Oh, a sarcasm detector. That’s a really useful invention.
Tag: Science
Dubya Stems the Tide.
In the face of growing bipartisan support (and withering hopes for Social Security privatization) in Congress, Dubya declares he will veto a bill easing stem cell restrictions. In five years, Dubya has never used the veto before…but of course he’s always ready to answer the bell when the right-wing fundies come-a-knockin’.
That’s no moon, it’s a…uh, a moon.
The Cassini discovers a new moon within Saturn’s rings. “Tentatively called S/2005 S1, the moon measures four miles across and is about 85,000 miles from the center of Saturn.” (Via Corsairs United.)
Endorian Extinction.
“What happens when you detonate a spherical metal honeycomb over five hundred miles wide just above the atmosphere of a habitable world? Regardless of specifics, the world won’t remain habitable for long.” Also found last night while perusing Star Wars sites, this technical commentary delves into the unwitting and horrifying environmental disaster precipitated by the Rebel Alliance upon the forest moon of Endor, as a result of the events depicted in Return of the Jedi (Another SW movie, as it turns out, that I went in massively spoiled for — I was living in Belgium at the time, and it didn’t open there until well after the US release.)
Griffin in the door?
Finally, a Dubya nominee I can get behind. At his confirmation hearing, Michael Griffin — the administration’s pick for head of NASA — suggests the Hubble may still be worth saving. “Griffin, a physicist-engineer who holds six advanced degrees, is known as a devotee of human space travel and a firm advocate of Bush’s ‘Vision for Space Exploration’ aimed at the moon and Mars…He bluntly expressed his intention to lead a resurgence in American ‘spacefaring,’ noting that Russia and China had both put humans into space since the space shuttle last flew.”
That Joke’s Not Funny Anymore.
“Although no one has investigated the possibility of rat humor, if it exists, it is likely to be heavily laced with slapstick.” A recent study in Science Magazine explores evolutionary reasons for and examples of animal laughter, including chirping rats and panting dogs. Laugh it up, fuzzball.
Dark Globes No More.
Only a decade after the discovery of the first extra-solar planet, two separate teams of scientists manage to “see” exoplanets directly for the first time. “Dr. Geoffrey Marcy, a planet hunter at the University of California in Berkeley, called the results ‘the stuff of history books.‘”
We are Dancing Mechanic.
“In the quest for artificial intelligence, the United States is perhaps just as advanced as Japan. But analysts stress that the focus in the United States has been largely on military applications. By contrast, the Japanese government, academic institutions and major corporations are investing billions of dollars on consumer robots aimed at altering everyday life, leading to an earlier dawn of what many here call the ‘age of the robot.‘” And to think I was geeking out over the Roomba just a few weeks ago.
Ice, Ice, Baby.
Alright, stop, collaborate, and listen — Images sent back by the ESA’s Mars Express show the remants of icebergs once floating in a Martian Sea near the equator, and suggest that large ice blocks may well still exist just underneath the dusty surface (increasing both the chances of life on the Red Planet and the prospects for a successful manned mission.) Word to your mother.
Caverns of Mars.
After perusing “methane signatures and other possible signs of biological activity,” two NASA researchers claim there may well be life presently existing in subsurface Martian caves. We’re talking mitochondria, not Morlocks…but still, such a discovery would be exciting stuff, to say the least.