Daily science stuff

[Alelou]

Okay, so I followed the link to the google earth projections the guy did, which made very little sense to me. I was also puzzled by the note that it didn't have any effect on Earth's orbit. Because apparently the quake in Chile DID have an effect -- our days have now shortened by .125 of a second or something like that. Maybe that IS negligible, but I find it hard to believe that an asteroid that hits the planet that hard, causing massive earthquakes at 10 or more on the Richter scale, wouldn't do something more significant.

Not that I actually have a clue.

Seems to me the deadly asteroid scenario really could stand a good publicity campaign. Global warming is one thing and I'm not going to say it doesn't need attention, but here's an even worse catastrophe we've already seen happen to the planet once.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

15 Fascinating Planets Outside Our Solar System

[crystalswolf]

15 Fascinating Planets Outside Our Solar System

Thanks for that link. Hubs LOVED it.

[Elessar]

Okay, so I followed the link to the google earth projections the guy did, which made very little sense to me. I was also puzzled by the note that it didn't have any effect on Earth's orbit. Because apparently the quake in Chile DID have an effect -- our days have now shortened by .125 of a second or something like that. Maybe that IS negligible, but I find it hard to believe that an asteroid that hits the planet that hard, causing massive earthquakes at 10 or more on the Richter scale, wouldn't do something more significant.

Not that I actually have a clue.

Seems to me the deadly asteroid scenario really could stand a good publicity campaign. Global warming is one thing and I'm not going to say it doesn't need attention, but here's an even worse catastrophe we've already seen happen to the planet once.

I haven't read the article yet, but it's technically possible an asteroid impact could have no effect on our orbit. If the impact trajectory was totally perpendicular to the center of the Earth and not oblique to one side at all, it would have little to no effect on our rotational day, although it might have some tiny effect on our year... not sure how the astrodynamics of that work out. Probably nearly negligible since it's our gravitational hold around the Sun that regulates our year, whereas, I don't think our rotation is regulated by anything (but I could be wrong), I think it's just something that got started going billions of years ago and is just coasting, which can be slowed, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

[Silverbullet]

Read once, somewhere, that the Mooon is having some slight effect on Earth's rotation. Very Slight. But in 87 Billion Years it would have a major effect.

I am wondering if the melting of the Polar Ice Caps are having any effect on the Earth. That is a lot of weight that is shifting. Since there are so many Earthquackes lately I wonder if it is affecting the Tetonic Plates causing them to shift a centimeter or so, enough to cause a quake. I am not very bright in this so my conjecture probably sounds idiotic.

SB

[Alelou]

I saw a geologist quoted in the newspaper yesterday saying we aren't really having any more quake activity than is usual -- it just seems that way because of populous cities built on major fault lines. I believe he also said something like, "No, the world is not coming to an end." That's always nice to hear.

[Silverbullet]

This is true: The Arizona State Legislature has a bill wending its way through that will forbid Human/animal Hybrid cloning. No Turlle Men, Tiger women, Minetours, Mermaids, Cat women, or Dog men. The bill is, of course, aimed at Genetists experimentating on embryos. Embryonic Science scares Hell oout of the Conservatives in this state. Also may be a back door swipe at Roe-Wade.

Mind, Arizona is in the Red by about 1.1 billion dollars. But the Legislature is considering such seriious bills and outlawing bathing your mule in a bathtub. No Texting while driving was shot down.

Whatver, the Legislature will fight to the last breath to stop Human/Animal Hybrids.

I love this State it beats Hell out of TV

[Distracted]

That's interesting since the novel I'm working on postulates the existence of genetic engineering using animal DNA. I suppose there would be public outcry against it in many quarters... hmmmm.

Thanks, SB.

[Alelou]

Margaret Atwood has two novels about a crazy world of animal-human and animal-animal hybrids and so forth ... which I haven't gotten around to reading yet because I don't want to get depressed.

Must be nice for the poor legislators to be able to vote on something that doesn't already have an interest group supporting it, instead of, say, coping in a responsible way with their state's financial crisis.

[crystalswolf]

Dark Angel

[Pegmumm]

Two days ago Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise, attached to its mothership, the VSS Eve, successfully completed the very first test flight.http://www.americainfra.com/news/virgin-galactic/

[Elessar]

This is SO COOL!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 2#36063922

This guy bought a GPS receiver, a digital camera and a weather balloon and sent it up into Low-Earth Orbit and got REALLY incredible photos! Even NASA's shocked and impressed!

[Aquarius]

Bummer. Link wouldn't work for me. I'll look when I get home.

[Entilzha]

Mysterious 'Dark Flow' May Be Tug of Other Universe http://news.discovery.com/space/dark-flow-universe.html

[Alelou]

Actually about math (logarithms), not science, but it includes a cool video of parabolas in real life at Detroit Intl Airport: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... ef=general