I've always loved astronomy and (as much as I can understand it) astrophysics. I'm really only into the basics and concepts since there's NO way I can truly grasp the real sciences of it. Not that it matters since what I've learned is fascinating enough. FunFacts* baby!
1) Listen to the link on this page: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=36526 This is the translated sound of the Cassini-Huygens probe as it is falling through the atmosphere of Titan, the largest moon (and the 20th out) of Saturn. It is up to now the only other planetoid body in our solar system aside from Earth that has stable bodies of liquid on the surface (liquid hydrocarbon lakes at the poles). All this time, there's been activity, movement and matter churning on that planet and now we have a kind of record of something we may never be able to witness ourselves. A concept like that is just so amazing to me. My own brand of personal geekiness I guess.
2) Check out this video clip (I couldn't find the code to ebed it so you'll have to use the link instead. http://www.break.com/index/satelite-crashes-through-atmosphere.html Amazing footage of a satellite breaking up as it enters the atmosphere. Two notes though: a) you'll notice the speed of the satellite as it passes the cameraman - it has to be slowed down significantly to get the details. b) That thing was DANGEROUSLY CLOSE to the cameraman. Very close, but very cool.
3) Some fun astronomy math. I did this calculation once at a restaurant with members of my sedaqah group...I was just curious. Suppose you get in a car and set it to drive at a constant speed of 60 mph. (For the sake of the example let's say you have a fusion power source so it doesn't run out and all the food you need.) How long would it take to get from the Earth to the Sun? 60mph x 24 hrs = 1440 mi/day 1440 mi/day x 365.25 days/year = 525,960 mi/year distance to the sun - 93,000,000 mi = 176.82 years = approx. 176 years and 10 months. 525,960 mi/yr
4) How about from Earth to Pluto? (poor, misunderstood, and shafted Pluto) Distance from Earth to Pluto = 2,607,000,000 mi (2.6 billion) = 4956.651 years = approx. 4956 years 525,960 mi/yr and 8 months
5) Imagine you were in an airplane just outside of the atmosphere of Jupiter, the largest planet of our solar system. Oops! you just fell out and you're falling straight down. Now let's, just for arguments sake, say that this gas giant is actually just gas and that the plane decides to meet you at the other end to catch you as you "fall out of the bottom". How long would the plane have to wait for you to reach it? (assuming that it has standard earth gravity) - Humans fall at about 120 mph - The diameter of Jupiter is 88,846 miles - 88,846 mi = 740.4 hours 740.4 hr =30.9 days Basically, you fall for a month. 120 mi/hr 24 hr/day
6) Same thing but this time Earth: - Jupiter's diameter is 11 times that of Earth, so just divide 30.9 days by 11 = 2.8 days. Still a long time.
7) Our Milky Way galaxy completes a revolution (360 degrees) every 230 million years. (We -humans- may not
even be around by then.)
8) On a smaller scale: Neptune completes an orbit around the sun in 60,327.624 days = about 165 years
That's about 5 and a half generations. Your great-great-grandchildren will witness that completion. 9) One last fun fact I learned from my old Astronomy prof back at UCLA. You know how the higher you go her on earth, you have to change baking temperatures and such? If I remember correctly this is due to atmospheric pressure. It gets lower and lower the higher you go. Mountain climbers have to carry oxygen with them. Planes have explosive decompression if opened high up. We can feel the difference in our pools (ears hurt 'cuz pressure is higher near the bottom, less at the top). Apply this same principle to water evaporation. With less pressure, the point of evaporation gets lower- you need less heat to get water to evaporate. Finally the fun fact. On Mars, the atmospheric pressure is so low that it the evaporation point meets the freezing point. That's why there's no liquid water on Mars. It's either in the atmosphere or frozen. Weird illustration: (again ignoring most of physics for the sake of illustration) If you were to open a bottle of water on mars and pour it out, the water would simultaneously freeze and evaporate.
* (Please note that I am not a scientist so if I am mistaken in any of these FunFacts, I apologize for my ignorance.)
I was looking up beatboxing on youtube, because I was in the mood. I found some really incredible people: A harmonica beatboxer, a dutch beatboxer, and even a French guy on some sort of French Idol show (this guy is amazing) and I really enjoyed it. I followed a few other links but there was one that I really resisted trying, probably because I thought the combination of a flute and beatboxing seemed a bit...unlikely and unattractive. I was very wrong. This guy, Greg Pattillo, is amazing. He has several videos of his performances on the web, even one where he beatboxes to Flight of the Bumble Bee (The very song that drove Captain Barbossa crazy in Shine) which is difficult to play in the first place! Anyway, I found some videos of him and this cello guy, Eric Stephenson, playing in a NY Subway. They're just amazing together. It's nice to hear not just new music, but new ways to play music. (These performances are a bit light on the beatboxing, so you'll have to search for his other videos to hear more emphasis on it.)
(Go to 00:41 or 01:25 to hear my favorite part - depending if it's counting up or down)
I love the powerpuff girls. Since the first time I saw them on Cartoon network years ago, I've been an avid fan. They're so cute! What I love most about them is that while they are cute and sweet, they kick ass when needed. (Apparently, they were originally to be called the "Kick-Ass Girls") Anyone who knows me will understand why I love them by the picture below:
My favorite of the girls used to be Buttercup (the brunette) because she was the toughest and strongest and didn't take crap off anyone, but then it became Bubbles, the cute one.
Why? Because it turns out that she can easily kick the asses of both her sisters at once...if you piss her off enough. Squirrels can be cute and cuddly, but if you corner one it'll tear your eyes out.
Those who are familiar with japanese animation will recognize the 'big eyes' they have (in fact they've been called 'bug-eyed freaks' by several of their nemeses). Strangely enough, they started here and became so popular they were converted to anime later.
I've never seen this version, and since I'm not a huge fan of standard anime, I probably wouldn't like it. I mean come on...the real powerpuff girls are in preschool! That's so much cuter. Bad guys getting their asses kicked by preschoolers! Not as cute when they're teenagers or whatever they are in the anime version.
Which brings me to the reason I write this entry: Cartoon Network, which I used to watch all the time makes funny commercials using multiple cartoon characters and a lot of them are quite clever and funny. This one I loved because it's the powerpuff girls rescuing Aquaman and Wonderwoman from the Legion of Doom (The Superfriends). Watch for Wonderwoman's reaction when Aquaman's powers are ineffectual. And the joke in the end is especially funny...given that it's an adult joke and a kid watching it would most likely not get it. Enjoy!
I loved watching Buck Rogers when I was a kid (Those fighters were such a kick-ass design). Of all the episodes I watched, there's only one scene I remember vividly: The dance. When Buck gets down with his bad self 80's- style. I cringed then and I cringe now. (Granted - I'm not a dancer. Indeed I suck at it, but I have to say this: "White-man's disease") I must say though that after watching the clip, now that I have an education, I can appreciate the subtle commentary on the evolution of music throughout history. Apparently, everything between harpsichord chamber music and the late 70's/early 80's synth-funk can be ignored. It was a single step from one to the other. I mean, logically, how could it not be? Enjoy a piece of my own nostalgia.
Yes, I admit that I am indeed a heretic. I am one of the unfaithful.
I have cast off religious oppression and dogma and have put in its
place rational thought and science. I proudly wear the label: 'Global
Warming Denier'...but only if it means that I deny the role of mankind
in it. I believe in Global Warming...it's simply a fact of
observational science. I do not believe that it is caused by
man...it's simply a fact of observational science.
This will piss off a lot of folks (at least those who care about what I
think), and that is very sad. Because that reaction usually indicates
that those folks believe in Global Warming like they believe in God or
the tenets of a faith. Ever question the faith of an intolerant
religious person or fanatic? You usually don't get reasoned debate,
but a lot of emotion-based vitriol. Ever been to a debate between
religions? I went to one while at UCLA between a Christian apologist
and an atheist (yes, I define atheism as a religion). I've heard
better arguments in high school-level mock-UN. The atheist, by the
way, was by far the most childish...it was almost embarrassing being
there. Nothing was accomplished because no one went there to have
their ideas challenged; only to beat their chests and argue why their
faith was better or the others was not. There's no true debate when at
least one side is absolutely convinced that they have the whole truth.
And therein lies the greatest problem with the Global Warming theory:
it's not 'truth', it's a theory. And anyone who has the basic
education in science that I had when I was a child should know that the
scientific method is supposed to develop the best theory to explain
observable phenomena via testing and experimentation. Such a method
implies that the theory MUST undergo change or abandonment in the face
of observed evidence that contradicts its conclusion. To use the word
'truth' <*cough*-Gore-*cough*> to describe any science is
deplorable and; in the case of a certain politician who has scored
political gold with this 'truth'; is, at best, incredibly ignorant or,
at worst, unpardonably deceptive.
Am I a scientist? No...not yet anyway...but even with my basic
understanding of science I find it incredibly odd that there is so much
silence when there should be debate. If what the Global Warming crowd
is saying is true, then shouldn't there be a LOT of debate,
peer-review, and public data for and against the theory? If our future
is at stake, doesn't the theory that indicates this danger deserve
scrutiny to make sure we're putting our finite resources into the right
places? That's not asking much. It's asking for NORMAL SCIENCE!
Rebuttal: 'But if there is data that contradicts the theory of Global
Warming where is it? Isn't there a global or general consensus in the
scientific community that man-made Global Warming is a fact? If there
was such contradictory data, then surely it would be put forth in the
media and by scientists everywhere.'
Well, there is evidence...a lot of it. But the unavailability of it
is...complicated. To explain it better and entertain at the same time
I present a link to what shouldn't be, but is considered a
'controversial' documentary about Global Warming
This video is long: about 75 minutes!, but it's worth it. And if
you've seen 'An Inconvenient Truth' I would argue that you have a
moral, if not an intellectually honest, obligation to watch it in it's
entirety. But for those who don't have the time, here are the
important bits (and the where the segments are):
Disproving Al Gore's main point of the movie - (18:20 min - 22:00 min) Theory on actual reason for Global Warming - (26:30 min - 33:45 min) The origins of the current Global Warming hysteria (this would be funny if it wasn't so sad) - (34:00 -1:00:00) The impact of the GW hysteria on the 3rd World - (1:01:30 - End)
Note that the new theory is simply that: a theory. There is evidence
for it and against it and already some debate. That's GOOD! That's
what should be happening. That's where better theories come from.
That last part is what makes me want to say this: Al Gore and his ilk
are A$$holes! I hate their smug attitudes of self-righteousness while
they force their affluence-allowed, militarily-protected, and
geographically-fortunate lifestyles and preferences on people who
cannot afford them. The elitist culture of the western world likes to
think that the Manifest Destiny of America's past was a product of
ignorant conservatism and religious dogma. White people who believed
they had the superior way for the world. Well, it never went away. It
simply came under new management. It makes me so frustrated and angry
when those who claim to be fighting for the rights of the people or the
little man, are so deaf and blind to how they hurt the very ones they
think they champion, while basking in the light of their own
self-satisfaction. Even more so the politicians who do it not for
'doing good' but to play for power and get votes. (I can't accuse any
specific politician of this, but there have to be at least some.)
As a final note (and I apologize for the length to anyone who actually
reads my blog at all), I'd like to answer the usual question: "But
even if man-made Global Warming is false, isn't it good that so many
people are being brought to action and going 'green'?" My answer is
NO. Here is why: The problems of the world are effectively infinite.
Our resources are finite. It is very irresponsible to allow a bad
theory to be the source of action and the use of those resources. A
bad theory allows other bad theories and worthless programs to exist
and come into existence. What's the basic rule of government? It
grows...and it NEVER shrinks. Every time resources/money is given to a
cause that is flawed or bogus, it means that much less for a truly
worthy one. If you had a new-born child and some new program was
developed that would guarantee his success in life and you put 1/2 your
kids college investment into it, and it turns out later that it was
bogus and based on a single study on college kids and had nothing to do
with babies, would you be glad that "at least I was doing it for a good
cause"? (That's actually the story on the
Beethoven-is-good-for-baby-intelligence.) Bad science + politics = bad ideas = bad politics = bad
programs = waste of resources = little to no progress. 'Progressive',
my a$$ (when it comes to Global Warming, at least).
