If you have even the slightest, faintest, mildest tinge of fear that all of this matter currently in existence may be gone tomorrow, I’ve got a little advice. Spend time with nerds. Yep. It’s a simple lesson, but an important one. When standing in the nucleus of nerd cloud, the universe is put into perspective. They say smart stuff about space, and you nod and smile. They make inside snort jokes about people putting stock in Mayan calendars rather than trusting the dense tug of the universe’s exotic dark matter. You’ll chuckle along and sigh. “Poor unsmart people,” you’ll think momentarily, forgetting that you’re part of that group, “they just don’t get science.” That’s why you should join the space dorks of the UT Arlington Planetarium (Chemistry Physics Building, 700 Planetarium Place, Arlington) 7 p.m. to midnight or detonation, whichever, Friday for the [Not] The End of the World Party. They’ll have educational lectures, programs, observation hours with the telescopes and more very smart things that will make you feel a lot better about Saturday morning. Visit uta.edu/planetarium.
Fri., Dec. 21, 2012