My three year-old is staking out a claim on my computer, wanting new things to do.
At the library, I saw some kid playing this on a library computer so I came home and googled a few words I'd seen on his screen.
For your amusement if things at work are a bit slow: Parking Challenge
Don't go parking in the handicap spots, now!
I had a slight grin and a little twinkle in my eye when I read this story a moment ago.
How freaking awesome is this, eh? Now if only we could send people out to explore this new world. What would we find? Hell, who would we find? I mean, I know it's warmer than Earth, according to the scientists, but we have species who can live in the coldest and hottests places on Earth and survive. So why not there, right?
Can you imagine the potential diversity of life on this new planet? Would they have intelligent life? Would they be larger than Humans? Or smaller? Would they walk on land? Or swim in their vast seas? So many questions, and little we can do to answer them at this time, unfortunately. Here is the article:
Okay, so the atmosphere wouldn't support humanity without a suit, but still, life is quite adaptable and this world appears to have the necessary ingredients for life. Even if it's barely a single cell.PARIS (AFP) – Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-like planet that is larger than our own and may be more than half covered with water, according to a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
The so-called "super Earth" is about 42 light years away in another solar system and has a radius nearly 2.7 times larger than that of our planet, according to the study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.
The discovery of the planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a "major step forward" in the search for worlds similar to the Earth, added the University of California's Geoffrey Marcy in a commentary also in Nature.
The "newfound world" is too hot to sustain life as we know it, said the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in a statement.
Its density suggests however it "is composed of about three-fourths water and other ices and one fourth-rock," it said. "There are also tantalising hints that the planet has a gaseous atmosphere."
Its temperature is estimated at between 280 and 120 degrees Celsius (536 and 248 degrees Fahrenheit) with its host star about one-fifth the size of the Sun, according to the scientists.
"Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld," says Zachory Berta, a graduate student who first spotted hints of the planet's presence.
"It is much smaller, cooler and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet," he said in the statement.
An exoplanet is one outside of our solar system.
Berta said some of the water would likely be in crystalline form that exists at pressures greater than 20,000 times Earth's sea-level atmosphere.
Its temperature is much lower than that on the only similar discovery, called CoRoT-7b, which revolves around a star that is much hotter, the scientists say.
The CoRoT-7b has a density close to that of the Earth (5.5 grammes per cubic centimetre) and seems to be rocky, while the new discovery appears to be much less dense (1.9 g/cm3).
"To keep the planet's density that low requires that it contains large amounts of water," said Marcy. "It must contain a huge amount of water, roughly 50 percent by mass."
The "wild card" is the make-up of the gases on the planet, he said.
The planet orbits every 38 hours around a small, faint star that was first spotted by eight ground-based telescopes no larger than those used by amateur astronomers, the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre said.
Its relative closeness makes its possible to study it to determine its atmosphere.
"That will make it the first super Earth with a confirmed atmosphere -- even though that atmosphere probably won't be hospitable to life as we know it," said David Charbonneau who heads the research team.
Until next time...
-Wil
As the pipe clamp blisters began to pop and heal on my hands, I knew I was in a race against myself to find my next gig in woodworking. I had just quit my job after I was put on a mandatory 72-hour work week schedule, which was neither safe nor necessary in the warehouse where I was a full time furniture maker. From my first taste of sawdust, I was hooked. I loved everything about it, especially the aches & pains associated with putting in a hard day of manual labor.
I had moved thousands of miles from my industrial Michigan factory roots, only to go to college and decide the blue collar life is what I wanted. I quit my job, only when it was obvious that it would either kill or permanently injure me...but it was still one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. Besides the fact that I love it, I realize now how wrapped up I was in the identity of being just one thing...In my working life, I have always had to have at least three side hustles going on and I've done everything from nude modeling, to being a maid, a well-paid executive assistant, an extra in movies, a make-up artist, to an apprentice sander in a woodshop.
When I call home to update my family, typically, whatever it is I describe is met with unconditional love & acceptance, even if there is a tinge of it not necessarily being understood. As a woodworker, I was finally able to align myself with an identity - one thing that I loved being and doing...and it was so much easier to explain that!
Predictably, when the job fell apart, I scrambled for any paying gig I could find on craigslist. As it turns out, it was a good time to be involved with film making and I even signed up for acting classes. Being involved in the process is as exciting as it seems like it would be - even the long hours of waiting, while being completely dressed to the nines for a 6:00 a.m. call time, shouldn't be exciting, but it still is.
Around this time I also found work as a fit model, working for a local design house. It's a job that pays very well but the work is inconsistent. Still, I am extremely thankful to have it, even if it is a bit weird for me to use it as an identifier at the dentist's office and have the receptionist squeal and ask me a bunch of questions about the job. That's a rock star moment, I'm not going to lie, but it's completely foreign to me to identify myself as "model" in any capacity...especially when "factory rat" was a closer signifier just weeks ago.
I'm not sure if all the discomfort in lacking a fixed occupation or identity squarely rests on my shoulders, or if I am reacting to other people's confusion when I try to explain, "Well, I'm actually a furniture maker, but I'm out of work, so I'm doing the acting and modeling thing, while looking for another woodworking gig." Who does that? I'm not sure if I even understand myself anymore.
In the long run, it's probably a good thing that I am so versatile & adaptable - I always have something relevent for any type of resume I'm creating for myself (and I have at least 3); but I long for the day when I have a short answer to the question, "So what do you do?"
- 20:24 Have had a stiff drink and now feeling much more mellow about tomorrow. #
- 20:47 @Glinner I thought it was brilliant. Gripping from start to finish. #
- 20:48 @_faeriequeen Cool I'll be tapping you for tips of where to go and what to do nearer the time #
- 20:48 @annaleeb Thanks. At the moment I'm fighting with the notion that I'm mad but I've got 3 months to conquer that. #
- 09:19 Blimey, 20 mins from stepping off tube to departures was expecting queue hell. More time for shopping #
- 10:21 Nice man at dixons is charging my new nintendo dsi for me so i dont have to sit with it. And why arent there clothes shops for the norma ... #
- 11:57 Flight delayed but leaving soon. Has just started snowing - shame i will miss the chaos or not. Have a great christmas everyone who cele ... #
- 13:26 Spoke too soon, waiting for the plane to be de-iced. Still i love sitting in cattle class on a plane for as long as possible. Love it. #
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What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?
A hunky man. This will only work if I don't get my way to get a real one that drops needles on him.
In The Theory of Science, I tried to examine the level of confidence we can rightly place in the development of the science of climatology. It's impossible to keep politics out of the subject, since the scientists themselves have not been willing and able to do so.
Here in The Theory of Politics, I will have nothing further to say about the science of climatology and will not advance any argument for or against its validity.
It was said that the "dirty tricks" played against the peer-review magazine, Climate Science, were justified because it takes money from the petroleum industry. (A conspiracy, no less!) There's no doubt about it, there is big money at stake and, where there is big money, there is big politics. We might just as well say that all of the field of climatology (if not science in general) is now "on the take".
Here's an article that describes research grants made for the work of Dr Jones at the CRU. 13 million pounds. Think about what kind of clout that gives you with Administration when you are bringing in that kind of money. And dissent is the common enemy of revenue.
Science, especially science in the public good, has always depended upon patronage so this is not a serious accusation in itself. Let's be practical. But let's also be careful and not naive and gullible. If there is no public oversight of this connection, Acton's Law assures us that things will go to hell.
So there's opportunity for politics to weigh in. Now what about motivation? In the case of fluorocarbons and other pollutants, governments had chosen the course of regulation -- prohibitions, in fact -- to curb behavior.
In keeping with the capitalist credo, however, over time government interaction in environmental issues has gravitated toward economic incentives and penalties to modify behavior. Caps can be imposed but then traded in order to allow the free-market determination of efficiency.
In the case of carbon dioxide, a tax is to be imposed. In addition, cap-and-trade schemes are also being proposed. The new difficulty in controlling pollution effectively should be obvious: government is a heroin addict when it comes to taxation. To say that "government using taxation to curb human behavior is a moral hazard" is a woeful understatement! It's just about certain that the blood will run out of the governmental brain and into its, ehm, purse. :)
But it gets worse than that. Indeed. It is the common belief that business is opposed to carbon taxes. And if big business is against something, we can be sure that that something is good for us. [If you can't find this on the internet anywhere, then I am claiming this as "koan911's Law". ;)]
However, carbon taxes woould be applied at every level of human production, just like a value-added tax (VAT, or the Australian GST). It's a flat tax and regressive, meaning that the multiplying poor can least afford it, but are compelled by essentials to bear its burden. For business, it's just another cost to pass on in the price of goods. So, whatever it says, business doesn't care very much.
But wait a minute. When we say "business", we are thinking of the military industrial complex. We need to update our thinking these days: that complex has now given way to the military-financial complex. The pinnacle and controller of business is now the financial industry. Skipping a long discussion, the banks control business, the economy and governments and also determine military action. When we talk of business, we really must understand the financial perspective of business
Regarding the prospect of cap-and-trade, the financial giants have been wetting their lips. In a highly contentious article, Matt Taibi has made the rather tall claim that Goldman Sachs has been behind every one of four financial bubbles to date and is planning a fifth one based on carbon-trading. Not much evidence from Matt, perhaps, in his article but he did manage to stick Gold-Sacks forever with an epithet that will ensure it a gold medal in the Hall of Infamy, "the great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money".
For a less emotional, but no less true, perspective, ;), take a look at Carbon Capitalists Warming to Climate Market Using Derivatives.
Derivatives!?!?! Are they completely nuts?
Yes, they are. Megalomaniac, to be precise.
Anyone else smell impending disaster? You know these guys care about the environment, don't you? I don't know about you, but I'm AOK with them running the show for the planet... :(
"You want to drive a tractor around to harvest food? Ah OK, you are gonna need let's see, 500 credits at, let me Blackberry in the carbon-commodity market here, whooah, that's 150$ a barrel today! Say, you really need this food? It might be cheaper next month..."
And yet -- it gets worse. The director of NM Rothschild in the UK made a public statement sometime in the last year [citation TBS] to the effect that "global warming" was exactly the kind of challenge facing humanity today that absolutely requires a global government to coordinate a coherent response. Ah yes, the ancient dream.
As an afterword, I want to point out that making poor decisions -- compromising science, hedging bets, etc. -- has an opportunity cost. (Economic concepts such as this seem as impenetrable to understanding as meteorology sometimes, perhaps for similar reasons.)
With the benefit of hindsight, I sometimes wonder what would have transpired had we applied reason, science, justice and compassion, from the start of the Industrial Age, when the world's population was just 6-800 million, to conquer poverty, starvation, disease and warfare -- across the whole world. It might be that the population would have by now stabilized and at a mark as low as 2 or 3 billion, say? (Nothing depresses the growth of population as well as a decent living standard.) The average standard might be higher than now -- hopefully so! -- but with the lower population, the net load on the planet might be a) lower, and b) more manageable. Perhaps I, too, am guilty of wishful thinking.
But instead, we, (the well-intentioned, wishful-thinking), are lead by political expediency -- the "art of the [barely] possible" -- and controlled by decisions made behind closed doors, for corporate profit, private wealth and the extractive exploitation of the world's finite resources.
Just as it seems that IMF and World Bank policies will never let the developing world free of the poverty trap, so it seems also that the financial institutions' goal for globalization is to depress the quality of life for all to a uniform and neo-feudal, subsistence level.
This will be the subject I take up in my final part of these Theories.
Right, well. I'm off (first thing tomorrow) so this will be my last post for 10 days or so, unless I find internet connection where I'm going and feel inclined.
Bags are packed. Have had a stiff drink to calm my nerves. All that is left to do is program my Sky+ and finish the book I'm reading.
Seems a bit mental that I'm not going to reach the resort I'm staying at until Thursday tea time but hey it'll be worth it as this is what I've got to look forward to. Just hope my pictures turn out half as good:
- 08:14 More Bilbo actor rumours: Tobey Maguire. PJ said recently doesn't like big stars because they distract from character bit.ly/7RpojY #
- 08:17 There was a time many, many, many years ago that a new Mel Gibson project would have caused some excitement bit.ly/6kvyN6 #
- 08:27 @electricfields *chuckles* I'm already looking forward to diCaprio speaking in some obscure ancient Scandinavian language. #
- 15:40 Right holiday shopping done. Bag is virtually packed. Think its time to start planning the next trip while I wait... #
- 17:10 Just booked tickets for a play in February...in New York. Better sort out the flights I suppose. #
- 17:11 @electricfields Yeh I was thinking that. Don't sign anything Leo, run, run like the wind... #
- 17:32 Bloody hell, I'm off to New York in February. #
- 17:33 @_faeriequeen I've never been but always wanted to go and there is a play on I really want to see so I thought: 'why not?' #
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At the very least this will go down as the most pleasant smelling gig I've been too, the benefits of having a predominantly female audience.
I haven't seen the Brixton Academy so packed since I went to see REM's Glastonbury warm up gig there a few years ago. The atmosphere was electric as Florence took to the stage in a very girly outfit which was white and silver with feather-boa inspired detailing. Made a difference from the usual jeans/black.
The girlie theme extended to the daisy-shaped lighting, exotic bird-bedecked back drop and antique bird cages although the latter were home to lungs rather than birds in reference to her album.
Another first was a choir and harp player although I have seen a 'strings section' before but all that faded when Florence began to sing. Her voice is beautiful live even when you are standing right next to the speaker stack and she is rival to Skin and PJ Harvey for putting her all into the performance. It was her home gig and I admit I had no idea she came from Brixton - just goes to show that South London is a good breeding ground for fantastic female singers.
And, it was also great to see a band that had only released one album. Can't remember the last time did that.
Fab last gig of the year.
Pics aren't great as it was so crowded and difficult to get a clear shot but here they are anyway.
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