Las Cruces, Astronomy Department, and NMSU
Las Cruces is not Paris or New York. Not really. Yet, it is an interesting place:
- It is a fractal with dimension D=1.667. We measured this many times after going in a pub. Remarkably, this is the same dimension as a percolating cluster of the whole Universe. Surround each galaxy with a sphere and find connected regions. At some critical radius there will one connected area, which spans the whole Universe. It has fractal structure with the same dimension as Las Cruces. Is not it amazing?
- One cannot use bicycle in Las Cruces because local drivers are so stunned by seeing a person on a bike, that they just drive him/her over. They do it out of pity and they cry when they do it. Life in Las Cruces without a car is miserable. If drivers see a bicyclist, they think that the person does not have money to buy a car. To end the person's suffering they drive him/her over.
- Trafic jam in Las Cruces is when there are two cars ahead of you.
- Good weather in Las Cruces is when it rains, and there are clouds. It rains every year.
- Theory of probability does not work in Las Cruces. It rains 5 days a year. So, one would expect 1-2 percent chance to get rain. Yet, every visitor, who arrives to Las Cruces, gets into a heavy rain.
- Normally, to attract a dog, one whistles and shows food. Not in Las Cruces. Here we just put water. That gets attention of all animals around.
- Talking about animals, rattlesnakes and scorpions are part of normal life here. Just throw them away.
- Las Cruces is Chicago with a minus sign. You just name what Chicago has and we do not have it. Vise versa: Chicago does not have what we have:
Las Cruces |
Chicago |
| It is very dry here | muggy |
| Pleasant during winter: fantastic weather | cold/rain/snow/cold/rain... Not good for humans |
| No respect for architecture: we demolish any building, which remotedly can be considered good. | Fantastic architecture |
| Billy the Kid | Al Capone |
| Good beer | Good jazz |
| Farm and ranch heritage museum | Art Insitute: one of the best in the world |
| Mountains: great hiking place | What is a mountain? |
| Wild Animals and Nature | No animals if you do not go to bad areas in the city |
| President Martin: go aggies | Candidate for a President Obama: yes, we can |
Organ Mountains and Las Cruces:
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Professor J.Murphy
Professor Ch.Churchill
Professor J.Holtzman
Professor A.Klypin
Professor N.Chanover
Professor B.Webber
Professor R.Beebe
Grad.student J.Coughlin
Grad.students: tea time
