Chile: 3 Years after the 27F Earthquake

Mayor earthquakes in Chile since February 27th 2010. (Credit: José Infestas & EMOL)

Three years ago, before I moved to Chile, there was a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake in the central region. This occurred on the 27th of February 2010 and the event is commonly refer to in the news as 27/F (or variants like 27-F). A few days ago, there was an interesting report on earthquake statistics in Chile, which I would like to summarize (and translate, as it's in Spanish) for you.
Given my current travels this is a scheduled post and I didn't have time to double check all the facts in the report. I'm hoping they are mostly accurate, though that newspaper has had it's share of mistakes in the past. Nevertheless, the important trends still should hold. Now, on to my summary...

Astronomy: Observing at La Silla

La Silla Observatory

Astronomers, particularly those that deal with observations (like me), tend to go to remote places to observe the stars. These tend to be high up on mountain tops in isolated areas far from cities. This past week was the first time I visited La Silla Observatory. This post summarizes my experience from the last few days.

Book Review: A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

This is it. The 14th and final book of the Wheel of Time. I purchased this book a few days after it had been released while visiting the US. It's one of the two books I got in my visit (the other is Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay). We have all been waiting for the concluding volume of this epic series. This is Tarmon Gaidon, the Final Battle.

I try to avoid direct spoilers, but it's nearly impossible in the final book of a series like this.
The full review is below the jump.

Fund Me Maybe

Short post today to point out Emily Rice's excellent work compiling a parody video of Call Me, Maybe.  This was a hackAAS project at the most recent American Astronomical Society meeting.
You have to see this; it's excellent. And as a bonus, I appear briefly near the end!