one of these pensive people to explain. 7/8

It contains the old husk of their Bird on display, showing the scars and wear after its final re-entry. Children laugh and play around them, as they stand there remembering, paying their respects. 6/8

And you can view the real Atlantis, beside a model of the Hubble telescope that it repaired.
But to others, who worked on the Shuttle program, this building is a sacred crypt. 5/8

The building contains flight simulators, and the Shuttle Launch Experience where you get to ride in a shuttle launch simulation, passing through MECO and feeling like you are floating above the Earth - without ever leaving the building. 4/8

This building is a place of joy and celebration to my children. It houses the super fun slide that teaches you about the angles of re-entry. It has a climbing system high in the air that is a model of the ISS, where you can crawl in through the Columbus module and exit through a spacewalk. 3/8

She asked to borrow my camera to capture this shot. The blue of the sky is reflected in the water. Atlantis is written on the side of the building. A replica of the bright orange External Tank and bright white Solid Rocket Boosters pokes out above the building.
2/8

I spy... something Blue! 💙

While we waited for Ma's work friend to pick up a badge at the Badging Office, we were a little bored. We thought about what we could do with our time. We love playing I spy!

Our 12 year old looked over and saw this shot. 1/8

16 years ago I walked into the Space Life Sciences Lab for the first time.
I took a road trip from Ohio to the Kennedy Space Center. I was a graduate student. I arrived to watch the Tropi2 plant experiment launch to the ISS on STS-130 and to do our preflight verification test for BRIC-16.

Book spines showing three books by Tolkien and one by Topping. Several of the books have a little alien sticker that says "Science Fiction."

Today was the first time that I found Tolkien in the Science Fiction section of a library.

A woman with blue eyes, light skin, and dark graying hair wearing a colorful swimsuit looks up at a camera.

How will you bring joy into your life today?
Yesterday I couldn't find any good reason not to put on my swimsuit and spend a few hours in a pool with my children. So I did. And it was fun.

I'm sharing a photo of me in my swimsuit with you. Perhaps it will motivate you.

#juststrong

A man stands outdoors looking carefully at a plant. He wears a hat and long sleeves.

The Botanical world mourns today.
A giant in the field is no more.

Rest in peace, Donovan Kirkwood.

news.mongabay.com/short-articl...

This is another piece about his work:
www.nature.com/articles/d44...

Annoyed by all those containers that don't match a top?

Try growing plants in them.
The shallow ones are great for propagating.
This one is a Rubbermaid container. Durable, nice, but not too useful once the top is lost.

Bonus, if the top ever turns up, wash it out and use. @rubbermaid.bsky.social

Extremophile Adaptation: How A Deep Sea Worm Survives High Arsenic And Sulfide Levels - Astrobiology A deep sea worm that inhabits hydrothermal vents survives the high levels of toxic arsenic and sulfide in its environment

Extremophile Adaptation: How A Deep Sea Worm Survives High Arsenic And Sulfide Levels
astrobiology.com/2025/08/extr... #astrobiology #oceanography #extremophile

A little purple flower peeks out between the bright pink bracts of this ornamental turmeric. It shares a pot with a variegated spider plant.

A little purple flower peeks out between the bright pink bracts of this ornamental turmeric. It shares a pot with a variegated spider plant.

I like this one. It's food for scientific thought.
www.instagram.com/reel/DM8OrRj...

Mission Report: 26 August 2025 - Space Botany My top stories from the world of space plants and gardening this week include tomato seeds in space, space-flown seeds heading home and a potential Lego Mark Watney!

Emma the Space Gardener released a new Mission Report today!
spacebotany.uk/blog/mission...

Our friends encountered them in Utah when out for a hike. Even ripping a leaf off one of these will release droplets 💧 of fluid that could harm a child.

Want to identify the plants around you? We love the iNaturalist app.

Screenshot of the identification in iNaturalist

Purple flowers with green leaves

Purple flowers with green leaves as a backdrop

Are you going for a stroll today?
Do you plan to stop and smell the flowers?
🪷🌹 🌺 🌹 🌺 🪷
It's a great thing to do - but be careful out there.

🚫 Don't touch these purple flowers!
🟣💜🟪🚫☠️⚠️
Monkshood!
Also known as wolfsbane.
The scientific name is Acontium. Everything in this genus is dangerous.

Radish plants growing out of special gaskets in clear boxes. There's a black sign with white lettering that says "life sciences department Botany section."

Botany is in the house!

Life Sciences Department
Botany Section

Don't recognize the sign?

It's a Star Trek reference. Here's a link explaining more.
memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Botany_...

BREAKING: The president's budget request just hit Congress, which could usher in a dark age for NASA space science.
Congress has the final say, but you can help shape the outcome by adding your name to our global petition.
This is just the start of our fight.
Sign the petition: planet.ly/petition

Hardware Susan wmusic YouTube video by botanynerd

Want to see NASA Space plant hardware (BRIC-PDFU) put together? With music?
Here is a video the Kiss Lab put together many years ago.
youtu.be/SeH9dFBWgz0?...