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General Chat => Off Topic => Topic started by: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM

Title: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM
...it gives us images like this:

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/351930984-580x385.jpg)

ISS Crew Captures Shuttle Atlantis' Last Brilliant Trip Through the Atmosphere

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: DrJomster on 21 July, 2011, 11:07:35 PM
Is that real? If so, that is amazing!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:10:37 PM
I got it from Universe Today, a site which seems to know its onions:  http://www.universetoday.com/87633/amazing-image-iss-crew-captures-shuttle-atlantis-last-brilliant-trip-through-the-atmosphere/ (http://www.universetoday.com/87633/amazing-image-iss-crew-captures-shuttle-atlantis-last-brilliant-trip-through-the-atmosphere/)  so I assume so.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 July, 2011, 11:41:10 PM
You'd like this, it's called Nasa's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Or Space Porn for short:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html)

Every image has a wee explanation
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:48:25 PM
Ooh, yeah - I can lose hours on sites like that. I remember in the early days of Satellite TV there used to be this German channel that showed videos taken from the ISS all night after the programmes had stopped. It was simply entitled "Space Night" and I've watched it for hours. I really miss that.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 22 July, 2011, 12:02:57 AM
Devastatingly beautiful
(http://www.wallpaperslot.com/data/media/29/Nuclear%20Bomb%20Mushroom%20Cloud.jpg)




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 July, 2011, 01:23:46 AM
In 1994, The Schumacher-Levy comet struck Jupiter. The resulting explosion was calculated to be a few hundred times the explosive force of the Earth's entire nuclear arsenal. It sent a 300 mile an hour seismic shockwave through the entire planet. You can still see the scars today.

http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/jupiterimpact/ (http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/jupiterimpact/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 July, 2011, 07:49:40 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 21 July, 2011, 11:41:10 PM
You'd like this, it's called Nasa's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Or Space Porn for sho

First thing I look at when I switch on the computer in the morning.  Hugely informative if you have the time to follow the links, pretty cool even if you don't.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 July, 2011, 10:07:17 AM
Excellent! I was thinking of starting a thread like this myself!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14200255
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 22 July, 2011, 10:21:01 AM
i once studied molecular biology but they stopped me just because (a) i was a bit of a thickie and (b) I tried to make a race of super mutants so I could take over the world! Muhwahahahah!  :-[ Um,,, anyway not all science is mad but here's a page for science questions and some stock answers in the FAQ like " Why is the sky blue"? (And no its not cos of corporate conspiracies/giant lizards so bang goes my pet theory) ;)

http://www.madsci.org/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 July, 2011, 12:27:36 AM
...

(http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2011/07/13/RoboTalk.jpg)

I could say it, but I won't.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 July, 2011, 01:40:43 AM
Ummm..............OK :-\

This thread needs a TED video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brian_greene_on_string_theory.html (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brian_greene_on_string_theory.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 July, 2011, 07:57:46 PM
(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/negative-sun-580x408.jpg)
A negative, or color reversed image of the Sun. Credit: César Cantu from Monterrey, Mexico, and the Chilidog Observatory.

(http://www.universetoday.com/87711/awesome-astrophotos-a-negative-sun/ (http://www.universetoday.com/87711/awesome-astrophotos-a-negative-sun/))
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 24 July, 2011, 08:00:13 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM
...it gives us images like this:

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/351930984-580x385.jpg)

ISS Crew Captures Shuttle Atlantis' Last Brilliant Trip Through the Atmosphere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE_USPTmYXM
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 July, 2011, 09:43:20 PM
Watching Space Shuttle:The Final Mission on BBC2.

On re-entry, the Space Shuttle goes at Mach 19.

MACH ***KING NINETEEN!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 July, 2011, 10:05:06 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 24 July, 2011, 09:43:20 PM
On re-entry, the Space Shuttle goes went at Mach 19.

-quiet sniffle-
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 July, 2011, 10:08:32 PM
I refuse to accept it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 July, 2011, 10:18:21 PM
I hear ya, Pops.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 25 July, 2011, 12:23:43 AM
We're living in JG Ballard's future now Pops.

Roast alsatian, anyone?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 July, 2011, 12:28:25 AM
(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1107/AtlantisReflection_ingalls900.jpg)

Look at her...

It's like when a beautiful woman gets married.
You always fancied a ride.
But now that's virtually impossible.

:'(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 July, 2011, 12:38:42 AM
She was a beauty all right, but she's had her day. Let her retire now, while she still has her looks.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 July, 2011, 12:44:01 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 July, 2011, 12:38:42 AM
She was a beauty all right, but she's had her day. Let her retire now, while she still has her looks.

HAD HER DAY? She's being replaced by a 50 year old Russian whore!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 25 July, 2011, 12:55:03 AM
End of an era.
How it could have looked.
Would it have lasted longer if they had gone with some of the more expensive designs. We will never know.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Space_Shuttle_concepts.jpg)





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 July, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
Here's the Saturn V Flight Manual:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf)

I bloody love the Space Program
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 25 July, 2011, 07:20:37 AM
Quote from: vzzbux on 25 July, 2011, 12:55:03 AM
How it could have looked.

Let's not go there vzzbux. We'll just make Stevie angry.

Quote from: pops1983 on 25 July, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
Here's the Saturn V Flight Manual:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf)

Now there's a spacecraft!

Quote from: pops1983 on 25 July, 2011, 12:44:01 AM
She's being replaced by a Russian CosmoMilf

TSFTFY  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 25 July, 2011, 07:25:08 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 25 July, 2011, 01:02:48 AM
Here's the Saturn V Flight Manual:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf)

I bloody love the Space Program

I've said before that the Saturn V rocket sits among the greatest achievements of our species- it's up there with the Sistine Chapel, with the pyramids, with the Mona Lisa, with Moonlight Sonata, with Hamlet.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 25 July, 2011, 07:31:47 AM
The Saturn V & Voyager probes belong upon that ultimate pedestal alongside writing & fire.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 July, 2011, 08:45:27 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 25 July, 2011, 07:31:47 AM
The Saturn V & Voyager probes belong upon that ultimate pedestal alongside writing & fire.

Throw in wine and a shower and it's a date.

The shuttle is one of the most beautiful things this species has ever made, perhaps all the more magical for being so fatally flawed.  Almost anything that follows in the next few decades is going to seem like a step backwards. irrespective of practicality. 

Even while I know that cheaper disposable and more reliable solutions are the way forward, deep down I can't shake the feeling that this is the beginning of the end of our adventures in space, as predicted so precisely in Baxter's Titan.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 July, 2011, 03:02:14 PM
(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_2245a_STS-135_Ken-Kremer-580x335.jpg)

Wheels Stop !
The Space Shuttle Era Ended Here – with Atlantis touchdown on grooved Runway 15 for the Final Flight on July 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The STS-135 mission closed out NASA's Space Shuttle Era after three decades of flight and 135 missions. Credit: Ken Kremer
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 July, 2011, 06:20:44 PM
(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/leo-triplet-580x469.jpg)
The Leo Triplet — a group of interacting galaxies about 35 million light-years from Earth. This wide field of view comes courtesy of the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory. It has a field of view twice as broad as the full Moon — which is unusual for a big telescope – and the FOV is wide enough to frame all three members of the group in a single picture.


http://www.universetoday.com/87781/new-image-triples-your-galaxy-fun/ (http://www.universetoday.com/87781/new-image-triples-your-galaxy-fun/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 July, 2011, 01:45:26 PM
Orion Sunset

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/OrionSunset-580x570.jpg)

Here the stellar winds are carving out a cavity in a vast reflection nebula. It's an area of Orion that many of us have seen before – but not like the Hubble Space Telescope reveals it...

http://www.universetoday.com/87796/peace-in-the-light-an-orion-sunset/ (http://www.universetoday.com/87796/peace-in-the-light-an-orion-sunset/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 28 July, 2011, 03:00:13 PM
 Magnificent photos of the indifferent time machine we call the Universe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: worldshown on 28 July, 2011, 04:47:57 PM
Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in the "Life is Drokking fantastic" thread seeing as we don't have a "Life is kinda sappy" thread.

Anyway, I spent most of today in Hay-on-Wye looking through all the second-hand book shops. I was in one of them checking out a book of German idioms when a family (grandmother, mother and primary-school age daughter) walked into the same section.

As they went into the row of books behind me, I heard the young girl squeal with delight "Natural history books! I'm in HEAVEN!" which made me smile far more than it should.

Guess there's at least one safe pair of hands for the next generation.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 July, 2011, 01:59:21 PM
(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_4436a_STS-135_Ken-Kremer-580x477.jpg)
Atlantis and post landing convoy vehicles. Credit: Ken Kremer

From: Universe Today (http://www.universetoday.com/87715/last-towback-of-a-flight-worthy-space-shuttle-atlantis-post-touchdown-photo-album/), where there are more cool pics like this one. I can't help feeling, though, that there should also be a marching band and elephants.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 July, 2011, 07:04:29 PM
The Freaky Deaky Flashed Face Distortion effect.

http://mbthompson.com/research/ (http://mbthompson.com/research/)

It's all to do with the way the brain identifies faces.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 July, 2011, 07:24:19 PM
 :o That is intensely weird  :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: strontium71 on 29 July, 2011, 07:56:06 PM
How the hell is that done? I thought it was fake , but a quick glimpse to either side shows normal faces  :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 July, 2011, 08:03:17 PM
Quote from: strontium71 on 29 July, 2011, 07:56:06 PM
How the hell is that done? I thought it was fake , but a quick glimpse to either side shows normal faces  :o

It explains it in the link:

QuoteThe effect seems to depend on processing each face in light of the others. By aligning the faces at the eyes and presenting them quickly, it becomes much easier to compare them, so the differences between the faces are more extreme. If someone has a large jaw, it looks almost ogre-like. If they have an especially large forehead, then it looks particularly bulbous. We're conducting several experiments right now to figure out exactly what's causing this effect, so watch this space!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 July, 2011, 01:39:12 AM
This is on More4 now:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/journey-to-the-edge-of-the-universe (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/journey-to-the-edge-of-the-universe)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 August, 2011, 11:40:19 PM
Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...

...it gives us mad headlines like this:

Study finds exposure to magnetic fields in pregnancy increases asthma risk (http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-exposure-magnetic-fields-pregnancy-asthma.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 August, 2011, 12:01:10 AM
Scientists have discovered what they call a "Trojan" asteroid, one trapped in the earth's orbit and circling the sun at the same rate as our planet. Scientists say that it's been there for at least 10,000 years — not long, in solar system time.

Here's a clip from PBS NewsHour, explaining the asteroid: See the asteroid trapped in Earth's orbit (http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/07/see-the-asteroid-trapped-in-earths-orbit/).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dunk! on 02 August, 2011, 08:41:03 AM
Because, having preordered them an age ago, Usagi Yojimbo Vol.25, Orbital No.4, Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files No.3, and finally, and most anticipated, Doug TenNapel's new GN: Bad Island, all landed on my desk whilst I was away.

Quality (bar some of the Dredd) graphic overdose.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dunk! on 02 August, 2011, 03:54:19 PM
Opps  :-[
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 August, 2011, 06:47:02 PM
(http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/casJPGBrowseS69/N00173684.jpg)
This stunning new Cassini image was captured on July 29, 2011, and shows a portion of Saturn's rings along with several moons dotting the view.

NASA JPL Cassini Solstice Mission (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/rawimagedetails/index.cfm?imageID=240810)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 02 August, 2011, 07:41:28 PM
Moon Star
Well Lucas has to get his inspiration from some where.
(http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00991/Moon-and-Deathstar__991797a.jpg)




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: worldshown on 02 August, 2011, 07:49:51 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 02 August, 2011, 07:41:28 PM
Moon Star
Well Lucas has to get his inspiration from some where.
(http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00991/Moon-and-Deathstar__991797a.jpg)




V

Would have loved to have been in the NASA offices the day that picture of Mimas came back from Voyager.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 02 August, 2011, 08:24:59 PM
That's no moon.

Love this picture:
(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1107/DoubleGalactic_tezelguisard600h.jpg)

QuoteExplanation: A quest to find planet Earth's darkest night skies led to this intriguing panorama. In projection, the mosaic view sandwiches the horizons visible in all-sky images taken from the northern hemisphere's Canary Island of La Palma (top) and the south's high Atacama Desert between the two hemispheres of the Milky Way Galaxy. The photographers' choice of locations offered locally dark skies enjoyed by La Palma's Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and Paranal Observatory in Chile. But it also allowed the directions to the Milky Way's north and south galactic poles to be placed near the local zenith. That constrained the faint, diffuse glow of the plane of the Milky Way to the mountainous horizons. As a result, an even fainter S-shaped band of light, sunlight scattered by dust along the solar system's ecliptic plane, can be completely traced through both northern and southern hemisphere night skies.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 04 August, 2011, 09:16:29 PM
Engineering is also drokking fantastic:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19330_8-wtf-aircraft-designs-that-actually-caught-air.html (http://www.cracked.com/article_19330_8-wtf-aircraft-designs-that-actually-caught-air.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 05 August, 2011, 04:18:35 PM
Well I know that if it wasn't for science I would have died at eighteen months of age...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 05 August, 2011, 04:34:52 PM
Hunting For Worms From Hell

by Marc Kaufman for Astrobiology Magazine
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 29, 2011

Tullis Onstott of Princeton University opens a borehole in a section of rock wall in a South African mine near where "radiation eating microbes" were found. Image credit: Lisa M. Pratt / The Trustees of Indiana University / NASA / National Science Foundation.
If you're on a quest for "worms from Hell," you have to be prepared for some tough going. You have to be an intrepid adventurer and a scientific risk-taker, someone with a high tolerance for discomfort and, of course, heat. Gaetan Borgonie, a nematode specialist from Belgium, is such a person, and as a result the world now knows something new and quite surprising about the world deep below the Earth's surface: It is home not only to single-cell microbes, but also to far more complex creatures such as nematodes, which have thousands of cells.

Borgonie's discovery, reported in the June 2 edition of the journal Nature, was the result of some 25 trips down into the deepest cuts in the world, the gold and platinum mines of South Africa.

His journeys into the lairs of some of the world's most extreme extremophiles took him as deep as 2.5 miles into the Earth, and allowed him to bring back some living samples that - once put in a culture and petri dish - began to wiggle and squirm.

Borgonie and his colleagues tend to be matter-of-fact about the nature and hardship of their search, but finding the "worms from Hell" took stamina and remarkable drive. I know because for two descents, or "safaris" as they are sometimes called, I joined them in their quest.

I had no idea I would be on a nematode hunt when I flew to South Africa in 2009. My goal was to see firsthand where extremophile pioneer Tullis Onstott of Princeton University did the work that permanently changed our understanding of the deep subterranean world. Working on a hunch (and with no outside funding) Onstott set off to South Africa in search of microbes he believed could be living in the steaming, dark isolation of the rock surrounding the mine tunnels.

It took him and his colleagues years to prove it, but now it is widely accepted that microbes can live miles below the surface of the earth and of the ocean bed.

Their most famous discovery, a bacterium named candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator (or "bold traveler"), in a nod to Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth," has been determined to have lived as long as 3 to 40 million years deep underground without any contact with the surface - using the radioactive decay of nearby rock as its energy source and breaking molecules into bite-sized nourishment.

While Onstott couldn't be in South Africa when I visited, I traveled with the South African team that has been instrumental in Onstott's success. Based at the University of the Free State at Bloemfontein, the group led by a dynamic young biochemist named Esta van Heerden and a veteran chemist Derek Litthauer, who now searches for novel genes and proteins in the deep mines.

As it turned out, when I showed up the team also had a visiting colleague - Borgonie. Like Onstott before him, he had a hunch: that the life deep underground would not all be microbial.

Yes, the pressures and heat would be high and the level of oxygen would be low. But since nematodes, or roundworms, are hardy and widespread, Borgonie saw no compelling reason why they in particular wouldn't be found in the deep mines - despite the generally accepted view that their range was limited to about 20 feet below the surface. When I arrived he already had a few deep mine samples, but not enough to actually write a paper on them.

While nematologist Borgonie was initially most interested in expanding the known range of his worms, he certainly understood the implications for astrobiology that the discovery of complex life deep below the surface would have.

The proven presence of bacteria and other microbes at great depth had already led to speculation that a similar kind of subterranean life could live on planets beyond Earth, and most especially Mars. Once much wetter and warmer, Mars may well have had environments conducive to the genesis of life some 4 billion years ago.

Conditions deteriorated after that, but perhaps some life survived by going deep underground and adapting. If far more complex nematodes - with their nervous systems, digestive systems and reproductive systems - could survive deep underground on Earth, then perhaps the same would be true on Mars.

Our first descent together was at the Star Diamond Mine, in the bush several hours drive from Bloemfontein. A relatively small operation, we went down less than a mile to collect water samples and (I suspect) test out whether the journalistic guest could handle the subterranean world.

Borgonie had also found some interesting nematodes carrying eggs in the stalactite cones that formed on some outcroppings and equipment, and was looking for more but came away empty-handed.

The next descent would be much deeper, and to a far more expansively developed mine. The destination was the Northam Platinum Mine, and it was a day's ride from Bloemfontein, near the Crocodile River in the northeast of the country.

The Northam Platinum managers had called van Heerden because they were going to close off two sections of the mine that might be of interest to her and her extremophile team. It took years to develop trust between mine owners and the scientists, but by 2009 it was quite well established.

As Onstott had previously proven by collecting water from boreholes and finding bacteria in his samples, the rock formations in South Africa were ideal for subterranean life. The microbes need fractures in the rocks and they need water, and both were available.

The logic of Onstott's discoveries, and now the nematode discoveries, too, is that similar life is likely to be found deep underground wherever conditions allow, and that may well be under much of the Earth's surface.

The trip down to our destination at Northam Platinum, Level 7, was in a fast-moving elevator. A well-organized operation with modern equipment, you could nonetheless hear rocks falling on the elevator ceiling as we sped down into darkness.

A few minutes later, we came to an abrupt halt, the doors opened, and we walked in a large central cavern - complete with a miniature train system to move the mined material around. Each level has such an opening and then a maze of tunnels branching off, and we set off to some of the far reaches of the maze.

Our first destination was the end of a tunnel that hadn't worked out - too much water seeped in despite efforts to staunch it and pump it out. In less than seven years, the equipment brought in had been transformed into what looked like a long-ago shipwreck, with stalactites of calcium carbonate adding to the haunted feel of the place.

We all sloshed around in calf-deep water. Borgonie was ecstatic - both the boreholes and the cones held out the promise of nematodes. He lingered after the others had left, muttering happily to himself.

But our main destination was elsewhere, and after he moved on I marched behind the others in the darkness. It was eerie, unnerving to be so far underground, so completely surrounded by rock. But the tunnel was straight and solidly dug, the ventilation brought in some fresh air and took out the noxious gases, and the periodic sight and sound of miners down branch tunnels kept things from becoming too other-worldly.

I came to a junction, made a sharp left to follow the others and, with the suddenness of a fast-passing train, was staggered by a blast of heat. It wasn't the kind of heat that brings you to a quick sweat- I was already there anyway- but the kind that grows inside your body with strenuous, or overly strenuous exertion. It was a body blow, and I reached for the wall to keep standing.

Only later did I learn that both Borgonie and Litthauer have on occasion been evacuated from an especially hot or airless tunnel and sent back to the surface. Temperatures normally rise as you descend farther into the Earth, but Onstott told me the gold and diamond belt of South Africa is particularly hot below because some of its rock layers are especially prone to radioactive decay.

I inched my way to the researchers and mine officials gathered ahead at another tunnel dead-end. Already the scientists had attached their equipment to a narrow metal pipe poking out from the rock and were collecting water. It was a borehole, one drilled by miners to see what conditions were like inside the rock. The temperature gauge showed the water was a scalding 120 degrees F at the end of the pipe.

It was a barely touchable 130 degrees or more as it left the hard igneous rock, one of the researchers said. Mine geologist Werner Lamprecht, clearly proud of the extremity of it all, said the temperature several feet inside the rock face was probably in the range of 160 degrees. Not surprisingly, steam danced up from the water pooled on the tunnel floor.

Working in this kind of heat is known to bring on hallucinations, and Spanish researcher Antonio Garcia-Moyano and I periodically did see halos of light far broader than anything coming from our miners' lights.

The miners say they gradually get more used to the heat - though working in the mines has inevitable long-term consequences - but we non-miners had to periodically retreat from the pressure cooker to slightly ventilated corners of the tunnel. (Directed to a nearby ceiling pipe spraying tepid water, I drenched myself and my coveralls in a very slightly cooling shower.)

It didn't help that the water coming out of the boreholes is hot and steamy, stinks of rotten eggs, and is full of methane gas. As with the miners digging for gold, platinum and diamonds, many descents by the scientists end with no useful data at all.

I sat on a discarded board beside the tunnel wall and watched. The tunnel had no insects, no spiders, none of the unexpected movement that comes with creatures, yet previous expeditions had proven that we were not alone--that even this place somehow supported life in the tiny, watery cracks in the rock. That the life could even be more complex than a single-celled microbe seemed impossible.

Yet Borgonie's paper in Nature, co-authored with Onstott, van Heerden, Litthauer and others, described four tiny, yet visible to the eye, nematodes found in the three different deep mines (but not the ones we visited.) The living worm captured at greatest depth was more than 1.2 miles down, while a remnant part of a nematode was also found at 2.2 miles.

The question of contamination was clearly important - were these creatures brought in to the environment on the shoes of miners or in mining water? Extensive testing - including an additional trip to South Africa to re-test some water required by the journal Nature - established the nematodes were indeed living deep in rock of the mines, feeding on the bacteria, and adapting to a dark, hot world with little oxygen.

While some of the bacteria had been deep underground for millions, or tens of millions of years, the nematodes were determined to have lived at their current depth for at least 5,000 to 10,000 years. To capture the remarkable setting, the team named one previously unknown nematode Halicephalobus mephisto, a reference to Faust and his demon of the underworld.

It took many months for the paper to be finalized and published, but when it appeared news of the "worms from Hell" spread around the world.

It also impressed many scientists in the field, as described by Oregon State University's Frederick Colwell. He already knew something of the discovery, but said it surprised many who never conceived of the possibility of finding complex life at such depths.

"This is a new finding that is definitely striking to the scientific community," he said.

Colwell is active in the Deep Carbon Observatory project at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and is organizing a "census" of life underground.

The "worms from Hell" are an important addition to their understanding of Earth, he said, and a potentially significant advance for astrobiology too. "People have had to rethink assumptions about possible life on Mars or other planets," he said. "If more complex life can exist at depth on Earth, then the chances that it could elsewhere clearly go up."

For Borgonie, worldwide interest in the "worms from Hell" has been something of a surprise - nematode news seldom gets such attention. Now he wants to sequence the genome of H. mephisto to find more of its secrets. The search for subterranean worms was a high-stakes gamble with many naysayers - including at his own university - but that is often the backdrop to significant discoveries.

"In science, the first time someone proposes something unusual the reaction is almost always negative," he would later say. "Meteorites killed off the dinosaurs; at first they all said 'Ha, ha.' Ten years later they said maybe it was possible. And ten years after that, people say, yeah, well, of course." He was talking about dinosaurs, but obviously thinking of nematodes in the deep.

Now, he hopes, other researchers will join the search for nematodes - and other complex life-forms - deep underground, and continue the process of re-defining the nature and spread of life on Earth and the possibilities for life beyond our planet.

Marc Kaufman is the author of "First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth."


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 August, 2011, 06:24:44 PM
New Evidence for Flowing Water on Mars

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/577384main_pia14479-43_946-710-580x435.jpg)

An image combining orbital imagery with 3-D modeling shows flows that appear in spring and summer on a slope inside Mars' Newton crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Universe Today article (http://www.universetoday.com/87957/new-evidence-for-flowing-water-on-mars/)

Could those colours in the gulleys be life? Moss or algae or bacteria? Intriguing!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 05 August, 2011, 06:30:57 PM
Did you all just watch the live stream of the centaur boosting off Juno?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 August, 2011, 06:34:09 PM
Quote from: Krombasher on 05 August, 2011, 06:30:57 PM
Did you all just watch the live stream of the centaur boosting off Juno?

That sounds like a whole other thread altogether...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 05 August, 2011, 06:41:27 PM
Jupiter mission you filthmonger.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 August, 2011, 11:52:02 PM
Recent Active Sun Prompts Stunning Auroras Over England (http://www.universetoday.com/87988/recent-active-sun-prompts-stunning-auroras-over-england/)

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/6013497428_9f0e1b3420_z.jpg)

Aurora over Cumbria 5/6th August 2011 Credit: Raymond Gilchrist

And I saw bugger all  :'(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 August, 2011, 07:04:52 PM
Cassini Focuses In On Two Moons

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/PIA12778-br500.jpg)

Image of Tethys and Titan taken in green visible light on July 14th 2011 at a distance of about 3.2 million kilometers from Titan. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Ghostly, cold and remote - like something out of H.P. Lovecraft.

Universe Today (http://www.universetoday.com/88006/cassini-focuses-in-on-two-moons/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 08 August, 2011, 07:52:28 PM
How pure unadulterated grey-scale is that?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 August, 2011, 09:30:21 PM
It's always in the last place you look:

http://dsc.discovery.com/gear-gadgets/nasa-finds-lost-spacecraft-on-dark-side-of-the-moon.html (http://dsc.discovery.com/gear-gadgets/nasa-finds-lost-spacecraft-on-dark-side-of-the-moon.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: maryanddavid on 13 August, 2011, 11:03:20 AM
Mayby not the best place to post this, but worth a read anyway.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2011/0812/1224302302047.html

David
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 August, 2011, 11:22:32 AM
Our Ancestors were weird! Human sacrifice? Brrr that's just spooky-ville.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this but the fastest plane ever built has apparently-flown away.

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/11/fastest-ever-plane-lost-during-test-flight
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 August, 2011, 02:17:47 PM
(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/BarentsSea_amo_2011226-580x386.jpg)

Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea. Credit: NASA/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite

Universe Today (http://www.universetoday.com/88257/explosive-phytoplankton-bloom-seen-from-space/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 August, 2011, 02:38:30 PM
"The chances of anything coming from Mars..."

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ESP_023531_1840-580x435.jpg)

Collapse pit on Mars reveals opening to an underground cave. (http://www.universetoday.com/88289/what-lies-beneath/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:40:08 PM
This seems as good a place as any to get this off my chest. Been becoming increasingly irritated recently by friends of friends and acquaintances posting science-related stuff on Facebook, whether it's news about the lhc or a Carl Sagan quote.

Before I get torn to shreds, I don't think there's anything wrong with taking an interest in science, its admirable. But what annoys me is these people are mostly arts graduates and I know for a fact they only have an extremely rudimentary grasp of the basics of physics. If they were to actually talk to a genuine scientist or mathematician they'd be hopelessly out of they're depth within seconds.

So it's the pseud-ish posturing and pretension that gets my goat, the smug 'look how intelligent I am' of it. Sorry, but watching a couple of BBC4/Brian Cox documentaries doesn't mean you know what the he'll you're talking about!

Aah, I feel better now!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 25 August, 2011, 12:42:24 PM
I don't like Brian Cox...there, I said it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 25 August, 2011, 04:56:22 PM
 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah jelousy is terrible, ain't it?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 12 September, 2011, 07:44:52 PM
The UK has formally joined forces with a US laser lab in a bid to develop clean energy from nuclear fusion.

Unlike fission plants, the process uses lasers to compress atomic nuclei until they join, releasing energy.

The National Ignition Facility (Nif) in the US is drawing closer to producing a surplus of energy from the idea.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14842720 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14842720)

claims of no nasty side effects!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 September, 2011, 08:30:54 PM
Quote from: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:40:08 PM
So it's the pseud-ish posturing and pretension that gets my goat, the smug 'look how intelligent I am' of it. Sorry, but watching a couple of BBC4/Brian Cox documentaries doesn't mean you know what the he'll you're talking about!


Yes, I get this. All the bloody time. There are slight variations on this theme too. Militant Atheists for example. Just replace Brian Cox with Dick Dawkins.

Quote from: radiator on 25 August, 2011, 12:40:08 PM
If they were to actually talk to a genuine scientist or mathematician they'd be hopelessly out of they're depth within seconds.

Exactly

Exempli Gratia:

Me (being polite): 'That's a very interesting idea. How would you go about testing that hypothesis?' :|
Them: :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 12 September, 2011, 08:38:52 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-agl0pOQfs
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 September, 2011, 09:19:07 PM
Quote from: johnnystress on 12 September, 2011, 08:38:52 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-agl0pOQfs

Insane Clown Posse, an arguement against the existence of God that is more compelling than the entirety of The Richard Dawkins is God Delusion.

*Edit
Maybe I'm being a bit hard on oul Dawkins. I've a lot of respect for everything he has contributed to his chosen field. My main beef with him, is the way he has hijacked Science in the name of Atheism. Not all Scientists are Atheists. Three of my professors would declare their Theism at the beginning of every new lecture course (though one of them said the main reason he believed in God was because of the interesting arguements this caused with his peers).

For the record, I'm an agnostic, so there's not really much point in debating the existence of a deity with me. I haven't a bloody clue, and don't see the point in worrying.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 13 September, 2011, 01:48:32 PM
this is nice. And also sad

http://youtu.be/ziT3XYE2xSA
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 September, 2011, 11:15:21 PM
Dinosaur 'feathers' (http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/dinosaur-feathers-found-in-amber-reinforce-evolution-theories/245094/) found in amber. (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/09/80-million-year-old-dinosaur-feathers-found/1)..

Cool.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 September, 2011, 02:07:29 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 15 September, 2011, 11:15:21 PM
Dinosaur 'feathers' (http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/dinosaur-feathers-found-in-amber-reinforce-evolution-theories/245094/) found in amber. (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/09/80-million-year-old-dinosaur-feathers-found/1)..

Interesting. I wonder if they were just the smaller raptor type dinosaurs which are known to have feathers, or a large species. I'm curious how widespread the feathers were.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 September, 2011, 12:49:11 PM
Tatooine schmatooine -- Nasa have discovered Solaris.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14940885?ref=nf (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14940885?ref=nf)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 September, 2011, 02:16:07 PM
QuoteNamed Kepler-16b, it is thought to be an uninhabitable cold gas giant, like Saturn.

QuoteThe planet orbits its two suns every 229 days at a distance of 65m miles (104m km) - about the same distance out as Venus.

Shouldn't that make it a HOT gas giant? Or does the sheer mass of the planet cancel that out? (Or maybe I'm just reading that wrong.)

Interesting though.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 September, 2011, 09:37:38 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 16 September, 2011, 02:16:07 PM
QuoteNamed Kepler-16b, it is thought to be an uninhabitable cold gas giant, like Saturn.

QuoteThe planet orbits its two suns every 229 days at a distance of 65m miles (104m km) - about the same distance out as Venus.

Shouldn't that make it a HOT gas giant? Or does the sheer mass of the planet cancel that out? (Or maybe I'm just reading that wrong.)

Interesting though.

It's to do with nomenclature and atmospheric pressures. A Hot Gas Giant emits more heat than it recieves from its sun by a process called the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. Jupiter and Saturn are hot gas giants.

A cold gas giant absorbs most of the heat from its suns. That doesn't neccessarily mean the surface temperature is cold.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 September, 2011, 04:53:25 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 16 September, 2011, 09:37:38 PM
It's to do with nomenclature and atmospheric pressures. A Hot Gas Giant emits more heat than it recieves from its sun by a process called the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. Jupiter and Saturn are hot gas giants.

A cold gas giant absorbs most of the heat from its suns. That doesn't neccessarily mean the surface temperature is cold.

Gotcha. Thanks for the reply.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 September, 2011, 08:53:08 PM
THIS (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=foldit-gamers-solve-riddle) is really cool.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 September, 2011, 09:18:25 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14998679
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 21 September, 2011, 11:26:02 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 September, 2011, 09:18:25 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14998679

I know of the Aurora Borealis (although i haven't seen it outside the television) but I didn't know there was a Southern equivalent!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 September, 2011, 01:29:33 AM
Tonight, I have mostly been reading about Foldit (http://fold.it/portal/info/science)

There have been other examples of Scientist using Internet Communities for research (like the Hubble Galaxy Zoo (http://www.galaxyzoo.org/) Project), but this takes thing to another level. I think there's a lesson in this; you should approach a challenge as you would a game.

Quote from: Mardroid on 21 September, 2011, 11:26:02 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 September, 2011, 09:18:25 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14998679

I know of the Aurora Borealis (although i haven't seen it outside the television) but I didn't know there was a Southern equivalent!

Sometimes, if there's a big enough Solar Flare, a clear night and no light pollution, you can see a faint Borealis effect over the British Isles. So effectively, you'll probably never see a Borealis over Britain. But it's possible.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 22 September, 2011, 06:43:12 AM
QuoteSometimes, if there's a big enough Solar Flare, a clear night and no light pollution, you can see a faint Borealis effect over the British Isles. So effectively, you'll probably never see a Borealis over Britain. But it's possible.

I seen it once while in NI many years ago, but up here in the North of Cal Hab, we get them from time to time during the winter.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 22 September, 2011, 10:40:15 AM
Saw it on Skye once, outside looking up at the light polution free sky and innocently(drunkenly) wondered what city the lights to the west were from  :-[ 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 September, 2011, 12:36:01 PM
Seeing the Northern Lights is definitely on my "things to do before I die" list.

On another matter - was Einstein wrong? http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/22/faster-than-light-particles-neutrinos?newsfeed=true (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/22/faster-than-light-particles-neutrinos?newsfeed=true)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 23 September, 2011, 12:47:52 PM
Probably as wrong as Newton. Interesting stuff alright!

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ming on 23 September, 2011, 01:11:39 PM
I've been lucky enough to see the aurora borealis a few times - but the first time was the best.  In a fairly out-of-the-way spot in Alaska (a small town you can only get to by boat or plane), middle of the night, pinks and greens rippling across the sky at mindblowing speed, with mountains silhouetted against the light show...

I'd seen pictures and videos before but thought that some of what they showed was exaggerated (speed, intensity of colour) but no - the real deal will leave you speechless.

The times I've seen them since have never quite matched the first show, although seeing them from a charter plane somewhere over middle-north Canada was pretty damn cool.

I know there's science behind what's going on but to be honest there's no room in my brain for thinking while watching stuff like that.  Just staring and drooling a bit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 September, 2011, 02:45:32 PM
Quote from: ming on 23 September, 2011, 01:11:39 PM
I know there's science behind what's going on but to be honest there's no room in my brain for thinking while watching stuff like that.  Just staring and drooling a bit.

I know exactly what you mean - me and a bunch of mates went to Cornwall in 1999 for the total eclipse, and even though we knew exactly what was happening and were expecting it, when the darkness suddenly descends, you can't stop that primitive monkey bit at the back of your brain screaming "ARGH! The sun's gone out! ARGH!". It was a very spooky feeling.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 23 September, 2011, 02:46:14 PM
Star Trek here we come!

(from Yesterday's Washington Post)

The speed of light is broken! CERN has just measured subatomic particles traveling at faster than the speed of light ! Or, in non-English: CERN (that's the European Organization for Nuclear Research to you, American) has just measured a neutrino (that's a subatomic particle to you, uh, Multicellular Organism) that traveled from Geneva, Switzerland, to a destination in Italy and managed to exceed the speed of light by 60 nanoseconds — with a margin of error of only 10 nanoseconds.

"Something exceeds the speed limit in Italy, and somehow this is news?"

If true, this is huge. The idea that the speed of light is a constant, never to be exceeded, has been fixed since the time of Albert Einstein. It's one of those operating assumptions that underlie our every action, like "single men with cats are bad marriage material" or "if TV critics praise a show for being fresh, funny and insightful, it will fail." If this isn't true, nothing is true. All the rules on which I've based my existence — "Christmas calories don't count," "the Orioles will lose," "if you like a product or service, inevitably they will change it, start charging you more, or George Lucas will add new scenes and special features." Up is up, down is down, right is whatever position Ron Paul currently occupies, and the speed of light cannot be broken.

This is so huge that the Europeans are asking us to check it. They haven't done that since the rise of the Third Reich.

If we can verify it, then it's the only real news today. It will force us to rethink all our scientific assumptions. The speed of light was supposed to be an absolute limit, like the age of consent, not a guideline, like the drinking age.

Rick Perry was right. Science is wrong. "The Big Bang Theory" will have to go off the air in shame.

But on the bright side, now maybe we can visit Tatooine after all! We just discovered it . At the rate we're going this week, "Star Wars" will turn out to be a documentary.

Still, if true, this is huge. It undermines everything we've thought since 1905.

We'll have to rethink all our other assumptions. Maybe we don't need coffee to survive. Maybe shark attacks aren't more relevant to our lives than car crashes. Maybe we should trust Greeks bearing gifts.

I've had so many of my assumptions unsettled that I have this intense urge to become a Scientologist.

It's too much. Next time we see a particle do that, somebody ought to pull it over.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 23 September, 2011, 11:40:11 PM
Going back to the Northern Lights for a bit - I've seen it on the horizon a few times as a vague, barely discernible, green glow, but once, about ten years ago, they gave a more impressive showing.

It stretched across the entire sky from north to south in swirly green streaks with patches of red. The largest of these patches was directly overhead and (rather disturbingly), made it look as if the sky had cracked open.

It's very unusual for them to be as impressive as that around here (I'm pretty far down to the South of Scotland in East Lothian), but a facebook friend of mine insists he saw them one night way down in Derbyshire. I asked him when this was, and it was roughly the same time I saw them. Might even have been the same night.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 September, 2011, 04:01:06 AM
After much alcohol, I've decided to weigh in on this LHC-making-neutrinos-go-faster-than-the-speed-of-light-story.

It's early days, nothing has been published yet, so that frees me up to wildly speculate with Space Maths.

An unpredictable and immediately unexplainable result is the best possible result for any Scientific Experiment.

In 1905 Einstein got his Noble Prize for his work on the Photo-Electric Effect, he never got Lauded for his work on Relativity. The Photo-Electric Effect is a quantum effect. He was the Father of quantum physics. With quantum physics, comes uncertainty. At the quantum level, things can appear to simultaneously teleport to everywhere. There's a thing called the Correspondence principle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence_principle), it basically means that the uncertainty in the quantum numbers is reduced to negligible at the Macroscopic scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroscopic_scale).

The thing is, in the LHC, the energy levels of the neutrinos is easily 100 times greater than the natural energy states of the quadrillions of neutrinos that have passed through your body as you've read this. Energies as high as that are not natural. I would propose that; at Energy States this high, the correspondence principal is stretched. If there's enough energy, micro-scale quantum events can be observed at the macro-scale.

This is all just space maths, I can't propose a hypothesis to test these assertions.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 26 September, 2011, 05:11:00 AM
Sounds reasonable enough Pops as the Cosmic Inflationary Period occured when the ambient energy levels in the Universe were a shitload lot higher than current except...

(draws a deep breath)


...this experiment was run for three years on CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Proton_Synchrotron). The power of which was exceded by Fermilab before it was even completed.

The UFOlogists are going to pounce on this like IDW on a crap 80s toy franchise but let's see if this result is replicable.

If so it may be telling us something more about neutrinos than the inviolacy of light speed.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tombo on 26 September, 2011, 09:17:30 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 23 September, 2011, 11:40:11 PM
Going back to the Northern Lights for a bit - I've seen it on the horizon a few times as a vague, barely discernible, green glow, but once, about ten years ago, they gave a more impressive showing.

It stretched across the entire sky from north to south in swirly green streaks with patches of red. The largest of these patches was directly overhead and (rather disturbingly), made it look as if the sky had cracked open.

It's very unusual for them to be as impressive as that around here (I'm pretty far down to the South of Scotland in East Lothian), but a facebook friend of mine insists he saw them one night way down in Derbyshire. I asked him when this was, and it was roughly the same time I saw them. Might even have been the same night.

I remember that.  It wasn't the Lights but a similar phenomonomnomnom, whatever, casused by ice particles in the upper atmosphere.  It was clearly visible here on Teesside and looked slightly eerie, after all the skys not supposed to be green.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IndigoPrime on 26 September, 2011, 10:35:12 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 23 September, 2011, 11:40:11 PMIt stretched across the entire sky from north to south in swirly green streaks with patches of red. The largest of these patches was directly overhead and (rather disturbingly), made it look as if the sky had cracked open.
When I lived in Reykjavík, I used to see green ones quite a lot when we got back from the shops on a winter's evening. The best show we got was one New Year's Eve (or thereabouts—it was the 30th, I think), although my friend's camera unfortunately decided it was too cold to take some snaps.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 26 September, 2011, 04:25:38 PM
Is this the clip that prompted the talk of the Northern Lights?

http://youtu.be/ogtKe7N05F0
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 02 October, 2011, 01:11:27 AM
Quote from: Tombo on 26 September, 2011, 09:17:30 AM
I remember that.  It wasn't the Lights but a similar phenomonomnomnom, whatever, casused by ice particles in the upper atmosphere.  It was clearly visible here on Teesside and looked slightly eerie, after all the skys not supposed to be green.

Hmmm... Not too sure about that. What I saw looked extremely Northern Lightsish to me, but I know that there were ice particles floating about in the atmosphere on a totally different occasion in 2002, 'cos I spotted another natural phenomenon caused by them and got my mum to film it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH9M2XTcR2o (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH9M2XTcR2o)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 03 October, 2011, 07:45:24 AM
Quote from: paddykafka on 23 September, 2011, 02:46:14 PM
Star Trek here we come!

(from Yesterday's Washington Post)

The speed of light is broken! CERN has just measured subatomic particles traveling at faster than the speed of light ! Or, in non-English: CERN (that's the European Organization for Nuclear Research to you, American) has just measured a neutrino (that's a subatomic particle to you, uh, Multicellular Organism) that traveled from Geneva, Switzerland, to a destination in Italy and managed to exceed the speed of light by 60 nanoseconds — with a margin of error of only 10 nanoseconds.

"Something exceeds the speed limit in Italy, and somehow this is news?"

If true, this is huge. The idea that the speed of light is a constant, never to be exceeded, has been fixed since the time of Albert Einstein. It's one of those operating assumptions that underlie our every action, like "single men with cats are bad marriage material" or "if TV critics praise a show for being fresh, funny and insightful, it will fail." If this isn't true, nothing is true. All the rules on which I've based my existence — "Christmas calories don't count," "the Orioles will lose," "if you like a product or service, inevitably they will change it, start charging you more, or George Lucas will add new scenes and special features." Up is up, down is down, right is whatever position Ron Paul currently occupies, and the speed of light cannot be broken.

This is so huge that the Europeans are asking us to check it. They haven't done that since the rise of the Third Reich.

If we can verify it, then it's the only real news today. It will force us to rethink all our scientific assumptions. The speed of light was supposed to be an absolute limit, like the age of consent, not a guideline, like the drinking age.

Rick Perry was right. Science is wrong. "The Big Bang Theory" will have to go off the air in shame.

But on the bright side, now maybe we can visit Tatooine after all! We just discovered it . At the rate we're going this week, "Star Wars" will turn out to be a documentary.

Still, if true, this is huge. It undermines everything we've thought since 1905.

We'll have to rethink all our other assumptions. Maybe we don't need coffee to survive. Maybe shark attacks aren't more relevant to our lives than car crashes. Maybe we should trust Greeks bearing gifts.

I've had so many of my assumptions unsettled that I have this intense urge to become a Scientologist.

It's too much. Next time we see a particle do that, somebody ought to pull it over.


So let me get this straight... something i cant see went faster than something i can see..!!!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 04 October, 2011, 07:48:29 PM
Worlds smallest periodic table.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQU2IAsQak8




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Moggot Lover on 05 October, 2011, 04:24:01 PM
 check out these cracking videos of comet hitting the sun. (http://spaceweathermonitor.com/2011/10/05/comet-slamming-into-the-sun-and-causing-solar-flare/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: klute on 05 October, 2011, 05:31:28 PM
I saw a lot of casefiles (11 in total) on ebay for £120 unluckily at the time i was strapped for cash so i didn't bid and they didn't sell.

So on advice from the wife and various other people i got in contact with said seller who said they would keep them for me till the end of the month at which point we would give each other the nod to put them up for sale for me.

End of the month came i bought them for the £120 pounds and had then delivered yesterday  not only did i get the lot in perfect condition BUT the seller had also added the D.R and Quinch Titan graphic novel into the lot which made my day just that touch sweeter.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: klute on 05 October, 2011, 05:41:08 PM
Wrong thread :(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 07 October, 2011, 07:39:37 PM
I can see the future  :o

The son of some friends of ours is a little sod and he tries to drop other kids in the shit all the time. We've caught him out a few times at parties and he's even tried it on with Sam, full well knowing that Sam won't be able to defend himself from any accusation, due to his autism!
When we visit he attacks me and puts everything into it to try and prove how hard he is. I then fight back to show him that there is always someone bigger who will put him in his place, this normally ends up with him crying. I have even told him that this will happen when he goes to senior school, as he hasn't got the body to back his mouth up with!

He's now at senior school and lo and behold we get told that he had his head bashed in this week and had to go to hospital. Obviously this is not good but hopefully he will have now learned a valuable lesson, that I tried to teach him in a friendly environment. Don't mouth off to the bigger kids as they will put you in your place!

I must admit it happened quicker than I thought it would  :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 07 October, 2011, 07:56:54 PM
and how much did you bribe these bigger kids?  :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 07 October, 2011, 08:11:15 PM
and that's the science of.....  :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 October, 2011, 09:12:30 PM
Stephen Fry just told me about this. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/humble-honey-bee-in-national-security/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 October, 2011, 09:29:03 AM
This baby's gone straight to the top of Stevie's Crimbo Wish List:

Bjork's robotic Gravity Harp (http://www.gizmag.com/gravity-harp-robotic-pendulums/19931/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 09 October, 2011, 01:15:43 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 08 October, 2011, 09:12:30 PM
Stephen Fry just told me about this. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/humble-honey-bee-in-national-security/)

So do they only detect Class b drugs

Taxi!!!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 October, 2011, 10:37:54 PM
Quantum Levitation  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ws6AAhTw7RA#!)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 October, 2011, 09:59:02 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 17 October, 2011, 10:37:54 PM
Quantum Levitation  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ws6AAhTw7RA#!)

Well I now know how their going to levitate the trains in the future. Wacky but impressive.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 October, 2011, 02:23:31 PM
(http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2011/1-youngestplan.jpg)

The first direct image of a planet in the process of forming around its star has been captured by astronomers who combined the power of the 10-meter Keck telescopes with a bit of optical sleight of hand. (PhysOrg.com) (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-youngest-planet.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 October, 2011, 09:12:13 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B2XhKzG1L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 24 October, 2011, 05:51:52 AM
Arthuhttp://io9.com/5848192/giant-prehistoric-krakens-may-have-sculpted-self+portraits-using-ichthyosaur-bones (http://io9.com/5848192/giant-prehistoric-krakens-may-have-sculpted-self+portraits-using-ichthyosaur-bones)

No doubt Tordelback will be along in a moment to point out that it's  generally agreed in archaeological circles that the very earliest self-depictions amongst hominids were for the purposes of, er, um, ...gratification as it were. So if there is something similar going on here we could be looking at the very first instance of hentai.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 October, 2011, 02:58:45 PM
That's brilliant, Stevie. Pat Mills should be told...

All I have today is a flying jeep:

(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/27/article-0-0E8C4C1B00000578-783_634x462.jpg) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2054005/The-flying-Humvee-gets-ground-U-S-military-plans-terrain-bullet-proof-warcraft-year.html#ixzz1bzFrlxjY)

It might look like something out of a Marvel comic but this flying jeep is close to becoming a reality.

According to insiders at the military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the first model of this futuristic vehicle will be ready at the end of next year.

It is designed to be capable of driving across the roughest terrain like a jeep, sustain gun fire and take off and land at the flick of a switch.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 October, 2011, 01:11:27 PM
The first step on the way to bio-chips? Note the name of the supercomputer used  :o

IBM Simulates 4.5 percent of the Human Brain, and All of the Cat Brain. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=graphic-science-ibm-simulates-4-percent-human-brain-all-of-cat-brain)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 28 October, 2011, 09:42:34 PM
Cat brain? I can't see that ending well...

(http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j260/MalcolmKirk/ScreamStuff/5_4.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 October, 2011, 11:00:28 PM
Crepuscular Rays Seen From Space (http://www.universetoday.com/90486/crepuscular-rays-seen-from-space/)

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Crepuscular-Rays-seen-from-space-580x386.jpg)

Seeing crepuscular rays on Earth is a somewhat rare event, as conditions have to be just right at either sunset or sunrise for the Sun's rays to appear as though they are diverging outward from the Sun. But seeing them from space is even more rare... (http://www.universetoday.com/90486/crepuscular-rays-seen-from-space/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 November, 2011, 11:43:39 PM
Cyborg yeast? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15598887)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2011, 12:03:35 AM
Just In: NASA's Latest Image of Asteroid 2005 YU55 (http://www.universetoday.com/90769/just-in-nasas-latest-image-of-asteroid-2005-yu55/)

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2005-yu55-580x435.jpg)

NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 as it begins its close pass by Earth...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 November, 2011, 12:43:38 AM
Looks like something from an early nineties Lucasarts game.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 08 November, 2011, 03:43:54 AM
Stevie would have picked it as a low-res enlargement of Jared's avatar.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 November, 2011, 02:35:59 PM
...it gives us images of our beautiful star:

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NASASDO171_1111111111-580x580.jpg)
The Sun on 11/11/11 from the Solar Dynamics Observatory Spacecraft.

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NASASDO3041111111111.jpg)
The Sun at 11:11 UTC on 11/11/11 in a different wavelength. Credit: NASA
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 13 November, 2011, 12:53:57 PM
I saw this and thought of this thread...

(http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9n7jd2Pss1qaz6rno1_500.jpg)

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 November, 2011, 04:19:09 PM
The Aurora viewed from space (http://vimeo.com/32001208)

That's a gorgeous video
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 November, 2011, 06:40:50 PM
Niel deGrasse Tyson does an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/mateq/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/)

Some interesting insights.
QuoteSociety needs to see science not as a luxury of funding but as a fundamental activity that drives enlightenment, economics, and security.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 November, 2011, 04:27:49 PM
The Moon as You've Never Seen It Before (http://www.universetoday.com/91062/the-moon-as-youve-never-seen-it-before/)

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/WAC_CSHADE_O000N1800_1000-580x580.png)

You're looking at a brand new view of the lunar farside, as never seen before. The team from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has released the first version of a topographic map of nearly the entire Moon, from data from the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) on the spacecraft...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 November, 2011, 05:09:31 PM
Mmmm, multicoloured pancake, aaarrrgggllle...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 17 November, 2011, 07:25:16 PM
Like the Undercity but with mountains and ice. Kind of.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15749757
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 November, 2011, 11:48:03 PM
What are Scientists Shooting Lazers At? (http://sci-ence.org/frickin-lasers/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 November, 2011, 06:23:02 AM
Quote from: SuperSurfer on 17 November, 2011, 07:25:16 PM
Like the Undercity but with mountains and ice. Kind of.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15749757

Anyone who complains about the weaknesses of Lovecraft's writing needs to explain why this (excellent) article gives me the full-blown heeby jeebies, 25 years after I first read 'At The Mountains of Madness'.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tombo on 18 November, 2011, 11:19:04 AM
Mountains of Madness was the first thing that ran through my mind as well when I read that.

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li! Tekeli-Li!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 November, 2011, 03:44:02 PM
The Case for Pluto's Oceans. (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=20717&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+centauri-dreams%2Feepu+%28Centauri+Dreams%29)

(http://www.centauri-dreams.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/new-hubble-supercomputer-pictures_12678_600x450.jpg)


"Finding an ocean on Pluto would make the case for other Kuiper Belt oceans quite strong, especially on larger objects like Eris. A case for astrobiology in this extreme environment seems remote indeed, but the presence of an ocean here would remind us that the Kuiper Belt, which may contain a thousand dwarf planets or more, is likely to deal us surprises at every turn."

Wow! I love this kind of stuff! If life can survive five miles down in our own oceans, who knows? (Buy stocks in the newly formed SolarShark Interplanetary Fishing Corporation TM now!)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 28 November, 2011, 09:01:24 PM
http://laughingsquid.com/micro-lattice-the-worlds-lightest-material/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 29 November, 2011, 11:34:49 PM
Trifles! Trifles light as air!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 29 November, 2011, 11:36:49 PM
Trifles! Trifles light as air!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 02 December, 2011, 01:52:11 PM
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/12/02/the-physics-of-hairy-balls/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 02 December, 2011, 07:49:23 PM
Yeah, but who combs their balls anyway? Apart from on xmas eve, like.

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 02 December, 2011, 07:52:13 PM
http://store.space.com/gifts-gadgets/star-trek-enterprise-pizza-cutter/?utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Facebook&utm_campaign=star_trek_enterprise_pizza_cutter_120211
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 December, 2011, 09:34:02 PM
How Big is Big? (http://www.universetoday.com/91691/astronomy-without-a-telescope-how-big-is-big/)

(http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/580x380xStar-sizes-580x380.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-hu8ouJ7hz.jpg)

A scale comparison chart showing lots of big stars - but note that after Rigel (frame 5) they are all red giants. When the Sun goes red giant it will become about the size of Arcturus (frame 4) - so maybe this kind of 'snapshot in time' comparison is misleading? Credit: Wikimedia.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 12 December, 2011, 05:15:19 PM
Anyone worried about the mass of the Higgs Boson yet?

QuoteThe rumours tell us that next week ATLAS and CMS will announce a strong but inconclusive signal for the Higgs boson at about 125 GeV. This may be wrong and even if it is right there may be other candidate signals to think about, and it will take much more data to verify that the signal is indeed correct for the Higgs, but if it is right, what then are the implications of the Higgs at this mass?

This question will be the subject of much discussion in the coming months and I can only touch on it here. Certainly the central topic of the debate will be the stability of the vacuum and whether it implies new physics, and if so, at what scale?

It has been known for about twenty years that for a low Higgs mass relative to the top quark mass, the quartic Higgs self-coupling runs at high energy towards lower values. At some point it would turn negative indicating that the vacuum is unstable. In other words the universe could in theory spontaneously explode at some point releasing huge amounts of energy as it fell into a more stable lower energy vacuum state. This catastrophe would spread across the universe  at the speed of light in an unstoppable wave of heat that would destroy everything in its path. Happily the universe has survived a very long time without such mishaps so this can't be part of reality, or can it?

http://blog.vixra.org/2011/12/04/what-would-a-higgs-at-125-gev-tell-us/

Via (http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=13528)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 12 December, 2011, 06:11:06 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 12 December, 2011, 05:15:19 PM
Anyone worried about the mass of the Higgs Boson yet?

I am now,  :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 12 December, 2011, 08:00:58 PM
After looking at all the data collceted so far on the Higgs Boson I can safely say that I don't have a fucking clue and my brain has just fell out of my arsehole.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 12 December, 2011, 09:49:33 PM
.........you can have a poo transplant.  :o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15113440
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 12 December, 2011, 11:25:34 PM
Iran have hacked America's best killbot:

QuoteThe unmanned RQ-170 Sentinel is still highly classified, yet since one came down in Iran five days ago, it's a lot less secret.

Three U.S. defense officials said the plane the Iranians displayed on television yesterday appears to be the Lockheed Martin Corp. RQ-170 that controllers lost contact with on Dec. 4. The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have declined to comment on the matter.

Three U.S. intelligence officials said the greatest concern now is that the Iranians will give Russian or Chinese scientists access to the aircraft, which is designed to be virtually invisible to radar and carries advanced communications and surveillance gear.

...

Reverse engineering the Sentinel or its components would be difficult and time consuming, the intelligence officials said. The most troubling prospect is that the Iranians' second claim about how they brought it down -- by hacking into its controls and landing it themselves -- might be true, said one of the intelligence officials .

The official said the possibility that the Iranians, perhaps with help from China or Russia, hacked into the drone's satellite communications is doubly alarming because it would mean that Iranian or other cyber-warfare officers were able to disable the Sentinel's automatic self-destruct, holding pattern and return-to-base mechanisms.

www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-12/iran-shows-downed-spy-drone-as-u-s-assesses-technology-loss.html

Could Skynet emerge as collateral damage from the upcoming cyberwar?



Quote from: Albion on 12 December, 2011, 09:49:33 PM
.........you can have a poo transplant.  :o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15113440

I have signed up to be a poo donor.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 December, 2011, 08:26:43 PM
A Higgs-Boson walks into a Chapel. When the priest catches sight of it, he is furious.

'You're the one that calls himself the God Particle,'
declares the priest 'We don't want your blasphemous kind in here begorrah, bayjaysus!!!'

'But without me,'
replies the Higgs-Boson, 'Mass won't make any sense.'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 December, 2011, 08:28:57 PM
Love it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 14 December, 2011, 08:34:19 PM
Perfect with the Irish accent.  :lol:

JvB
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 14 December, 2011, 08:59:50 PM
Brilliant, it is like NASA is being run by 8-year-olds:

NASA Builds Six-Foot Crossbow to Harpoon Comets (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/nasa-comet-harpoon/)

Quotethe Goddard lab now houses a monstrous six-foot-long crossbow, with a bow made from a pair of truck carriage springs, and a string made from a half-inch-thick steel cable. This industrial-strength ballista can generate a level of force up to 1,000 pounds.

The engineers only point the bow towards the floor, for safety reasons. "It could potentially launch test harpoon tips about a mile if it was angled upwards," said NASA's Bill Steigerwald in a press release.

www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/nasa-comet-harpoon/

Surely they should just admit they did it because it sounded cool.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 December, 2011, 07:09:10 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 14 December, 2011, 08:59:50 PM
Brilliant, it is like NASA is being run by 8-year-olds

The their budget has been slashed, they probably can't afford to pay real scientists and child labour is free ;)

Quote from: Emperor on 14 December, 2011, 08:59:50 PM
Surely they should just admit they did it because it sounded cool.

It does sound cool doesn't it? We need more stuff like this to inspire the next generation. The LHC is cool and all, but it's difficult enough to explain it to grown ups never mind kids.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 15 December, 2011, 07:19:27 PM
They will be using them to down ATAT's next.





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 December, 2011, 02:15:07 AM
Quote from: Emperor on 14 December, 2011, 08:59:50 PM
Brilliant, it is like NASA is being run by 8-year-olds Moomins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqGvu39muo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqGvu39muo)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Roger Godpleton on 16 December, 2011, 02:28:53 AM
I'm wearing boxers that are too small. Now all of my clothes feel like they are too small. Science is a dick because it tells my brain that my clothes are all too small when only one of them is.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 December, 2011, 03:18:27 PM
Science gives us some truly cool locations. I had never even heard of this until today, when I stumbled on it by accident:

The IceCube South Pole Particle Detector. (http://icecube.wisc.edu/)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jNzyzDfrBes/TsUUf79g_eI/AAAAAAAAjgk/pYS-CqOLc2U/s1600/743px-Icecube-architecture-diagram2009.PNG)

How cool is that? I'm imagining one of these way out on Pluto or drilled into a distant comet with a small crew of bearded, freyed scientists who have just discovered something a bit odd in the ice...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 08 January, 2012, 11:06:14 AM
I want one of these for next christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFvLaMtYmcQ





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2012, 11:14:06 AM
Yeah, quantum levitation is the freakiest thing going - have to get myself some.  Have a look at this demonstration - watch it right the way through!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtRsGcAY26c&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtRsGcAY26c&feature=related)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 08 January, 2012, 12:23:45 PM
It's the fact that they are going to try this on a 1:1 scale.





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: johnnystress on 08 January, 2012, 08:08:03 PM
but this is fake..right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqmdv5iyIOY
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 January, 2012, 09:17:40 PM
The Wipeout thing is a lovely fake, but the technology it apes is very real - and for my money even freakier than the fiction! 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 09 January, 2012, 08:27:51 AM
where do i buy liquid nitrogen?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Steve Green on 09 January, 2012, 08:50:10 AM
Yeah, the wipeout thing looks to be a viral for the release of Wipeout on the PS handheld.

The vapour looked suspiciously CG from the off, but it was a nice idea coming off the back of the quantum lock videos that did the rounds a while back - they needed the person to push it, but I don't know if the wipeout one is possible, I'm guessing the ad budget meant that doing it in CG was cheaper...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2012, 03:53:48 PM
A new look at the "Eye of God" - or is it the remains of the Death Star? Nope, it's a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius, about 700 light-years away from Earth. How lucky we are to live in an age when technology can show us such wonders.

(http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/580x580xeso1205a-580x580.jpg.pagespeed.ic.MPQ-0PMlEP.jpg)

ESO's VISTA telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, has captured a striking new image of the Helix Nebula. Credit: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson.

Universe Today (http://www.universetoday.com/92769/a-new-look-at-the-helix-nebula-a-giant-eye-in-space/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 19 January, 2012, 04:25:05 PM
Era Vodoleya (Age of Aquarius) in Russian

Found that when looking up
BPRD and The Ministry of Serendipity on Wiki
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ICONIC_TM on 19 January, 2012, 04:37:14 PM
Or could be the The Twelve Colonies of Man?  :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 22 January, 2012, 07:10:02 AM
Thats Steve Jobs on his way to heaven. Cant you see the apple in his eye...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 February, 2012, 09:03:10 PM
Hitchcock Haunts a Nebula (http://www.universetoday.com/93225/hitchcock-haunts-a-nebula/)

(http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/580x580xeso1207a-580x580.jpg.pagespeed.ic.NJEfIt5QtB.jpg)

Universe Today.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 01 February, 2012, 09:20:52 PM
He did love doing his little cameos didnt he.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tombo on 01 February, 2012, 10:01:21 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4)

This is how it starts.  First we're all "oh look at the little flying machines", then - BAM! we're huddled in a cave listening to John Connor on the radio!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 02 February, 2012, 04:34:11 PM
Quote from: Tombo on 01 February, 2012, 10:01:21 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4)

This is how it starts.  First we're all "oh look at the little flying machines", then - BAM! we're huddled in a cave listening to John Connor on the radio!

Thats sequence dancing with copters
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 22 February, 2012, 07:15:36 AM
http://m.io9.com/5887001/robot-dinosaurs-are-the-future-of-paleontology/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 23 February, 2012, 05:45:38 AM
First: Silene stenophylla.

Next: man-eating Triffids.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/21/russians-revive-ice-age-flower-frozen-burrow.html (http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/21/russians-revive-ice-age-flower-frozen-burrow.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Gonk on 23 February, 2012, 01:48:09 PM
Looks like the boffins at CERN have made a mistake over Einstein's theory of the speed of light. :-[

:lol: :-\ :o ::)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2012, 02:04:59 PM
Quote from: fonky on 23 February, 2012, 01:48:09 PM
Looks like the boffins at CERN have made a mistake over Einstein's theory of the speed of light. :-[

The coverage of this annoys me (not aimed at you, Fonky).  The OPERA guys clearly stated from their first press-release that theirs was an extraordinary claim, at odds with all other experimental data and the theories they support, and required extraordinary scrutiny.  They explicitly invited the whole scientific community to examine their methodology and results, and set about replicating their results and rigorously examining their own equipment and procedures.  And now it looks like they have identified two sources of error which could explain the bizarre results.  Job done. 

It's frustrating that I won't be able to send tomorrow's lottery results back to today, but this is how science proceeds: it is a system of repeatability, falsifiability and rigour, that's how and why it works as a way of understanding the world.  Seeing this process in action not an excuse for anti-science triumphalism, particularly from camps who take the mistranslated dictation of Bronze Age xenophobes and Iron Age cultists as indisputable truth. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 February, 2012, 02:49:25 PM
Well said.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Gonk on 23 February, 2012, 04:01:16 PM
I don't know Tordel. It was the same with the god particle. First it's 99.99% certain not to be there, next 99.99% it is there. Now we can't go faster than light after it's been found that Einstein's theroies are incorrect but are perhaps correct after all.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: James Stacey on 23 February, 2012, 04:04:00 PM
and that's why Science is Drokking fantastic. 0.01% certainty is still possible.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2012, 04:14:20 PM
Sorry that reality isn't all nice and neat, Fonky, but I take it all the (quantum-based) transistors in your computers are all still working, still partly powered by (relativity-based) nuclear fission?  Your (relativity-based) GPS still ticking over?  I don't think physics is doing too badly, all things considered.

Understanding the creation of mass in our universe is an absolutely fundamental question, and the Higgs boson is only one candidate.  I wouldn't expect the answers to be quick or easy.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Gonk on 23 February, 2012, 04:18:08 PM
Funny you should mention all that Tordel because while I was typing and reading comments we just expereienced a power cut. Coincidence or something more?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 23 February, 2012, 04:26:55 PM
Science can admit it's got things wrong and alter its point of view accordingly.* I know of few religions which the same can be said of.




*opinions of some individual scientists notwithstanding
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tombo on 04 March, 2012, 08:02:35 PM
WHAT DID I TELL YOU!!!   First comes the "oohhh, science", now its music.  Next thing they'll be out robotic overlords.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sUeGC-8dyk
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 04 March, 2012, 08:09:50 PM
Quote from: Tombo on 04 March, 2012, 08:02:35 PM
WHAT DID I TELL YOU!!!   First comes the "oohhh, science", now its music.  Next thing they'll be out robotic overlords.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sUeGC-8dyk

Dude, the All Blacks have got this shit covered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOod4PpWavQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOod4PpWavQ)  (skip to 1:00)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 March, 2012, 09:13:28 PM
Horizon is doing a nice fear-mongering feature on Solar Storms on BBC2 now. I think the biggest challenge with solar physics is (unlike stellar physics), the sample group is limited to just one.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 12 March, 2012, 11:22:35 AM
http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/plastic-eating-fungi/ (http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/plastic-eating-fungi/)

Spores of Tharg???
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 12 March, 2012, 12:58:16 PM
Quote from: George Dread on 12 March, 2012, 11:22:35 AM
http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/plastic-eating-fungi/ (http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/plastic-eating-fungi/)

Spores of Tharg???
This springs to mind.
http://doomwatchblogger.blogspot.com/2010/08/2000-ad-comic-from-1979-judge-dredd.html




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 March, 2012, 08:55:01 PM
Because the STEAM POWERED WANKING GAUNTLET (http://technoccult.net/archives/2009/04/06/steam-powered-prosthetic-arm/) really does exist!

(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/anaconda888/steam_powered_prosthetic_arm.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NorthVox on 15 March, 2012, 11:43:27 PM
I think vertical farming is a great idea, something I hope not only sees the light of day, but becomes widespread.

http://www.verticalfarm.com/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 March, 2012, 06:38:57 AM
That's just Gerard O'Neill's High Frontier shorn of all the sexy space bits.

We are truly living in a JG Ballard story.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 March, 2012, 07:25:26 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 March, 2012, 06:38:57 AM
We are truly living in a JG Ballard story.

We're still talking about the wanking gauntlet, right?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spaceghost on 16 March, 2012, 11:09:27 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 March, 2012, 08:55:01 PM
Because the STEAM POWERED WANKING GAUNTLET (http://technoccult.net/archives/2009/04/06/steam-powered-prosthetic-arm/) really does exist!

(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/anaconda888/steam_powered_prosthetic_arm.jpg)


WHAAAA??? Someone stole my idea?! It's like Count Duckula all over again!

Can anyone advise me on claiming intellectual property theft? I want my dues goddamit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 16 March, 2012, 01:17:58 PM
(http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj613/SpetsnaZ991/SPWG.jpg)

isn't 'forearm valve bank' cockney rhyming slang for something, cant think what though
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 16 March, 2012, 05:08:44 PM
EDIT: Never mind, wrong thread.  :-[
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Gonk on 16 March, 2012, 05:39:23 PM
It's a moral for the times we live in, people have become so lazily dependent on hi tech they can't even be bothered to exert themselves physically for a five knuckle shuffle. No wonder people are becoming fatter and less fit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 16 March, 2012, 05:53:51 PM
Science, theories are only as good as the next piece of evidence:

QuoteThe fossilised remains of stone age people recovered from two caves in south west China may belong to a new species of human that survived until around the dawn of agriculture.

www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/mar/14/red-deer-cave-people-species-human
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 March, 2012, 05:55:41 PM
Isn't it great?  I'd just about adjusted to the Denisovans and now this!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2012, 06:29:41 PM
SpaceX's Dragon, Now With Seating for Seven (http://www.universetoday.com/94217/spacexs-dragon-now-with-seating-for-seven/) (Universe Today).

(http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/580x433xdragon-seating-580x433.jpg.pagespeed.ic.5tZDO2y4Wb.jpg)

Inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule testing out the seating arrangement for a crew of seven, the same number the space shuttle could carry. Photo: Roger Gilbertson / SpaceX

It all looks very Star Trek: Enterprise.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 17 March, 2012, 08:43:27 PM
http://htwins.net/scale2/

Life may be shite sometimes but the space we live in is astounding.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 25 March, 2012, 09:06:55 PM
Thought I'd reply on what seems to be the most appropriate thread...

Quote from: Emperor on 24 March, 2012, 08:19:33 PM
I also didn't recognise it as a drumlin, a waste of all that training in Quaternary geology :( Weather looked nice though.

Precisely why we were looking at it. The section shows layers of sand and gravel (s&g) interspersed with till bands - not what you would usually find in drumlins. Well, not so neatly in any case, so the section was interesting because it might be showing evidence that the drumlin was erosional i.e. that the s&g is outwash so the deposits were there before drumlinisation. That was the first thought, then we went back mob handed!

The s&g beds are very, very clean, show fluvial deposition structures and are lensate. They also show erosional contacts with the till beds. All fine so far, but the s&g is actually unconsolidated unlike the till beds. After much robust discussion, the likely scenario agreed upon is that the s&g have been emplaced post till depostion either by decoupling of the ice from the bed creating voids, or have been 'injected' by high subglacial hydrostatic pressure. So as it happens, it's no good to me!

Photo! S&G in the middle, till below and above.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/MisterD/DSC00177.jpg)

This might not be the most exciting thing on the thread (duh!) - how to compare with wanking gauntlets and jaw dropping star fields? - but it's one of those things that keeps me interested in Stuff, and beats working. Plus, we got good weather.

M.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 March, 2012, 09:13:48 PM
judging by the level it is at, that biro must be thousands of years old - that's got to be a significant archeological discovery!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 25 March, 2012, 09:31:40 PM
James Cameron's personal torpedo - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17503395

My first thought as someone who's claustrophopic is fook that - still be very interesting to see the footage he brings back.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 26 March, 2012, 01:24:38 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 25 March, 2012, 09:06:55 PMThis might not be the most exciting thing on the thread (duh!) - how to compare with wanking gauntlets and jaw dropping star fields? - but it's one of those things that keeps me interested in Stuff, and beats working.

Ah but it is mysteries such as those that make life worth living. Granted not everyone would be that interested in some old mud and gravel, but it is all part of the big puzzle.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 26 March, 2012, 01:42:59 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 25 March, 2012, 09:13:48 PM
judging by the level it is at, that biro must be thousands of years old - that's got to be a significant archeological discovery!

Zing!

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 27 March, 2012, 06:10:57 PM
QuoteMedicine's recipe for keeping older people active and functioning in their homes and workplaces — and healing younger people injured in catastrophic accidents — may include "noodle gels" and other lab-made invisible filaments that resemble uncooked spaghetti with nanoscale dimensions, a scientist said

...

Samuel I. Stupp, Ph.D., who presented an ACS plenary lecture, explained that the synthetic pasta-like objects actually are major chemistry advances for regenerative medicine that his research team has accomplished. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that combines chemistry, biology and engineering. It focuses on the regeneration of tissues and organs for the human body, to repair or replace those damaged through illness, injury, aging or birth defects. Those tissues range from cartilage in joints damaged by arthritis to heart muscle scarred by a heart attack and nerves severed in auto accidents.

...

For example, Stupp attached to these fibers signaling substances that mimic a powerful substance called VEGF that can promote the formation of new blood vessels. The VEGF-mimic caused new blood vessels to form in mice (stand-ins for humans) with blood vessel damage.

"When VEGF itself was used in clinical trials on humans, it didn't work, despite a lot of laboratory research that suggested otherwise," said Stupp. "The problem was that VEGF was quickly broken down in the body. The nanofilament scaffold, however, lasts in the body for weeks, which allows the VEGF-mimic more time to grow vessels." Eventually, the nanofilaments break down and disappear, leaving only the new blood vessels behind.

www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-noodle-gels-spaghetti-highways-tools.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tweak72 on 28 March, 2012, 02:08:56 PM
... this man is no longer stuck in a Garth Ennis living nightmare. Seriously.
:o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17534646
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Minkyboy on 28 March, 2012, 02:46:28 PM
Quote from: Tweak72 on 28 March, 2012, 02:08:56 PM
... this man is no longer stuck in a Garth Ennis living nightmare. Seriously.
:o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17534646

I thought exactly the same thing.
Suicide gone wrong like 'Arseface' or a genuine gun accident?
Either way very happy for the bloke to look unremarkable again.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 28 March, 2012, 07:42:16 PM
Wow........................ :o
Im tempted to say that that cant be real or even medically possible, but clearly it is.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 30 March, 2012, 12:20:26 AM
Why was Fibonacci afraid of 5?

5,8,13.

What does the 'B' in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for?

Benoit B. Mandelbrot.




.....Taxi for Pops :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: GordyM on 30 March, 2012, 01:59:07 PM
Quote from: Tweak72 on 28 March, 2012, 02:08:56 PM
... this man is no longer stuck in a Garth Ennis living nightmare. Seriously.
:o

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17534646

Jesus Christ! It's like the Glenn Fabry 'Story of You Know How' cover come to life. :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 30 March, 2012, 06:41:14 PM
QuoteAn Italian physicist at the head of a team that made a cautious but hugely controversial claim that neutrinos may travel faster than the speed of light resigned on Friday following calls for his dismissal.

Antonio Ereditato submitted his resignation before a vote on a motion by some members of his OPERA team that he be removed after tests this month contradicted the claim that the universe's speed limit had been broken.

...

A headline in Corriere della Sera called Ereditato "the physicist of flop."

Ereditato's team last September announced that neutrinos appeared to have travelled faster than the speed of light, a claim that would have upended Albert Einstein's theory of relativity -- a cornerstone of modern physics.

The neutrinos were timed at their departure from CERN's giant underground lab near Geneva and again, after travelling 732 km (454 miles) through the Earth's crust, at their arrival at Gran Sasso in the Apennine Mountains.

To do the trip, the neutrinos should have taken 0.0024 seconds.

Instead, the particles were recorded as hitting the detectors in Italy 0.00000006 seconds sooner than expected.

Knowing their findings would stir a storm, the OPERA team urged physicists to carry out their own checks to corroborate or refute what had been seen.

CERN said technical hitches may have skewed the initial measurements, something that critics of the findings said they had always suspected.

www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-italian-physicist-faster-than-light-resigns.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 March, 2012, 12:10:35 AM
I don't think Einstein was wrong. He was just not entirely accurate.

It's like saying Einstein proved Newton wrong. I think we'll still be teaching Einstein's theory of Relativity in 100 years, in much the same way as science students are still being taught Newtonian physics
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 31 March, 2012, 10:19:06 PM
The University of Manchester kind of agree with you, Pops1983:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/einstein-proved-over-universe-095658382.html (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/einstein-proved-over-universe-095658382.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 03 April, 2012, 07:24:52 PM
I've been waiting for the topic of vactrains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain) to re-emerge and now it has:

QuoteEver wanted to go to China, but you were always too scared to fly? If and when a new underwater tunnel concept is realized you may never need to fly there again. The Evacuated Tube Transport (ET3) (http://et3.com) has the potential to revolutionize how we travel over oceans to other continents. Not only that, but it is likely to be safer, cheaper and more silent than trains or airplanes.

ET3 which advertises itself as "Space Travel on Earth" is a green, environmentally friendly idea where tubes and cars will be built out of sustainable materials and designed according to local and economic conditions. It works as a series of vacuum sealed tubes that propel electrically accelerated capsules between destinations. They speculate that travel between as countries as distant as China and New York could only take two hours. That means more than 4,000 mph when traveling to a destination.

www.psfk.com/2012/03/trans-oceanic-tubes-could-be-the-future-of-travel.html

Here's to the end of the aeroplane (although leaving the door open for more airships if we still need flight in the post-oil future) and now onwards to the construction of a space elevator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator)!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 April, 2012, 07:51:51 PM
I love this kind of super-engineering. Someone needs to convince one of those fat-cat gazillionaires to build some of these things. Everyone loves eccentric toffs, and there just aren't enough of those these days. The only one I can think of is Branson and his commercial space-flight ambitions.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 April, 2012, 07:23:00 PM
"NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this video (http://www.universetoday.com/94431/dark-figures-do-an-eerie-dance-on-the-sun/) on March 27 – 28 of two large areas of "dark" plasma on the Sun's limb, twisting and spiraling in our star's complex magnetic field. The southern region bears an uncanny resemblance to three figures swaying to some spooky, unheard music... a real "danse macabre" on the Sun!"

It looks like plasmonsters fighting, to me!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 04 April, 2012, 10:44:36 PM
The resurrection of the Mammoth maybe.
Caught the end of the bbc programme earlier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fkcdr




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SpetsnaZ99 on 05 April, 2012, 08:28:05 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 04 April, 2012, 07:23:00 PM
"NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this video (http://www.universetoday.com/94431/dark-figures-do-an-eerie-dance-on-the-sun/) on March 27 – 28 of two large areas of "dark" plasma on the Sun's limb, twisting and spiraling in our star's complex magnetic field. The southern region bears an uncanny resemblance to three figures swaying to some spooky, unheard music... a real "danse macabre" on the Sun!"

It looks like plasmonsters fighting, to me!

Looks like a dance interpretation from Pans People to me
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 April, 2012, 08:37:49 AM
Quote from: SpetsnaZ99 on 05 April, 2012, 08:28:05 AM
Looks like a dance interpretation from Pans People to me

I squinted and squinted but couldn't see any diaphonously revealed lady equipment.  May explain exhortations not to stare at the sun. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 05 April, 2012, 11:08:30 AM
You should have used a telescope Tordel, not only will you get a clearer view, but youll also only have to use one hand to operate it, leaving the other hand free  ;)

(http://i.imgur.com/WEi1u.jpg)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 05 April, 2012, 05:06:07 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 April, 2012, 10:44:36 PM
The resurrection of the Mammoth maybe.
Caught the end of the bbc programme earlier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fkcdr

I enjoyed that, well worth a full watch, it is just a pity the fancy frozen mammoth was found towards the end of filming, and science, inconveniently, takes a while.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 06 April, 2012, 08:03:46 PM
Damn Sovs:

Russia creating radiation gun to turn people into 'zombies' (http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/stories/russia-creating-radiation-gun-to-turn-people-into-zombies)

QuoteRussian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that the country is developing an electromagnetic gun that attacks a person's central nervous system, leaving the target in a brief zombie-like state.

Plans to introduce the weapon were announced last week by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukoy who said "when it was used for dispersing a crowd and it was focused on a man, his body temperature went up immediately as if he was thrown into a frying pan. We know very little about this weapon, and even special-forces guys can hardly cope with it."

The weapon uses electromagnetic radiation like that found in microwave ovens, and, according to the UK Mail Online, Putin plans to use the guns "for achieving political and strategic goals."
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 April, 2012, 02:56:37 AM
No substitute for a good blaster at your side.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emperor on 07 April, 2012, 03:42:59 AM
Google's Project Glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Glass):

http://youtu.be/9c6W4CCU9M4

QuoteGoogle has revealed details of its research into augmented reality glasses.

It posted a brief introduction to Project Glass, photos and a concept video at its Google+ social network.

The images show a minimalist design with a microphone and partly-transparent video screen that places information over the view from the users' right eye.

...

There had been lots of speculation about the project with some reports describing it as an "open secret", but this is the first time Google has confirmed details of what it was working on.

The New York Times had previously suggested that the first set of glasses would go on sale before the end of the year for somewhere between $250-$600 (£157-£378) - but experts say that the technology shown in the video may still be some way off being ready for market.

...

Google may have competition if it works out how to shrink the electronics involved.

In 2008, Apple patented a laser-based "head mounted display system" that it suggested could stream video from its iPod among other features.

More recently, Patent Bolt revealed that Sony and Microsoft have patented ideas to create miniature displays to go over users' eyes.

They were described as being suitable for "gaming and beyond".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17618495

There already seem to be some prototypes out there being tested.

Of course, some people are already taking the piss:

http://youtu.be/t3TAOYXT840
http://youtu.be/_mRF0rBXIeg
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 07 April, 2012, 05:40:33 AM
It's a freaking Sony Headcase! Sign me up.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 17 April, 2012, 07:54:58 PM
Giant stars.

http://www.giantstars.de/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Cyberleader2000 on 17 April, 2012, 08:05:43 PM
I just notised that my post count is 666 I feal that this vid sums up my thorts about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ucZsJQxbQ

sorie for this lame post but it was a spechil number and I throt that no one elses had praobley done a joke when they hit this number.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: I, Cosh on 17 April, 2012, 08:18:07 PM
Quote from: Emperor on 05 April, 2012, 05:06:07 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 April, 2012, 10:44:36 PM
The resurrection of the Mammoth maybe.
Caught the end of the bbc programme earlier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fkcdr
I enjoyed that, well worth a full watch, it is just a pity the fancy frozen mammoth was found towards the end of filming, and science, inconveniently, takes a while.
Now it doesn't make it any less awesome, but the Russians have been going on about this for years. I have a distinct memory of being about 8 or 9 and seeing a story (probably on Newsround) about someone having dug up a perfectly preserved baby mammoth from the permafrost and how they dreamed of either kickstarting it or using the tissue to make new ones out of elephants.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:17:10 PM
Quote from: Cyberleader2000 on 17 April, 2012, 08:05:43 PM
I just notised that my post count is 666...

[Revelation 13:18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)

Carbon Atom: Atomic Number 6; Protons 6; Neutrons 6. (666)

Dun dun duuuunnnn. (Or, more precisely, yawn, yawn yaaawwwwnnnn). Nice coincidence for use in an Indigo Prime story, though.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 April, 2012, 10:22:17 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:17:10 PM
Carbon Atom: Atomic Number 6; Protons 6; Neutrons 6. (666)

Those first two are the same thing.  So maybe 66? 

Anyway, look no further for "the number of a man" than a bloke called CyberLeader2000.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:24:26 PM
Where to find that last 6, then? "Carbon is the sixth most abundant element in the universe." How's that? ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 April, 2012, 10:32:01 PM
Fourth most abundant. 

How about if you take the half-life of Carbon14 (5730 years), express it in millennia (5.73 millennia), then add the whole numbers on either side of the decimal point (5 +.(7+3)) and OMFG! 6!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:53:53 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 April, 2012, 10:32:01 PM
Fourth most abundant.

Damn you, Edinformatics.com! (http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/c_atom.htm)

Also, the word carbon is made up of 6 letters!
Numerologically: C=3, A=1, R=18, B=2, O=15 and N=14. 3+1+18+2+15+14=53 and 5x3=15 and 1+5 = ...6!

Where's my #6 tinfoil hat?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 April, 2012, 10:58:58 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:53:53 PM
C=3, A=1, R=18, B=2, O=15 and N=14.

OMG SIX EQUALS SIGNS :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 April, 2012, 11:06:47 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 10:53:53 PM
Damn you, Edinformatics.com! (http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/c_atom.htm)

After a guilty google I think you might be right if you count abundance by number of atoms (although I'm not sure how that works in Carbon's favour) and I'm definitely right if you count by actual mass.  As any right-thinking person would.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 April, 2012, 11:16:03 PM

oh for fecks sake -is there anyone left alive who isn't aware that the number of the beast's not even supposed to be*  666 - that was some medieval typo.



*if the deranged prophecies of a mentally ill religious fanatic can be "supposed" to be anything other than nonsense.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 11:16:38 PM
If I were a right thinking person, would I have brought this nonsense up in the first place? I have a spare tinfoil hat though, if you'd like one. (Altogether I have six of them, each one made from six different types of tinfoil and stored in six separate locations...)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 April, 2012, 11:18:23 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 17 April, 2012, 11:16:03 PM
oh for fecks sake -is there anyone left alive who isn't aware that the number of the beast's not even supposed to be*  666 - that was some medieval typo.

*if the deranged prophecies of a mentally ill religious fanatic can be "supposed" to be anything other than nonsense.

Was it a typo, or was it the carbon atoms in the ink rearranging themselves to give the correct answer? I guess we'll never know...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 18 April, 2012, 08:49:08 PM
Oh dear.  I think my schools tried very hard mind.:(

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21705-best-evidence-yet-that-a-single-gene-can-affect-iq.html?#commentForm
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 20 April, 2012, 10:37:17 PM
Now we've cured cancer and ended world hunger, science can focus on the developments that really matter: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2131117/He-pretty-look-does-bristly-mouse-hold-secret-cure-baldness.html?ito=feeds-newsxml (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2131117/He-pretty-look-does-bristly-mouse-hold-secret-cure-baldness.html?ito=feeds-newsxml)

The poor wee bugger finally gets himself a full head of hair and The Daily Beast (TM Evelyn Waugh) still take the piss out of him. It'll be a leather jacket, a convertible and bunga bunga parties with inappropriately young girls for him next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X-ozhTM0svM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X-ozhTM0svM)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 April, 2012, 10:48:26 PM
THE DAILY MAIL KNOW EVERYTHING (http://kill-or-cure.heroku.com/) ABOUT MEDICINE (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2132474/Aspirin-really-life-saver-Wonder-drug-powerful-tool-battle-cancer.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 29 April, 2012, 05:09:55 PM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4&feature=youtu.be)

Posted elsewhere by IAMTHESYSTEM, but really ... I mean ... what and why ... it's just fucked up and amazing and pointless all at the same time. Don't worry someone will find a way to weaponise it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Rog69 on 03 May, 2012, 10:10:15 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 29 April, 2012, 05:09:55 PM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4&feature=youtu.be)

Posted elsewhere by IAMTHESYSTEM, but really ... I mean ... what and why ... it's just fucked up and amazing and pointless all at the same time. Don't worry someone will find a way to weaponise it.

Or maybe deliver junk food with them - http://tacocopter.com/ (http://tacocopter.com/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 May, 2012, 09:51:56 PM
SOUND + FLICKER-FUSION + WATER = TIME-SLICED WATER



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODqQvlrgIQ


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 10 May, 2012, 09:57:17 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 10 May, 2012, 09:51:56 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODqQvlrgIQ


Mental! I'm away for a pish in front of the Bang and Olufsen.

Title: SONIC CANNON! Wide beam! It's the only thing that will stop them!
Post by: Tombo on 11 May, 2012, 08:39:52 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18042528 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18042528)

next up riot foam!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: strontium71 on 11 May, 2012, 09:12:14 PM
Think of all the aggro that could have been saved during the riots last year if they'd had something resembling wide dispersal riot foam. Could have just sprayed it on and dug 'em out.
Title: Re: SONIC CANNON! Wide beam! It's the only thing that will stop them!
Post by: Frank on 11 May, 2012, 09:14:17 PM
Quote from: Tombo on 11 May, 2012, 08:39:52 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18042528 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18042528)

next up riot foam!

Coming to an opening ceremony near you soon: (LINK (http://www.howitworksdaily.com/technology/experimental-crowd-control-riot-foam/))
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 14 May, 2012, 03:44:44 PM
YES!! The retinal pigmentosa that blinded my Dad and hovers over me and the MiniHuffs can now* be addressed by bionic eyes...  :o

(*Not yet available at specsavers)
 

Eye chip 'allows blind people to see'


A retinal implant - or bionic eye - which is powered by light has been invented by scientists at Stanford University in California.
Implants currently used in patients need to be powered by a battery.
The new device, described in the journal Nature Photonics, uses a special pair of glasses to beam near infrared light into the eye.
This powers the implant and sends the information which could help a patient see.
Diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa result in the death of cells which can detect light in the eye.
Eventually this leads to blindness.

More at the BBC news health site

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 May, 2012, 03:47:50 PM
Sweet! I was just reading The Invisibles earlier, where Robin promises some lad that they'll soon invent bionic eyes, and lamenting the fact that it didn't come true
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 14 May, 2012, 09:47:41 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 14 May, 2012, 03:44:44 PM
YES!! The retinal pigmentosa that blinded my Dad and hovers over me and the MiniHuffs can now* be addressed by bionic eyes...  :o

Not to pish on anyone's chips, but I was going to post a link to that bit on the BBC news site here, until I read the quote (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17936302) from the (delighted) recipient of that implant, saying he could now see vague differences in blurry patches of light. I can see why that's a miracle to someone with zero vision, but it's not quite Dredd's 20/20 zoom lense jobs.

This post's not really in the spirit of the thread, so here's reason for more immediate optimism ... and evidence that someone at the BBC shares my fetish for prosthetic body parts (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17153052).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 15 May, 2012, 10:34:38 AM
BK... my thinking is that by the time I'm blinded ( 50/50 chance) or my sprogs (one in four) are hit by this there will be Dredd style inplants  :D 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 15 May, 2012, 10:46:58 AM
Yeah, it's a start at least. Here's to Bionic Huff!

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 16 May, 2012, 06:28:44 PM
Quote from: bikini kill on 14 May, 2012, 09:47:41 PM
evidence that someone at the BBC shares my fetish for prosthetic body parts (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17153052).

MANDROID! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18092653)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 16 May, 2012, 08:27:46 PM
This cannot come soon enough.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 16 May, 2012, 09:50:55 PM
Amazing tech stuff.

Would you replace your worn out heart with a new, shiny Factory job? You could extend your life and those of your family but only if you can afford it.

I suspect the mega wealthy will be doing this soon. We'll have CEO scumbags screwing us all forever instead of one lifetime. :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 16 May, 2012, 09:58:22 PM
GAHHHH forgot the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7959785.stm





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 16 May, 2012, 10:31:56 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 16 May, 2012, 09:58:22 PM
This cannot come soon enough.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7959785.stm

Me too, vzzbux. The proposed treatment has interesting side effects:
QuoteBelgian neurosurgeon Dirk De Ridder has tried implanting electrodes directly into the brain of sufferers to permanently normalise the overactive neurons. He has had some successful results, although one of his patients repeatedly reported an out-of-body experience as a side effect.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 May, 2012, 12:27:33 AM
My implausibly wonderful wife presented me with an early anniversary present of a boxset of TSR's Buck Rogers XXVc  role-playing game from way back in 1990, which she acquired completely gratis on a freecycle website.  Goes without saying that I love the daftness of obscure old RPGs, and this is one I've always wanted to see in the flesh - turns out to be a really lavish production with loads of huge full-colour fold-out maps, colour cardstock A4 cards for ships, planets and characters and no fewer than 4 chunky booklets.  Incredibly it's fully intact, the token sheet hasn't even been punched out. 

Pure retro joy of the silliest, most immersive kind.  Call me when Windows 3.0 launches.

(Okay, it's not cybernetic implants - but it does have rules for using them!)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 19 May, 2012, 03:40:30 PM
Predator! -  http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/06/start/hiding-in-plain-sight/viewgallery#!image-number=1
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 19 May, 2012, 04:32:40 PM
That us a bit spooky. Invisible Security Agents would make Justice Department look like amateurs. Paranoia overload.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 19 May, 2012, 06:39:41 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 19 May, 2012, 03:40:30 PM
Predator! -  http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/06/start/hiding-in-plain-sight/viewgallery#!image-number=1

Only a few years ago, previous developments in this field were reported as Harry Potter cloaks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD83dqSfC0Y). The zeitgeist, it appears has moved on, so Rowling's new book had better be more than just a weak allegory for the New Labour years or The Arab Spring.

Isn't it weird how the geniuses who come up with this tech always have so little idea of how their work will be implemented? The clip I linked to suggests it'll be used to give you 360 degree vision in your car, but I can only see that happening a considerable time after military vehicles and personnel have gone all Claude Rains (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPPqiQIeiag).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 21 May, 2012, 09:59:51 PM
A dying planet.
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-newfound-exoplanet.html

(http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/hires/2012/newfoundexop.jpg)




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 May, 2012, 02:30:36 AM
Is the Universe Spinning? (http://news.discovery.com/space/do-we-live-in-a-spinning-universe-110708.html)

In a study of over 15,000 galaxies by Michael Longo and co-investigators at the University of Michigan, the researchers report that spiral galaxies preferential spin clockwise or counter clockwise depending what hemisphere of the sky they are in.

Looking northward, above the plane of our Milky Way, he found that more than half of the spirals were spinning in a counterclockwise direction in the sky. This overabundance seems small, only seven percent of the total observed galaxy sample. But the odds of it being purely due to chance are a one in a million say the researchers.


If the whole universe is rotating, then an excess number of galaxies on the opposite part of the sky, below the galactic plane, should be whirling in a clockwise direction. And indeed they are according to a separate 1991 survey of 8287 spiral galaxies in the southern galactic hemisphere...


by Ray Villard (http://news.discovery.com/contributors/ray-villard/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: locustsofdeath! on 23 May, 2012, 07:25:22 PM
Bah! I always post here on accident!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2012, 12:53:32 PM
The batglider is here! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18160632 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18160632)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 24 May, 2012, 06:17:28 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2012, 12:53:32 PM
The batglider is here! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18160632 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-18160632)

Whenever I see something like that, part of me wants the guy to end up as pizza. (CLICK (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7596528.stm)) 

This fucker's got it coming (CLICK (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11702892)) (and CLICK (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17934781)) Looks amazing, though.

Someone please explain to the BBC the difference between a jet pack capable of independent VTOL (as promised by the 1984 Olympic ceremony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Cj0cMJNbshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Cj0cMJNbs)) and using your body as the fuselage of a fixed wing aircraft.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 May, 2012, 08:52:40 PM
...because now you can write your name in galaxies.

(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/the_legendary_shark/name_in_galaxies.png)


My Galaxies - Write in Starlight! (http://mygalaxies.co.uk/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hoagy on 07 June, 2012, 06:15:41 PM
Some research for Stoker and Grant perhaps?

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/06/07/to-study-vampire-spiders-build-frankenstein-mosquitoes/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 10 June, 2012, 08:47:09 PM
BELLYWHEEL (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9721820.stm)

(1m 20s)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: judgefloyd on 11 June, 2012, 01:48:15 AM
science is also awesome because I can completely study Manx for free over the interweb!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 June, 2012, 04:39:27 PM
Lightning From Space! (http://www.universetoday.com/95788/lightning-from-space/)

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/7361612900_0c66a69a6a_b-580x384.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 11 June, 2012, 10:30:13 PM
Hmm. Return of Nero?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 June, 2012, 10:35:39 PM
They nuked the nest from orbit. It was the only way to be sure.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ghastly McNasty on 12 June, 2012, 03:30:12 PM
(http://www.hubsan.com/upFiles/bigPic/201112272327201011.jpg)

New gadget we are selling at work. Radio control plane or helicopter with camera on it. You can view the camera via the hand held transmitter.

(http://www.hubsan.com/manageCenter/FCKeditor/Files/H201F(03).jpg)

Cool video of the plane in action here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PER2CaanSM&list=UUkJOGTHibRagxPLU3sBoKTw&index=4&feature=plcp).

Test heli flight vid here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwS8HFgI4t0&list=UUkJOGTHibRagxPLU3sBoKTw&index=2&feature=plcp)

Also, we are also going to be selling wrap around video glasses so you can view what your aircraft is seeing via a 72 inch virtual screen projection right in front of your eyes. Sweet.

(http://www.hubsan.com/upFiles/bigPic/20124131841001011.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 June, 2012, 11:13:32 AM
Hurrah, the high window of the girls' changing room is finally in reach!  Alas, it's 30 years too late...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 July, 2012, 04:39:09 PM
Spray-on batteries:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/researchers-unveil-spray-battery-141332384.html;_ylt=ArEC9oENOcqs5x1t3sPOcuT3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN0bjZjZW92BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YEcGtnAzBiMWMzZTk4LThkZjktM2Q1Ny04ODQyLTAyYWM2OTEyZTA0YwRwb3MDMTAEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDN2RmMTRhYzEtYzFjYy0xMWUxLWJmYTYtMTEwYTg0YTc4Yzg1;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 01 July, 2012, 05:18:07 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 July, 2012, 04:39:09 PM
Spray-on batteries: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/researchers-unveil-spray-battery

Cheers, Otter. Advances like this are the incremental steps that take us towards the point described by Arthur C Clarke, where technology is sufficiently advanced that it appears to be magic:

VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJDI5cAdhys&feature=player_embedded)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 01 July, 2012, 08:23:33 PM
PEACH TREES here we come! (http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/06/after-factory-production-of-worlds.html)


(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VyTCyizqrHs/TVJDXPk4k7I/AAAAAAAAKT0/Ttg2G7ouays/s1600/skycity2.png)







Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 05:02:41 PM
So they finally found the Higgs Boson. Apparently it was down the back of the CERN sofa all along, though several boffins maintain they already looked there.

Funniest aspect of this was that the press release was apparently written in Comic Sans - I can hear Jim Campbell spontaneously combusting as I type!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 08 July, 2012, 06:40:52 PM
When you land on Mars, your first view will probably be like this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18762193
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 July, 2012, 04:56:39 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 05 July, 2012, 05:02:41 PM
So they finally found the Higgs Boson. Apparently it was down the back of the CERN sofa all along, though several boffins maintain they already looked there.

Funniest aspect of this was that the press release was apparently written in Comic Sans - I can hear Jim Campbell spontaneously combusting as I type!

Yet the following day all everyone at the comics shop wanted to talk about was the Spider-fucking-man film.

Geeks just aren't what they used to be.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 July, 2012, 07:42:32 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 July, 2012, 04:56:39 AMYet the following day all everyone at the comics shop wanted to talk about was the Spider-fucking-man film.

What a shower of muons.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 11 July, 2012, 06:38:37 PM
... because it scares Radio Four listeners so much that any science show they do has to invite prominent figures from the arts on to reassure listeners it won't get too science-y. This week's Infinite Monkey Cage features comic behemoth Anal Moore, fearfully discussing symmetry, serial killers, and why he spends his evenings poring over a copy of The Gates Of Janus with a mirror.

The information that the Moore/Gebbie household possesses such a thing as a mirror beggars belief:

WONKY LEFT OYE (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kjs16/The_Infinite_Monkey_Cage_Series_6_The_Science_of_Symmetry/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 July, 2012, 08:42:23 PM
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff248/burlearth/dynawinky.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 12 July, 2012, 04:22:12 PM
Where is the Vagitexture™ grip module? This is typical of big business. Give you one piece and then make you wait for the next critical component. I think I'll wait to order this one. ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 July, 2012, 04:35:46 PM
Could this be the end of the Age of Steam?  Are devotees of the Gauntlet to be reduced to regional museums and overpriced annual outings?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 12 July, 2012, 11:12:08 PM
Jesus, and here i am sitting looking at literally nineteen boxes of steam-powered wanking gauntlets that i hoped to sell through poundland. Ive got a meeting arranged for tomorrow, and hoped that by monday the whole town would be full of wanking chavs and increased humidity.

And now this! This thread should be renamed 'science is drokking shit'.

SBT
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 05 August, 2012, 11:01:32 PM
PICTURES OF MARS WITH YOUR CORNFLAKES (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19132121)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 August, 2012, 11:53:53 AM
So the Mars Curiosity Rover landed successfully.

What a waste of money.

What do they think they're doing giving money to intelligent people? This money could have been spent on banking bonuses, or making another reality TV show.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Banners on 06 August, 2012, 02:59:48 PM
[Wrong thread - please delete].
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 08 August, 2012, 02:13:12 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 06 August, 2012, 11:53:53 AM
So the Mars Curiosity Rover landed successfully.

What a waste of money.

What do they think they're doing giving money to intelligent people? This money could have been spent on banking bonuses, or making another reality TV show.

Don't worry. This mission was funded by the scientists collecting and returning pop bottles, plastic containers, and old newspapers found up and down the Florida coasts. Thank god for careless tourists throwing away their refundable items.

Be assured no bankers were harmed in the completion of this mission.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 August, 2012, 04:12:00 AM
Clearly NASA's budget is directly responsible for global hunger.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 10 August, 2012, 10:48:31 PM
Dark Matter could be right beside us in the Solar System:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/study-suggests-dark-matter-near-sun-155834449.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 10 August, 2012, 11:21:06 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 10 August, 2012, 10:48:31 PM
Dark Matter could be right beside us in the Solar System: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/study-suggests-dark-matter-near-sun-155834449.html

Dark matter's made up of phlogiston and luminiferous aether.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 August, 2012, 11:33:09 PM
Earth, Jupiter and Venus from the skyline of Mars.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5sqgajiPg1rsykj4o1_500.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Molch-R on 10 August, 2012, 11:54:04 PM
A fake, sadly.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 August, 2012, 11:57:18 PM
They're still hiding the Face on Mars.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Molch-R on 11 August, 2012, 12:13:12 AM
Nah, the chances are a million to one ......
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 August, 2012, 12:18:14 AM
ULLA!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 August, 2012, 01:01:15 AM
Quote from: bikini kill on 10 August, 2012, 11:21:06 PM
Dark matter's made up of phlogiston and luminiferous aether.

Away with your flummery! It's quite obviously Kosmikglaz per the Welteislehre.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 12 August, 2012, 04:09:32 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 August, 2012, 01:01:15 AM
Quote from: bikini kill on 10 August, 2012, 11:21:06 PM
Dark matter's made up of phlogiston and luminiferous aether.

Away with your flummery! It's quite obviously Kosmikglaz per the Welteislehre.

My theory...

(http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j260/MalcolmKirk/Blackjacks.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 August, 2012, 08:47:13 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 10 August, 2012, 10:48:31 PM
Dark Matter could be right beside us in the Solar System:

TBH, I find this to be one of the ways in which science is not drokking fantastic. From the article:

"Dark matter is thought to make up about 70% of the universe, yet it cannot be seen or detected directly. Scientists only know it exists because of the way its gravity affects other material."

Transl: Turns out, gravity doesn't behave in the way our theoretical models predict it should. As a result, we've posited this mysterious stuff that can't be detected in any way other than the manner in which it corrects gravity's behaviour to precisely that which our model requires.

The other day, I told my bank manager that he was mistaken about my overdraft and that, actually, 70% of my bank account was made up of dark money. Strangely enough, he seemed unconvinced.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 12 August, 2012, 11:03:33 AM
As an old student of biology I was often subjected (along with anyone studying archaeology)of the physics profession bragging that these aren't " real" sciences.  Now the physics  orthodoxy is to believe in something that we can't test but must be there because otherwise our sums don't add up. The fact that it might be correct doesn't stop me from poking fun at them. :)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 12 August, 2012, 02:08:26 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 12 August, 2012, 11:03:33 AM
As an old student of biology I was often subjected (along with anyone studying archaeology)of the physics profession bragging that these aren't " real" sciences.  Now the physics  orthodoxy is to believe in something that we can't test but must be there because otherwise our sums don't add up. The fact that it might be correct doesn't stop me from poking fun at them. :)

Wall Street and the square mile of London account for 25% of all recruitment from Harvard and Oxbridge's physics and maths departments. Sexless theory fetishists doing impossible things with numbers is fine when the most malignant forces they conjure are black holes and dark matter. When they're applying their understanding of game theory and the copula function to create collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps, it's a different kind of matter entirely- and one with much greater gravity.

"as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." Albert Einstein
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 August, 2012, 02:39:23 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 12 August, 2012, 11:03:33 AM
As an old student of biology I was often subjected (along with anyone studying archaeology)of the physics profession bragging that these aren't " real" sciences.  Now the physics  orthodoxy is to believe in something that we can't test but must be there because otherwise our sums don't add up. The fact that it might be correct doesn't stop me from poking fun at them. :)

Physics has put men on the Moon, robots on Mars, photographed galaxies far, far away, created the coldest place in the known universe and the most powerful machine in the known universe.

The point is, WHERE'S MY FUCKING DINOSAUR ZOO MR. BIOLOGIST?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 12 August, 2012, 02:45:46 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 12 August, 2012, 02:39:23 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 12 August, 2012, 11:03:33 AM
As an old student of biology I was often subjected (along with anyone studying archaeology)of the physics profession bragging that these aren't " real" sciences.  Now the physics  orthodoxy is to believe in something that we can't test but must be there because otherwise our sums don't add up. The fact that it might be correct doesn't stop me from poking fun at them. :)

Physics has put men on the Moon, robots on Mars, photographed galaxies far, far away, created the coldest place in the known universe and the most powerful machine in the known universe.

The point is, WHERE'S MY FUCKING DINOSAUR ZOO MR. BIOLOGIST?

Well just  activate the right genes and switch off others in a chicken and in theory you'll have a t-rex. Get to it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 August, 2012, 05:07:25 AM
Quote from: bikini kill on 12 August, 2012, 02:08:26 PMWhen they're applying their understanding of game theory and the copula function to create collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps, it's a different kind of matter entirely- and one with much greater gravity.

Le mot juste!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 August, 2012, 05:11:59 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 06 August, 2012, 11:53:53 AMWhat do they think they're doing giving money to intelligent people? This money could have been spent on banking bonuses, or making another reality TV show.

The realisation that Curiosity cost less than the amount of dosh the RoI citizenry are probably going to have to stump up just to cover the gambling debts of insurance conman Sean Quinn makes me sick to my stomach.  We could have sent a robot to Mars, you worthless motherfucking asshole.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 August, 2012, 10:08:02 PM
True Colour images of Saturn from the Cassini Spacecraft (http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/179/Giants_in_Living_Color?js=1)

The images are high def and much too big to be posted here, so follow the above link. Look at the first one; add 2 eyes and it looks like a sad clown
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 01 September, 2012, 08:47:42 AM
Lush!

But back to Dark Matter-it might not be directly measureable but it's effects are there in yer sums,so arguably it's detectable. Or is that daft?

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 10 September, 2012, 07:53:13 AM
Arguably the most momentous event in the history of our species

Voyager 1 crosses into interstellar space (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/mankind-set-to-cross-the-final-frontier-20120910-25nwl.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 September, 2012, 08:17:20 AM
Quote from: Mikey on 01 September, 2012, 08:47:42 AM
But back to Dark Matter-it might not be directly measureable but it's effects are there in yer sums,so arguably it's detectable. Or is that daft?

Well, yes and no. Basically, there is a theoretical model for how the universe should behave if we understand things like gravity correctly. Except that the universe is not expanding at the rate or in the manner that the model predicts, leaving two possibilities:

1) 80% of the matter in the universe is unaccounted for.

2) The theory is, in some way, flawed.

If you assume that there is something out there that has mass but cannot be seen or otherwise detected, and that it makes up about 80% of the matter in the universe then —lo and behold!— the sums work again. There is, as I understand it, no direct evidence for the existence of dark matter beyond the fact that it must exist if the model is correct.

Start from the other end (remember that science should always be about developing theories that explain the results, not modifying results to fit the theory) and dark matter, to my (admittedly unqualified) mind looks like a fudge.

Given that (again, to my limited understanding) we don't even understand exactly how gravity propagates, this insistence that our model for universal expansion must be correct seems antithetical to the most fundamental principles of science.

(Note, however, that I am prepared to consider the possibility that I am just not clever enough to understand this issue properly.)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 10 September, 2012, 02:02:09 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 September, 2012, 08:17:20 AM
Start from the other end (remember that science should always be about developing theories that explain the results, not modifying results to fit the theory) and dark matter, to my (admittedly unqualified) mind looks like a fudge.

I'd say it's more than acceptable to start with a theory then test it! If the results then test the theory the theory is modified etc. As far as I understand it the theories haven't been busted yet as there's no way, as you point out, to observe the stuff but some of the theory which is right about other stuff can accomodate it.

This is all, quite literally, Space Maths so it's well beyond my ken and makes my head hurt a bit. I tried this here (http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy/) and it didn't help.

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 02:51:19 PM
Science is Drokking fantastic because... It disproves a lot of Religious Hokem.

:)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 September, 2012, 04:04:49 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 02:51:19 PM
Science is Drokking fantastic because... It disproves a lot of Religious Hokem.

:)

I don't want to get into this, I'll just say that science should be a tool to improve your understanding of the world around you. It's not a tool for attacking others beliefs.

As for the whole dark matter debate, I might weigh into this when I get home to a proper keyboard, and don't have to type my long boring response into my tiny intelligent phone machine with my big clumsy cartoon fingers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 04:22:45 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 10 September, 2012, 04:04:49 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 02:51:19 PM
Science is Drokking fantastic because... It disproves a lot of Religious Hokem.

:)

I don't want to get into this, I'll just say that science should be a tool to improve your understanding of the world around you. It's not a tool for attacking others beliefs.




I probably sounded a bit glib, but it's not an attack. You're all talking about science-how much further do you the Human race would be now if for instance: The Christians didn't destroy knowledge in the Dark Ages; (this is not an attack on Christians it's an observation).   :)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 04:56:11 PM
Science used to be fantastic until it became corporate controlled. Genetics have become patented/trademarked, all good automotive ideas have been bought and hidden away, and every discovery seems to come hand in hand with profiteering and keeping the general public in the dark.

Science used to be Drokking fantastic-a lot of it now seems like stomm!

You don't have to agree of course but then you also don't need to comment on what I've said.

Peace to all!  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 10 September, 2012, 05:08:29 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 10 September, 2012, 04:04:49 PM
As for the whole dark matter debate, I might weigh into this when I get home to a proper keyboard, and don't have to type my long boring response into my tiny intelligent phone machine with my big clumsy cartoon fingers.

Hurray!

Quote from: NapalmKev on 10 September, 2012, 04:56:11 PM
Science used to be Drokking fantastic-a lot of it now seems like stomm!

You should start a thread. It'd be great.

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 September, 2012, 05:27:42 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 10 September, 2012, 04:04:49 PM
As for the whole dark matter debate, I might weigh into this when I get home to a proper keyboard, and don't have to type my long boring response into my tiny intelligent phone machine with my big clumsy cartoon fingers.

I very much look forward to it.*

Cheers

Jim

*Not sarcasm.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 September, 2012, 09:24:15 PM
Okay, I've got a proper keyboard now. A touch screen just doesn't have the tactile definition of a good old fashioned keyboard. Ye have to look at a touch screen to find at where the buttons are.

Quote from: Mikey on 10 September, 2012, 02:02:09 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 10 September, 2012, 08:17:20 AM
Start from the other end (remember that science should always be about developing theories that explain the results, not modifying results to fit the theory) and dark matter, to my (admittedly unqualified) mind looks like a fudge.

I'd say it's more than acceptable to start with a theory then test it! If the results then test the theory the theory is modified etc.

I think the word you're looking for is Hypothesis (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypothesis). The whole dark matter idea is, just that at the minute, an idea. A hypothesis that needs testing. And the difficulty with testing an idea like dark matter, is that you, by definition, can't see it. It doesn't interact with light, with the entire spectrum, at all. And the electromagnetic spectrum is all we have to probe the far reaches of the universe. Apparently Dark Matter only interacts with gravity.

Conceptually, the whole thing is incredibly fantastical. We've evolved the ability to collect process the insanely complex arrangements of photons that gather in the backs of our eyeballs. Granted we can only deal with a small section of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the fact that we can do it at all is astounding.

But when it comes to gravity, we're pretty much in the dark (ZING). We haven't evolved to process gravity to the same level of complexity. We have what? A sense of balance and a healthy respect hor heights? If we want to know how much mass something has, we need to pick it up and weigh it, or use either Newtonian Mechanics or Einstein's General Relativity. Basically, we need to use maths.

When we see things, we give names to the colours, describe them as big or small. We we hear things, they're loud or soft, harmonic or droning. things we touch can also be hard and soft. For things our 5 basic senses can process, we use adjectives. For everything else there's maths. Have you ever been in an MRI machine? Maths tells us that they produce a magnetic field several orders of magnitude greater than the magnetic  field of the entire fucking planet (http://the%20entire%20fucking%20planet). You won't notice though, your body has no way of telling you.

The long and the short of it is, if Dark matter is out there, it's going to be a bitch to find. Fortunately some very clever men think they know what to look for. Their idea accepts Einstein's Theory of Relativity, and it's two basic postulates:

1)The speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant.
2)The laws of physics will behave the same in every relative frame of reference
(I know science me)

Actually screw this, the whole things free from the Gutenberg Project, here:http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5001 (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5001), go read that.

You read it? Good. Now you understand that gravity doesn't bend light, as is often mis-reported, but gravity bends space, and the light travelling in that space appears bent.

So if you're looking for Dark Matter, even though it doesn't interact with light, it bends the space through which the light is travelling. It's called Gravitational Lensing. Google it. There have been some tantalizing observations, but as is always the case with astro-physics, we need bigger and better telescopes.

So at the minute, the best we can hope to do is to prove that dark matter is (or isn't) there. We're in no real position to comment on its nature. Would it be just one type of non-baryonic particle, or a whole series of them with their own periodic table of Dark Matter elements.

There are other ideas, ideas that slightly modify or completely reject Einstein, but I think Dark Matter gets the lions share of mainstream coverage because it sounds sexy. For a science term I mean.

That's how I see it anyway.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAR TREK

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/c18.0.403.403/p403x403/392513_520527834643341_1983324585_n.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 10 September, 2012, 09:45:36 PM
Cheers pops-that's really helpful. And yes,I should have said hypothesis...

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 September, 2012, 10:26:51 PM
Quote from: Mikey on 10 September, 2012, 09:45:36 PM
...And yes,I should have said hypothesis...

M

Sorry if I came across a bit snooty and condescending there. Wasn't intentional. I JUST DROKKING LOVE SCIENCE
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 11 September, 2012, 07:07:14 AM
You didn't at all pops.

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 07:39:05 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 10 September, 2012, 10:26:51 PM
Sorry if I came across a bit snooty and condescending there. Wasn't intentional. I JUST DROKKING LOVE SCIENCE

Yeah, it did a bit, although I accept you didn't intend it to.

I understand gravitational lensing, I understand -- very broadly -- Einsteinian relativity, string theory, and theories of quantum gravity. I love concepts, and I'm very, very good with them.

(Concepts, however, are easy and I understand that, for example, I understand how a car works, but not in the way that a mechanic understands how a car works; I understand how a computer works but not in the way that either a software or a hardware engineer does. I understand less, but it doesn't mean I don't understand at all.)

My point is that when your current models derive from a theory that doesn't fit with the observable evidence to the extent that you have to add 80% extra undetectable matter to the evidence, perhaps you should be taking a long, hard look at the theory. You suggest that there are people doing so, but imply that they're on the fringe of scientific thought, which saddens me. I shall investigate further.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 11 September, 2012, 11:43:17 AM
 I'm still not quite sure I understand your objection- when a theory works well under a given set of conditions, hypothesising some hitherto undetectable phenomenon to modify it to an extended range of conditions has always been part of the scientific method. I'm not sure why you think very weakly interacting matter is a priori silly. As an analogy, the trillions of neutrinos streaming through your body this instant were hypothesised first to account for disparities in an existing theory, then later confirmed to exist experimentally. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 11:46:53 AM
Quote from: JPMaybe on 11 September, 2012, 11:43:17 AM
I'm still not quite sure I understand your objection- when a theory works well under a given set of conditions, hypothesising some hitherto undetectable phenomenon to modify it to an extended range of conditions has always been part of the scientific method.

I understand that. My objection is that the theory requires there to 70-80% more of everything than we can detect to make the numbers work. That strikes me as more than just a little fine-tuning. As clearly acknowledged earlier, however, I'm not a scientist and I may not have grasped some of the subtler points of the argument.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 11 September, 2012, 12:04:16 PM
More like 400% more (sorry, minor mathematical quibble). So it's specifically the amount hypothesised concept that bothers you? I'm a medical physicist so can't claim anything more than very basic professional expertise, but scientists don't just make this stuff up. Your objection just sounds like a gut reaction to be honest.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 12:48:55 PM
Quote from: JPMaybe on 11 September, 2012, 12:04:16 PM
More like 400% more (sorry, minor mathematical quibble).

Yes, I couldn't be arsed to work out the percentage from the other end.

QuoteSo it's specifically the amount hypothesised concept that bothers you?

Yes, it really is. It doesn't sound like fine-tuning to me, it sounds like a gaping hole in the numbers, but I've already acknowledged that this might just be a by-product of my limited, broad-strokes understanding of the subject.

(At the same time, I find it hard to discount the possibility that some scientists are idiots. The various frettings over the cosmological constant, for example, are breathtakingly stupid. "But it seems to be fine-tuned so that we can exist"?! Of course it fucking isn't. This is cretinously ego-centric anthropomorphism that relies on the same logic as 'Intelligent Design'.)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 September, 2012, 01:31:49 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 12:48:55 PM
QuoteSo it's specifically the amount hypothesised concept that bothers you?

Yes, it really is. It doesn't sound like fine-tuning to me, it sounds like a gaping hole in the numbers...

Well, yes there is a gaping hole in the numbers, but there are also gaping holes of apparent nothingness in the observable universe. I don't think that just because we can't see anything, we should just assume there's nothing interesting there.

Quote...The various frettings over the cosmological constant, are breathtakingly stupid. "But it seems to be
fine-tuned so that we can exist"?! Of course it fucking isn't

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 01:44:08 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:31:49 PM
there are also gaping holes of apparent nothingness in the observable universe.

Dust on the lens. :-)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 September, 2012, 01:49:26 PM
My damned so called 'smart' telephone just lost half my response.

In short, I totally agree with your last point. If the universe is fine tuned to support life, then how come we haven't found any? We can't comment on how suitable the universe is for life until the sample group extends beyond just the one planet
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 September, 2012, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:49:26 PMIf the universe is fine tuned to support life, then how come we haven't found any?

-waves-  :wave:

Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:49:26 PM
We can't comment on how suitable the universe is for life until the sample group extends beyond just the one planet

'Course we can.  We assume life requires long-chain molecules derived from elements beyond hydrogen and helium, we can suggest that a universe without a mechanism for making such elements isn't suitable for life. We can assume that some form of quasi-stable planetary environment is required, which depends on gravitational constant and distribution of matter.  We can assume a universe has to last long enough to allow for the emergence of life, further for the evolution of complex forms.  All sorts of things that depend on very exact values for constants.

The weak anthropic principle has always seemed axiomatic to me.  The observed universe is the one which supports the presence of observers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 September, 2012, 03:53:31 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 September, 2012, 01:44:08 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:31:49 PM
there are also gaping holes of apparent nothingness in the observable universe.

Dust on the lens. :-)

Cheers

Jim

Heh. Wouldn't it be really funny if a cleaner won a noble prize for solving the dark matter problem through vigorous application of windex*

*other glass cleaning products are available
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 September, 2012, 07:21:45 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 September, 2012, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:49:26 PMIf the universe is fine tuned to support life, then how come we haven't found any?

-waves-  :wave:

Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 01:49:26 PM
We can't comment on how suitable the universe is for life until the sample group extends beyond just the one planet

'Course we can.  We assume life requires long-chain molecules derived from elements beyond hydrogen and helium, we can suggest that a universe without a mechanism for making such elements isn't suitable for life. We can assume that some form of quasi-stable planetary environment is required, which depends on gravitational constant and distribution of matter.  We can assume a universe has to last long enough to allow for the emergence of life, further for the evolution of complex forms.  All sorts of things that depend on very exact values for constants.

The weak anthropic principle has always seemed axiomatic to me.  The observed universe is the one which supports the presence of observers.

Good point, and I don't have a problem with the weak anthropic principle, but what I (and I suspect Mr. Campbell) was referring to, was the Strong anthropic principle; the assertion that life exists because the laws of nature actively conspire to create it. If that were the case, if natural laws were in some way fine tuned to be perfect for creating life, then the universe should be abundant with life and finding E.T would be easier.

TELEOLOGICAL. That's the word I couldn't remember
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 11 September, 2012, 08:44:44 PM
There is alot of emptiness in the vastness of space and we can only monitor a fraction of it. There is no doubt life out there. It doesn't have to be intelligent. If we do spy it most likely it will be by accident. We may already have but our concept of life may differ to other forms of life.
We as a race are very limited to our own experiences and are only just starting our journey.





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 11 September, 2012, 09:16:38 PM
This probably sounds a bit mental but if space can be 'bent' by gravity would it suggest that space itself has a form of tangibility, I mean other than just being empty nothingness.  I'm not saying you can 'touch' space or anything like that but if it can be distorted does it suggest a certain kind of physical nature which we merely perceive as 'nothing'?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: DoomBot on 11 September, 2012, 11:07:53 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 11 September, 2012, 09:16:38 PM
This probably sounds a bit mental but if space can be 'bent' by gravity would it suggest that space itself has a form of tangibility, I mean other than just being empty nothingness.  I'm not saying you can 'touch' space or anything like that but if it can be distorted does it suggest a certain kind of physical nature which we merely perceive as 'nothing'?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Everything I know about space is encapsulated by mike moorcock's lyrics to Black Corridor (for Hawkwind).

Space is infinite.
It is dark.
Space is neutral.
It is cold.

Stars occupy minute areas of space. They are clustered a few billion here. A few billion there. As if seeking consolation in numbers.
Space does not care.

Space does not threaten.
Space does not comfort.
It does not sleep; it does not wake; it does not dream; it does not hope; it does not fear; it does not love; it does not hate; it does not encourage any of these qualities.
Space cannot be measured. It cannot be angered, it cannot be placated. It cannot be summed up. Space is there.
Space is not large and it is not small. It does not live and it does not die. It does not offer truth and neither does it lie.
Space is a remorseless, senseless, impersonal fact.
Space is the absence of time and of matter

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2012, 10:40:00 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 11 September, 2012, 07:21:45 PM
but what I (and I suspect Mr. Campbell) was referring to, was the Strong anthropic principle; the assertion that life exists because the laws of nature actively conspire to create it.

Yes, that's the bugger that eluded me.

QuoteIf that were the case, if natural laws were in some way fine tuned to be perfect for creating life, then the universe should be abundant with life and finding E.T would be easier.

Ah. And we stray into Fermi Paradox territory!

Now, for the record: I have no doubt that life in the universe is not restricted to this planet. On this planet, everywhere we look hard enough, we find life. Even where we thought it couldn't exist; in the deepest ocean trenches life exists round black smokers forming ecosystems that have no input from the sun (not that many years ago, this was believed impossible); below frozen lakes; inside nuclear-frickin'-reactors.

And that's just the tenacity of carbon-based life, before we consider extrasolar ecosystems that might give rise to, say, silicon-based life forms.

As a child of SF, I've never believed that the Sun was the only star with planets, but it's hard to remember that it is only a matter of years since extrasolar planets ceased to be science fiction. Now, it seems that every time we turn our attention to a star and look hard enough, it has planets and, as we refine our detection techniques, we find planets of roughly Earth-like mass.

Simple maths says that not all extrasolar planets can be gas giants or barren rocks, and the ferocious inventiveness of life suggest to me that we shouldn't even rule out gas giants or barren rocks as homes for some form of life.

The Fermi paradox is not explained (to my mind) only by the vast gulfs of interstellar space, though. It's explained by time. For all the illustrations and metaphors, I think we fail to grasp how fleeting human existence has been in the history of the planet; how fleeting it would still be if we lasted another 10,000, another 100,000, years.

There was that programme on C4 a few years back that rolled time forward if all humans vanished overnight and, in far less time than the human race had existed for, there would be no trace that we had ever been (except, as Alan Moore noted in Watchmen, for remnants of the moon landings on the lunar surface).

Consider, then, the possibility that we are not the first civilization to ever occupy this planet. I'm not going off into Atlantean/alien conspiracy territory, just a 'thought experiment' if you will. If you want to bracket the development of human civilization from the appearance of the earliest hominids to the present day, you're talking about a couple of million years.

By contrast, the Paleocene Epoch, during which the very earliest primates are thought to have arisen lasted for about ten million years.

Is it entirely unquestionable that, say, during the biologically diverse Cretaceous, which lasted for 80 million years, no tool-using creatures formed social groups and developed a society broadly equivalent to the Romans? Two thirds of the planet is currently underwater and much of the land that was submerged during the Cretaceous is now at the top of mountains whilst much that was once land is now covered by deep ocean.

Consider how many traces of early human civilizations remain after just a few thousand years. Now, consider what would be left after exposure to geological time. Let's say my hypothetical Cretaceous race built with wood and plant matter; harnessed biological sources for energy, erected edifices even less permanent than our own. How much of them would be left after being ground to dust by the tectonic plates for 65 million years?

Consider the almost incomprehensible number of species known to exist on Earth today, and then compare those numbers to the catalogued species of pre-history. Our knowledge of pre-history is akin to inferring the ecosystem of the world today by standing in your hallway and inspecting the world through the keyhole of your front door.

So... we might be unknowing of another civilization on our own world simply because of the intervening chasms of geological time. Now, consider that our world is about four billion years old in a universe that is (as near as we can work out) 13.5 billion years old. Consider cosmic time.

It is not unlikely that the stars are all crowded by planets, and that many of those planets teem with life. Or rather: have teemed with life; or will teem with life. The planets we detect, even assuming intelligent life could have evolved there, even assuming that life could master interstellar travel, would need to have done all these things within the same minuscule window of cosmic time that we have existed.

I do not believe that we are adrift in a lifeless universe, but I do believe that, in the context of 13.5 billion years of cosmic time, the human race is as fleeting as a quantum phenomenon. It is time every bit as much as space that separates us from any other intelligent life in the universe.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 September, 2012, 10:57:23 AM
Wasted on lettering, that one.   ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 12 September, 2012, 11:44:43 AM
I think it's likely that some form of upright hominids existed long before the emergeance of our own species.

Quote from: NapalmKev on 11 September, 2012, 09:16:38 PM
This probably sounds a bit mental but if space can be 'bent' by gravity would it suggest that space itself has a form of tangibility, I mean other than just being empty nothingness.  I'm not saying you can 'touch' space or anything like that but if it can be distorted does it suggest a certain kind of physical nature which we merely perceive as 'nothing'?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Can anyone offer any thoughts/advice on the space scenario i've mentioned. This is something that regularly whirls around my mind (or lack of)!

If it sounds like the fevered ramblings of a madman then I apologize, but I do feel if space cab be bent/distorted then it MUST be more than just empty void.

Help  :(



Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2012, 12:02:24 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 12 September, 2012, 11:44:43 AM
Can anyone offer any thoughts/advice on the space scenario i've mentioned. This is something that regularly whirls around my mind (or lack of)!

As I understand it (and I'm ready to be corrected by wiser heads than mine) it's not that 'gravity bends space', it's that the easiest way to wrap your brain around gravity is to imagine the four dimensions of space/time as a two dimensional plane, and that gravity is the effect resulting from massive objects distorting that plane.

Obviously, since space/time is four dimensional concept, reducing it to a two-dimensional plane is inaccurate to the point of being useless, other than as a means of explaining the basic principle to thickies like you and I.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 12 September, 2012, 12:09:13 PM
ENOUGH! Let's watch robotic dogs instead...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19567351 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19567351)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 13 September, 2012, 02:15:03 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2012, 12:02:24 PM
As I understand it (and I'm ready to be corrected by wiser heads than mine) it's not that 'gravity bends space', it's that the easiest way to wrap your brain around gravity is to imagine the four dimensions of space/time as a two dimensional plane, and that gravity is the effect resulting from massive objects distorting that plane.
Obviously, since space/time is four dimensional concept, reducing it to a two-dimensional plane is inaccurate to the point of being useless, other than as a means of explaining the basic principle to thickies like you and I.
Cheers
Jim


Right, sorted... I think?

Cheers for the reply!   :)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 15 September, 2012, 11:29:44 AM
wrong thread oops! :-[
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 September, 2012, 08:59:39 PM
...I was poking around APOD and I found this:

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0909/abell370_hst.jpg)

QuoteAbell 370: Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Lens
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team & ST-ECF

Explanation: What is that strange arc? While imaging the cluster of galaxies Abell 370, astronomers had noted an unusual arc to the right of many cluster galaxies. Although curious, one initial response was to avoid commenting on the arc because nothing like it had ever been noted before. In the mid-1980s, however, better images allowed astronomers to identify the arc as a prototype of a new kind of astrophysical phenomenon -- the gravitational lens effect of entire cluster of galaxies on background galaxies. Today, we know that this arc actually consists of two distorted images of a fairly normal galaxy that happened to lie far behind the huge cluster. Abell 370's gravity caused the background galaxies' light -- and others -- to spread out and come to the observer along multiple paths, not unlike a distant light appears through the stem of a wine glass. In mid-July, astronomers used the just-upgraded Hubble Space Telescope to image Abell 370 and its gravitational lens images in unprecedented detail. Almost all of the yellow images pictured above are galaxies in the Abell 370 cluster. An astute eye can pick up many strange arcs and distorted arclets, however, that are actually images of more distant galaxies. Studying Abell 370 and its images gives astronomers a unique window into the distribution of normal and dark matter in galaxy clusters and the universe.

And also this:
(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1110/macs1206_hst_900.jpg)

QuoteMACS 1206: A Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Lens
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH Team

Explanation: It is difficult to hide a galaxy behind a cluster of galaxies. The closer cluster's gravity will act like a huge lens, pulling images of the distant galaxy around the sides and greatly distorting them. This is just the case observed in the above recently released image from the CLASH survey with the Hubble Space Telescope. The cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 is composed of many galaxies and is lensing the image of a yellow-red background galaxy into the huge arc on the right. Careful inspection of the image will reveal at least several other lensed background galaxies -- many appearing as elongated wisps. The foreground cluster can only create such smooth arcs if most of its mass is smoothly distributed dark matter -- and therefore not concentrated in the cluster galaxies visible. Analyzing the positions of these gravitational arcs also gives astronomers a method to estimate the dark matter distribution in galaxy clusters, and infer from that when these huge conglomerations of galaxies began to form.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 September, 2012, 11:13:20 PM
...because the Dark Energy Camera is up and running. Back when I was at school, one of my tutors was part of an international delegation of scientists that all went over to Chile to ask if it was OK to tear a chunk off the Andes and stick a 'jumped-up web-cam' up there. It's pretty impressive, a digital camera with half a terapixel :o

Links:Pictures (http://fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/2012/DES-DECam-201209-images.html)
Fermilab Press Release (http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/2012/DES-DECam-201209.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 September, 2012, 02:53:23 AM
This is what awesome looks like:

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1209/shuttlelax_confer_960.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 27 September, 2012, 10:48:12 AM
 :o It certainly is pops!

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 02:28:08 PM
It reminds me of the first images of Enterprise being piggybacked in the 70's. Heady stuff in those days.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 27 September, 2012, 08:03:05 PM
it has a less awesome aspect: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/inglewood-endeavour-path_n_1856191.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/inglewood-endeavour-path_n_1856191.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 September, 2012, 08:33:03 PM
Oh yes, I would agree that that sort of thing does diminish its awesomeness (awesomosity?), but the whole decomissioning the shuttle thing sucks in general. It is a cool picture though, that cannot be denied
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 08:52:38 PM
I didn't think of it like that. It's like the photo is bookending the entire shuttle program. Sad.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 September, 2012, 09:05:13 PM
Endeavour's final journey is a sad business, but more because the shuttle was a beautiful, lethal, white elephant from start to finish, and because there's still no decent replacement programme.  However, the glorious photos above it in this thread show that human exploration of space marches on an at ever-increasing pace, even as manned spaceflight (in Baxter's phrase 'the plumbing problem') struggles for direction. 

A recent trip to Armagh's fabulous planetarium with the son was a revelation of just how much we've learnt since I was there as a boy: 67 moons for Jupiter, as opposed to the 20 in my day!  800 exo-planets over precisely zero!  :o

Thanks for all that, Pops.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 28 September, 2012, 12:04:03 AM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 08:52:38 PM
I didn't think of it like that. It's like the photo is bookending the entire shuttle program. Sad.

At least they had a run, unlike Buran - one remote controlled orbit around Earth a few times and then mothballed. What a waste!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 28 September, 2012, 01:44:23 AM
Quote from: Judge von Boom on 27 September, 2012, 02:28:08 PM
It reminds me of the Buran floating down the Rhine to become a amusement ride in Gorky Park.

(http://siberianlight.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/buran18-marc_cologne-550.jpg)

JG Balllard was an optimist.

FTFY
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 28 September, 2012, 10:58:53 AM
Oh yeah.

Rocks is good (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120927.html)

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 September, 2012, 03:29:03 PM
Quote from: Mikey on 28 September, 2012, 10:58:53 AM
Oh yeah.

Rocks is good (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120927.html)

Now that is Drokkin' Fantastic.  Someone give that little droid a lube-job.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 01 October, 2012, 09:05:16 PM
New comet on the way.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/newly-discovered-comet-may-outshine-moon-112511688.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 October, 2012, 11:06:12 AM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 01 October, 2012, 09:05:16 PM
New comet on the way.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/newly-discovered-comet-may-outshine-moon-112511688.html

It's a sign from Mene Tekel.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 October, 2012, 07:37:26 PM
This isn't real, it's some sort of artistic interpretation, but I like it:

(http://i.minus.com/ibu0j6RlocBNfO.gif)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 13 October, 2012, 07:47:29 PM

Is the universe telling me no ?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Gonk on 13 October, 2012, 09:45:42 PM
Maybe.

Or it has a tic.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 13 October, 2012, 09:51:49 PM
Perhaps it answers Yes or No, depending on what question you ask it. Ill start the ball rolling then..

Is Jimmy Savile innocent?

Will Dredd get a sequel?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 14 October, 2012, 06:56:25 PM
This is Science, apparently.

SPACE JUMP (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19927667)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 14 October, 2012, 07:19:15 PM
Just been watching this on the live feed. Exciting stuff!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 October, 2012, 07:20:12 PM
I dunno, I thought the helmet was too big ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 14 October, 2012, 08:11:59 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 14 October, 2012, 07:20:12 PM
I dunno, I thought the helmet was too big ;)

I don't know how he was feeling as he stood on the edge of that platform, looking at the curvature of the earth, but I was absolutely shiting myself watching him. I screamed when he stepped off and shrank to a tiny dot almost instantly, and when the camera was trained on him spinning like a taxi meter as he hurtled toward the ground at Mach 1, I was absolutely certain he was dead inside that suit.

BALLS BIGGER THAN KING KONG (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943132)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Rog69 on 14 October, 2012, 10:46:08 PM
It was incredible to watch, for a horrible moment I thought the capsule door was stuck when he went to open it and I realised that I had forgotten to breath a good half a minute after he stepped off the ledge. I was convinced he was done for when he went into the spin too.

Its just been confirmed that he hit 833.9 MPH at his fastest peak. Holy crap!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 14 October, 2012, 10:54:17 PM
Astounding. Human's are great.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2012, 12:22:30 PM
Going back to the space shuttle's slow trundle through LA I thought this was an amazing picture - you forget just how big those beasties were and they were apoparently scarping within inches of houses as they passed through Inglewood at 2mph.

EDIT - grr, can't seem to attach pic at work, here's a link: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/pictures/photos-12382/pictures-window-on-the-world-15th-october/13 (http://www.metro.co.uk/news/pictures/photos-12382/pictures-window-on-the-world-15th-october/13)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 16 October, 2012, 12:48:00 PM
Here you go Dan...

(http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2012/10/15/article-1350292774524-157EA698000005DC-205057_568x432.jpg)


That's buckin lush.

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 16 October, 2012, 04:39:31 PM
Cool, but I think I'd be pretty steamed to find that parked in my front garden.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2012, 05:09:23 PM
Thanks Mikey!

I've been flicking through some other pictures of it - just do a google image search for 'endeavour california' - some bizarrely incongruos shots of little suburban streets and donut stands with this behemoth looming over them.

It looks like an incredible feat. Even after cutting down 400 trees, plus lampposts and telegraph poles, they still were 17 hours late as they had to keep running ahead to remove awkward mailboxes, raod signs etc. It cost $10,000,000 just to get it to the museum.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: judda fett on 16 October, 2012, 05:18:12 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 14 October, 2012, 08:11:59 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 14 October, 2012, 07:20:12 PM
I dunno, I thought the helmet was too big ;)

I don't know how he was feeling as he stood on the edge of that platform, looking at the curvature of the earth, but I was absolutely shiting myself watching him. I screamed when he stepped off and shrank to a tiny dot almost instantly, and when the camera was trained on him spinning like a taxi meter as he hurtled toward the ground at Mach 1, I was absolutely certain he was dead inside that suit.

BALLS BIGGER THAN KING KONG (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943132)

Apparently there was a 20 second delay when this was broadcast live in case his eyeballs exploded as he fell.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 October, 2012, 05:23:52 PM
He had a chest camera, here's the footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmNmyZ3eT_8

Apparently they won't broadcast it on TV because the high speed spinning can cause nausea. I'm sure Mr Baumgartner felt more than just nauseous.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 16 October, 2012, 07:09:48 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 16 October, 2012, 05:23:52 PM
He had a chest camera, here's the footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmNmyZ3eT_8
Apparently they won't broadcast it on TV because the high speed spinning can cause nausea. I'm sure Mr Baumgartner felt more than just nauseous.

I wouldn't like to be the dry cleaner who has to get the heavy soiling out of that suit, pops. That footage starts off beautiful and serene, but finishes off like the worst go on the waltzers ever; it must have felt like being trapped inside a blender full of shite. 

I honestly cannot properly conceptualise the Earth's transition between a recognisable geometrical object with a top and a bottom, and something so massive you can walk on it. My brain can't process that without imagining there's some definite point where it stops being one thing and starts being the other. I can see why most of the Apollo astronauts went nuts or got religion.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 October, 2012, 03:02:01 PM
Ho-ho, there's an earth-sized planet at Alpha Centauri!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Interesting (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Interesting)

Now we're really getting somewhere, an earth-sized planet in the neighbouring system* - what are the odds, and more to the point, what that does to the Drake Equation can only be good.


(The pedant in me feels obliged to note that Alpha Centauri B is not the closest star to Sol (that's Proxima Centauri), but it is part of the same trinary system.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 17 October, 2012, 06:28:26 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 17 October, 2012, 03:02:01 PM
(The pedant in me feels obliged to note that Alpha Centauri B is not the closest star to Sol (that's Proxima Centauri), but it is part of the same trinary system.

The closest star to our own is called Proxima? That's either a spooky coincidence, or something which should give all you Argument From Design-deniers something to think about.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 17 October, 2012, 10:07:52 PM
This man lived for over six months without a heart. Amazing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19977958
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 October, 2012, 05:42:33 PM
Quote from: Albion on 17 October, 2012, 10:07:52 PM
This man lived for over six months without a heart. Amazing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19977958

That's nothing, this one's managed over 40 years!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 October, 2012, 12:07:14 AM
Pioneering scientists turn fresh air into petrol (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-pioneering-scientists-turn-fresh-air-into-petrol-in-massive-boost-in-fight-against-energy-crisis-8217382.html)

Yes, really
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2012, 01:30:41 AM
Quote from: pops1983 on 21 October, 2012, 12:07:14 AM
Pioneering scientists turn fresh air into petrol (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-pioneering-scientists-turn-fresh-air-into-petrol-in-massive-boost-in-fight-against-energy-crisis-8217382.html)

Yes, really


Although the process is still in the early developmental stages and needs to take electricity from the national grid to work, the company believes it will eventually be possible to use power from renewable sources such as wind farms or tidal barrages.


Yet again there^ lies the rub. It still needs less efficient energy systems to produce the petrol meaning it takes a lot more energy to make it than what they get out of the end product itself. Spending more energy to get less energy. We still don't have anything available that comes close to just drilling a hole in the ground and getting energy out. The more links or stages in the energy producing chain the less efficient it tends to be. The problem is we consume too much not that there isn't enough.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Emp on 21 October, 2012, 02:02:00 AM
its MagiK...and witchcraft!


honest
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2012, 02:45:04 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2012, 01:30:41 AM
It still needs less efficient energy systems to produce the petrol meaning it takes a lot more energy to make it than what they get out of the end product itself. Spending more energy to get less energy. We still don't have anything available that comes close to just drilling a hole in the ground and getting energy out. The more links or stages in the energy producing chain the less efficient it tends to be. The problem is we consume too much not that there isn't enough.

I'm amazed you were able to type that while furiously pedalling to provide the power for your ipad, Soap.  The conservation of energy being the universal constant that it still stubbornly appears to be, I don't see any way of resolving that dilemma other than hibernating for the other few million years necessary for everything else to die, mulch down, and provide the energy necessary to fuel our escape to a planet with an orbit that makes solar power more viable than coal and oil-fired energy generation.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2012, 02:53:33 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2012, 01:30:41 AM
Yet again there^ lies the rub. It still needs less efficient energy systems to produce the petrol meaning it takes a lot more energy to make it than what they get out of the end product itself. Spending more energy to get less energy.

Well, yes, except that this is one way of addressing that key criticism of renewables, which is that you can't store the energy produced so that it's available when you actually need it.* Inefficiently converting energy isn't so much of a problem when the energy source in question is effectively limitless.

Also a plus is the fact that this technology pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, so the only greenhouse gases put back into the system when you burn the hydrocarbons produced are effectively the same ones that pulled out of the air in the first place.

Cheers

Jim

*See also the rather cunning technique currently being researched where renewables are used to liquefy air. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 October, 2012, 04:45:29 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 21 October, 2012, 01:30:41 AM
We still don't have anything available that comes close to just drilling a hole in the ground and getting energy out.

I'm pretty sure that process is pretty complicated, dangerous, harmful to the environment, and not as simple and efficient as that statement makes out.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 October, 2012, 05:02:56 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 21 October, 2012, 04:45:29 PM...not as simple and efficient as that statement makes out.

Well it's getting harder every day, but for a century or so it really was almost that easy and simple: countless millennia of concentrated liquid energy, courtesy of the sun, life and time.  The same thing happened with all the useful resources: once upon a time you could just pick up quality flint, pure gold and copper from surface sites, then the easily accessible stuff was all converted into geegaws and you were into mining and smelting and refining and shite to get what you used to get for free.

One day fairly soon gold and oil are going to have similar values, unless we set to synthesising equivalents.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 October, 2012, 05:05:37 PM
Quote from: pops1983 on 21 October, 2012, 04:45:29 PM
I'm pretty sure that process is pretty complicated, dangerous, harmful to the environment, and not as simple and efficient as that statement makes out.

I think the point being made was that the immediate and long term solution to our energy requirements is to reduce demand and consumption. All the fascinating technologies linked to above are still some way from being perfected, and none of them are so economically attractive that they'll persuade corporations and governments to abandon the infrastructure and relationships with suppliers on which their current economic models and infrastructure are founded.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2012, 05:13:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 October, 2012, 05:05:37 PM
I think the point being made was that the immediate and long term solution to our energy requirements is to reduce demand and consumption.

More chance of me inventing cold fusion in my kitchen than this happening in the foreseeable future.

QuoteAll the fascinating technologies linked to above are still some way from being perfected, and none of them are so economically attractive that they'll persuade corporations and governments to abandon the infrastructure and relationships with suppliers on which their current economic models and infrastructure are founded.

Yes, but as the cost of traditional energy sources rises, and the difficulty of extracting them increases, the impetus to put more R&D resources into alternatives will also increase. The price differential will also narrow, if only because of the rising price of hydrocarbon-derived energy.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 October, 2012, 12:56:01 AM
When I posted that story, I wasn't suggesting that the energy crisis was almost solved, but it is a fantastic achievement. IF, and it's a big IF, it becomes commercially viable, it's depressingly inevitable that it'll be handled in a cack-handed and corrupt way. Politicians are the worst.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 22 October, 2012, 01:42:51 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2012, 02:53:33 PM
Well, yes, except that this is one way of addressing that key criticism of renewables, which is that you can't store the energy produced so that it's available when you actually need it.* Inefficiently converting energy isn't so much of a problem when the energy source in question is effectively limitless.


It won't replace oil or be the magic-bullet that allows us to party-on in the way most have become accustomed which is what most people are looking for or expect when they hear of these solutions. It's the same as algae farming or bio-oil, in order to mass-produce it other consequences result.


Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2012, 05:13:01 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 October, 2012, 05:05:37 PM
I think the point being made was that the immediate and long term solution to our energy requirements is to reduce demand and consumption.

More chance of me inventing cold fusion in my kitchen than this happening in the foreseeable future.


Don't worry, reality of limitation will solve the consumption dilemma for us and our lives will hopefully adjust accordingly.



Quote from: sauchie on 21 October, 2012, 05:05:37 PMAll the fascinating technologies linked to above are still some way from being perfected, and none of them are so economically attractive that they'll persuade corporations and governments to abandon the infrastructure and relationships with suppliers on which their current economic models and infrastructure are founded.



Nor can any alternative or combination thereof support the global infrastructure that has been built upon - and peaked after - 200 years of oil discovery and consumption. It'd be difficult to just switch over to something else even if a new energy source/production were released tomorrow.


Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 21 October, 2012, 05:13:01 PM
Yes, but as the cost of traditional energy sources rises, and the difficulty of extracting them increases, the impetus to put more R&D resources into alternatives will also increase.


How much recoverable oil does there need to be left to do it and how much is too little? Even if a solution is discovered we still need an oil-based industry and delivery system to produce and roll it out globally, then there's the matter of retro-fitting all the oil-based machinery. Not to mention all the other things that oil derivatives produce that we don't have alternatives for.

The answer for now is reduction of consumption. If we get some alternatives along that path, all the better.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 October, 2012, 04:17:55 PM
The Scale of the Universe - Interactive http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html

Mind blowing stuff!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 10 November, 2012, 11:08:20 PM
Space Internet!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20270833 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20270833)

Near Instantaneous Spoken Translation (in your own voice)!:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20266427 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20266427)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 11 November, 2012, 11:56:32 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 October, 2012, 04:17:55 PM
The Scale of the Universe - Interactive http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html

Mind blowing stuff!

Oh, thats great, isnt it.
Two things ive learnt - Japanese spider crabs are drokkin huge, and Aldebaran is not to be confused with Alderaan,  ;)

Fun stuff!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 November, 2012, 12:35:07 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 11 November, 2012, 11:56:32 AMAldebaran is not to be confused with Alderaan,  ;)

Aldebaran is very pretty in the sky at the moment, even in light-polluted areas.  Just look east and the incredibly brilliant star you see low down in the sky after dark (rising upwards to the south towards midnight and beyond) is actually Jupiter.  Just to the right of Jupiter the next bright star is Aldebaran (in Taurus), its orange-giant red colour really obvious when seen beside Jupiter's sulphurous yellowish white (the bluish Alnath is just to the left, the tip of the Bull's horn).  In slightly better conditions the Pleiades are visible just above.  Later on in the night Orion rises just below in the south, its brightest star the home system of our beloved Mighty One.  Bloody magic.

As to Alderaan.. well that's what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally blown away
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 November, 2012, 09:30:12 PM
Science is drokking creepy because...

Gene Predicts Time Of Death Down To Hour, Study Suggests (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/gene-predicts-death_n_2159918.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 19 November, 2012, 10:01:37 PM
Sorry I can't make that 4 o'clock appointment. I'm scheduled to die at 3.25.

Chilling.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 19 November, 2012, 10:20:12 PM
oh FFS don't take your scientific news offa the Huffington Post. Do you realise that one of those links goes to the Daily Mail website? I think this falls into the "hyperbolic extrapolation" theory of science journalism, in which case it's 90% likely to be partly or wholly bollocks.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 November, 2012, 04:21:56 PM
Has Curiosity Made an 'Earth-Shaking' Discovery? (http://www.universetoday.com/98576/has-curiosity-made-an-earth-shaking-discovery/)


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 20 November, 2012, 07:50:27 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 November, 2012, 04:21:56 PM
Has Curiosity Made an 'Earth-Shaking' Discovery? (http://www.universetoday.com/98576/has-curiosity-made-an-earth-shaking-discovery/)

oohhh exciting but nothing confirmed as yet.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 20 November, 2012, 08:11:42 PM
It has probably found traces of Hitler on Mars.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 20 November, 2012, 08:36:45 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 November, 2012, 04:21:56 PM
Has Curiosity Made an 'Earth-Shaking' Discovery? (http://www.universetoday.com/98576/has-curiosity-made-an-earth-shaking-discovery/)
Double post but I think we may be talking fossils.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 20 November, 2012, 08:47:50 PM
I hope so but it may just be chemical/physical signatures in the rocks that something,(probably microbial) was there anyway it will be a historic find if it can be confirmed.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 20 November, 2012, 09:43:39 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 20 November, 2012, 08:36:45 PM
I think we may be talking fossils.

If this were to be the case, I really don't think I could cope with the wave of happiness that would wash over me. And I may have to take the morning off work.

SBT
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 20 November, 2012, 10:04:24 PM
Owt to back that up, vzzbux or just a feeling?

Be nice if summat akin to that, was in fact the 'Earth shaking' discovery, but i suspect itll be this

Quote from: Zarjazzer on 20 November, 2012, 08:47:50 PM
chemical/physical signatures in the rocks

Not that that wouldnt be any less impressive, in the long run.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 November, 2012, 10:25:30 PM
At this point I would conjecture that they've found an interesting rock formation, and they want to make sure it's really some kind of microbial fossil and not just an imprint from some inert crystally thingymawhatsits
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 20 November, 2012, 10:58:23 PM
Maybe Gilbert Levin was right?

http://www.13thingsthatdontmakesense.com/chap.aspx?ch=6 (http://www.13thingsthatdontmakesense.com/chap.aspx?ch=6)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 20 November, 2012, 11:25:54 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 20 November, 2012, 10:04:24 PM
Owt to back that up, vzzbux or just a feeling?

Be nice if summat akin to that, was in fact the 'Earth shaking' discovery, but i suspect itll be this

Quote from: Zarjazzer on 20 November, 2012, 08:47:50 PM
chemical/physical signatures in the rocks

Not that that wouldnt be any less impressive, in the long run.
Just a feeling.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 November, 2012, 11:36:32 PM
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away

It's more than a feeling
(More than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play
(More than a feeling)
I begin dreaming
(More than a feeling)
'Til I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin' away

So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky

It's more than a feeling
(More than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play
(More than a feeling)
I begin dreaming
(More than a feeling)
'Til I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin' away

When I'm tired and thinking cold
I hide in my music, forget the day
And dream of a girl I used to know
I closed my eyes and she slipped away
She slipped away

It's more than a feeling
(More than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play
(More than a feeling)
I begin dreaming
(More than a feeling)
'Til I see Marianne walk away
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2012, 12:46:56 AM
Maybe it's this...

(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/the_legendary_shark/mars_discovery.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 November, 2012, 01:28:33 AM
That picture raises several philosophical questions. Chief among which is; WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FREE SPACE SPINNER?????
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 November, 2012, 02:36:44 AM
With less gravity and atmospheric resistance it would be much easier to lose a Space Spinner on Mars than on Earth.

A Labrador ate mine.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 November, 2012, 07:27:50 PM
'Bigfoot' DNA Sequenced In Upcoming Genetics Study (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/11/prweb10166775.htm)

Five-Year Genome Study At DNA Diagnostics Yields Evidence of Homo sapiens/Unknown Hominin Hybrid Species in North America
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 November, 2012, 08:35:47 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 November, 2012, 07:27:50 PM
Five-Year Genome Study At DNA Diagnostics Yields Evidence of Homo sapiens/Unknown Hominin Hybrid Species in North America

Pretty nice leg-pull - viral advert for a new book or film, maybe?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 27 November, 2012, 12:05:22 AM
Hello Bamber. My name's John Connor and I'm reading Marketing and Terminator Studies (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20501091) at Christ's College, Cambridge.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 November, 2012, 12:15:33 PM
Saturn's Swirling North Pole

(http://ut-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/N00198376.jpg)

This swirling maelstrom of clouds is what was seen over Saturn's north pole on November 27 by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This raw image, acquired in polarized light, was captured from a distance of 238,045 miles (383,097 kilometers).

More images at Universetoday.com (http://www.universetoday.com/98667/incredible-raw-image-of-saturns-swirling-north-pole/)


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 28 November, 2012, 02:15:15 PM
I love images like that.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 November, 2012, 05:01:59 PM
Ar-and-then-som.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 November, 2012, 06:58:09 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 November, 2012, 12:15:33 PM
This swirling maelstrom of clouds is

...clearly hiding the Hawkmen's attack fleet.

DIIIIIIIVE!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 November, 2012, 07:01:59 PM
Heh - let me add my voice to the 'This Forum Needs a LIKE Button' suggestion.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 28 November, 2012, 07:03:25 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 28 November, 2012, 06:58:09 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 November, 2012, 12:15:33 PM
This swirling maelstrom of clouds is

...clearly hiding the Hawkmen's attack fleet.

DIIIIIIIVE!

Cheers

Jim

Queue the Queen. ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 28 November, 2012, 09:54:41 PM
I bought a bog standard bridge camera last week and have just took these. For a standard point and click they are not too bad.

Moon.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/178984_10151144188921024_989451165_n.jpg)

Venus.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/574452_10151144192351024_853688870_n.jpg)





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 November, 2012, 07:02:48 PM
Did you take that last night? Apparently it was a micro moon last night
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 29 November, 2012, 07:13:11 PM
Both from last night.
I am really chuffed with my new camera.





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 November, 2012, 07:23:35 PM
They're cool pictures
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 29 November, 2012, 07:28:43 PM
Did I mention that I think the forum needs a 'like' button? Lovely pics.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 29 November, 2012, 09:03:31 PM
Aye, great stuff. Caught the Moon (and Venus) last night, as well. Pretty dazzling, wernt they.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 29 November, 2012, 09:18:34 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 November, 2012, 09:03:31 PM
Aye, great stuff. Caught the Moon (and Venus) last night, as well. Pretty dazzling, wernt they.

You "caught the moon"? Yeah, and I bet you want to blow it up too, don't you? DON'T YOU?! http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/us-military-chiefs-planned-to-blow-up-the-moon-with-nuclear-bomb-as-show-of-cold-war-muscle-physicist-claims-8364114.html

SBT
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 November, 2012, 09:25:59 PM
The moon was beautiful last night. I could see a halo around it here in Belfast. Too bad I didn't have a kick-arse camera like Vzzbux.

This is one for the life is drokking fantastic thread, but I'll post it here anyway. I just comfirmed my flight to Florida just after Christmas. My girlfriend's Dad works as an airplane engineer out there, and he's taking me to the Kennedy Space Centre, he knows a guy there.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 November, 2012, 10:01:18 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 November, 2012, 09:03:31 PM
Aye, great stuff. Caught the Moon (and Venus) last night, as well. Pretty dazzling, wernt they.

Not last night you didn't!  That glorious thing near the moon was Jupiter, I'm afraid.  Venus is only visible in the early morning* at the moment, rather beautifully accompanied by Saturn and Spica.

Awesome pics, vzzbux.




*Being closer in towards the Sun than us, Venus' orbit means it always appears close to the Sun in our skies, thus it only appears when the Sun is masked just below the horizon, either around dawn or sunset, and low in the sky.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 29 November, 2012, 10:11:53 PM
My bad. Bloody Simon Mayonnaise got it wrong on the radio yesterday.






V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 29 November, 2012, 11:23:00 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 29 November, 2012, 10:01:18 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 29 November, 2012, 09:03:31 PM
Aye, great stuff. Caught the Moon (and Venus) last night, as well. Pretty dazzling, wernt they.

Not last night you didn't!  That glorious thing near the moon was Jupiter, I'm afraid.  Venus is only visible in the early morning* at the moment, rather beautifully accompanied by Saturn and Spica.

Ah, Jupiter it is then - and happy to be corrected! We've had some wonderfully clear nights recently, so ive been indulging in a bit of star gazing, but my knowledge of whats what is woefully inadequate - the big dipper is pretty much my limit when it comes to identifying 'stuff'! And i'd love to have a camera like that as well, my snaps turned out to be nowt more than a blurry streaky mess.

And cheers for that link SBT, caught that on the radio the other day, and had meant to check that out further but it had completely slipped my mind!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 29 November, 2012, 11:48:06 PM

Coolpix L810
£129.00 from Argos.

(http://cdn.idealo.com/folder/Product/3158/4/3158492/s3_produktbild_gross/nikon-coolpix-l810.png)





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 30 November, 2012, 10:06:22 PM
Robot buddy for ISS (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/robot-buddy-keep-japan-astronaut-company-063850621.html;_ylt=Atcxj5BHfqdLB0tx6emQgbP3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkMGVvY2lmBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnA2Y5Zjk2OWE5LTcyNDEtMzY2ZC05MGQ5LWFjNTE0ZDgzZWQ2NARwb3MDMwRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzU2OTAyZTIxLTNhZDktMTFlMi1iYWVmLTc2ZjAzZjBhZDQ5Nw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

Ice on Mercury (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mercury-nasa-discovers-ice-planet-012048590.html;_ylt=AmFlpm52Tt5K2ffRT6O0HTn3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkbmo0ZXBxBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzc1N2Y3MjRlLTcwYzktM2M1Yy04YWZmLTk2MTU4ZDdmYzYzMgRwb3MDNARzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyA2FmYmUyNjMwLTNhY2MtMTFlMi1iYzlmLTk5ZjkwOWFkZjkyYw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

Kirihiti running out of time to prevent being swallowed by the oceans (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/time-running-kiribati-president-074634403.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 03 December, 2012, 01:14:56 PM
Fuck off huge black holes will eat us all.
http://www.spacecentre.co.uk/space-now/176-giant-black-hole-in-a-tiny-galaxy

(http://www.spacecentre.co.uk/images/spacenowblog/messier95%20credit%20eso.jpg)





V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 04 December, 2012, 09:59:59 PM
Dolphins to be retired and replaced by robots. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/dolphins-retired-by-u-s--navy--meet-the-other-animals-of-war-124500061.html)

Over one thousand volunteers for one way trip to Mars (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mars-one-finds-more-than-1-000-volunteers-for-one-way-trip-in-2023-160757378.html)

and the Chinese are preparing gardens for Mars (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/china-prepares-grow-vegetables-mars-050303251.html;_ylt=AoJ0.Vgm6Za0vCU6.W3.sKH3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkMHZscjE3BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzRjN2YxMmUwLTFkZGQtMzI5Ni04NTc2LTM4ZGUyZDAwMWIzYQRwb3MDOQRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzZmZjVkNTgyLTNkZjUtMTFlMi1iZGY3LTMwMDViMmE5ODc1NA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 04 December, 2012, 10:12:31 PM

Fossil rain. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20575250#)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2012, 07:12:49 PM
(http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017d3e770182970c-800wi)

Urban birds are incorporating cigarette butts into their nests for bug-killing action and for insulation, a new study finds. (http://news.discovery.com/animals/birds-are-building-nests-out-of-cigarette-butts-to-ward-off-parasites-121204.html#mkcpgn=emnws1)


Maybe old Alfred was on to something after all...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 05 December, 2012, 07:46:01 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2012, 07:12:49 PMUrban birds are incorporating cigarette butts into their nests for bug-killing action and for insulation, a new study finds. (http://news.discovery.com/animals/birds-are-building-nests-out-of-cigarette-butts-to-ward-off-parasites-121204.html#mkcpgn=emnws1)


Maybe old Alfred was on to something after all...

Don't remember where exactly but I remember a bunch of monkeys that discovered that by stealing and eating charcoal from people's cooking fires, they can then eat all kinds of tasty berries that would otherwise make them violently ill.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SmallBlueThing on 09 December, 2012, 11:25:41 PM
May have missed this one, but...

http://phys.org/news/2012-12-vast-ancient-caverns-mars-captured.html

Yikes! And a cautious YAY!

SBT

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 10 December, 2012, 12:53:57 AM
Fingers crossed that Olympus Mons turns out to be the mother of all Verne cannons.

ULLA!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 11 December, 2012, 07:34:52 PM
Ro-busters in Fukushima (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20678838)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 11 December, 2012, 09:22:00 PM
Apocalypse 2012: Asteroid Version - watch a close fly past by a 5 km wide asteroid here (http://events.slooh.com/) & here (http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/)

Thanks to Yahoo Science for the links from their article (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-asteroid-pass-earth-tonight-watch-online-141514589.html;_ylt=Alv9AE5I0_7CqnQfitBIxvH3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2NWsxa3I5BG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwMwYjQ5MmI4Ni1mODk4LTNhNGQtYWM5OC01NjE5YzEwODhkNTIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgM3NGY0ODg2Mi00MzlmLTExZTItYmZmNy0xZDcwYTMyMWI3OTY-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 December, 2012, 02:56:12 AM
That would be Sir Patrick catching his lift.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 13 December, 2012, 09:35:19 PM
Life developed on land before moving to sea? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fossil-challenges-tree-life-know-192124886.html;_ylt=AnbUsqgRNpOpycLcjUPVjwL3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRlbW5mYzU3BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnA2VlNDE3ZWI2LTVjZGMtMzU2MC04MDlkLWIwOGJkNGQ4MjgzOQRwb3MDMTUEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgMzN2U0OTdjMS00NDk1LTExZTItOWFiYi01MWFlZmQ1ODE1MmQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 December, 2012, 11:05:22 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 13 December, 2012, 09:35:19 PM
Life developed on land before moving to sea? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fossil-challenges-tree-life-know-192124886.html;_ylt=AnbUsqgRNpOpycLcjUPVjwL3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRlbW5mYzU3BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnA2VlNDE3ZWI2LTVjZGMtMzU2MC04MDlkLWIwOGJkNGQ4MjgzOQRwb3MDMTUEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgMzN2U0OTdjMS00NDk1LTExZTItOWFiYi01MWFlZmQ1ODE1MmQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

I suspect this is a case of interpretation pushed to dodgy extremes, but the whole thing is very exciting - linking the Edicaran and the Cambrian organisms has always been a tricky business, but the possibility of a separate Ediacaran radiation is fascinating! 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 17 December, 2012, 09:17:08 PM
Testing to see if the entire universe is a computer simulation (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/sideshow/whoa-physicists-testing-see-universe-computer-simulation-224525825.html;_ylt=Aj.auz_oC9pJZ1bEQiqKP0r3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2cXQxamk2BG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwM4MTdkY2UxNS05MzkyLTM5MjQtODk0My0yMmRhMjZlMTg0ZjIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgMyMWY4ZmU2NS00ODNjLTExZTItYjdmZi1iZWMwMWE3YzJiYzA-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 17 December, 2012, 09:39:21 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 17 December, 2012, 09:17:08 PM
Testing to see if the entire universe is a computer simulation (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/sideshow/whoa-physicists-testing-see-universe-computer-simulation-224525825.html;_ylt=Aj.auz_oC9pJZ1bEQiqKP0r3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2cXQxamk2BG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwM4MTdkY2UxNS05MzkyLTM5MjQtODk0My0yMmRhMjZlMTg0ZjIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgMyMWY4ZmU2NS00ODNjLTExZTItYjdmZi1iZWMwMWE3YzJiYzA-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

The Matrix is on over Christmas sometime. Reality is really weird but I doubt it's a computer sim. Still you never know there does seem to be a horribly determinist streak in things.  Isn't everything allegedly all coming to an end this Friday according to the Mayan calender? The great 'off' switch is coming everyone.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 17 December, 2012, 11:29:50 PM
Oddly, in the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory today, one of the characters (I forget his name. The curly one with glasses) explains the idea that we might all be holograms. Not quite the same thing as this idea, and probably a load rubbish but.. I'll admit... it was quite interesting. I know it's a comedy show, but it wasn't playing this as a gag, and I'm sure (although I haven't researched it) it's based on an actual theory. It's certainly familiar. I know I read something about it before...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 17 December, 2012, 11:57:27 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 17 December, 2012, 11:29:50 PM
Oddly, in the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory today, one of the characters (I forget his name. The curly one with glasses) explains the idea that we might all be holograms. Not quite the same thing as this idea, and probably a load rubbish but.. I'll admit... it was quite interesting. I know it's a comedy show, but it wasn't playing this as a gag, and I'm sure (although I haven't researched it) it's based on an actual theory. It's certainly familiar. I know I read something about it before...

It came up in this episode of Horizon (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xxgbn#). They are probably better episodes explaining it but I remember it the most because the Physicist behind the theory has a near meltdown when the interviewer says "I think I understand it..." and he goes something like "No! You can't understand it! I don't fully understand it myself!" (if I remember it right).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 18 December, 2012, 12:34:04 AM
Paralysed woman's thoughts control robotic arm (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20731973)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 24 December, 2012, 11:28:15 PM
I'll just leave this link (http://io9.com/5971032/the-very-best-space-porn-of-2012/gallery/1) here and wish you all a merry christmas
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 25 December, 2012, 10:44:11 AM
Quote from: Pops on 24 December, 2012, 11:28:15 PM
I'll just leave this link (http://io9.com/5971032/the-very-best-space-porn-of-2012/gallery/1) here and wish you all a merry christmas

Wow, what a Xmas present!  Thanks for that! I'm going to come back to this tonight and really savour the film clips.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 25 December, 2012, 02:45:39 PM
Space porn in glorious HD! Caught these last night, brilliant stuff.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 December, 2012, 06:33:15 PM
The footage from the Cassini probe is particularly gorgeous
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 06:20:09 PM
700,000 galaxies my be uncovered by one installation this year. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/700-000-galaxies-may-uncovered-094947768.html;_ylt=AtQY_vl1celPAL1remtwI3D3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkdmc4NmhtBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzRkMTRmNWNmLTU4MTItM2ExNC05MjYyLTEzZDdiOWNjNWNjYgRwb3MDNwRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzcyNTE4MzcxLTUyNjctMTFlMi1iZmEzLTU0MGM4ZTYwN2E2Yg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 12 January, 2013, 06:31:19 PM
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/science/physics-and-astronomy/astronomy/60-second-adventures-astronomy-the-big-bang

Some nice 60 second animations from the OU on the big bang, exoplanets etc.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 January, 2013, 11:24:51 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2013, 06:20:09 PM
700,000 galaxies my be uncovered by one installation this year. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/700-000-galaxies-may-uncovered-094947768.html;_ylt=AtQY_vl1celPAL1remtwI3D3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkdmc4NmhtBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzRkMTRmNWNmLTU4MTItM2ExNC05MjYyLTEzZDdiOWNjNWNjYgRwb3MDNwRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzcyNTE4MzcxLTUyNjctMTFlMi1iZmEzLTU0MGM4ZTYwN2E2Yg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

Well, they might have discovered that much this year if they weren't blanketed in smoke from a mega brush fire. (http://www.euronews.com/2013/01/14/australia-wildfires-hit-major-space-observatory/)

Elsewhere:

Replacement for Soyuz planned by Russians, along with call for new interplanetary travel technology. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/russia-plans-replacement-soyuz-rocket-084236685.html;_ylt=AvppPg77ID6.ytwfbE31xVb3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkOWZlbGkzBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnA2JiZDU4OTRkLWFkZmMtM2I2My1iNzczLTM1MjI5OTE4NWJhMwRwb3MDNQRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzhmYzMyNTkxLTVlMjgtMTFlMi1iZWZmLWMwNjhiOGQyNzUyYQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

Oldest star in the Universe discovered. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/-oldest-star-in-universe--is-found---born-just-after-the-big-bang-120332438.html;_ylt=AhGAr3z7stSXKZLmmG3dKkr3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2am5jOHBzBG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwNhMTY1M2QzZi03Zjk2LTNlODUtYmYwMi0zYTRlZmJkMjcyNjgEcG9zAzIEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgM3YWNlYzU4My01ZTQyLTExZTItODZiOC01NDY5NDEzYWJhM2I-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

2013 brightest ever year for comets. (http://www.euronews.com/2013/01/14/2013-set-to-be-earth-s-brightest-ever-for-comets/)

Isle of Wight "Dinosaur Capital of the U.K." (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/isle-of-wight-was--dinosaur-capital--of-uk--according-to-new-map-142847983.html;_ylt=AkbPMb8l3RXB16ujT132syf3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2cDZvMjR1BG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwNmMDg5ZGRmMi1mZTlmLTM1MzItODkxNS1lZmI5YWIxZGZkMjYEcG9zAzEEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgMwMjk5OWYzMy01ZTZiLTExZTItOWVkZi0yMWI4NjUxY2VlNGY-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3)

Spines evolved back to front? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20987289)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 January, 2013, 04:30:39 PM
The Up Goer Five:

An explanation of the Saturn V moon rocket that only uses the 1000 most commonly used English words.

(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/up_goer_five.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 07:23:42 PM
Quote from: Pops on 19 January, 2013, 04:30:39 PM
The Up Goer Five:

An explanation of the Saturn V moon rocket that only uses the 1000 most commonly used English words.

(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/up_goer_five.png)

Seriously though, that is the most beautiful man made object ever. It makes me proud to be a human.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 January, 2013, 01:38:36 AM
Isn't it though?

I had the pleasure of seeing her in the flesh over Christmas.

I love this description. It's like Dr Seuss or somesuch.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 20 January, 2013, 08:14:34 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 19 January, 2013, 07:23:42 PM
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/up_goer_five.png (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/up_goer_five.png)   that is the most beautiful man made object ever.

Revealing.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 21 January, 2013, 11:16:52 PM
Gamma-ray burst 'hit Earth in 8th Century' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21082617)

'Quadruple helix' DNA seen in human cells (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21091066)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 04 February, 2013, 07:49:36 PM
Leicester put back on the map.
King Richard III remains confirmed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65684000/gif/_65684372_richard_iii_304x171.gif)




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 04 February, 2013, 08:05:58 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 February, 2013, 07:49:36 PM
Leicester put back on the map.
King Richard III remains confirmed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65684000/gif/_65684372_richard_iii_304x171.gif)



V


I really feel enthused by this story it has everything I like some bloody history and science a merging and there he is! One of the lost, dead (butchered) Kings.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 04 February, 2013, 08:29:42 PM
They stabbed him in the arse, which seems unnecessary. The folk who made the discovery are promising to tell us what kind of food Richard III ate; they've verified that his closest living relative is a Canadian carpenter (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9847418/Richard-III-descendant-privileged-to-play-part-in-royal-discovery.html); and they've revealed that he suffered from scoliosis (http://mashable.com/2013/02/04/bones-king-richard-iii/), so Shakespear's portrayal of him as a hunchback was Tudor propaganda. Science is fantastic.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 04 February, 2013, 09:44:54 PM
Interesting stuff. I'm watching the documentary Richard III: The King in the Car Park, right now.

I found myself groaning at the bit at the start where this (slightly odd) woman mentions part of the carpark being marked with an 'R' then stating she has a 'feeling' that he's here.

Except.... she turned out to be right.* And weirdly, his remains are the first thing they found in the dig, before even the remains of the friary, etc.

*I confess it didn't stop me chuckling when they draped his colours over the cardboard box housing his remains and stuck it in a van though.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 04 February, 2013, 09:46:31 PM
Me too. They're doing the little princes now, BWAH-HA-HA!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 February, 2013, 08:54:21 AM
Quote from: vzzbux on 04 February, 2013, 07:49:36 PM
Leicester put back on the map.
King Richard III remains confirmed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65684000/gif/_65684372_richard_iii_304x171.gif)




V

My brother lives in Leicester.  He's been really, really hoping this was true.  Waheyyy!

I like Richard III, me.  He taught Johnny Rotten all he knows about theatrical stares and sneers.  (Except, like Caligula, he was actually quite a normal chap, apparently.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 February, 2013, 07:24:36 PM
Yes, it's cheesy as feck, but this makes me stupidly happy:

(http://yes,%20it's%20cheesy%20as%20feck,%20but%20this%20makes%20me%20stupidly%20happy:)http://music.cbc.ca/#/concerts/Chris-Hadfield-and-Barenaked-Ladies-ISS-Is-Somebody-Singing-2013-02-05
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 17 February, 2013, 10:27:34 PM
This is a really good video of the Chelyabinsk meteor exploding. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCawTYPtehk&feature=youtu.be)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 18 February, 2013, 01:24:30 AM
Clearly God was expressing his displeasure over the Russian people turning their backs (ahem) collectively on Communism, da?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 18 February, 2013, 06:13:06 PM
I bet that they ALL now scrambling around in the dirt, trying to find those little fragments of rock that are worth more than Gold.

Jammyski
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 18 February, 2013, 06:21:30 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 February, 2013, 06:13:06 PM
I bet that they ALL now scrambling around in the dirt, trying to find those little fragments of rock that are worth more than Gold.

Jammyski

apparently they started showing up on ebay within the hour - from people who could not possibly have collected them "hmm - I've got some rocks in the garden .. IDEA!"
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 18 February, 2013, 07:50:22 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 17 February, 2013, 10:27:34 PM
This is a really good video of the Chelyabinsk meteor exploding. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCawTYPtehk&feature=youtu.be)

How fucking casual is that copper? His voice never rises above a monotone: Yeah, there's a massive incandescent ball of I-don't-know-what streaking through the sky directly overhead. I'm going to Greggs; do you want anything?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 18 February, 2013, 09:34:21 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 18 February, 2013, 06:21:30 PM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 February, 2013, 06:13:06 PM
I bet that they ALL now scrambling around in the dirt, trying to find those little fragments of rock that are worth more than Gold.

Jammyski

apparently they started showing up on ebay within the hour - from people who could not possibly have collected them "hmm - I've got some rocks in the garden .. IDEA!"

Well someone's got to pay for the massive heating and window repairs bills due to your windows exploding in winter in one of the coldest countries on the planet....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 19 February, 2013, 08:36:55 AM
the freakiest thing about the footage is the long gap between the flash and the shockwave - people had about half a minute to freak out over the huge burst of light in the sky before all their windows explode and things start popping off like firecrackers. That's got to have been a follow-through moment!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 28 February, 2013, 12:42:57 AM
First picture of a black hole's spin. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21607945)

Spiral toothed shark fossil mystery solved. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21589719)

Transparent 3D computer display. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21603323)

Older couple wanted for private-funded Mars mission. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21603490)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 03 March, 2013, 12:06:45 PM
Has this been posted before?  Science really is drokking fantastic.

http://www.ted.com/talks/boaz_almog_levitates_a_superconductor.html (http://www.ted.com/talks/boaz_almog_levitates_a_superconductor.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 03 March, 2013, 12:36:27 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 03 March, 2013, 12:06:45 PM
Has this been posted before?  Science really is drokking fantastic.

http://www.ted.com/talks/boaz_almog_levitates_a_superconductor.html (http://www.ted.com/talks/boaz_almog_levitates_a_superconductor.html)

It's a great piece, but one of the things that annoys me about TED demo-based talks is that hardly anyone wears safety gear.  I used to shout myself hoarse trying to get my colleagues to wear the proper PPE, no matter how irritating it can be, these guys should set an example on the public stage.

Mind you, no goggles or gloves are going to save you from this, the greatest event of our lifetimes if it comes off:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/28/mars_impact_the_red_planet_may_get_hit_by_a_comet_in_october_2014.html

A direct hit would make Shoemaker-Levy 9 look like a pea-shooter.  I am very, very excited.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 03 March, 2013, 01:05:16 PM
It looks like it's going to miss, barely. At least that what the people at the Keck are saying.

(http://www.webalice.it/alvitagl/Figures/Marsimp.gif)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 03 March, 2013, 08:06:43 PM
Human waste radiation shield. (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23230-mars-trip-to-use-astronaut-poo-as-radiation-shield.html)  :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 March, 2013, 09:14:17 PM
Volcanic Lightning:

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1303/volcano_reitze_960.jpg)

VOLCANIC GOSHDARNED LIGHTNING!

From APOD: (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html)

QuoteExplanation: Why does a volcanic eruption sometimes create lightning? Pictured above, the Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan was caught erupting in early January. Magma bubbles so hot they glow shoot away as liquid rock bursts through the Earth's surface from below. The above image is particularly notable, however, for the lightning bolts caught near the volcano's summit. Why lightning occurs even in common thunderstorms remains a topic of research, and the cause of volcanic lightning is even less clear. Surely, lightning bolts help quench areas of opposite but separated electric charges. One hypothesis holds that catapulting magma bubbles or volcanic ash are themselves electrically charged, and by their motion create these separated areas. Other volcanic lightning episodes may be facilitated by charge-inducing collisions in volcanic dust. Lightning is usually occurring somewhere on Earth, typically over 40 times each second.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 12 March, 2013, 09:50:02 PM
Holy shit!  Just out of shot, of course, is the barbarian, scantily-clad woman, and floating heavy metal band name in spiky letters
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 13 March, 2013, 09:30:04 PM
Astrobiologists Find Ancient Fossils in Fireball Fragments. (http://www.technologyreview.com/view/512381/astrobiologists-find-ancient-fossils-in-fireball-fragments/#.UT43ARdszXI.twitter)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 March, 2013, 10:06:38 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 13 March, 2013, 09:30:04 PM
Astrobiologists Find Ancient Fossils in Fireball Fragments. (http://www.technologyreview.com/view/512381/astrobiologists-find-ancient-fossils-in-fireball-fragments/#.UT43ARdszXI.twitter)

However, Phil Plait rips into this one big time, and for my money he makes some very persuasive points:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 13 March, 2013, 10:12:00 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 12 March, 2013, 09:14:17 PM
Volcanic Lightning:

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1303/volcano_reitze_960.jpg)

VOLCANIC GOSHDARNED LIGHTNING!

From APOD: (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html)

QuoteExplanation: Why does a volcanic eruption sometimes create lightning? Pictured above, the Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan was caught erupting in early January. Magma bubbles so hot they glow shoot away as liquid rock bursts through the Earth's surface from below. The above image is particularly notable, however, for the lightning bolts caught near the volcano's summit. Why lightning occurs even in common thunderstorms remains a topic of research, and the cause of volcanic lightning is even less clear. Surely, lightning bolts help quench areas of opposite but separated electric charges. One hypothesis holds that catapulting magma bubbles or volcanic ash are themselves electrically charged, and by their motion create these separated areas. Other volcanic lightning episodes may be facilitated by charge-inducing collisions in volcanic dust. Lightning is usually occurring somewhere on Earth, typically over 40 times each second.


Shit the bed! I'm stealing this link!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 13 March, 2013, 11:32:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 March, 2013, 10:06:38 PMHowever, Phil Plait rips into this one big time, and for my money he makes some very persuasive points:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html)

Ah well, science is still drokking fantastic because we can use it to dismiss phony discoveries & outrageous theories. S'all good.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 March, 2013, 11:53:14 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 13 March, 2013, 11:32:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 13 March, 2013, 10:06:38 PMHowever, Phil Plait rips into this one big time, and for my money he makes some very persuasive points:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/11/meteorite_life_claims_of_fossils_in_a_meteorite_are_still_wrong.html)

Ah well, science is still drokking fantastic because we can use it to dismiss phony discoveries & outrageous theories. S'all good.

Indubitably.  And it will happen one day.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 14 March, 2013, 05:50:37 PM
Id nearly forgotten, but this kinda reminds me that a good while ago, there was big talk, and plenty of headlines - but no real other detail, that the Mars Curiosity rover had made an exciting discovery. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/12/nasa-curiosity-mars-rover-rock-samples)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 15 March, 2013, 07:06:52 PM
This seems like a more plausible explanation for the existence of Dredd's "impossible niece", Vienna, than a Titan visiting room bunk-up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21658940 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21658940)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 26 March, 2013, 08:55:02 PM
Planning for Lunar Mining. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/miners-shoot-stars-tech-race-061704247.html;_ylt=Ap3U1F531_ylnEslOK38Gfz3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkaG5qNmVwBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzRhOTQxZGU4LWFiYzgtMzdmYy1iN2I0LTc5ZWI2N2UxNTZlNARwb3MDNwRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTFBDQVRlbXAEdmVyAzI4NWM4ZTYxLTk1ZTUtMTFlMi1hZTc3LWJkODdjY2ZjYjE5Nw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#QHiHiPD)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 27 March, 2013, 02:47:47 AM
A new type of supernova (http://phys.org/news/2013-03-astronomers-kind-supernova.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 05 April, 2013, 08:07:17 PM
Big Data = Minority Report (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rt4c7/Horizon_20122013_The_Age_of_Big_Data/): cops using data analysis to respond to crime before it happens.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 06 April, 2013, 12:35:23 AM
Dream reading with MRI scanners. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/scientists-way-read-dream-images-115307205.html#1CyxFZ6)

NASA plan to capture asteroid. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-plans-capture-asteroid-230418365.html;_ylt=Ak0sW.g1r.xMfRTjhNCjFg33fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2NXJsZDloBG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwNmNjczNTA5MS1iYTZjLTNjZTUtYjA2Zi0xZDA1MzM1ZmY0MjUEcG9zAzEEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgM2YzJiZGYxMS05ZTQ2LTExZTItOWZmZi00OTEwNGZjNjg2NGQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#Z9aZfva)

First clues of Dark Matter? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/first-results-announced-search-dark-matter-145252861.html;_ylt=AlfFcp.E_cjz0E8upqTgCzb3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRlcGR2aWU4BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzNmYmIzOGQ2LWE3Y2ItMzZlOC05MDRkLWMwZjNkMDYwZjg3ZARwb3MDMTQEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgMzYWQxOWQ5MS05Y2QxLTExZTItYWVlNy1mNDVmN2Q5NWIwYzY-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#sMaGdff)

The only creature in the world with transparent blood? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/japan-aquarium-shows-mysterious-clear-blood-fish-100629851.html;_ylt=AuUE.V1B3lMzKg1XURgWkgP3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2MjIzNjdsBG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwM1Yzc0NWRhMi0yYzc3LTMzMjgtYWRiNC01NmE5ZDNmODhjNTIEcG9zAzIEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgNlZDgyMWU5MS05ZTMxLTExZTItYWZlNy0xNTgwOGVkYTY2NWE-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#J70isu8)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 April, 2013, 11:03:45 PM
Space is weird (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P36xhtpw0Lg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 April, 2013, 11:09:43 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 06 April, 2013, 12:35:23 AM
The only creature in the world with transparent blood? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/japan-aquarium-shows-mysterious-clear-blood-fish-100629851.html;_ylt=AuUE.V1B3lMzKg1XURgWkgP3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2MjIzNjdsBG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwM1Yzc0NWRhMi0yYzc3LTMzMjgtYWRiNC01NmE5ZDNmODhjNTIEcG9zAzIEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgNlZDgyMWU5MS05ZTMxLTExZTItYWZlNy0xNTgwOGVkYTY2NWE-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#J70isu8)
The lack of Haemoglobin facinates me.  :|
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 07 April, 2013, 10:46:55 PM
Had a great game of Star Wars Monopoly with Robbie today. I gave him far too much grace as he trounced me big time. I think next time the gloves will be off.




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: vzzbux on 07 April, 2013, 10:59:18 PM
OOOPS Wrong thread.  :-[




V
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Charlie boy on 11 April, 2013, 03:59:48 PM
Don't know if anybody else has seen this http://news.uk.msn.com/trending-blog/back-to-the-future-the-iranian-time-machine-marty-mcfly-delorean-874092
this thread seems the most logical place for me to put it in my opinion.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 April, 2013, 04:28:33 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 06 April, 2013, 11:03:45 PM
Space is weird (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P36xhtpw0Lg)

reminded me of this ... http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/09/17674315-poop-in-space-revisited-apollo-10s-floating-turds-pop-up-44-years-later?lite (http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/09/17674315-poop-in-space-revisited-apollo-10s-floating-turds-pop-up-44-years-later?lite)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 April, 2013, 11:17:27 PM
There was a mass coronal ejection the other day. (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130413.html)

So there's a chance you'll be able to see the Northern Lights tonight.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 17 April, 2013, 05:24:59 PM
GET YOUR ASS TO MARS  (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22146456)  (one way only)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 April, 2013, 05:29:12 PM
I think i'll stay thanks. :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dredd Head on 17 April, 2013, 06:28:16 PM
Do you think Tharg would deliver to mars  :-*
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 17 April, 2013, 06:29:02 PM
Worryingly, that article explains how the suicidal settlers of Mars will eat, capture solar energy, and extract/recycle water; but not how they plan on breathing, on a planet whose atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide. I'll admit to sometimes setting out on long car journeys and winging it as far as where fuel and food stops are going to be found, but I'm always reasonably certain where my oxygen's going to be coming from.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dredd Head on 17 April, 2013, 06:32:44 PM
People live in the International Space Station and they seem to be ok, I think outside of buildings people would wear suits, Although don't know how that would work
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 17 April, 2013, 06:37:59 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 05:24:59 PM
GET YOUR ASS TO MARS  (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22146456)  (one way only)

this is so cool. We need to do this as a species if we're serious about survival long term. The next giant leap on the way to the stars.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 06:40:53 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 06:29:02 PM
but not how they plan on breathing, on a planet whose atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide.

Umm... electricity + water = Hydrogen + oxygen.

Carbon dioxide + plants + water = bigger plants + oxygen.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dredd Head on 17 April, 2013, 06:45:46 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 06:40:53 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 06:29:02 PM

Umm... electricity + water = Hydrogen + oxygen.

Carbon dioxide + plants + water = bigger plants + oxygen.


That comment took me right back to science in school  :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 17 April, 2013, 06:47:29 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 06:40:53 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 06:29:02 PM
but not how they plan on breathing, on a planet whose atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide.

Umm... electricity + water = Hydrogen + oxygen.

Carbon dioxide + plants + water = bigger plants + oxygen + Carbon Dioxide

Cheers

Jim
FIFY. Let us not forget that the humble lily also respires. That will have to be factored in as far as quantity of plants goes.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 17 April, 2013, 07:21:06 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 06:40:53 PM
electricity + water = Hydrogen + oxygen.

Carbon dioxide + plants + water = bigger plants + oxygen.

Aye, I know, and that's fine in theory and under Earth conditions, but they're planning on extracting and distilling what little water will be available to them from (as far as I'm aware) entirely theoretical deposits deep under the martian soil, and relying on the caprices of solar power for their electricity supply.

I'm not sure if even that crazy Russian experiment where volunteers spent two years breathing recycled air and drinking recycled water was so stringent that they completely sealed in and cut off their lab rats' supplies of oxygen and access to back-up power supplies - or that they demonstrated an ability to generate new supplies of oxygen under those conditions. The International Space Station relies on regular deliveries of O2 from Mama Earth and both the onboard oxygen generation system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_ECLSS#Oxygen_generating_system) and the power go on the blink all the time, necessitating rescue/repair missions which wouldn't be an option on Mars.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 07:29:26 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 07:21:06 PM
Aye, I know, and that's fine in theory and under Earth conditions

Pah! You bother me with details?! Where's your sense of adventure, man?

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 17 April, 2013, 07:39:11 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 17 April, 2013, 07:29:26 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 17 April, 2013, 07:21:06 PM
Aye, I know, and that's fine in theory and under Earth conditions

Pah! You bother me with details?! Where's your sense of adventure, man?

You're right, Jim; I'm a paranoiac wimp. I'm still taking a wooly hat and gloves on my walk to work just in case, and every jacket I own has an emergency pound coin in one of the pockets.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 17 April, 2013, 08:19:23 PM
Quote from: Dredd Head on 17 April, 2013, 06:28:16 PM
Do you think Tharg would deliver to mars  :-*

Well, he used to..
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 18 April, 2013, 07:43:51 PM
NASA plan practice shoot to divert asteroids from Earth. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/the-nasa-plan-to--shoot--an-asteroid-with-a-rocket-spacecraft-101320814.html;_ylt=AqSj1lnZ0PHI.uK5maWD7M73fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTN2NHFxaGZqBG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGIE1EBHBrZwMzNWE2ZmE4Ny03ZDQ5LTNjMDQtOWI1My1jYTBmYmUwMjQwYmYEcG9zAzIEc2VjA21lZ2F0cm9uBHZlcgM5MTQ3NDdmMi1hODNmLTExZTItYmZjZS1iMmYyYzc1ZjdiZWI-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#gWls4Fv)

X-ray telescope reveals secrets of supernova seen in 1000AD. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/x-ray-telescope-reveals-secrets-of-supernova-seen-in-1000ad-135720263.html) The nova was so bright it could be seen during the day-time!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 April, 2013, 08:43:40 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 18 April, 2013, 07:43:51 PM
X-ray telescope reveals secrets of supernova seen in 1000AD. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/x-ray-telescope-reveals-secrets-of-supernova-seen-in-1000ad-135720263.html) The nova was so bright it could be seen during the day-time!

Science has it that Betelgeuse (Orion's left shoulder from an Earthbound POV) is on its last legs, and is due to go Supernovae. Could happen in a week, in a thousand years or...........NOW!* Nevertheless, whenever it does go**, they reckon it'll be brighter than the sun. I was kinda hoping it had've happened on the 21st of December last year***.

*Damn, didn't happen

**Bear in mind that it might've already happened and the light just hasn't reached us yet. I think it's about 8,000 light years away, too lazy to google it right now.

***Mayans!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 18 April, 2013, 08:46:52 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 18 April, 2013, 08:43:40 PM

Science has it that Betelgeuse (Orion's left shoulder from an Earthbound POV) is on its last legs, and is due to go Supernovae. Could happen in a week, in a thousand years or...........NOW!* Nevertheless, whenever it does go**, they reckon it'll be brighter than the sun. I was kinda hoping it had've happened on the 21st of December last year***.


That's not a supernovae, it's Vogons making way for a hyperspace bypass.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 18 April, 2013, 10:13:25 PM


Wringing out Water on the ISS - for Science! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TssbmY-GM&list=PLUaartJaon3LV-ZQ4J3bNQj4VNVG2ByIG&index=2)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 April, 2013, 11:36:02 PM
I have a huge man-crush for Chris Hadfield. Dude's awesome.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 19 April, 2013, 09:23:42 AM
Quote from: El Pops on 18 April, 2013, 08:43:40 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 18 April, 2013, 07:43:51 PM
X-ray telescope reveals secrets of supernova seen in 1000AD. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/x-ray-telescope-reveals-secrets-of-supernova-seen-in-1000ad-135720263.html) The nova was so bright it could be seen during the day-time!

Science has it that Betelgeuse (Orion's left shoulder from an Earthbound POV) is on its last legs, and is due to go Supernovae. Could happen in a week, in a thousand years or...........NOW!* Nevertheless, whenever it does go**, they reckon it'll be brighter than the sun. I was kinda hoping it had've happened on the 21st of December last year***.

*Damn, didn't happen

**Bear in mind that it might've already happened and the light just hasn't reached us yet. I think it's about 8,000 light years away, too lazy to google it right now.

***Mayans!

Come on Betelguese! Get on with it! (in the interests of science ;)) Nothing freaks my head about stars as much as this though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JamesC on 22 April, 2013, 01:44:05 PM
Because someone made a robot-insect-mobile!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22231365

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 22 April, 2013, 02:47:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 April, 2013, 01:44:05 PM
Because someone made a robot-insect-mobile!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22231365

Quote"But legs are very inefficient - the wheel was invented for a reason," he added.


Yeah, no-one told the Empire that, eh?  Think how much more they could have tightened their fingers around star systems if they'd only put AT ATs on wheels!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 22 April, 2013, 02:52:43 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 22 April, 2013, 02:47:45 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 22 April, 2013, 01:44:05 PM
Because someone made a robot-insect-mobile!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22231365

Quote"But legs are very inefficient - the wheel was invented for a reason," he added.


Yeah, no-one told the Empire that, eh?  Think how much more they could have tightened their fingers around star systems if they'd only put AT ATs on wheels!
:lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 28 April, 2013, 04:14:05 PM
Northern White Tailed Owl's are awsome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-GFZ4bdSiQ
Quote
A member of this species named "Popo-chan" was the subject of a Japanese television show. As shown, the owl has a rather notable defense mechanism. When faced with another owl slightly larger than it, the bird flares its wings to appear larger. When faced with something much larger than itself, it pulls its feathers inwards, elongates its body, and narrows its eyes to thin slits. It is thought that it uses this ability to camouflage itself, and it shares the ability with relatives like the African Scops Owl.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: radiator on 28 April, 2013, 08:13:09 PM
I got three comic pages pencilled this afternoon!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 April, 2013, 08:32:32 PM
...because I just saw something mingin', and now all of you have to look at it. (http://io9.com/what-your-hands-look-like-after-10-days-underwater-483845063)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 28 April, 2013, 08:58:27 PM
Quote from: radiator on 28 April, 2013, 08:13:09 PM
I got three comic pages pencilled this afternoon!

Congratulations! Although, unless your drawing jag was assisted in some way by photosynthesis or the third law of thermodynamics, I think you posted on the wrong thread (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=28326.2445), neebs.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 29 April, 2013, 09:51:17 PM
Three Years of Sun (http://youtu.be/piuKlpJmjfg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 30 April, 2013, 12:14:28 AM


We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/We-Had-No-Idea-What-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Sounded-Like-Until-Now-204137471.html#)




Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 30 April, 2013, 08:44:41 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 30 April, 2013, 12:14:28 AM
We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/We-Had-No-Idea-What-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Sounded-Like-Until-Now-204137471.html#)

The Daily Record, displaying the fanatical conviction that Scots invented everything ever which is drummed into us at birth, reported that as evidence Bell never lost 'his distinctive Scottish burr'. While remarkable, I'm not sure that's evidence of anything other than why tetrapak cartons are not a suitable medium for sound recording.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 01 May, 2013, 07:20:30 AM
Marine Boy's aquagum is just around the corner.  (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.techwench.com%2Fscientists-invent-oxygen-particle-that-if-injected-allows-you-to-live-without-breathing%2F&h=wAQEZZXW5&s=1)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 01 May, 2013, 07:41:11 AM
Doh! Oxygum. Not aquagum. Oxygum.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: judgefloyd on 06 May, 2013, 05:12:08 AM
I always envied Marine Boy his oxygum, if not his twerpy little bathing suit.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 12 May, 2013, 03:07:13 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 01 May, 2013, 07:20:30 AM
Marine Boy's aquagum is just around the corner.  (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.techwench.com%2Fscientists-invent-oxygen-particle-that-if-injected-allows-you-to-live-without-breathing%2F&h=wAQEZZXW5&s=1)

Damien S. Wilhelmi, the author of that article, may well be an SEO tactician and SEM strategist but he can't remember the plot mechanics of the The Abyss very well. From exciting microbiology to dull old mechanical engineering:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22354972

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22492521
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 16 May, 2013, 09:35:10 AM
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/warp-speed-scotty-star-treks-ftl-drive-may-161638125.html#Aqx1iL1

the engines CAN take it-maybe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: zombemybabynow on 16 May, 2013, 11:51:36 AM
inertia keeps me in my place
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 May, 2013, 07:10:18 AM

I'm not sure whether to file this one under Too Little or Too Late: British scientists tackle The Potato Famine (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22596561).

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 27 May, 2013, 05:14:40 AM
fightin' fred hoyle just may have been right (http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/could-life-be-older-than-earth-itself)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 May, 2013, 08:08:42 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 27 May, 2013, 05:14:40 AM
fightin' fred hoyle just may have been right (http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/could-life-be-older-than-earth-itself)

My goodness but that is some premium bullshit right there. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Bubba Zebill on 27 May, 2013, 10:35:23 AM
Can pseudo-science be drokking fantastic (?) because...here's Neal Adams (yes, THAT Neal Adams) proposing the theory of an expanding earth. Not his theory though, one first put across by other people, none of them comic book illustrators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth) but anyway, a compelling theory That I'm told is pure bunkum....or pseudo-bunkum..enjoy!... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kL7qDeI05U
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 27 May, 2013, 05:15:56 PM
Neal Adams is a crazy fool!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 May, 2013, 01:59:11 PM
My grud, this is some quality thinkitating.  TOE in our lifetime?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/23/eric-weinstein-answer-physics-problems
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 May, 2013, 10:41:43 AM
First-ever high-resolution images of a molecule as it breaks and reforms chemical bonds (http://phys.org/news/2013-05-first-ever-high-resolution-images-molecule-reforms.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 31 May, 2013, 12:13:08 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 31 May, 2013, 10:41:43 AM
First-ever high-resolution images of a molecule as it breaks and reforms chemical bonds (http://phys.org/news/2013-05-first-ever-high-resolution-images-molecule-reforms.html)

Those are pretty amazing images. I recognised the benzene ring structure immediately. The double bonded carbon atoms are distinctly visible from the single bonds. It was looking at my old organic chem text.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 31 May, 2013, 01:47:24 PM
What I've often wondered is, how the feck did they discover the existence of atoms back in the 19th century?  Anyone got an easy-to-understand explanation for that?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 May, 2013, 02:33:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 May, 2013, 01:47:24 PM
What I've often wondered is, how the feck did they discover the existence of atoms back in the 19th century?  Anyone got an easy-to-understand explanation for that?

Magnets
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 31 May, 2013, 04:55:41 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 31 May, 2013, 02:33:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 May, 2013, 01:47:24 PM
What I've often wondered is, how the feck did they discover the existence of atoms back in the 19th century?  Anyone got an easy-to-understand explanation for that?

Magnets

19th century observations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion) and experiments  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomson#Discovery_of_the_electron) were proof of an astonishingly old idea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomism).

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 31 May, 2013, 05:14:43 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 31 May, 2013, 04:55:41 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 31 May, 2013, 02:33:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 31 May, 2013, 01:47:24 PM
What I've often wondered is, how the feck did they discover the existence of atoms back in the 19th century?  Anyone got an easy-to-understand explanation for that?

Magnets

19th century observations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion) and experiments  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomson#Discovery_of_the_electron) were proof of an astonishingly old idea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomism).

Also the Gold Foil experiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger%E2%80%93Marsden_experiment) was an elegant piece of science (although technically early 20th century). It's amazing to think we went from that to the Large Hadron Collider in a century.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 31 May, 2013, 07:32:43 PM
Thanks!  It's beginning to make sense now.  I love quantum physics, but I'm really shit at understanding it properly.
I'd heard that Democritus came up with the idea of atoms, but as far as I can see, it was just an astonishingly good guess.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 31 May, 2013, 11:09:21 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 31 May, 2013, 12:13:08 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 31 May, 2013, 10:41:43 AM
First-ever high-resolution images of a molecule as it breaks and reforms chemical bonds (http://phys.org/news/2013-05-first-ever-high-resolution-images-molecule-reforms.html)

Those are pretty amazing images. I recognised the benzene ring structure immediately. The double bonded carbon atoms are distinctly visible from the single bonds. It was looking at my old organic chem text.

Like Von Boom says, simply amazing! I just get awestruck thinking about how people were able to figure the structure of molecules so far before the ability to see them like this.

Also, anyone see the Mammoth blood they found? (http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/30/mammoth-discovery-revives-cloning-hopes/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 31 May, 2013, 11:22:16 PM
Asteroid with it's own moon (!) set for close fly-by. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22736709)

Gas cloud set to uncover black hole swarm. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22694229)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 01 June, 2013, 12:04:42 AM
That's not remotely alarming. Oh, nosireebob.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 June, 2013, 07:21:25 AM
Water that you can drink...




...on Mars (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-167)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 June, 2013, 07:29:16 AM
Oops (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEvWHoqUbYM)! Try here:


Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 09 June, 2013, 07:21:25 AM

...on Mars (http://thespacereporter.com/2013/06/opportunity-rover-discovers-traces-left-by-water-you-can-drink-on-mars/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 09 June, 2013, 09:49:59 PM
Sort of sciencey, and definitely fantastic, I spent some of a glorious cloudless night last night in a dark field blowing out my nerdometer with the reflecting telescope I'd forgotten I had painstakingly repaired over a miserably overcast winter.  Highlights included managing to see individual rings around Saturn and lying in carefully-positioned wait* for the whizzing ISS for an actual (very brief, very hectic) look at its bits'n'pieces!  Things finally misted up about 2.30am, but it was probably the best night's stargeeking I've ever had. 


*It was due to zip very close to Arcturus at about 1.10am this morning, which even a numbskull like me can find, and lo!  It did!  That's the science bit!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 June, 2013, 10:12:25 PM
I do keep meaning to do more stargazing. Just never found i was in the right place at the right time and forcasting took alot of the joy out of it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 15 June, 2013, 02:00:54 AM
Have an internet connection? Would you like to send a message to any ETI's at Gliese 526 on June 17th? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/project-send-messages-aliens-deep-space-231104075.html#OrWelDf)

Prehistoric fish had ripped abs, apparently (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/study-reveals-ancient-fossil-fish-had-abs-040851261.html;_ylt=AuvFce4qPkXgvI4rWnQxL9X3fMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTRlNGNlaXYyBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgTUQEcGtnAzFjNTY4MmRiLWFiMDEtM2YyNi04ZjM3LWEzMDU5MzVhZDYyMwRwb3MDMTAEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgM5YTk5MGNhMS1kNGNhLTExZTItYjk5Ny1kYTlhZWZkYTg4NjI-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsdm43ZW9kBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3#n7SJSiC)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 June, 2013, 07:33:16 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 15 June, 2013, 02:00:54 AM
Have an internet connection? Would you like to send a message to any ETI's at Gliese 526 on June 17th? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/project-send-messages-aliens-deep-space-231104075.html#OrWelDf)

Now we are in the future everyone can be Frank Drake.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 June, 2013, 07:44:17 AM
Quote

The initial text-only message is free, but you can buy an unlimited number of text and photo messages that will be queued up and sent into space, officials said. After the first free communication, a text message costs one credit and a photo message costs three. Four credits can be purchased for $0.99.


This will not end well.

Brace yourselves for relatistic torpedoes at Christmas 2038.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 18 June, 2013, 11:33:04 AM
The planetary bodies of the inner and outer solar system are just a whole different thing:

http://vimeo.com/19231255
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 19 June, 2013, 01:39:24 AM
Meet a relative...

Controversial worm keeps its position as the progenitor of mankind
by Staff Writers
Gothenburg, Germany (SPX) Apr 02, 2013


Researchers are arguing about whether or not the Xenoturbella bocki worm is the progenitor of mankind. But new studies, involving Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Gothenburg Natural History Museum, indicate that this is actually the case. Credit: Photo: Hiroaki Nakano.
Researchers are arguing about whether or not the Xenoturbella bocki worm is the progenitor of mankind. But new studies indicate that this is actually the case. Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Gothenburg Natural History Museum are involved in the international study. The results have been published in Nature Communications.

The Xenoturbella bocki worm is a one-centimetre long worm with a simple body plan that is only found regularly by the west coast of Sweden. The worm lacks a brain, sexual organs and other vital organs.

Zoologists have long disagreed about whether or not the Xenoturbella bocki worm holds a key position in the animal tree of life. If it does have a key position, it is very important for the understanding of the evolutionary development of organs and cell functions, such as stem cells, for example. The question is therefore not only important in the field of biology, but also for potential biomedical applications.

"It's absolutely fantastic that one of the key evolutionary organisms in the animal kingdom lives right on the doorstep of the University of Gothenburg's Centre for Marine Research. And this is actually the only place in the whole world where you can do research on the creature," says Matthias Obst from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

Genetic studies indicate that the Xenoturbella bocki worm belongs to the group of deuterostomes, the exclusive group to which also man belongs.

"So maybe we're more closely related to the Xenoturbella bocki worm, which doesn't have a brain, than we are to lobsters and flies, for example," says Matthias Obst.

Even though the worm does not particularly resemble man, development biologists have referred to the fact that the early embryonic development of the worm may display similarities with the group to which man belongs. But the problem has been that no one has previously been able to see the development of the creature.

But now a group of researchers at the Sven Loven Centre for Marine Sciences and the Gothenburg Natural History Museum have succeeded in doing what no one else has done before: to isolate newly born little Xenoturbella bocki worms.

"And these new-born worms revealed absolutely no remnants at all of advanced features! Instead, they exhibit similarities with quite simple, ancient animals such as corals and sponges," says Matthias Obst.

The studies also reveal the value of the University of Gothenburg's marine stations for important basic research. "The Loven Centre at the University of Gothenburg is the only place in the whole world where you can study this paradoxical animal (in Swedish called 'Paradox worm').

That's one reason why researchers come from all over the world to Gullmarsfjorden to solve one of the great mysteries in the evolution of animal life," says Matthias Obst.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 09:08:22 AM
That's a very intresting piece, but... the obsessive referencing of 'mankind' baffles me (and not just because I thought we'd settled on 'humankind'). 

Isn't the point about Xenoturbella that it may represent its very own phylum, a phylum that may be the ancestor of a bunch of other phyla, including our own (chordata)?  Calling it 'the progenitor of mankind' seems both patronising and teleological to an insane degree - it may be the ancestor of everything from lizards to mammals to sea urchins and starfish (ie every living thing that develops a mouth before it develops an anus (aka the population of the internet)) - pretty much everything except arthropods and molluscs.  And yet the article, and presumably the Gothenberg press release, discusses it again and again in terms of 'mankind' like it's some kind of hominid fossil.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 19 June, 2013, 11:29:47 AM
Well it might be a lousy translation....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 11:49:36 AM
Quote from: The Doctor Alt 8 on 19 June, 2013, 11:29:47 AM
Well it might be a lousy translation....

Good point.  Fascinating stuff all the same. I've loved this pre-Cambrian malarkey ever since reading the magnificent Stephen Jay Gould's Wonderful Life, and it still gives me goosebumps to think that the innumerable strands of life got from varieties of tiny worms to the world of dinosaurs et al in slightly over a quarter billion years, and then another quarter billion down the line to everything we're working so hard at destroying.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 June, 2013, 12:00:14 PM
Teleological is a damn good word, it's a shame there aren't more occasions that let you use it
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 12:08:27 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 19 June, 2013, 12:00:14 PM
Teleological is a damn good word, it's a shame there aren't more occasions that let you use it

I only read posts that look like they're going to produce the desired opportunity.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 June, 2013, 02:22:51 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 June, 2013, 12:08:27 PM
Quote from: El Pops on 19 June, 2013, 12:00:14 PM
Teleological is a damn good word, it's a shame there aren't more occasions that let you use it

I only read posts that look like they're going to produce the desired opportunity.

That might be why this forum exists, to ultimately provide those opportunities.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Cyberleader2000 on 20 June, 2013, 02:14:01 PM
ok so with all the advanstments in tecknolagy that Science has given us we can do allmost any thing everyone has the knolage of the world at there finger tips the ability to talk to any one any where and a vast viedow libray where you can view any thing and some genious decids to show viedows of customeres orderes being packed I had no ider this was atachily done till I got a order confermachion e-mail this morning which also informed me that a viedow of my order being packed was now avibile on youtube love the novlity of this but some how I do feel that this is one of the most pointless uses of teckonlagy I have ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFTIhTwZ1_I
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 June, 2013, 04:05:55 PM
Quote from: Cyberleader2000 on 20 June, 2013, 02:14:01 PM... love the novlity of this but some how I do feel that this is one of the most pointless uses of teckonlagy I have ever seen.

That's utterly brilliant!  I used to be involved in the shady world of SW miniatures trading which frequently depended on both parties simultaneously shipping parcels, and since Ireland refused to offer tracking on overseas packages, I would send my tradee photos of me wrapping their precious stuff and bringing it to the PO, with a thumbs up pic taken as it went into the slot -  I love the idea that this is now formalised in the commercial world!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 20 June, 2013, 04:28:40 PM
That has to be the strangest porn fetish ever.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 20 June, 2013, 10:14:45 PM
11 of the weirdest solutions to the Fermi Paradox. (http://io9.com/11-of-the-weirdest-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-456850746)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 June, 2013, 10:28:59 PM
Bah. The Fermi Paradox is such rubbish. You don't need anything more to explain it than to grasp the enormity of cosmic time.

Cheers

Jim

Edit: actually, I rambled on about this here. (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,33858.msg708184.html#msg708184)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 20 June, 2013, 11:51:56 PM
Just spent a very interesting hour or so,  reading through stuff about the Fermi Paradox and Mr Campbells' very interesting discourse on Cosmic Time.....I'm with him on this one, but the 'grasping of the enormity' of Cosmic time is a fairly difficult one for a lot of people...

And as far as I can make out,  the problem we have in accepting the idea / concept of Cosmic Time is that it is so infinitely huge that it is almost impossible for us, with our limited lifespan,  to really comprehend just how enormous a length of time that it actually is........
We already have great difficulty in thinking about the age of our civilisations in terms that 'we can relate to' and really that is only 'recorded history'......We all know about the Egyptians and Biblical times, and early Greek civilisations.....we can imagine / relate to all that......Movies and TV have helped with that..

We can imagine the times when Dinosaurs walked the earth but we cannot 'relate to' that timescale........
Oh, we can say several million years or so,  and have a vague idea of how long ago that is, but while the human species only live for at most 100 years,  how do we relate to something in the billions of years......
A discussion on TV once showed the entire formation of the World from 'birth' to the present day as being a 24 hour period, and we as a species have only been here for seconds......and people struggled to comprehend that.....

So, I'm in agreement with you Mr Campbell, but, Cosmic Time is ( I think ) a fairly difficult 'concept' to grasp for your 'average punter'...

Ps : If you reply ...please be gentle with me.... :D
Cheers

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 21 June, 2013, 06:15:51 AM
Whoa mama! This is what God's version of What the Butler Saw (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/30/scientists-capture-first-images-of-molecules-before-and-after-reaction) must be like.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 21 June, 2013, 09:11:28 AM
QuoteA discussion on TV once showed the entire formation of the World from 'birth' to the present day as being a 24 hour period, and we as a species have only been here for seconds

What really brought it home to me was this analogy:
Consider the human arm as a representation as the earth's lifetime; the shoulder being the point where the earth was formed.  Life on earth starts at about the elbow. 
Now, imagine giving the fingernails a single swipe with a nail file.  The tiny particles of nail that come off with the file represent the length of time of humans have existed.

And you thought you were something special...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 21 June, 2013, 10:28:12 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 21 June, 2013, 09:11:28 AM
And you thought you were something special...

A very nice analogy, JayzusB.....
and a true statement of how little we matter in the 'grand scheme of things'....
Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 June, 2013, 11:13:11 AM
I thought since we were making ourselves feel insignificant here, it would be appropriate to do it in comic form:

(http://maxcdn.zenpencils.com/comics/2013-01-21-sagan.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 June, 2013, 11:19:59 AM
That's rather splendid.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 21 June, 2013, 11:21:03 AM
That was so cool.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 21 June, 2013, 11:52:53 AM
That is so humbling.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 June, 2013, 12:37:14 PM
Ah Carl Sagan, proof if proof were needed that drugs aren't always bad, mmkay?  Very nice comics piece, I think I'd like to stick that on the wall at home for the betterment of the young.

And to balance it with the words of my undying man-crush: "That ball of shiny blue/ Houses everybody anybody ever knew".
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 21 June, 2013, 12:49:50 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 21 June, 2013, 06:15:51 AM
Whoa mama! This is what God's version of What the Butler Saw (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/30/scientists-capture-first-images-of-molecules-before-and-after-reaction) must be like.

Amazing!

The concept of Deep Time is one of those things that sometimes strikes me very hard, in the face. It makes me dizzy if I think about it too much even on the geological timescale. The continents move apart at on average at roughly the rate human fingernails grow, just to add to Jayzis's analogy. And speaking of which my contribution to SIDFB is this:

Start saying a slow goodbye to the Atlantic (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130617104614.htm)

It's early days yet, but interesting stuff.

M.



Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 21 June, 2013, 12:56:57 PM
And proof, if it were ever needed, that comics as a 'visual' art form can evoke emotions that sometimes the written word alone can't.....

Great concert footage as well with the joint collaboration between Chris Hadfield and Ed Robertson...
http://uk.search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0geu8WmPsRRsTcAaj5LBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTE1Z3BiNTllBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1NNRVVLMjhfODg-/SIG=1399o38su/EXP=1371844390/**http%3a//lybio.net/chris-hadfield-is-somebody-singing-featuring-ed-robertson/pop-music/ (http://uk.search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0geu8WmPsRRsTcAaj5LBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTE1Z3BiNTllBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1NNRVVLMjhfODg-/SIG=1399o38su/EXP=1371844390/**http%3a//lybio.net/chris-hadfield-is-somebody-singing-featuring-ed-robertson/pop-music/)

Just brilliant.....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 23 June, 2013, 05:58:51 AM
Get the fuck in!

Rare Stellar Alignment Offers Opportunity To Hunt For Planets Orbiting Proxima Centauri (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/proxima-centauri.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 June, 2013, 06:57:07 PM
Best summary article I've seen yet on the current state of the  Denisovans  (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-missing-human-ancestor/shreeve-text). 

Particularly intrigued the tentative catalogue of differences in our respective genomes in terms of changes to a handful of proteins, including two (present in HSS, missing in Denisovans) that have been suggested as related to autism. While I fully accept that this is very shaky speculation on the part of the authors, I'm excited because I've long believed that autism is an essential part of what defines a modern human population: a vital feature, rather than a bug.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 23 June, 2013, 07:46:19 PM
Just back from a talk by Richard Wiseman. Very funny, very entertaining.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ming on 25 June, 2013, 12:42:10 PM
Old news, but I love stuff like this:  photosynthesising sea slug  (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16124-solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plant-genes.html#.UcmBJYWkEnU)


Oh, and I went to a talk by Lawrence Krauss a while back; my tiny mind is still recovering.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 25 June, 2013, 05:38:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 June, 2013, 06:57:07 PM
I'm excited because I've long believed that autism is an essential part of what defines a modern human population: a vital feature, rather than a bug.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yjf17

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 25 June, 2013, 06:43:07 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 25 June, 2013, 05:38:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 June, 2013, 06:57:07 PM
I'm excited because I've long believed that autism is an essential part of what defines a modern human population: a vital feature, rather than a bug.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yjf17

Looks good, I'll line that up to accompany this evening's meaningless labour. In advance, I'll throw forward my theory that modern humans' uniquely complex social skill set finds an essential counterpoint and even counterweight in the focus and insight that are often present on the autistic spectrum.  Human groups that include and support a variety of modes of intelligence and approach must be more successful that those that include only gregarious generalists obsessed with the complex froth of social interactions, hence the autistic spectrum conveys an adaptive advantage on the level of populations, and hence evolution of modern HSS.  If I was to really fly a kite I'd suggest that it is when social groups of anatomically modern humans* embrace and support autistic members that the great cognitive leap forward of 45-35KYA takes place. 

*Which the Denisovan genome comparison may suggest is -uniquely- a human biology that permits autism.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 27 June, 2013, 09:51:02 PM




The effects of DBS on the motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 June, 2013, 10:32:43 PM
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 27 June, 2013, 09:51:02 PM
The effects of DBS on the motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0)

Unbelievably great, and deeply moving.  Go team science.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 27 June, 2013, 10:35:40 PM
That comic was rather heart warming.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 27 June, 2013, 10:49:14 PM
I love this (http://i.imgur.com/lJcoV18.jpg), both for the awesome original graphic and the (potentially NSFW) punchline. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 28 June, 2013, 12:35:44 AM
Anyone see that Horizon programme about Super-massive black holes the other day? Apparently there's a massive dust cloud scheduled to pass close by our resident black hole this year* which should hopefully give up some interesting readings.

I particularly found the facts about quasars very fascinating particularly considering the paradoxical nature concerning what current thinking considers them to be. I'm sure a lot of you know all this already but I learnt new things watching that programme.

*Although technically I guess it must have already happened considering how far away Galactic Centre must be. I know I said it was our first 'resident black hole' but I was speaking relatively of course.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 July, 2013, 12:26:55 AM
Cosmic bruises from other universes? (http://m.technologyreview.com/view/421999/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-other-universes/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 01 July, 2013, 07:04:17 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 27 June, 2013, 10:49:14 PM
I love this (http://i.imgur.com/lJcoV18.jpg), both for the awesome original graphic and the (potentially NSFW) punchline.

Nice isnt it.
And thats an incredibily moving, and ultimately heartwarming clip that Joe posted a link for.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 July, 2013, 01:49:31 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 01 July, 2013, 12:26:55 AM
Cosmic bruises from other universes? (http://m.technologyreview.com/view/421999/astronomers-find-first-evidence-of-other-universes/)

Wow, to think that there may not have been one big bang, but rather several, that are all bouncing off one another!  Crazy talk!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 02 July, 2013, 07:41:32 PM
A New Equation Reveals Our Exact Odds of Finding Alien Life (http://io9.com/what-a-brand-new-equation-reveals-about-our-odds-of-fin-531575395)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 July, 2013, 01:21:34 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 02 July, 2013, 07:41:32 PM
A New Equation Reveals Our Exact Odds of Finding Alien Life (http://io9.com/what-a-brand-new-equation-reveals-about-our-odds-of-fin-531575395)

That smacks of someone fiddling the Drake Equation to get their name in some textbooks.

Scientists identify living relatives from a 5,500 year old DNA sample (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066948)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 11 July, 2013, 07:44:02 PM
The Hubble Space telescope has discovered a blue planet (http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1312/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 11 July, 2013, 08:42:06 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 11 July, 2013, 07:44:02 PM
The Hubble Space telescope has discovered a blue planet (http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1312/)

Certainly cool, but it's no garden spot. A new penal colony perhaps?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 11 July, 2013, 09:07:56 PM
It's blue. Fabulous stuff if only we could go and have a look.To see such a world with my own eyes would be a dream turned real. Until someone invents some space warping thingy- ma -bob I'll have to hope they can fix the kepler planet hunter.Or send a new better telescope into space.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 12 July, 2013, 09:16:30 AM
QuoteThe planet's azure blue colour does not come from the reflection of a tropical ocean, but is due to a hazy, turbulent atmosphere thought to be laced with silicate particles, which scatter blue light

This only really came into focus when I heard this story was being reported by the media today. It rains glass there.

IT RAINS GLASS :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Vestibule on 12 July, 2013, 12:38:28 PM
Sideways, at 7000 km/h :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 12 July, 2013, 01:14:21 PM
I bet Pat Mills came up with something like that as one of Torquemada's genocidal schemes or something, but left it out thinking "Raining glass, come on now, that's too unbelievable, no one will buy that!"
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 12 July, 2013, 06:28:48 PM
Another step closer to Ro-busters (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23286266)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 12 July, 2013, 06:54:59 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 12 July, 2013, 06:28:48 PM
Another step closer to Ro-busters (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23286266)

One step closer to Judgement Day you mean.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 16 July, 2013, 06:57:53 PM
Levitation by sound (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sound-waves-levitate-small-items-231409109.html#XmmGmq7)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 20 July, 2013, 06:39:06 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/2VnKJlB.jpg)

44 years later... (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/19/tech/innovation/amazon-apollo-engines/index.html?hpt=hp_c3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 22 July, 2013, 04:02:04 PM
Nice. NASA will probably want them back so Bezos won't be able to put them on his mantle at home.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 July, 2013, 12:09:37 AM
That's us on the left: (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130722.html)

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1307/earthmoon2_cassini_946.jpg)

A picture of Earth taken from the Cassini space craft, out around Saturn
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 23 July, 2013, 09:40:29 AM
Wow...
That's just a great picture......Mr Pops...

Just shows how truly insignificant we really are in the 'grand scheme of things'......
Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 23 July, 2013, 08:10:09 PM
Dolphins 'call each other by name' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23410137). 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 25 July, 2013, 08:23:27 PM
A step closer to Rekall... (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/false-memories-implanted-mice-180008570.html#4eDT95O)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 26 July, 2013, 07:58:47 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 25 July, 2013, 08:23:27 PM
A step closer to Rekall... (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/false-memories-implanted-mice-180008570.html#4eDT95O)

That explains a lot.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 27 July, 2013, 07:23:04 AM
Diaspar here we come. A (ahem) quantum leap (http://io9.com/scientists-freeze-light-for-an-entire-minute-912634479) in information storage.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 27 July, 2013, 08:22:44 PM
Space Porn (http://vimeo.com/70532693)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 28 July, 2013, 07:09:06 AM
Looks like those jocks have been thieving bastards for 10,000 years.

Mesolithic lunar calendar found in Aberdeenshire (http://phys.org/news/2013-07-scotland-lunar-calendar-stone-age-rethink.html).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 28 July, 2013, 09:25:56 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 28 July, 2013, 07:09:06 AM
Looks like those jocks have been thieving bastards for 10,000 years.

Mesolithic lunar calendar found in Aberdeenshire (http://phys.org/news/2013-07-scotland-lunar-calendar-stone-age-rethink.html).

"For pre-historic hunter-gatherer communities, knowing what food resources were available at different times of the year was crucial to survival. These communities relied on hunting migrating animals and the consequences of missing these events were potential starvation. They needed to carefully note the seasons to be prepared for when that food resource passed through, so from this perspective, our interpretation of this site as a seasonal calendar makes sense"


And, of course, migrating wildlife provided potential mating opportunities for Mesolithic Aberdonians in the days before the domestication of livestock.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 28 July, 2013, 11:11:24 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 28 July, 2013, 07:09:06 AM
Mesolithic lunar calendar found in Aberdeenshire (http://phys.org/news/2013-07-scotland-lunar-calendar-stone-age-rethink.html).

What an incredible find and an even more amazing device. This ancient Calender re writes the History books.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JUDGE BURNS on 28 July, 2013, 11:48:40 AM

SYNTHI - BEEF has arrived.....check out The INDEPENDENT newspaper website for another bite of the future ...today ! 

www.independent.co.uk

Stem cells grown from cattle in a laboratory and made into burgers.  The food of the future has arrived !
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 28 July, 2013, 11:53:27 AM
Prepare for Munce Burgers outlets near your Block citizens! :)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 July, 2013, 10:12:44 AM
Electronux.

http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/brass-knuckles-tazer?utm_source=knowd.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=it-exists-brass-knuckles-taser (http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/brass-knuckles-tazer?utm_source=knowd.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=it-exists-brass-knuckles-taser)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 29 July, 2013, 06:06:04 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 29 July, 2013, 10:12:44 AM
Electronux (http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/brass-knuckles-tazer?utm_source=knowd.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=it-exists-brass-knuckles-taser).

You need an exclamation mark after the word Electronux! for them to work. Same with Number 3 cartridge!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 July, 2013, 06:19:14 PM
Can science tell me what colour a Tyrannosaurus was?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 29 July, 2013, 06:23:59 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 29 July, 2013, 06:19:14 PM
Can science tell me what colour a Tyrannosaurus was?

You mean underneath the feathers?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 29 July, 2013, 06:41:00 PM
What colour were these feathers?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 29 July, 2013, 07:02:41 PM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 29 July, 2013, 06:41:00 PM
What colour were these feathers?

Any colour they like. Who's going to take the piss out of a tyrannosaur? See also, big skinhead guys wearing pink polo shirts.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 July, 2013, 11:05:12 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 29 July, 2013, 06:06:04 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 29 July, 2013, 10:12:44 AM
Electronux (http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/brass-knuckles-tazer?utm_source=knowd.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=it-exists-brass-knuckles-taser).

You need an exclamation mark after the word Electronux! for them to work. Same with Number 3 cartridge!

My mistake.  I'm toying with the idea of doing my job in the same way Johnny Alpha does his:
'SHIRT!'
'PEN!'
'SPREADSHEET!'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 30 July, 2013, 03:04:15 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 28 July, 2013, 07:09:06 AM
Looks like those jocks have been thieving bastards for 10,000 years.

Mesolithic lunar calendar found in Aberdeenshire (http://phys.org/news/2013-07-scotland-lunar-calendar-stone-age-rethink.html).

That article is so full of bullshit that it makes me queasy.  However, as the excellent original paper is paywalled (http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue34/gaffney_index.html) to the tune of £7.50 per article I've no way of directing interested parties to the sensible version.  This is one of those instances when the publication organs of science are its worst enemy, handing dissemination of its work to slapdash third party sites who haven't got a clue.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 August, 2013, 08:36:26 PM
In about 4 billion years time (I.I.R.C.) you'll be looking at this in the sky during the day: A Close up of Andromeda (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/lightbox/stunning-photo-andromeda-galaxy-taken-high-res-instrument-photo-114523869.html).

This is the article it is from. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/stunning-photo-andromeda-galaxy-taken-high-res-instrument-114523752.html#nNX9zxH)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 05 August, 2013, 06:33:51 PM

Veggies don't get many opportunities for gloating - and we don't really have the necessary reserves of energy and aggression to take advantage when the opportunity arises - but I've never felt so smug about not eating dead animals than when watching the news today. Here's your dinner, carnivores! Mm-mm-mm-mm:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/05/worlds-first-test-tube-burger-to-be-served-at-secret-london-location-3911414/

What's the matter? There's starvin' bairns in Africa would be glad of that. Ye'll no' be having a puddin' till ye' finish what's on yer plate.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 August, 2013, 07:29:20 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 05 August, 2013, 06:33:51 PM

Veggies don't get many opportunities for gloating - and we don't really have the necessary reserves of energy and aggression to take advantage when the opportunity arises - but I've never felt so smug about not eating dead animals than when watching the news today. Here's your dinner, carnivores! Mm-mm-mm-mm:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/05/worlds-first-test-tube-burger-to-be-served-at-secret-london-location-3911414/

What's the matter? There's starvin' bairns in Africa would be glad of that. Ye'll no' be having a puddin' till ye' finish what's on yer plate.

See, now you're just reenforcing my view that vegetablists are just fussy eaters. I can't wait to try one of those.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 August, 2013, 08:04:23 PM
My missus is a veggie and she's well up for that burger there. Nothing's died for it y'see - and you know where it came from...

...a lab. On the back of a chicken sandwich in the Co-Op it normally says "Chicken from either Singapore or Chile" it's like... you haven't even narrowed that down to a hemisphere! We're so far removed from the slaughter process as consumers anyway. I wouldn't bat an eyelid if people told me I was eating cell-grown pig. Although frankly I don't tuck into unidentified meat anyway. Despite what they say around town. Ooo errr.

I just like people saying that it's somehow "less natural" than say... any kind of hyperprocessed pseudo-meat in Iceland (shop I mean in the country they stick to awesome local food like rotten urineshark and whole sheephead) or your local kebabi...

Those sweaty rotating flesh cylinders ... where they ever really alive? Hmmm I have a hankering for some quorn.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 August, 2013, 08:32:26 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 August, 2013, 08:04:23 PM
Hmmm I have a hankering for some quorn.

That is one of the strangest sentences I have ever read on the internet.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 05 August, 2013, 09:05:41 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 August, 2013, 08:04:23 PM
I just like people saying that it's somehow "less natural" than say... any kind of hyperprocessed pseudo-meat in Iceland  ... I have a hankering for some quorn

I've only ever eaten quorn once (accidentally), in a restaurant. It was alright, but it seems silly to shape protein into meat shapes - if you're that desperate for the thrill of eating a sausage just have a proper fucking sausage. Contrary to Pops's assertion, I'll basically eat anything, and I made all the turkey and sprouts my Mum served up at Christmas disappear - but I don't really enjoy the taste or like the look of either of them, so I don't cook them for myself.

Sergei Brin's Google burger won't be making its way onto my plate for similar reasons.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Steve Green on 05 August, 2013, 10:19:14 PM
Quorn just sounds like fake porn.

I don't really follow the 'just have a burger or sausage' logic - they're no more natural for meat than some shaped fungus is - they just got there first.

I couldn't honestly tell the difference between a TVP hotdog and a real one, and I find it strangely fascinating that they've managed to make fake fish-fingers and scampi.

I can't bear to try fake tuna though, the smell of the real stuff makes me heave.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 August, 2013, 10:32:11 PM
My missus runs a fake meat blog (http://facon500.wordpress.com/) - substitute meat is an interesting type of thing and allows for a greater range of cross-veggie eating. Means we can sort of eat the same things without destroying reality. Frankly, I just love veggie sausages. Not sure why, just have a fever for them (maybe innuendo).

I know I met a retired veggie once who said she had to "give up" in the eighties because there was only sosmix and lentils available and that was it rather than the full fake everything there is now and that she'd been tempted back into the non meat fold (definitely innuendo) by the variety. Substitute cheese still has a way to go though.

Oh and yeah fake tuna's replicated the 'orrible stench alright :S BLORK
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 05 August, 2013, 10:32:45 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 05 August, 2013, 10:19:14 PM
I don't really follow the 'just have a burger or sausage' logic - they're no more natural for meat than some shaped fungus is - they just got there first.

I don't eat food for the shape. Forming food into play-do replicas of other foodstuffs suggests (to me) that the person in question wishes they were really eating something else instead. I used to know a girl who ate veggie bacon, which - because of the wretched taste and the awful, awful stink of it - she could only have been doing because it reminded her of the thing she actually craved. That kind of self-denial makes no sense to me.

I agree that anyone who's ever taken a look at the stuff inside a Scottish pie is under no illusion that what they're eating is either natural or any kind of meat.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 August, 2013, 10:48:57 PM
I was once a victim of Quorn fraud. It didn't fool me for a second. Fake meat is disgusting and immoral. It's lying about being meat. There a plenty of delicious non-meat foods you could have instead, mushrooms and nuts and suchlike, but instead you have an inferior shadow of meat. It's like following a tribute act while refusing to listen to the original artist.

Why fake it? You don't see people going around making beef cucumbers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 05 August, 2013, 11:01:52 PM
Well funny banter mate, you could be on Chris Moyle's Comedy Empire with material like that - !!

yuk yuk yuk yuk
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 August, 2013, 11:05:17 PM
I'll just be saying this. Sainsburys Veggie Hot Dogs. They don't taste like meat. There not trying to be meat. Who said a hot dog had to be meat? But they ARE nice.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 05 August, 2013, 11:11:56 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 August, 2013, 11:05:17 PM
Who said a hot dog had to be meat?

They don't even have to be dogs.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 August, 2013, 11:17:43 PM
Preciously!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 05 August, 2013, 11:46:06 PM
Synthetic meat means no reason to keep cows, which means no cows, which means to reason to have fields to keep cows in, which means less fields, which means less countryside which means large tracts of barren wastelands interspersed with densely populated areas with high unemployment, which means no reason to have fictional stories about such things because we'll all be living it, which means no Judge Dredd.

Is that what you want? 'Cos that's what'll happen!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 August, 2013, 12:09:45 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 05 August, 2013, 11:46:06 PM
Synthetic meat means no reason to keep cows, which means no cows, which means to reason to have fields to keep cows in, which means less fields...

That's the whole point though. Reduce clearing the rainforest for industrial cattle farms that ultimately produce fuckin' Big Macs.

Big Macs are a greater insult to Burgers than anything quorn have ever produced.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 06 August, 2013, 01:38:16 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 05 August, 2013, 11:46:06 PM
Synthetic meat means no reason to keep cows

Tell that to the diary industry.

I eat more meat substitute now than I ever did as a veggie - it's just more pleasant an eating experience, and usually tastes nicer.  With "real" burgers or sausages you can practically taste the sawdust, ground-up skulls and pig knuckles.

Anyway, young me would never forgive me if he knew that the me living in the year 2013 wasn't eating some kind of synthetically-produced food substitute and was just gnawing on cheap sausages or mince all the time like a pauper.  You're on your own with bean burgers, though, which are just pointless and dreadful, ditto nut cutlets and store-brand meat substitute products, which are almost universally terrible to the point I once took some Asda veggie burgers back to the shop with no complaint beyond that they tasted like shit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: SuperSurfer on 06 August, 2013, 02:17:55 AM
I quite like veggie sausages. I don't care that they copied the shape of their meat based predecessor.

What I do find highly offensive though are those cheap shit hotdog sausages which are all animal product but actually contain zero per cent meat. Bear that in mind when going for supermarket 'economy' ranges or buying from dodgy hotdog stalls.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 06 August, 2013, 03:23:24 AM
Quote from: Professor James T Bear on 06 August, 2013, 01:38:16 AM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 05 August, 2013, 11:46:06 PM
Synthetic meat means no reason to keep cows

Tell that to the diary industry.

They have synthetic milk in the future too, and all the rainforests have been bulldozed to make way for car-parks for all the cars which can't actually move anywhere anyway because of traffic jams and just sit parked all of the time which is why there needs to be so many car-parks because there are so many cars that there's no room for any actual roads, just car-parks and there are no diaries because there's no paper because there are no trees because all the rainforests have been chopped down to make way for car-parks, so they start making diaries out of synthetic meat instead, which means they start to pong a bit after a while and they're also a bit difficult to write on, so everyone decides it'd probably be a better idea to just blog instead, so they just do that.

Is that what you want? People blogging? Like savages?!?

(Note to self : I may need more sleep.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Rog69 on 06 August, 2013, 07:42:27 AM
hmmm, I was thinking that it would be interesting to combine this technology with 3D printing.

Bacon replicator anyone?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 August, 2013, 08:13:59 AM
Interesting and very relevant blog about a 3D pizza (http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682194/why-nasa-just-spent-125000-to-fund-a-3-d-pizza-printer-prototype) surely meat is not far away - !

I'll agree about store-brand fake meats they're making a gallant effort to match Linda McC, Quorn etc but they're hugely inferior. Asda's quicken pieces are distractingly cock. And in cubes. Chicken doesn't come in cubes.

YET.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 August, 2013, 01:23:50 PM
I can't do Quorn (why do they use egg? Surely a really easy way to add 10% to their sales would be to get rid of the egg!) but Linda mcC sausages are great. (They got a lot out of her for a skinny bird).

Fake meats were often just a convenience for me and the family - means I can occassionally make a spag bol that eveybody can eat. (Some nights, in an attempt to keep everyone happy I'd be cooking 4 variations on a meal for 5 people in our house)

But since going vegan, we use less and less fake meat and just cook properly using the veg and nuts and pulses and fruits that are abundant. I've learnt to cook Tempeh, Tofu and Soy mince properly as well so have little need for fake stuff.

I thought this test tube burger started as stem cells so, in theory, vegetarians can't eat it either.  But I am looking forward to it relieving some of the cruelty and torment we inflict on animals via the meat industry.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 August, 2013, 02:12:13 PM
One of the best things (of many) about becoming Izzy Skint's poor relation has been a virtual end to buying processed meats for the family.  As every cent has to stretched to novelty-train-track-flattened extent for nutritional potential, it became impossible to look at a box of chicken dippers or a ready-meal Masala and go 'yeah, that'll do'.  So everything is now cooked from actual ingredients, which as long as you have the acres of time required to put into thinking about shopping in terms of a whole week's menu, multiple trips to multiple shops and making sure nothing you buy ends up rotting at the back of the fridge works out far cheaper than eating fuck knows what lurks in those cardboard boxes. 

What remains however is the awful temptation of the Tesco's mince section or worse yet their 3-euro whole chickens.  It's scarcely imaginable what conditions must be like to house and raise a bird to slaughter age, process it, ship it miles, shelve it, refrigerate it, flog it, chuck out every second one at the end of the week, and still make a profit on selling it for a couple of quid.  While I spent a decade as a veggie, I've nothing against killing and eating animals per se, but the reality of the industry that excretes this stuff, even in unprocessed form, is nightmarish.

So roll on munce.

PS:  Love that Facon blog, cheers for that CFM!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 06 August, 2013, 03:43:06 PM
Quote from: CrazyFoxMachine on 06 August, 2013, 08:13:59 AM


Asda's quicken pieces are distractingly cock.


Isn't that chicken ?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 13 August, 2013, 07:16:41 AM

The cross-continental zoom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23677205

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 14 August, 2013, 09:55:51 PM
Buses that charge wirelessly.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/08/11/korea-constructs-road-that-wirelessly-charges-moving-electric-buses/ (http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/08/11/korea-constructs-road-that-wirelessly-charges-moving-electric-buses/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 16 August, 2013, 07:32:44 PM
Not really fantastic, but pretty cool, a brief history of physics narrated by Dara O'Briain.

http://io9.com/a-brief-history-of-physics-whimsically-animated-1153486465?autoplay=1 (http://io9.com/a-brief-history-of-physics-whimsically-animated-1153486465?autoplay=1)

More videos at

http://vimeo.com/69381932 (http://vimeo.com/69381932)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Trout on 17 August, 2013, 04:47:10 AM
Ignore me. Wrong thread.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 17 August, 2013, 09:54:02 PM
Two moons passing in the Martian night. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DaVSCmuOJwI)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 August, 2013, 01:27:58 PM
Ha!  What a rubbish moon!  Looks like a big potato.  Earth 1, Mars 0
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 August, 2013, 11:23:40 AM

Another of those city of the future series of predictions that never really get it right. Careful - it's clickable:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23524249

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 21 August, 2013, 02:58:01 PM
'Farmscrapers' is an unpleasant word.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Steve Green on 21 August, 2013, 03:32:35 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 21 August, 2013, 11:23:40 AM

Another of those city of the future series of predictions that never really get it right. Careful - it's clickable:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23524249

Do we really want to arm Amazon with drones?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 August, 2013, 06:50:35 PM
Had the terrific experience of seeing an actual nova over the weekend, even if I didn't know it at the time.

I was sitting outside my tent on a fantastically clear night boring my companions rigid using my hard-earned knowledge to drone endlessly on point out constellations and major stars along the line of Milky Way when I realised I was lost.  There was bright Altair in Aquila, there was the diamond of the Dolphin and the arrow of Sagitta, but what the hell was the bright star between them?  Feeling like a right charlie, I put it down to the memory-fogging effects of homebrew - until just now when I discovered I had been looking at a brand new nova! (http://www.space.com/22419-nova-delphinus-star-explosion-stargazers-webcast.html)   Buzzing now, and hoping for another clear night before it fades.   Highlight of my year!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 23 August, 2013, 12:19:35 PM
Wow, that is really cool!  I wonder how many gazillion years ago it blew up?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 August, 2013, 02:05:08 PM
Sometime around 733AD (http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/see-a-nova-in-delphinus-tonight.html), apparently.  Probably a wet Tuesday in January if physical laws are indeed constant across the cosmos.  Damn thing continues to fade as I wait for another dark clear night...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 August, 2013, 02:15:31 PM
That's pretty mindboggling. A star explodes - and then you spot it while camping 1,280 years later. Cool.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 26 August, 2013, 08:45:00 PM

"In a survey earlier this year, one-in-11 people - some 9% - told a YouGov poll for the Huffington Post in the US that they would be prepared to have sex with a robot. That works out at over 25 million Americans - which could translate into a lot of robot sales (at $9,000 per fembot) ... The main drawback of this type of robot is that they have a very short battery life - they only last for about 20 minutes.."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23637225

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Sideshow Bob on 26 August, 2013, 09:20:22 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 26 August, 2013, 08:45:00 PM

"In a survey earlier this year, one-in-11 people - some 9% - told a YouGov poll for the Huffington Post in the US that they would be prepared to have sex with a robot. That works out at over 25 million Americans - which could translate into a lot of robot sales (at $9,000 per fembot) ... The main drawback of this type of robot is that they have a very short battery life - they only last for about 20 minutes.."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23637225

I can imagine a lot of women saying " That's at least 18 minutes longer than my partner".......Present company excepted of course....

Chers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 27 August, 2013, 11:38:27 PM
We're gonna need a bigger fishing rod... (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/prehistoric-fish-reached-54ft-161952237.html#1JdRNlV)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 28 August, 2013, 08:03:35 PM
Another article on the big fish, with an illustration with a human to scale. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/geekquinox/canadian-scottish-team-identifies-prehistoric-fish-largest-ever-210821631.html#Mw7U9w4)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 28 August, 2013, 09:17:22 PM
Could Brain Blooms be coming our way soon?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23863544
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 29 August, 2013, 08:30:26 PM
{url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/life-earth-started-mars-scientists-004319956.html#ypcAVu5]We are all Martians?[/url]
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 04 September, 2013, 07:34:23 PM

Samsung unveil watch-phone (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23961692). Don't get excited; it's basically a less functional Bluetooth headset which costs as much as the android phone you'll need to carry around to make it work anyway.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 04 September, 2013, 10:46:21 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 29 August, 2013, 08:30:26 PM
{url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/life-earth-started-mars-scientists-004319956.html#ypcAVu5]We are all Martians?[/url]

Damn, didn't spot I had that linked wrong. Lets try again:

We are all Martians? (http://{url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/life-earth-started-mars-scientists-004319956.html#ypcAVu5)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 04 September, 2013, 11:17:41 PM
More great news about implanting false memories... (http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/07/fake-memory-implanted-in-mice-with-a-beam-of-light/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 08 September, 2013, 04:24:37 AM
A solar eclipse... as filmed on Mars. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59SZDHaD99k)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 10 September, 2013, 11:15:09 PM
NASA wants to build huge spacecraft in orbit with robots and 3D printers and stuff. (http://gigaom.com/2013/08/29/nasa-wants-to-build-huge-spacecraft-in-orbit-with-robots-and-3d-printers/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 11 September, 2013, 04:04:32 AM
Schweet! All we need to do is shove the Indian tectonic plate closer to the equator, redub Sri Lanka as Taprobane, bombard its holiest mountain with butterflies & Sir Arthur C's your uncle.

But why print in LEO where you have lug your construction material up the gravity well instead of somewhere its laying about just for the taking, ie The Moon (http://3dprinthq.com/nasa-to-develop-3d-printing-using-moon-dust/)?

Although why stop at a Moonbase (http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/03/giant-nasa-spider-robots-could-3d-print-lunar-base/) when giant robotic spiders could whip up an Asimov Array instead?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 September, 2013, 08:19:34 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 11 September, 2013, 04:04:32 AM
Schweet! All we need to do is shove the Indian tectonic plate closer to the equator, redub Sri Lanka as Taprobane, bombard its holiest mountain with butterflies & Sir Arthur C's your uncle.

It's deeply pathetic but Sri Lanka is my dream holiday destination purely because of Fountains of Paradise.  That's probably equivalent to wanting to visit Ireland because of Darby O'Gill

This fabbing business certainly is getting exciting.  Today chess pieces, tomorrow von Neumann machines!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 11 September, 2013, 06:04:48 PM


WIND-BOTS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA)


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 12 September, 2013, 08:01:56 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24026153

safe trip Voyager.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 12 September, 2013, 08:15:00 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 12 September, 2013, 08:01:56 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24026153

safe trip Voyager.

Aye, and not bad for a piece of 1970's technology.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 12 September, 2013, 08:39:26 PM
Nasa are eying up three asteroids to capture. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-identifies-three-asteroids-potential-capture-053917893.html#54A9Fgd)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2013, 08:57:01 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 12 September, 2013, 08:39:26 PM
Nasa are eying up three asteroids to capture. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-identifies-three-asteroids-potential-capture-053917893.html#54A9Fgd)

"Let's drag asteroids into Earth orbit. What could possibly go wrong?"

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 12 September, 2013, 09:34:17 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 12 September, 2013, 08:57:01 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 12 September, 2013, 08:39:26 PM
Nasa are eying up three asteroids to capture. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-identifies-three-asteroids-potential-capture-053917893.html#54A9Fgd)

"Let's drag asteroids into Earth orbit. What could possibly go wrong?"

Cheers

Jim

Nothing as long as NASA is also developing a flying triangle to deal with the buggers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 September, 2013, 08:23:59 AM
This is the best thing I have read in many, many moons:  Genesis (2013 edition).

http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/99/4/275.full
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 13 September, 2013, 12:33:45 PM
Voyager has left the solar system (and is about to fall into a black hole, end up at the Borg homeworld and then be sent back to Earth all to coax Captain Kirk out of semi-retirement).

http://xkcd.com/1189/ (http://xkcd.com/1189/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 September, 2013, 11:00:32 PM
Thanks to Voyager, the "sound" of interstellar space. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-probe-hears--shriek--in-space-as-it-leaves-solar-system-112900776.html?vp=1#gV8f19t)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 14 September, 2013, 11:13:06 PM
I think this is about the third time V'ger has left the solar system
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 September, 2013, 03:41:05 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 14 September, 2013, 11:00:32 PM
Thanks to Voyager, the "sound" of interstellar space. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nasa-probe-hears--shriek--in-space-as-it-leaves-solar-system-112900776.html?vp=1#gV8f19t)

& Stevie has a new ringtone.

\
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 September, 2013, 08:19:34 AM
It's deeply pathetic but Sri Lanka is my dream holiday destination purely because of Fountains of Paradise.   

Stay your Tordelhand with the self-flagellation*. For oddly enough, Stevie's felt similar with Jupiter down to encounteng 2001 in grade 6.


*Unless, off course, that's really your thing. Thing as in peccadillo, that is. Not, you know,  your thing.

Speaking of things, looks like Nikolai's bee clanking again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKKQQUMBqts"My name is RU12. You have dishonoured my transistor. Prepare to die." (//http://)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: COMMANDO FORCES on 15 September, 2013, 10:33:18 AM
Move along citizen, nothing to see here, wrong bloody thread :-[
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 19 September, 2013, 11:20:11 PM
The University of Sheffield have found organisms in the stratosphere which they believe to might not have originated from the Earth: Link. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/organisms-originated-space-154844488.html#hVCNJp8)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 September, 2013, 08:18:24 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 19 September, 2013, 11:20:11 PM
The University of Sheffield have found organisms in the stratosphere which they believe to might not have originated from the Earth: Link. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/organisms-originated-space-154844488.html#hVCNJp8)

[volume=11]HMMMMMM....[/volume]

I will need a great deal of convincing to accept the logical absurdity that life did not originate in the one place in the universe where we have identified it in spades, but rather in some putative as-yet unidentified environment millions, even trillions, of kilometres across the radiation-riddled vacuum of space.  It is so much more likely that Wainwright's organisms are yet another of Earth's ever-increasing bestiary of extremophiles that any other conclusion is actively silly at  this point. 

Also: Journal of Cosmology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Cosmology).

I think Benner's argument re: boron, molybendum and the formation of RNA at crystalline mineral surfaces on Mars (for example) is very interesting, but it's still a long way from 'proving' panspermia.  You may commence your Jeff Waynisms.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 September, 2013, 12:23:04 PM
you said panspermia <snigger>
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 20 September, 2013, 01:19:44 PM
If panspermia is true, that only proves that the universe is just a giant wank.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 26 September, 2013, 07:24:54 PM
And full of Earth like planets...probably.

http://exoplanets.newscientistapps.com/?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2013-2609-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2013, 07:42:45 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 26 September, 2013, 07:24:54 PM
And full of Earth like planets...probably.

http://exoplanets.newscientistapps.com/?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2013-2609-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&

Fantastic piece of work - everyone should go see that slideshow!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 26 September, 2013, 08:00:33 PM
Wow. Simply amazing work. Great find Zarj!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 26 September, 2013, 11:28:52 PM
Lightsabres a reality. Maybe.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-scientists-never-before-seen.html (http://phys.org/news/2013-09-scientists-never-before-seen.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 27 September, 2013, 12:01:42 AM
Supermassive black hole eruption expected next year. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/black-hole-at-heart-of-our-galaxy-%E2%80%9Cwill-erupt-next-year%E2%80%9D--say-astronomers-104531562.html#LyOsxeu)

Water on Mars? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mars-curiosity-rover-finds-substantial-water-210257944.html#pokaGuy)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 27 September, 2013, 11:18:16 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 September, 2013, 07:42:45 PM
Quote from: Zarjazzer on 26 September, 2013, 07:24:54 PM
And full of Earth like planets...probably.

http://exoplanets.newscientistapps.com/?cmpid=NLC%7CNSNS%7C2013-2609-GLOBAL&utm_medium=NLC&utm_source=NSNS&

Fantastic piece of work - everyone should go see that slideshow!

Am i missing something, or is my Lappy on the blink, as all it seems to do is allow you to scroll down until the stars vanished, and that's it?  :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 27 September, 2013, 11:26:08 AM
Quote from: Judge Jack on 27 September, 2013, 11:18:16 AM
Am i missing something, or is my Lappy on the blink, as all it seems to do is allow you to scroll down until the stars vanished, and that's it?  :-\

No. That's really not it!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 02 October, 2013, 06:14:59 PM

Strontium Dog cast members walk our streets:

NO NOSE IS GOOD NOSE (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10338915/Man-grows-new-nose-on-forehead-in-China.html#)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 04 October, 2013, 07:13:50 AM

James Burke predicts what life will be like in 2100: no disease, no hunger or material want, no government - all due to carbon nanotubes?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24331106

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 05 October, 2013, 06:23:10 AM
Now this is the Twenty First Century that Stevie signed up for


Scientists generate first map of clouds on an exoplanet (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/scientists-generate-first-map-of-clouds-on-kepler-7b-1003.html)


19-year-old inventor finds way to clean up the world's oceans in under 5 years time (http://vr-zone.com/articles/19-year-old-inventor-finds-way-to-clean-up-the-worlds-oceans-in-under-5-years-time/19381.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 05 October, 2013, 10:49:20 AM
Walking bot legs.Amazing.

http://youtu.be/SD6Okylclb8
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 05 October, 2013, 04:40:05 PM
Quote from: sauchie on 26 August, 2013, 08:45:00 PM

"In a survey earlier this year, one-in-11 people - some 9% - told a YouGov poll for the Huffington Post in the US that they would be prepared to have sex with a robot. That works out at over 25 million Americans - which could translate into a lot of robot sales (at $9,000 per fembot) ... The main drawback of this type of robot is that they have a very short battery life - they only last for about 20 minutes.."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23637225

Could one not plug them into the mains?

(Would add a new angle to "Russian Roulette ")
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 11 October, 2013, 08:39:59 AM
PSO J318.5-22 wandered as lonely a cloud (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/space-new-planet/index.html?hpt=hp_c3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 October, 2013, 03:34:59 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 11 October, 2013, 08:39:59 AM
PSO J318.5-22 wandered as lonely a cloud (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/space-new-planet/index.html?hpt=hp_c3)
It's a Death World coming to give us a Glasgow Kiss.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 11 October, 2013, 09:50:49 PM
Dead star eats asteroid! Shock! Horror!

Cool...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24491845
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 October, 2013, 09:47:31 PM
Hmm. That artical contains a different definition of 'White Dwarf' than I understood.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 14 October, 2013, 09:12:35 AM
Quote from: Mardroid on 13 October, 2013, 09:47:31 PM
Hmm. That artical contains a different definition of 'White Dwarf' than I understood.

Yeah, no Dave Langford for a start.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 October, 2013, 07:46:04 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 14 October, 2013, 09:12:35 AM
Yeah, no Dave Langford for a start.

Wow, now there's a hardcore fandom reference for you.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Skullmo on 15 October, 2013, 01:03:42 PM
 :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 08:25:36 PM
3D Print your own rocket engine. UCSD students test fire first 3D metal rocket engine.

http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/ (http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2013, 03:44:33 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 08:25:36 PM
3D Print your own rocket engine. UCSD students test fire first 3D metal rocket engine.

http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/ (http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/)

or even a cut-price prosthetic hand http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-developed-1-3141843 (http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-developed-1-3141843)

As they get better and cheaper, I reckon these machines are going to change the world in ways we can't even guess.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 16 October, 2013, 04:09:10 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2013, 03:44:33 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 08:25:36 PM
3D Print your own rocket engine. UCSD students test fire first 3D metal rocket engine.http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/ (http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/)

or even a cut-price prosthetic hand http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-developed-1-3141843 (http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-developed-1-3141843) As they get better and cheaper, I reckon these machines are going to change the world in ways we can't even guess.

It's generally been true that porn is at the forefront of both commercialising and democratising any new technology (see video tape and the internet). I bet all those improbably endowed residents of California who have been complaining that cheap broadband access has left them unemployed are being scanned by the high tech equivalent of Cynthia Plastercaster (http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/) as we speak. 

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 16 October, 2013, 09:11:55 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 16 October, 2013, 03:44:33 PM
As they get better and cheaper, I reckon these machines are going to change the world in ways we can't even guess.

For better and for worse.....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 20 October, 2013, 02:44:23 PM
http://youtu.be/mEH6tDLKcVU

The Science Panzer roars on towards inevitable victory! Dire soundtrack to my ears.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 20 October, 2013, 04:43:13 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 20 October, 2013, 02:44:23 PM
http://youtu.be/mEH6tDLKcVU

The Japanese love nano-tech, but the bukaki industry must greet this development with mixed feelings.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 23 October, 2013, 05:20:11 PM

Anti-odour underwear (http://www.breakingnews.ie/discover/this-fart-stopping-underwear-has-the-weirdest-advertising-possible-610995.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: morpheas on 23 October, 2013, 05:32:40 PM
uaah. its like the 96 hour deodorant.
what about taking a shower and wearing something fresh?
Oh yeah, no need for that any more.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 October, 2013, 06:10:22 PM
Im a whiffy, odour rife teenager. Its not the time scale but the scent that I worry about.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 October, 2013, 04:48:29 PM
Missed this until it was just mentioned on Radio 4:

Number of detected extrasolar planets tops 1000. (http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/256641/extrasolar-planet-tally-reaches-1000)

Wow.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Recrewt on 24 October, 2013, 05:13:33 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 24 October, 2013, 04:48:29 PM
Missed this until it was just mentioned on Radio 4:

Number of detected extrasolar planets tops 1000. (http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/256641/extrasolar-planet-tally-reaches-1000)

Wow.

Jim

Yeah, and that probably is a drop in the ocean compared to the real number.  There was a really interesting program I saw a while back (probably a horizon) about the difficulties in finding planets.

Which reminds me of one of my favourite Red Dwarf quotes:
Quote from: Holly
Well, the thing about a black hole,
its main distinguishing feature,
is it's black.

And the thing about space,
the colour of space,
your basic space colour,
is black.

So how are you supposed to see them?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 October, 2013, 05:19:49 PM
Quote from: Recrewt on 24 October, 2013, 05:13:33 PM
Yeah, and that probably is a drop in the ocean compared to the real number.

Yeah, particularly since smaller planets are harder to spot. Roughly Earth-sized are pretty much on the very limit of what can currently be detected and, even then, about 10% of the detected planets are 'Earth-like' (which I vaguely understand to mean up to about 2-3x Earth mass) which suggests that we're going to find a lot more as detection techniques are refined.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 25 October, 2013, 09:04:39 AM
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24490331

Interesting idea about creating/upgrading your own phone!

Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 October, 2013, 04:06:39 PM
The sun has been going mental this week, there have been several Coronal Mass Ejections and NASA have released this absolutely spectacular video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qurh_BZ-O2E).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 26 October, 2013, 10:38:59 AM
It scares the shit out of me when the sun starts acting weird.  We're kind of depending on the big yellow bastard.  Reel it in, Sol, mate, you're a bit out of order
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 02 November, 2013, 05:30:12 AM
Magnetic fields groan
& the galaxies below say :
"Throw your nebulous body down!"

'Chandrasekhar's Sister' (RT181)

It would appear that Funky Fred Hoyle was none other than .
(http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/4718/20131101/mass-of-hydrogen-gas-headed-for-milky-way-may-have-nothing-to-fear.htm%5B%3Cbr%20/%3Ethe%20fifth,%20secret%20member%20of%20The%20Smiths%5B/url)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Rog69 on 03 November, 2013, 04:24:10 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 15 October, 2013, 08:25:36 PM
3D Print your own rocket engine. UCSD students test fire first 3D metal rocket engine.

http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/ (http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-rocket-seds/29306/)

Cool stuff. The dealership that I work for also sell metal 3D printers from Arcam and Realizer, I have been field testing this item for a few weeks now, its a bottle opener printed in titanium-

(http://i.imgur.com/nLzyJzf.jpg)

3D printing with metals is an interesting process but it's very expensive, powdering metals is a very wasteful process to begin with and depending on the type of metal you are printing with, quite a lot of it gets vaporised during printing, I know gold is very bad for this (which is probably good news for traditional jewellery makers).

It's niche in the market at the moment is for making custom made one off items like medical implants and things that are impossible to make using traditional methods, I recently heard of a customer making curved hollow turbine blades in one piece, there was simply no practical way to do this beforehand.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 06 November, 2013, 01:49:57 AM
Quote from: Rog69 on 03 November, 2013, 04:24:10 PM
3D printing with metals is an interesting process but it's very expensive... (which is probably good news for Games Workshop).

FTFY
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 November, 2013, 07:46:55 PM
Never expected to see anything remotely like this in my lifetime:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdVLBTtd2UY#t=14

I remember clearly the day the first exoplanet was identified, orbiting a pulsar, and then the one orbiting 51-Pegasi, a main-sequence star, just a few years later.  And now we're at over 3,500, that data extrapolated to maybe 40 billion earth-sized planets in our galaxy alone.  And maybe one at Alpha Centauri after all! 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 09 November, 2013, 11:12:53 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24455141

Onward Science Panzer total mind control awaits!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2013, 08:03:56 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 09 November, 2013, 11:12:53 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24455141

Onward Science Panzer total mind control awaits!

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Yay for science, but boo for the dubious morality. It's all a little grim.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 11 November, 2013, 05:30:23 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 09 November, 2013, 11:12:53 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24455141

Onward Science Panzer total mind control awaits!

Just in time for Christmas.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 November, 2013, 05:25:15 AM
We are all PJ Maybe now.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 November, 2013, 09:13:30 AM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 10 November, 2013, 08:03:56 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 09 November, 2013, 11:12:53 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24455141

Onward Science Panzer total mind control awaits!

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Yay for science, but boo for the dubious morality. It's all a little grim.
This. Moraly it seem's like an all round awful idea....yet so intruiging.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 13 November, 2013, 12:38:56 AM
So you wondered how to mount a camera & microphone onto it?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 13 November, 2013, 03:18:00 AM
Tree fossil with oplaized grown rings. (http://www.zmescience.com/other/geopicture/geopicture-of-the-week-tree-fossil-with-opal-growth-rings/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 28 November, 2013, 02:08:42 AM
Heh...

(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/telescope_names.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 November, 2013, 10:40:44 AM
Comet ISON is currently grazing the sun's corona - if it doesn't disintegrate (which is a strong possibility), it's likely to be one of the most spectacular comets visible when it gets closer to Earth.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 28 November, 2013, 04:28:45 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 November, 2013, 10:40:44 AM
Comet ISON is currently grazing the sun's corona - if it doesn't disintegrate (which is a strong possibility), it's likely to be one of the most spectacular comets visible when it gets closer to Earth.

Its Defoe all over again
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Greg M. on 28 November, 2013, 05:43:53 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 28 November, 2013, 04:28:45 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 November, 2013, 10:40:44 AM
Comet ISON is currently grazing the sun's corona - if it doesn't disintegrate (which is a strong possibility), it's likely to be one of the most spectacular comets visible when it gets closer to Earth.

Its Defoe all over again

I expect it'll turn out more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9O-0B6OC0E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9O-0B6OC0E)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 29 November, 2013, 09:15:39 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 November, 2013, 10:40:44 AM
Comet ISON is currently grazing the sun's corona - if it doesn't disintegrate (which is a strong possibility), it's likely to be one of the most spectacular comets visible when it gets closer to Earth.

Every now & again tip top US hard SF author Geoffrey A. Landis* posts to Facebook something relating to his day job, & as of 5 hours ago he doesn't appear to be very optimistic about ISON's fate:

Quote

It looks like Comet ISON did not survive its approach to the sun. Some dust and clouds of bright material seems to be emerging, but the nucleus of the comet itself seems to be gone.
This is sad-- it came so far, slowly dropping into the sun for ten thousand years, and in an hour it disintegrated.



*a permanent position at the NASA John Glenn Research Center where he does research on planetary exploration, solar energy & interstellar propulsion.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 29 November, 2013, 10:09:29 AM
From my own frantic trawling of various mission-feeds, live-blogs and tweeters, I'm not sure ISON's nucleus is as complete destroyed as it may seem.  Even so this has been completely fascinating - why should a first-time comet necessarily make it round the sun?  The ones we're familiar with tend to be those on a relatively stable trajectory, in other words the long-term survivors;  ISON's journey is possibly the more typical story. 

OTOH, I've been charging outside hours before dawn for the last 3 weeks in the vague hopes that my heavily-repaired reflector would give me a look, but it's been a consistent pattern of cloud or mist here every morning, so I was counting on getting to see ISON on the return trip. Fingers crossed there's still something to see.  Otherwise, it's going to be a long wait for Siding Spring's flyby of Mars in October next year.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 29 November, 2013, 02:37:16 PM
(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/oort_cloud.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 30 November, 2013, 12:11:35 AM
Scientists? What do they know, huh?

Comet ISON sweeps near sun, shows signs of life (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/29/us/ison-comet/)

(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/131129103229-02-comet-ison-1129-story-top.jpg)


Quote

Karl Battams, a comet scientist for the Naval Research Laboratory, said it is believed some parts of ISON's nucleus survived perihelion.

"It now looks like some chunk of ISON's nucleus has indeed made it through the solar corona, and re-emerged," he said. "It's throwing off dust and (probably) gas, but we don't know how long it can sustain that."


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 01 December, 2013, 01:31:11 AM
The numbers in the Drake Eqaution just keep getting better & better.


A team of European astrophysicists has discovered the most extensive planetary system to date that orbit  star KOI-351 – with seven planets, more than in other known planetary systems arranged in a similar fashion to the eight planets in the Solar System, with small rocky planets close to the parent star and gas giant planets at greater distances. (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2013/11/new-star-system-similar-to-ours-discovered-we-cannot-stress-just-how-important-this-discovery-is.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 01 December, 2013, 03:50:03 AM
Roman neutrino & dark matter detectors (http://phys.org/news/2013-11-controversy-roman-ingots-dark-neutrinos.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 01 December, 2013, 11:16:16 AM
This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the history of palaeoanthropology, and a brave new model for how these things can be done in the contemporary world: Rising Star (http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/20/rising-star-hominid-what-we-know-and-dont-know/).  Fair play to Nat Geo on this one.

The hairs stand up on the back of my neck with every update, although that may partly be because of similarities to this:

(http://www.impawards.com/2006/posters/descent_ver2.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 December, 2013, 05:30:37 PM
Open source science - brilliant! Surely this is what the interweb is for.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 05 December, 2013, 11:14:15 PM
Why build a spaceship? Just move the entire solar system! (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=29572)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 06 December, 2013, 02:41:05 AM
Pffft. There is truly nothing new around the Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_engine).


(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/Starmaker_firstedition.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 12 December, 2013, 04:24:54 PM
It's looking increasingly likely that Europa has a warm, liquid water ocean (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24743-first-water-plume-seen-firing-from-jupiter-moon-europa.html#.UqnihY1FDEl). I'd give any mysterious black monoliths you find a wide berth, if I was you...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 December, 2013, 04:08:53 AM
Dark lightning (http://www.livescience.com/29019-dark-lightning-linked-visible-lightning.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 December, 2013, 04:15:50 AM
ESA plan to reactivate Rosetta probe to effect the first landing on a comet  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10502488/European-space-craft-to-attempt-first-ever-comet-landing.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 15 December, 2013, 10:31:44 PM
More potentially good news about Europa: Clay-like materials detected on Europa surface. (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-362) Why is this good news? Read on and find out....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 December, 2013, 03:17:39 AM
At this rate Jupiter should be going stellar within the week.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 18 December, 2013, 07:41:03 PM
Mystery Human DNA discovered!

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25423498

Also a more complete DNA sequence for Neandethals.


Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 20 December, 2013, 04:32:04 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 December, 2013, 03:17:39 AM
At this rate Jupiter should be going stellar within the week.

All these worlds......
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 December, 2013, 04:40:48 PM
New species of Tapir officially named. T.Kabomani.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/12/17/new-living-species-of-tapir/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 December, 2013, 05:11:57 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 December, 2013, 04:40:48 PM
New species of Tapir officially named. T.Kabomani.

Christmas comes early for the You'll-Never-Walk-Alone family.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 22 December, 2013, 06:43:07 AM
Purty Sun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGuZ-9M5FeM)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 01 January, 2014, 05:24:45 PM
This looks a bit suspect. MarsOne are looking to raise only $400,000 to put a lander on Mars as a prelude to their manned landing mission (perhaps the rest the rest of the money is coming from the big backer companies?). Here is the link (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mars-one-first-private-mars-mission-in-2018) to the campaign page anyway.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 January, 2014, 12:33:29 AM
A Higgs Boson walks into a church and the priest says "Hoi, you! We don't want your kind in here! Get out!"

.
"But why?" asks the Higgs Boson, "you know you can't have mass without me."


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 02 January, 2014, 02:15:31 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 02 January, 2014, 12:33:29 AM
A Higgs Boson walks into a church and the priest says "Hoi, you! We don't want your kind in here! Get out!"

.
"But why?" asks the Higgs Boson, "you know you can't have mass without me."

LO effing L!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 08 January, 2014, 07:55:11 PM
Nasa suspects there may be water on Mars. (http://www.nature.com/news/water-seems-to-flow-freely-on-mars-1.14343)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 08 January, 2014, 08:05:39 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 08 January, 2014, 07:55:11 PM
Nasa suspects there may be water on Mars. (http://www.nature.com/news/water-seems-to-flow-freely-on-mars-1.14343)

Mars Colonies and future Independence Wars here we come! 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Zarjazzer on 08 January, 2014, 08:13:14 PM
Those Mars  rebs will get what's coming to them!

Er, quite meanwhile some 63.4  light years away...http://www.gemini.edu/node/12113
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 January, 2014, 05:00:02 AM
A star.

Within another star. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/starception-astronomers-find-what-may-be-star-within-star-180949308/#ixzz2q9Hg67o3)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 January, 2014, 05:10:36 PM
Previously unknown dead Egyptian guy dug up:  news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/mystery-pharaoh-found-in-egypt-140116.htm#mkcpgn=emnws1
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Bubba Zebill on 16 January, 2014, 05:24:31 PM
Where have we seen this before?
A new scientific development - a device that helps you breath underwater with no tank.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2540610/The-gadget-turns-FISH-Mask-extracts-oxygen-ocean-breath-continuously-underwater.html

...sorry it's a Daily Fail link.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 17 January, 2014, 12:46:11 AM
Wasn't that in an Usborne book Bubba?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 January, 2014, 05:40:47 PM
So, I was sat in front of the fire reading a book and my mind was wandering. I found myself captivated by the flames in the fireplace and the radiated warmth and began pondering the nature of the universe. As you do.
.
I never really liked the idea of black holes - or rather, I never liked the idea of a singularity being in the middle of one. I have no scientific or mathematical expertise to back up my dislike of the concept of a singularity, I just don't like it. To me it feels like a mathematical artefact, the result of drawing straight mathematical lines.
.

To illustrate my meaning: On the Chattering Cyclops I once saw a melon exploded from the core. Imagine that explosion was slowed down so dramatically that sentient bacteria had time to evolve on one of the melon fragments. They might discern that their 'universe' is slowly (from their perspective) flying apart and then mathematically rewind the explosion. Without knowing what the original melon was like or why it exploded, would these sentient bacteria also rewind their universe to a singularity?
.
Okay, so that's more analogous to not liking the idea of a singularity driving the Big Bang but hey, a singularity's a singularity and it holds broadly true for black holes as well.
.
So, if not a singularity, then what? How about a fractal? I remember reading that there might be dozens of other dimensions in the universe but most of them are (from our perspective) wrapped up very small. But beyond the event horizon of a black hole, where gravity seems to be Emperor, what happens to all those dimensions? Do they just get squashed smaller and smaller or do they begin to merge and interact? Do they begin impinging on 'normal' 4D spacetime, maybe fracturing or fragmenting it, turning it into 'bubbles' or splinters - all fractal-shaped, folding and bending and twisting in and around each other. Wouldn't need a singularity then, I imagine - just countless little 'multidimensional pockets'. Or something.
.
But here's another idea that struck me in my quest to eliminate the singularity: What if matter creates spacetime?
.
Let's imagine that a hydrogen atom generates an infinitesimally small amount of spacetime, say one Planck Length per electron orbit - the smallest amount of space and the shortest duration of time possible. (I have no idea how this would work, of course, maybe the almost non-existent vibrations in spacetime caused by electrons moving, perhaps.)
.
So, one hydrogen atom isn't going to have much of an effect in expanding the universe. Nor the spacetime created by the massed atoms of the Earth which would be subsumed inside the spacetime emitted by the sun which is in turn swamped by the spacetime emitted by the galaxy and so on. The effects of gravity keep the galaxies together but in the intergalactic voids the spaceime starts 'piling up' - driving the omnidirectional expansion of the universe.
.
As for black holes, maybe these are areas where a massive concentration of matter emits a phenomenal amount of spacetime. At a certain point, the event horizon, the emission of spacetime overcomes the pull of gravity and anything falling beyond the event horizon continues to "fall" practically forever as, the further it "falls" the more spacetime there is for it to "fall into".
.
Now, those two ideas are probably utter bullshit or, if they're not, almost certainly unoriginal but it does prove - to me at least - why science is drokking fantastic. It allows even people like me to have a go on the Big Questions and also, and more importantly, thinking about this is enormous fun :)
.
I just wish I had the brains to work out the maths of it all. Screw it, though - it's probably easier just to put it in a Future Shock or something!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 04 February, 2014, 06:41:26 AM
Pandora's permafrost

Will smallpox reemerge in Siberia as corpses flaw from Climate Change? (http://gizmodo.com/will-smallpox-reemerge-in-siberia-as-corpses-thaw-from-1514969971/@gmanaugh)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2014, 08:33:41 AM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 04 February, 2014, 06:41:26 AM
Pandora's permafrost

Will smallpox reemerge in Siberia as corpses flaw from Climate Change? (http://gizmodo.com/will-smallpox-reemerge-in-siberia-as-corpses-thaw-from-1514969971/@gmanaugh)

A somewhat sensationalist headline, given that the article itself basically says "No."

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 04 February, 2014, 04:31:30 PM
At least the thing about the icecaps and the mini-ecolgies being released into the sea was interesting.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 February, 2014, 11:23:28 AM
As there doesn't seem to be a 'Science is Drokking Creepy Because...' thread, I guess I'll just have to post this here:  Rentacyberghost... (http://eterni.me/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 09 February, 2014, 02:38:13 PM
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25022-oldest-human-footprints-outside-africa-found-in-uk.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 10 February, 2014, 10:57:38 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 February, 2014, 11:23:28 AM
As there doesn't seem to be a 'Science is Drokking Creepy Because...' thread, I guess I'll just have to post this here:  Rentacyberghost... (http://eterni.me/)

Good grief, is that for real??

EDIT:   It is!!!

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/unlively-chat-skype-dead-eterni-me-2D12024238
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 February, 2014, 11:36:03 AM
Imagine, 1,000 years from now, the Earth is dead and lifeless but the internet is still up and running - peopled entirely by synthetic ghosts all trolling and twittering away for eternity.

It's not new technology. I myself passed away in 2003...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 12 February, 2014, 01:10:17 AM
Oh Sharky! If only you had avoided the drift nets for another 12 months  your ceaselss patrol of the seven seas would not have seemed so lonely..

http://www.artificial-life.com/en/about_us/cat/about/1/0/artaboutus_041005 (http://www.artificial-life.com/en/about_us/cat/about/1/0/artaboutus_041005)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 February, 2014, 10:19:16 AM
Heh, that's brilliant. Women have always been expensive, now even non-existent ones cost money too!


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 February, 2014, 05:56:18 PM
'Outernet' Project Seeks Free Internet Access For Earth (https://www.outernet.is/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 25 February, 2014, 08:22:54 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 February, 2014, 05:56:18 PM
'Outernet' Project Seeks Free Internet Access For Earth (https://www.outernet.is/)

Hundreds of low cost satellites in Earth orbit means more rubbish for spacecraft to avoid!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 February, 2014, 08:28:17 PM
...or rely on.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 26 February, 2014, 12:56:39 AM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 25 February, 2014, 08:22:54 PM
Hundreds of low cost satellites in Earth orbit means more rubbish for spacecraft to avoid!

Who needs a space programme when you've got free & immediate access to all those new apps?  ;)

Charles Stross hit the Fermi Paradox nail on the head in Accelarando.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 26 February, 2014, 09:06:08 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 February, 2014, 08:28:17 PM
...or rely on.

Haven't you SEEN Gravity?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 February, 2014, 09:14:49 AM
Nope. Is it any good?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 26 February, 2014, 04:24:14 PM
I liked it. Though it's probably not worth seeing if it's not going to be in 3D on a big screen; as it's all about the atmosphere rather than the realism or indeed scientific accuracy
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 February, 2014, 04:30:18 PM
Think I'll give it a miss, then. I hate sci-fi that makes me tut-tut at it.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 27 February, 2014, 09:46:37 AM
I didn't mean to put you off - it was really, really enjoyable and only the second ever time I've watched the same movie twice within the same month.  (Guess what the other movie was...)  To be fair I would never have spotted any of the scientific inaccuracies till I read this interview.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/10/17/what-does-a-real-astronaut-think-of-gravity/ (http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/10/17/what-does-a-real-astronaut-think-of-gravity/)

Also, according to this astronaut and to Chris Hadfield, watching the Gravity spacewalks on the big screen in 3d is the closest a normal person will get to doing a real spacewalk. 

EDIT - I can't really imagine it on the small screen though. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 February, 2014, 09:50:20 AM
Hmm, I'll compromise then - if any of my friends get a copy, I'll borrow it :-D


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 February, 2014, 05:20:17 PM
Damn I missed this - seeing the Northern Lights is on my "must do before I do" list. I must have a look out tonight  but from the inner city, not much hope of a good view.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26378027 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26378027)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 February, 2014, 06:12:56 PM
Oh cool - I'm driving through the wee smalls, I'll have a butcher's! (Fingers crossed! This is on my list too!)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 28 February, 2014, 08:04:45 PM
Not looking good for tonight (http://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/), but you never know.  I stayed awake (and sober, so I could drive away from the lights) till 2am last night, but the cloud cover never broke.  Bah!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 28 February, 2014, 10:28:59 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 February, 2014, 11:23:28 AM
As there doesn't seem to be a 'Science is Drokking Creepy Because...' thread, I guess I'll just have to post this here:  Rentacyberghost... (http://eterni.me/)

Oh my god... The temptation to set this up and lie though your teeth.... ( you could get away with it to if your a sad & lonely bastard like me...)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 04 March, 2014, 04:54:29 PM
Exoskelingtons!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26418358 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26418358)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 04 March, 2014, 08:08:41 PM
ALL YOU NEED IS KILL! LALALALALAAAAA!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 04 March, 2014, 11:11:10 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 04 March, 2014, 08:08:41 PM
ALL YOU NEED IS KILL! LALALALALAAAAA!

I don't know if those reading the manga got this far yet: [spoiler]Just don't forget to wear the right one....[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 05 March, 2014, 12:35:19 AM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 04 March, 2014, 04:54:29 PM
Exoskelingtons!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26418358 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26418358)

A spectre is haunting Tescos.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 13 March, 2014, 06:55:26 AM
How others see us:

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/elephants-have-specific-alarm-word-for-human/ (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/elephants-have-specific-alarm-word-for-human/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 02 May, 2014, 10:59:28 AM
Biochips (http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-brain-implant-memory.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 02 May, 2014, 12:51:39 PM
This is rather sad:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/30/human-litter-european-seafloor-survey-ocean-deep
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 02 May, 2014, 07:55:18 PM
Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 02 May, 2014, 10:59:28 AM
Biochips (http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-brain-implant-memory.html)

Also, a neat new way to torture and manipulate people by removing memories or implanting false memories.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 02 May, 2014, 07:57:14 PM
Quote from: shaolin_monkey on 02 May, 2014, 12:51:39 PM
This is rather sad:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/30/human-litter-european-seafloor-survey-ocean-deep

Maybe for the Doomwatch! thread instead of drokking Fantastic thread?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 31 May, 2014, 03:33:47 PM
Quantum Teleportation Feat Brings Ultrafast Computer Networks Step Closer To Reality

No one's getting beamed up anytime soon, but teleportation may have taken a big step closer to reality.

Researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands say they have succeeded in accurately transferring information from one quantum bit to another quantum bit located 3 meters away -- without the information traveling through the intervening space.

A quantum bit (qubit) is analogous to a conventional computer bit -- though unlike a conventional bit, a qubit can represent more than two possible values.

The feat is considered a critical step toward the development of a network of so-called quantum computers. These ultrafast computers -- still theoretical at this point -- would be able to solve problems beyond the reach of even the most powerful computers available today, the New York Times reported.

In addition, quantum computers would allow data transfer to be completely secure, according to a written statement released by the university. Eavesdropping on data would be virtually impossible.

To achieve their feat, the researchers exploited quantum entanglement. That's a bizarre physics phenomenon that Albert Einstein famously argued against because it amounted to "spooky action at a distance" -- something he considered impossible.

"Entanglement is arguably the strangest and most intriguing consequence of the laws of quantum mechanics," Prof. Ronald Hanson, head of the research effort, said in a written statement. "When two particles become entangled, their identities merge: their collective state is precisely determined but the individual identity of each of the particles has disappeared."

Hanson's team isn't alone in its quest to exploit quantum entanglement.

"There is a big race going on between five or six groups to prove Einstein wrong," he told the Times. "There is one very big fish."

But what about the idea of teleporting physical objects -- even humans -- rather than just information?

"If you believe we are nothing more than a collection of atoms strung together in a particular way, then in principle it should be possible to teleport ourselves from one place to another," he told The Telegraph. "In practice it's extremely unlikely, but to say it can never work is very dangerous."

If Star Trek-style teleportation does become possible, Hanson said, it will be in the distant future.

Take a seat, Scotty.

A paper describing the advance was published online May 29 in the journal Science.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Doctor Alt 8 on 31 May, 2014, 03:51:58 PM
(https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8159713536/h7E7D3FAC/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 06 June, 2014, 01:23:17 PM
Scientists have found traces of another planet on the moon called Theia. How lucky is it that they found the bit with the planet's name on it?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27688511 (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27688511)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 09 June, 2014, 11:21:16 AM
A computer programme called 'Eugene Goostman' developed by Vladimir Veselov and Eugene Demechenko convinced 33% of Judges at a Royal Society demonstration that it was. 13 year old boy. This is the first machine 'intelligence' to pass the Turing test. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 June, 2014, 11:39:29 AM
Pfft - the Dave Candlish bot's been passing that test for years on this very forum. It puts so much stuff out that it Must be a machine...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ming on 10 June, 2014, 08:55:42 PM
Bwa ha ha ha haaaaa! 

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/10/the-barnacle-that-eats-glowing-sharks/

(A bit of self pimpage, I admit.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Daveycandlish on 12 June, 2014, 09:46:54 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 June, 2014, 11:39:29 AM
Pfft - the Dave Candlish bot's been passing that test for years on this very forum. It puts so much stuff out that it Must be a machine...


I've been called a lot worse!  :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 June, 2014, 04:44:40 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 09 June, 2014, 11:21:16 AM
A computer programme called 'Eugene Goostman' developed by Vladimir Veselov and Eugene Demechenko convinced 33% of Judges at a Royal Society demonstration that it was. 13 year old boy. This is the first machine 'intelligence' to pass the Turing test. Z

I've failed the Turing test on multiple occasions.

Would you like to talk about the weather now?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 16 June, 2014, 03:20:11 PM


(http://74f85f59f39b887b696f-ab656259048fb93837ecc0ecbcf0c557.r23.cf3.rackcdn.com//assets/library/image/4/original/49053_tbm_elizabeth_lowered_into_main_shaft_25_october_20121.jpg)

It's Hobb's End all over again...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 18 June, 2014, 01:52:34 PM


  yahay!! saw this at le weekend:

(http://www.rossmurray.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DSC_0112.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 June, 2014, 01:55:31 PM
Been a while since I read anything from Mark Witton but here he put's up a good argument as to why I believe Suchosaurus and Suchomimus should be disbanded and absorbed into Baryonyx Walkeri. The evidence is irrfutable that all three are synonymus.

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/baryonyx-begins.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 June, 2014, 02:24:48 PM
Giant monster sighted surfacing in one of Titan's lakes. (http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/22/mystery-object-lake-saturn-titan-scientists-nasa)

(Well, yes, they say it's probably some kind of 'ice'berg, but I know a giant monster when I see one.)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 23 June, 2014, 03:28:55 PM
Is it a downed Justice Dept ship?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 June, 2014, 03:36:08 PM
Nope, the downed Justice dept ship is floating off a headland on Titan....don't believe me, google it. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 11 July, 2014, 09:26:05 PM

"Large multinational corporations could develop their own highly capable security forces. Criminals and terrorists will have access to increasingly cheap unmanned drones and space satellites. Sophisticated environmental warfare will spread plant and human diseases by insects.

These are among an array of dire warnings spelt out in a study by a Ministry of Defence thinktank exploring potential threats to security that might emerge by the middle of the century.

The study, Global Strategic Trends – Out to 2045, contains fresh warnings about the effects of climate change, the growth of sprawling urban centres, and pressure on natural resources, notably water. It paints a picture of a world in which the authority of states diminishes in the face of powerful private multinational companies, and national loyalties are weakened by increasing migration"

http://gu.com/p/3qq7v/tw

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 August, 2014, 11:12:25 AM
Was the Big Bang really a black hole? Scientist speak big words that I don't understand but here's a link to the article anyway.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-goodbye-big-black-hole-theory.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 August, 2014, 11:23:27 AM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 11 July, 2014, 09:26:05 PM

"Large multinational corporations could develop their own highly capable security forces. Criminals and terrorists will have access to increasingly cheap unmanned drones and space satellites. Sophisticated environmental warfare will spread plant and human diseases by insects.

These are among an array of dire warnings spelt out in a study by a Ministry of Defence thinktank exploring potential threats to security that might emerge by the middle of the century. that has been reading far too much William Gibson.

FTFY.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 August, 2014, 11:41:18 AM
Quote from: sauchie post office on 11 July, 2014, 09:26:05 PM"Large multinational corporations could develop their own highly capable security forces. Criminals and terrorists will have access to increasingly cheap unmanned drones and space satellites."


The anti-establishment minded would say that's all ready happened.



Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 August, 2014, 11:49:40 AM
Read the article on the  report, bit of a downer. Here was me hoping for hover cars, nice robots and food pills like in star trek. Now we are faced with what we are starting to happening already +
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JOE SOAP on 10 August, 2014, 12:05:04 PM

Quote from: ZenArcade on 10 August, 2014, 11:49:40 AM
Read the article on the  report, bit of a downer. Here was me hoping for hover cars, nice robots and food pills like in star trek. Now we are faced with what we are starting to happening already +

You have to consider tha bias of the report and who made it. Of course I would never suggest that the Ministry of Defence would lobby for a bigger budget -and higher wages- so they can continue their job of protecting the citizens of the realm -and selling arms- by embellishing the truth.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 August, 2014, 12:07:18 PM
Perish the thought.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 August, 2014, 12:32:22 PM
Private Corporate Armies and Security Forces?

Great way for States to 'outsource' the more contentious issues like rendition etc since the Corporations will only be beholden to their share holders not public accountability or scrutiny.

I understand that some legislation being prepared by Private companies involves the prosecution of States for denying the Corporations 'Future profits' should states do anything that is seen to be imposing upon the will of the market place.

The Cyber Punks were right;the Star Trekkers completely wrong about human nature and the sort of future that is coming and may be already here. As Gore Vidal said 'Socialism for the rich;markets for the poor.'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 August, 2014, 10:30:35 AM
Cats in space! Meme of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-bjwQMepmE
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Grugz on 11 August, 2014, 10:27:58 PM
just seen my first ever "heat lightning" storm...went to let the mutt for a wee and looked for the suoer moon niticed a flash of light and thought some weirdo was taking a picky. noticed the lightning seemed to be in one place but still bright if it was very far away...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 September, 2014, 03:16:41 PM
Fair chance of an auroral display this evening for those of us around 52 degrees north and up.  Sometime after 1am and keep watching the skies!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 September, 2014, 10:37:37 AM
 
I want a doctor, to take your picture, so I can look at you from inside as well ... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQeb5NGt3E)


http://youtu.be/l8xTVfs4FQ0


(http://i100.independent.co.uk/image/30639-gdt2p7.gif)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 September, 2014, 03:40:36 AM
This man is the embodiment of the worth of our species, and this conversation should provide all the proof required of that statement:  http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/The+Current/ID/2530849070/

Humanity: a great bunch of lads.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 26 September, 2014, 07:03:28 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 September, 2014, 03:40:36 AM
This man is the embodiment of the worth of our species, and this conversation should provide all the proof required of that statement:  http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/The+Current/ID/2530849070/

Humanity: a great bunch of lads.

Kid was like Paxman, refusing to let him off the hook and trot out pat answers just to avoid the real issues.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 26 September, 2014, 10:05:28 PM
Complex organic molecule found in interstellar space. (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29368984)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 October, 2014, 01:41:25 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 26 September, 2014, 10:05:28 PM
Complex organic molecule found in interstellar space. (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29368984)
Well, we found The Great Intelligence. Thats the sequel to The Web of Fear sorted.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 October, 2014, 10:02:22 PM
This is pretty wonderful (and wonderfully pretty):

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/08/cave-art-indonesia-sulawesi

Humans in Indonesia doing just what humans in Europe were doing, at about the same time.  If anyone who has studied Upper Palaeo art hasn't felt deeply uncomfortable about the notion of 'cultural flowering' being limited to a specific and ethnically unthreatening group of peoples (rather than being a result of survival bias), here's the nagging doubt made glorious fact. People are people, and art is the name of the game.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 12 November, 2014, 05:33:51 PM
The Philae probe has made the first successful landing on a comet - I imagine there are quite a few people quivering in relief right now.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Grugz on 12 November, 2014, 09:44:58 PM
bet they put a towel on it!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 November, 2014, 10:44:35 AM
So, Philæ hit the surface of the comet, the harpoons didn't fire, it bounced a couple of times (in quite a leisurely fashion due the very low gravity) and has now come to rest. It's upright, working and transmitting data, including the first photo from the surface of the comet.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2UEKTaIMAE8R0H.jpg:large)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 13 November, 2014, 11:17:16 AM
Yes! Because Science is Drokking Fantastic !!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 November, 2014, 11:17:42 AM
Great stuff. Now we should be able to see if there's anything in that weird "electric universe" theory. If there is, we'll detect electrical  arcing over the comet's surface as it approaches and departs the sun.
.
I really hope there's something to this theory as it hints at a virtually inexhaustible energy supply. Then again it might just be a lump of shitty snow - or something else entirely.
.
That's why science is so drokking fantastic - you never know what you're gonna' find!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 13 November, 2014, 01:59:41 PM
Stunning pic. Now if only they'd have put a booster rocket on Philæ so they could've put it in orbit around Earth for real close look.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: amines2058 on 13 November, 2014, 02:09:42 PM
I've seen Deep Impact and Armageddon, this will all end in tears!  :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 November, 2014, 08:32:23 PM
Well,  the robot did get a sore botty.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 13 November, 2014, 08:37:34 PM
Couldn't shoot the silver arrows? Don't worry lad, we all have performance issues.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 December, 2014, 12:02:57 PM
http://youtu.be/gJOKCtVwI1E
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 December, 2014, 12:15:59 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 December, 2014, 12:02:57 PM
http://youtu.be/gJOKCtVwI1E

seems a lot of hard work - and since you need illegal ammunition to start with, I think I'll just continue to buy earphones!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 December, 2014, 12:18:48 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 11 December, 2014, 12:02:57 PM
http://youtu.be/gJOKCtVwI1E

Who knew so much work went into looking like a complete arse?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 December, 2014, 12:21:59 PM
Well...I think it's pretty cool. :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 14 December, 2014, 10:57:06 PM
BBC News - Top 10 Physics Breakthroughs of 2014. (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30415007)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 December, 2014, 11:16:55 PM
Methane spikes on Mars.....life or just geothermal processes? interesting Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 04:19:08 AM
My guess is life. Tons of it. All over Mars.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 07:22:44 AM
 :| Only tons Shark, well we needn't worry about an invasion then. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 December, 2014, 07:34:20 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 07:22:44 AM
:| Only tons Shark, well we needn't worry about an invasion then. Z

That's what he wants you to think.  Clearly a point-man, sent to destabilise our political and economic systems and lull us into a false sense of security.  That's not a tinfoil hat, it's damage to the spacelatex mask exposing his real head.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 07:40:09 AM
The sneaky, underhand Martian scum seeking to undermine our Terran democratic way of life. They make up a triumvirate of evil with Venus and Mercury . We must strike first with the help of our Lunar allies and the down trodden masses on Phobos and Demos to secure freedom throughout the inner solar system. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 08:19:12 AM
Curses! Foiled again!
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Seriously, though, I do think that there is life on Mars. If Mars did once have a surface environment similar to the Earth and life existed there then I think it's highly probable that it still exists today.
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Somewhere along the line, Mars got colder and drier. If that happened suddenly (for example in the hypothesis that Mars was once the moon of a now destroyed planet, the remains of which comprise the Asteroid Belt) then there would have been a mass extinction comparable to the ones which happened in Earth's own deep history. Life on Earth eventually returned in forms adapted to the new environment, so why not on Mars too? I think that many of the rocks seen on Mars are actually the hard outer shells of slow moving, mollusc or crustacean type creatures - not a lot of water or atmosphere on Mars today, so any creature would need a way to stay hydrated, oxygenated and warm (assuming a similar biochemistry to terrestrial animals) and a hard shell would help accomplish this. On Earth, after a mass extinction the atmosphere remained thick enough and geological processes and seasonal fluctuations remained stable enough for life to eventually explode again. If Mars lost most of its atmosphere and water, and its seasonal stability, then Nature would have less to work with so life probably trickled back rather than exploding back.
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If Mars lost its favourable conditions slowly then evolution, or constant biological change, would gradually keep pace with that process, producing the same kind of animals via a much slower process.
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I'd be astounded to discover any Martian life comparable in size and intelligence to an ape or even a dog or cat and so I don't think there's any of that about. Mars, to my mind, is a desert world infested with "snails and crabs" and an ecosystem based on subterranean (submartian?) bacteria and suchlike. (Similar to the "rock creatures" from the movie "Apollo 18" but, due to the low energy present on Mars, much slower moving.)
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If I'm honest, I think that life is virtually everywhere, even on the Moon, where I can easily imagine rock-eating bacteria and tardigrades and similar beasties happily living beneath the harsh surface both there and throughout the Solar System. I even read a theory that certain layers of radioactive salts on frigid Pluto could give out enough heat for subterranean (subplutonian?) Iiquid water to exist even that far away from the sun.
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I think that simple life is ubiquitous, complex life fairly common and intelligent complex life quite rare throughout the entire universe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 December, 2014, 01:04:40 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 08:19:12 AM
If I'm honest, I think that life is virtually everywhere, even on the Moon, where I can easily imagine rock-eating bacteria and tardigrades and similar beasties happily living beneath the harsh surface both there and throughout the Solar System.
I always like to learn a new word - Thanks to Wiki, I now know what a TARDIGRADE is!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 02:22:16 PM
I'm glad I spelled it correctly!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 02:22:43 PM
I'm glad I spelled it correctly!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 December, 2014, 04:59:25 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 08:19:12 AM
I think that simple life is ubiquitous, complex life fairly common and intelligent complex life quite rare throughout the entire universe.

Plausible enough, Shark- I just want (any of) it proven before I die.  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 06:47:51 PM
It's the proving that's the devil. Life may well be general in the Cosmos but I go with Fermi in relation to intelligent life. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 08:14:42 PM
It depends what we mean by 'intelligence'. Humanity is still very primitive and stupid so it's possible we wouldn't recognise true intelligence even if we saw it. We could be like an undiscovered Amazonian tribe who only knows how to communicate over short distances by banging on trees with no concept of radio - we simply don't understand the universe around us well enough to contact, or even detect, anyone else.
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Just because we think that the only way to travel the cosmos is in starships that doesn't make it so. I reckon that the stargate or trans-warp beaming might be closer to the truth.
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It may be that we simply don't understand our own nature. The Fermi Paradox, and its proposed solutions, are all firmly rooted in "western" thinking - all maths and mechanics - and other, more esoteric solutions are generally not explored. For example, the Buddhist explanation for multiple personality disorders is that past lives are intruding on the present and that, somehow in sufferers of these disorders, the reincarnation process has gone wrong.
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Perhaps, then, we do not have the 'intelligence' to contact other races in the universe until our consciousnesses 'hatch' - when we die. Our bodies may be nothing more than very complex 'eggs' and our Earth simply an 'incubator for souls'. It could very well be that the science we all know and love is only good for describing the physical universe and is utterly valueless when it comes to explaining or even detecting higher forms of intelligence.
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Anyhoo, there are several possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox - some of them listed here: io9.com/11-of-the-weirdest-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-456850746
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Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 08:31:25 PM
Mathematics a universal language is the basis of Fermi's work on this.
The universe as we see it is based on fundamental physical and
mathematical laws which have been utilised by most cultures not
only western ones. The metaphysical is also a western trait
(Angels and Demons so to speak) we do not for a minute try and apply
them to the structure of cosmology in any serious way and
I feel the same applies to the metaphysical of non western cultures
as well.
It is not the spirit which causes a planet to orbit a star: alas more prosaically it is gravity and angular momentum. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 December, 2014, 08:40:36 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 08:31:25 PM
Mathematics a universal language ...

Well that's debatable. There's on going argument over whether maths is something intrinsic to reality we discovered, or just something we invented to make sense of the universe
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 08:53:53 PM
Sorry KP I should have been more clear universal in the earth bound sense. Z
Ps are you attending our get together at the Europa on Saturday at 12ish?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 December, 2014, 08:58:31 PM
Exactly, we don't even try to see the universe beyond mathematics and physicality. Mathematics is a useful tool for constructing the descriptive laws of the phenomena we see around us but it may be too precise in some instances - leading to concepts such as the singularity and infinity, which may not actually exist but be artefacts produced by mathematics.
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Imagine that there is a microscopic civilisation living on a single cell inside a watermelon and that time for them passes extremely quickly - the equivalent of a million years in half a second. Now, explode that watermelon. To the microscopic civilisation the exploding watermelon is expanding quite slowly, as imperceptibly as our own universe. The microscopic scientists might well model that expansion mathematically and go way too far. Not understanding the true nature of the watermelon they project the expanding matter backwards but go too far and end up with a singularity where one never existed.
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As to the esoteric side of it, I always had a fondness for the old Arabic(?) proverb "God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal and awakens in man."
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Science is good but it's not everything. There is no equation describing how love feels but we know that it exists. My point is that science and mathematics might simply be an expression of our own stupidity because it seeks to quantify and explain everything and anything that it can't explain is seen as either impossible or irrelevant.
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A truly advanced civilisation might be far more interested in introspection than space exploration and not really be interested in the antics of a planet full of talking eggs at all.
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It's as good an explanation for the Fermi Paradox as any.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 09:06:36 PM
Oh for F**ks sake Shark this isn't a good time....can I come back to you, I'm in the middle of prog 2015 at the moment. The argument is interesting but I can't give it the attention it deserves at the moment. All I will say in relation to the micro universe is plank's constant. Will be back on this later. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 December, 2014, 09:14:16 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 08:53:53 PM
Sorry KP I should have been more clear universal in the earth bound sense. Z
Ps are you attending our get together at the Europa on Saturday at 12ish?

No can do. As a barman this is a crazy busy time of year, i've no free time until Christmas eve.

As to Shark's point about zero/naught and infinity not existing,that may well be the case, but there are several abstract comcepts in maths, such as imaginary numbers and non algebraic polynomials. While they may not physically exist, out understanding of the world around us depends on them. I think it's remarkable we can undertand such things
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 December, 2014, 10:08:18 PM
Remarkable indeed, we only understand because we have developed a system of thought and articulation with which to do so. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 04:43:01 AM
I'm not knocking science and mathematics (I love 'em), we do need these things in order to break down and understand the universe around us. I'm not saying that we should do away with them or be suspicious of them because they can't describe what love or anger or stubbing your toe feels like. I'm just stating the blindingly obvious, really - that the universe is far more than numbers and equations on a page and that even though maths is a spookily efficient way of describing the universe that's really all it is - an abstract sketch of reality and not reality itself.
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Mathematics is important but no more so than imagination, say. In fact, I'd hazard to say that imagination may even be more important than maths because before you can invent maths you first have to imagine it. The danger, in my view, is in elevating maths to a status above what it actually is, which is just a tool - an incredibly sophisticated and useful tool but a tool nonetheless. To do so gives us things like the old Spock/Kirk argument over the morality of phrases like "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
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So yes, maths is drokking fantastic - but it's not God.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 06:02:13 AM
How to measure the Planck Constant yourself - using Lego!
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m.phys.org/news/2014-12-nist-physicists-watt-lego-blocks.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 December, 2014, 11:57:26 AM
One of my best friends watches Ancient Aliens on the History Channel, and believes it.  I've only seen one episode and realise immediately it's using unscientific reasoning.  But I haven't got the scientific vocabulary to explain it.  Someone help me to explain why I'M RIGHT.

He also believes that governments constantly cover up alien sightings, because he trawls the internet looking for such 'evidence'.  I don't, so I can't really argue against that, but I don't really believe it.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 December, 2014, 02:02:44 PM
I feel I should offer the counter-theory that the government of Planet X was until recently abducting random unimportant humans (who were identified as persons of interest because they fit the criteria of "two arms, two legs") and using Enhanced Probing Techniques to discover the location of our interstellar craft which obviously some random redneck has no knowledge of but we definitely have secretly stashed somewhere.  The Planet X Intelligence Agency has - after pressure from the more liberal current establishment headed by a president who is green instead of grey, not that this has anything to do with anything you understand - recently released a report on anal probing that found it has no scientific value and returns inaccurate information, so that's why there aren't as many probings happening these days, because the terrorist appeasers in the liberal cabal that runs the Planet X media have tied the hands of the political establishment and anal probing operations have been curtailed - though the previous Vice President of Planet X has continued to insist that jamming things into the ass of random bipeds was contextually justified by his administration's efforts to prevent a repeat of previous attacks by aliens, and enhanced probing is the only way to find humanity's hidden interstellar vehicles that they will one day use to travel to Planet X and probe innocent citizens, at which point the previous administration will be validated, not that those from that administration and their successors secretly hope and pray for such a terrible thing to ever happen, but if it did, they were totally right all along, and if it never happens, they're the reason why.

I saw a documentary once that backed all of this up.  It was pretty interesting, but I forget where I saw it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 02:37:23 PM
I think that people believe in aliens coming to save/destroy us for the same reasons that they believe in the Second Coming, Judgement Day and Barak Obama.
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They don't want to face the fact that the future of humanity has to be shaped by individual humans themselves. They feel powerless and alone and assume that everyone feels the same way and so, instead of taking responsibility for their own futures and lives, coupled with the human psychological need for leadership, transfer their hopes and fears to such outside agencies.
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Why bother doing anything at all when aliens/Jesus/Obama will be along soon to sort everything out for us? These beliefs are not only paralysing but can be positively dangerous. A president who believes in the Second Coming should be ousted immediately because he/she figures that he/she can do anything, including hitting the Big Red Button, because it doesn't matter if they shatter the world - God will put everything right in the end.
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Maybe there are aliens out there watching us (some of those exopolitics sites are truly fascinating) and maybe there aren't. Either way, it's a huge mistake to just sit back and rely upon or blame them for Everything.
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Still, when one lives in a world where a small elite seem to be in charge of everything and everyone, severely curtailing the freedoms, responsibilities and wealth of the vast majority, it's no surprise that feelings of powerlessness manifest in such beliefs.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 18 December, 2014, 03:11:12 PM
I can understand why some would think that outside agency is required to influence such a closed system as the human geopolitical construct we inhabit, and I don't begrudge them hoping it happens.  For many, Jesus or aliens are probably a safer bet as harbingers of paradigm change than anything they can do themselves.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 18 December, 2014, 03:36:39 PM
Somewhere, a tiny green tentacled thing is convinced that fleshy pink things from outerspace will deliver them.


Loved the analogy btw.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 December, 2014, 04:22:31 PM
Thank you, Sharky, that's exactly how I feel, albeit far more eloquent than I could possibly put it.

I also think that a belief in Ancient poxy Aliens assisting humanity in their greatest endeavours takes away from those endeavours.  We have huge flaws as a species, but you've got to hand it to us when it comes to inventiveness and creativity.  No matter how anomalous* a sophisticated ancient artefact may seem, it simply means that people back then were even smarter than we thought despite the information gap that surrounds whatever the piece of technology in question is.

Using Occam's razor to extract alien intervention from something like an ancient computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)), for example, doesn't detract from the wonders and marvels of such an incredible piece of work.  It means that intricate clockwork is far older than we had previously realised, and that to me is far more amazing than a very shaky assumption that we couldn't have done this on our own. 

Attributing currently-inexplicable parcels of history to the work of aliens is for me the modern-day equivalent to the old Irish belief that prehistoric burial mounds were once portals to the  fairy underworld, or that the mating calls of foxes were the screams of banshees (my own theory, and I'm prepared to be proven wrong!).  It's spooky and thrilling, and makes for great stories, but it's there because we don't have the facts.

*A word I have just discovered.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 05:22:16 PM
My God - someone who agrees with me!!! I should have you stuffed :-D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 December, 2014, 05:33:06 PM
 :lol:

The truth is, Sharky, I agree with you about many things, including your many of your pro-anarchist views - I just approach life very differently from you.  But that's politics, and belongs in another thread (to which I rarely contribute because I'm neither articulate nor informed enough).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 05:46:19 PM
Sorry, JBC - I was only joshing and I hope you weren't offended. And don't do yourself down - you're plenty articulate enough and this is the internet: nobody on it knows what they're talking about!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 December, 2014, 05:58:45 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 05:46:19 PM
Sorry, JBC - I was only joshing and I hope you weren't offended.

Good lord, man, I wasn't even slightly offended - in fact, your comments genuinely brought a smile to my face  :D

And my own anarchist views are largely derived from listening to some Noam Chomsky audiobooks (as well as being hugely disillusioned by the machinations of current political leaders), so all I'd be doing is quoting him. 

Anyway, back to science!  The friend I was writing about sent me links to this guy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYgPZFst5sg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYgPZFst5sg).  Klaus Doner - never heard of him before, but what he is discussing here is fascinating, if a little hard to swallow (though thankfully without any extraterrestrial ramblings).  Hpwever, I can't find any counter-arguments or even much mention of him on Google - anyone know anything of his credentials?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2014, 07:06:10 PM
This guy?  www.unsolved-mysteries.info/
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It sucks not being able to access YouTube on this old 'phone but I seem to remember watching something by him years ago.
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Is he an advocate of the idea that mankind has achieved an advanced global society once before but that civilisation was wiped out by the Flood? I think, iIrc, that Graham Hancock holds up things like the Bimini Road in support of this idea. This ancient civilisation, he claimed, was a primarily seafaring culture with its major cities located mainly on now submerged coastal and island cities.
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I find it an intriguing idea.
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Another advocate of ancient civilisations is Richard C. Hoagland. If you want to see something really fascinating, look for some of his presentations on YouTube - start with his 1992 presentation to the United Nations.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 December, 2014, 10:00:04 PM
Will do; thanks, Sharky!

I've listened to a bit of Graham Hancock alright; interesting stuff (although I'm not sure how well it holds up to scrutiny; I've heard some seriously conflicting ideas from other sources since I listened to it). 

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: shaolin_monkey on 19 December, 2014, 11:29:09 AM
Did anyone read this article about where fat goes when we lose weight?  Absolutely fascinating, and totally unexpected!

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/where-does-your-fat-go-when-you-lose-weight
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 19 December, 2014, 11:34:19 AM
QuoteAnother advocate of ancient civilisations is Richard C. Hoagland

Hogland? Citing Hogland as a source? That's like citing David Ike.

For example... http://www.examiner.com/article/richard-c-hoagland-says-obama-will-announce-life-on-mars-august
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 December, 2014, 03:07:02 PM
I say only that Hoagland's presentation to the U.N. is fascinating, as are his others. Maybe there's something to his ideas and maybe not. I hope he's correct, especially about hyperdimensional physics, but I simply don't know. I don't know if any of Ike's ideas are correct or not either - but I hope they're not.
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I won't dismiss either one on the strength of my own prejudices.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 December, 2014, 03:07:51 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 19 December, 2014, 11:34:19 AM
Hogland? Citing Hogland as a source? That's like citing David Ike.

Aye. Can we exile Hoagland, Hancock and von Daniken to one of the many non-science her threads? They can be good fun, but have about as much to do with science as Dr Who.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 December, 2014, 03:53:03 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 December, 2014, 03:07:51 PM
as much to do with science as Dr Who.

How very DARE you, sir?!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 19 December, 2014, 09:32:02 PM
The triumvirate set out by TB play on some people's yearning for more than what they see set out in what they see as a humdrum existence essentially with out concrete meaning; they are the modern (well not so modern) equivalent of nineteenth century snake oil sellers.
They have no place on a science thread....they would however be main stage actors on a debunking of farcical bullshit thread. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 December, 2014, 09:49:02 PM
There can be some fun to be had with those guys, in the same kind of vein as Fortean Times, which I've always really enjoyed.  But science?  No.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 19 December, 2014, 10:57:00 PM
We could start a new thread called Pseudoscience is Drokking Hilarious because...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 19 December, 2014, 11:03:43 PM
Good suggestion KP, maybe our cartilaginous friend Mr Shark could set it up....c'mon Sharky you know you want to. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 04:08:26 AM
No, Z, I don't want to do that at all.
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In my view, this is one of science's biggest flaws - the out of hand dismissal of anything that falls outside contemporary paradigms and the automatic scorn heaped upon anyone who investigates these things. Does Hoagland get everything right? Almost certainly not. Does he get everything wrong? Almost certainly not.
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The Earth is round? Rubbish! Diseases caused by tiny invisible creatures? Rubbish! We're descended from apes? Rubbish! Man can travel to the Moon? Rubbish!
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Most science begins with an idea, with imagination, that is initially unproven and often regarded as unprovable and even daft. Those people who decide to investigate these ideas are often villified and sometimes even tortured and killed (though not so much nowadays, thankfully).
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In my view, these fringe investigators should be if not outright supported then at least encouraged. Who knows what part of their work might actually yield valuable insights? Is this not what science is all about? Taking something unexplained and making sense out of it?
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We can disbelieve something all we want, but to pour scorn on an idea, and its proponents, just because we don't "believe" it is more dogmatic than scientific. If you don't believe something then by all means say so and, if its something you passionately disbelieve, do the work to disprove it but don't just point and laugh because that accomplishes nothing at all useful.
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I understand that science shouldn't get bogged down believing everything that everybody says but neither should it limit itself by dismissing everything it doesn't currently agree with. It is this scornful and dismissive attitude which I find most disappointing about science, scientists and science fans.
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It is the job of religion to demonise. It is the role of science to investigate.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 10:20:01 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 04:08:26 AM
It is this scornful and dismissive attitude which I find most disappointing about science, scientists and science fans.
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It is the job of religion to demonise. It is the role of science to investigate.

The kind of evidence-free, unfalsifiable drivel cooked up by credential-free crackpots like Hoagland deserves scorn.  Science has occasionally followed something loosely approaching the Kuhnian paradigm model in the past, which is what I assume you're talking about, but that at least requires a falsifiable hypothesis in the first place.  Hoagland's prediction free, unparsimonious claptrap doesn't even present that.

I pour scorn on this kind of bollocks because it has all the intellectual rigour of an astrology column, and absolutely zero respect for the actual hard, demanding, unforgiving scientific method- the one that requires evidence and work.

Also, fact wise, we've known the earth was round since the ancient Greeks.  Germ theory was accepted as soon as repeatable experimental evidence was presented in its favour. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 10:50:17 AM
Gotta say the empirical process is where it's at Shark. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 December, 2014, 10:54:16 AM
Quote from: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 10:20:01 AMGerm theory was accepted as soon as repeatable experimental evidence was presented in its favour.

As has happened with basically everything.  For me the key word in your post there JP was 'unparsimonious'. What makes Hancock et al fun is that their work throws economy of explanation out the window in favour of the most complex causes imaginable, all deliciously unfalsifiable, and thus engaging and entertaining.  That's what's enjoyable about it, and indeed as Shark tangentially says, in throwing out original flights of fancy it may have some value - if any of the ideas generated could be turned in testable hypothesis.  The reason that 'science fans' dismiss these things out of hand is because  (a). the premises of the arguments are usually based on utterly selective uncritical data; (b). the explanations offered always depend on far more complicated setups than the phenomena they purport to explain. 

E.g. Phenomenon: some carefully aligned large stones; Explanation: superintelligent aliens, interstellar transport, entire vanished civilisations based on ancient extraterrestrial contact, all of which require causes and origins vastly more elaborate and unknown than science's one for the same pile of rocks: 'clever humans + time'.
 
If/when these lads get out there and do the work, winnowing the evidence, constructing and testing hypotheses, no-one will dismiss them.  Like a spooky man once said, I want to believe. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 20 December, 2014, 11:16:35 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 December, 2014, 09:49:02 PM
There can be some fun to be had with those guys, in the same kind of vein as Fortean Times, which I've always really enjoyed.  But science?  No.

I'm reminded of the time when the X-Files was first hitting our TV screen's, and a whole raft of these fanciful magazines, and books, starting coming out. And everywhere you looked, it was faces on Mars, and Area 51, and Bob Lazar, and Timothy Good.

One lad were I worked, would often bring them in for us to read.
Enjoyable for a while, but I rather wittily said "They ought to re-name this magazine 'Pure nonsense and blurred photograph's monthly'....



Quote from: ZenArcade on 19 December, 2014, 09:32:02 PM
The triumvirate set out by TB play on some people's yearning for more than what they see set out in what they see as a humdrum existence essentially with out concrete meaning; they are the modern (well not so modern) equivalent of nineteenth century snake oil sellers.
They have no place on a science thread....they would however be main stage actors on a debunking of farcical bullshit thread. Z

^ And this sums it up for me as well. Bullshit merchants and liar's.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 11:17:01 AM
Quote from: TordelBack on 20 December, 2014, 10:54:16 AM
Quote from: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 10:20:01 AMGerm theory was accepted as soon as repeatable experimental evidence was presented in its favour.

As has happened with basically everything.  For me the key word in your post there JP was 'unparsimonious'. What makes Hancock et al fun is that their work throws economy of explanation out the window in favour of the most complex causes imaginable, all deliciously unfalsifiable, and thus engaging and entertaining.  That's what's enjoyable about it, and indeed as Shark tangentially says, in throwing out original flights of fancy it may have some value - if any of the ideas generated could be turned in testable hypothesis.  The reason that 'science fans' dismiss these things out of hand is because  (a). the premises of the arguments are usually based on utterly selective uncritical data; (b). the explanations offered always depend on far more complicated setups than the phenomena they purport to explain. 

E.g. Phenomenon: some carefully aligned large stones; Explanation: superintelligent aliens, interstellar transport, entire vanished civilisations based on ancient extraterrestrial contact, all of which require causes and origins vastly more elaborate and unknown than science's one for the same pile of rocks: 'clever humans + time'.
 
If/when these lads get out there and do the work, winnowing the evidence, constructing and testing hypotheses, no-one will dismiss them.  Like a spooky man once said, I want to believe.

I guess I find it far more tragic than fun.  If someone like Hoagland ever does provide an idea of value it will be accidentally, in the manner of a bust clock twice a day.  Carefully  aligned large stones that aren't really carefully aligned, a sodding image artefact (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Face_on_Mars): I'm not sure even a human astronaut standing on Mars saying "yup, no alien ruins here" would be enough.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 11:34:40 AM
It wouldn't: because nut bags would be saying she didn't land on Mars; but that it was faked in a studio or with CGI. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 20 December, 2014, 04:20:35 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 04:08:26 AM
In my view, this is one of science's biggest flaws - the out of hand dismissal of anything that falls outside contemporary paradigms and the automatic scorn heaped upon anyone who investigates these things.

...

I understand that science shouldn't get bogged down believing everything that everybody says but neither should it limit itself by dismissing everything it doesn't currently agree with. It is this scornful and dismissive attitude which I find most disappointing about science, scientists and science fans.
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It is the job of religion to demonise. It is the role of science to investigate.

The role of science is also to test other science! That's a fairly crucial bit I think.

Something that doesn't seem to be acknowledged much is that, on the whole, scientists of any stripe are supposed to be kind of professional cynics. Generally, I'd say if you're talking about big, initially controversial ideas it takes a long time to change minds and that will only come about when there is sufficient evidence that allows the previous models or whatever to become obsolete - sometimes it can be a 'trend' thing rather than a complete dismantling of previous work. Even then a lot of scientists keep working with the 'older' stuff if its still giving results or is still a useful approach to certain problems.

For example, there was a paradigm shift in glaciology brought about by the advent, or availability, of high quality satellite imagery which allowed previously glaciated terrain to be viewed synoptically for the first time. This showed that the recent ice sheets were highly dynamic by providing evidence of in some cases the multiple changes in ice sheet geometry that occurred during glaciation. Before that, essentially people stood on hills and looked at muck to try and model ice sheet history piece by piece, and the general view was that ice turned up, sat there, then fucked off again - this approach is still alive and kicking and is all part of the story, but that change in scale and process perception has happened because it was too hard to argue against the evidence.

I'm not overly familiar with yer man Hoagland - I've not read any of his stuff, or heard him speak about it so I'll defer to my learned forumites on that one, but I also think that the first imagery of the Cydonian Head is one of the greatest images humans have ever created. Quite apart from the achievement of getting the image in the first instance, its such a fantastic thing to hang yer what ifs on and we can all agree it looks just like a face. It's incredibly unifying as it goes straight to the primate masterboard in the noggin, dunnit?

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 04:32:05 PM
Well, I don't know if there's anything in what Hoagland says or not - but I suspect that there is. I know that suspicion is not science but I'm only simularae Selachii. I'm as prepared for him being right as I am for him being wrong. I have seen some of the images he's pointed out and sometimes I can see what he does and sometimes I can't.
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I have spent hours and hours looking through NASA's online image galleries and seen a lot of obviously natural stuff and a small amount of seemingly unnatural stuff.
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I have also had direct experience of seeing a poorly altered NASA image of Mars, full of anomalies, replaced - you might remember that I wrote about that on this board as it was happening. It is one of the greatest frustrations I've ever known to be unable to prove that. (Of course, it's entirely possible that said image was just something a bored NASA imaging technician had been doodling on while he waited for something else to render but it did not look like that to me.)
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Anyway, speaking of proper science, this year's Ig-Nobel prize for biology went to the team who, after investigating the sensitivity of our canine cousins to magnetic fields, discovered that dogs prefer to defacate and urinate along a north-south axis.
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news.discovery.com/tech/2014-ig-nobel-prize-winners-photos-140919.htm
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 December, 2014, 04:37:18 PM
QuoteI have also had direct experience of seeing a poorly altered NASA image of Mars, full of anomalies, replaced - you might remember that I wrote about that on this board as it was happening. It is one of the greatest frustrations I've ever known to be unable to prove that.

This is some of the most egregious bollocks I have ever read - and that's saying something. NASA is a publicly funded body - BY LAW everything they do and every picture they take has to be available to the public.
To suggest that a picture was loaded to their website (a process that takes a few days, usually, from the pictures arriving) then someone realised it had, I dunno, fucking ET waving at the camera, and then removing it, altering it and putting it back is just fucking stupid.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 20 December, 2014, 04:46:13 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 June, 1970, 06:55:31 AM
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Anyway, speaking of proper science, this year's Ig-Nobel prize for biology went to the team who, after investigating the sensitivity of our canine cousins to magnetic fields, discovered that dogs prefer to defacate and urinate along a north-south axis.
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news.discovery.com/tech/2014-ig-nobel-prize-winners-photos-140919.htm

Wind direction and speed is surely more important? My bog faces south if anyone's interested -so I piss facing north and shite facing south.

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 20 December, 2014, 04:58:18 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 04:32:05 PM
Well, I don't know if there's anything in what Hoagland says or not - but I suspect that there is.

I look forward to the next time I come across a piece that states that a 'big announcement' is due on such  and such a date, and then watching that date become three years ago....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 05:03:43 PM
That's not what happened, Rich.
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The image I saw appeared to show ancient artificial objects, like bits of scrap, some of which had been obviously "swirled over" with a Photoshopesque smudge tool. It appeared to be an unflattened image which was soon replaced by the flattened image in which the majority of the anomalies had been removed/obscured/replaced.
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From what I understand, NASA contracts out a lot of its image processing to private companies, who get the data before NASA and process it for them. Some of these companies may not be the scientific saints that NASA employees are. There is an information bottleneck as the data is transmitted from source to receiver to processor to NASA and can be intercepted and altered at any time. It's not quite as simple a process as you seem to think. The solution to this, of course, would be for the spacecraft to upload its images directly to the internet as well as professional imagers. NASA scientists wanted to do this but the government did not - guess who won?
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And just because something is law, that doesn't make it so, whether you capitalise it or not.
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And I'll thank you not to call me fucking stupid. I would not say such a thing to you.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 December, 2014, 05:21:29 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 05:03:43 PM
And I'll thank you not to call me fucking stupid. I would not say such a thing to you.

He didn't say you were fucking stupid, he said your assertion was fucking stupid. Which it is.

This alone:

Quotethe spacecraft to upload its images directly to the internet

is idiocy of such gargantuan magnitude that you should stop talking on this subject before you embarrass yourself further. Unless, of course, you have a credible citation for it, in which case I will offer you an unreserved apology.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 December, 2014, 05:23:57 PM
Tell me this then Shark. How does one take a perfect picture on Mars? There's barely any atmosphere, therefore barely any protection from all that nasty radiation the sun spews out constantly. I mean, CCDs are just kind of fancy solar panels, collecting a bunch of photons, which are then statistically analysed before being converted into ones and zeros which are analysed AGAIN before being re-resolved into an image. Then it has to be transmitted, literally BILLIONS of miles through the void of space (which isn't really a void, but teeeming with that radiation and particles) with as little signal loss as possible, and that's before it even has to penetrate the Earth's atmosphere (fucking jam-packed with all kinds of interference) before being received by Nasa whose computers have to analyse the data pacet AGAIN before resolving into an image to release to the public.

If you know of a better way, a way of getting a picture all the way from the harsh environment of Mars, through billions of miles of Solar winds and the atmosphere, onto my lapotop, without even the SLIGHTEST bit of distortion, you could make millions, but then again, you don't believe in money.

And what do these NASA scientists get for all their years of hard work and effort to show you what it looks like on another planet? They get called fucking liars by some joker on the internet.


(http://cdn.webfail.com/upl/img/67c31db4fb1/post2.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 05:30:55 PM
I thought you were ignoring me?
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Well, all right - data to receiver to internet and imaging companies directly. Data interpretation software would be freely available to download so that anyone who wants to devote the processing power to extracting the images can do so.
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No citation, sorry. I guess I'll have to live without your apology.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 December, 2014, 05:39:45 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 05:30:55 PM
No citation, sorry. I guess I'll have to live without your apology.

So —massively dubious technical aspects notwithstanding— your claim that NASA "wanted to do this" was something you pulled out of your arse, then?

And, yes, I do have you on ignore. Sadly, other people do not and when they quote you, I see what they quote.

To be clear: I do not have any personal animosity towards you, nor do I think you're stupid. Nonetheless, you say some brain-meltingly stupid things and attempting to convince of you simple facts or basic scientific principles is an exercise in frustration that can sometimes cause posters to become exasperated, myself included.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 December, 2014, 05:57:26 PM
QuoteTo be clear: I do not have any personal animosity towards you, nor do I think you're stupid. Nonetheless, you say some brain-meltingly stupid things and attempting to convince of you simple facts or basic scientific principles is an exercise in frustration that can sometimes cause posters to become exasperated, myself included.

Yes, this.

And also:
QuoteAnd what do these NASA scientists get for all their years of hard work and effort to show you what it looks like on another planet? They get called fucking liars by some joker on the internet.

THIS is a complete red rag to me. Like claiming that 9/11 or 7/7 didn't happen (as an example) is a massive insult to everyone who died or fought to save lives on that day, claiming scientists - SCIENTISTS - are involved in covering up, well, I'm not sure what you're claiming they're cover up - is an incredible insult to the men and women who spend years of their lives doing the impossible. 

Right, I'm off to drink beer and relax...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 05:57:59 PM
There is no citation because it came up in conversation in a science chat room a few years ago with a guy who worked for a lab that sub-contracted to NASA. His field was something to do with Pluto, as I recall. Therefore my citation would be "some guy in a chatroom" which even I know is unacceptable, despite the fact that he was one of the semi-regs I'd known for years.
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Nor do I have any animosity towards you, Jim. Would it surprise you to discover that I find you equally frustrating? You continually misinterpret my posts and then lead with your heart instead of your head. You say "this is stupid" but you rarely say why. Even here, you assume that I think the processes involved in getting data from Mars to the internet is a piece of piss which, as Pops points out, is simply not the case. You are exactly the kind of person, along with Rich and others, that I most enjoy verbal sparring with. (Which is why Rich's comment on my personal experience, or at least his skewed interpretation of it, upset me so much.)
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For what it's worth, I don't have anyone on ignore and, as far as I recall, I never have (well, maybe S***o once).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 06:26:23 PM
Rich, once again you misinterpret what I'm saying and lead with your heart instead of your head. You even say it yourself - "red rag".
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I believe that the overwhelming majority of scientists (the overwhelming majority of people on Earth, for that matter) are basically honest and decent. They do their jobs to the best of their ability and integrity.
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For you to suggest that I think otherwise is frankly insulting.
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Give a scientist data and he or she will work with it properly and correctly. Show a geologist images of Mars and he or she is in Heaven - as am I. I think that my living long enough to see such fantastic pictures of alien worlds in such exquisite detail, captured by such magnificent scientific instruments, is one of the most fantastic, awesome and mind-expanding aspects of still being alive to experience them. How, then, can I despise and distrust scientists as much as you accuse? My God, man - I love scientists!
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But NASA isn't run by scientists. It's run by the same people who run the White House, the FBI, the CIA, ATF and the Pentagon canteen - bureaucrats. Bureaucrats beholden to politicians. And science and politics don't mix - because politics will decide what to fund and install bureaucrats to assign data to scientists and scientists to data.
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I want nothing more than to see scientists in charge of NASA. Imagine the insane projects they'd come up with! It'd cost an absolute fortune, and they'd probably set fire to a lot of things, but the results would be incredible.
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At the moment at NASA, scientists work with the data they're given - with which they do an exemplary job. But yes, some scientists will be liars, a very few who want to go up in the world for whatever reason. It only takes a very few bad apples in strategic places, both among the scientists and the bureaucrats and the politicians, to skew the whole thing. The odd mistake here, lost data packet there and you could cover anything up - even from the NASA scientists.
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But surely if something fishy were going on, somebody would speak out? Well, some do.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 06:36:08 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 06:26:23 PM
The odd mistake here, lost data packet there and you could cover anything up - even from the NASA scientists.
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But surely if something fishy were going on, somebody would speak out? Well, some do.

More evidence-free horseshit.  By all means provide some evidence that these "few bad apples" are manipulating data- evidence other than "because I saw a picture that looked funny".
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 06:50:00 PM
Well, JPM, if it's something you're interested in looking into then I fear you'll have to do it for yourself because you wouldn't believe anything I said or trust any source I could cite or support any interpretation I could make.
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As far as I am concerned, this argument has reached an impasse and it might be as well to move on, if that's what everyone wants. Or we can carry on. Either way,  I can never go back to seeing the world in the same way as you do and you will never see the world as I do. Which is as it should be really.
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I enjoyed the debate, though. Very stimulating and 19.47 miles better than TV!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 07:01:29 PM
Heh - my last post was Reply #911 ;-)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 December, 2014, 08:57:09 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 06:50:00 PM
Well, JPM, if it's something you're interested in looking into then I fear you'll have to do it for yourself because you wouldn't believe anything I said or trust any source I could cite or support any interpretation I could make.


Well you don't appear to believe  or accept anything anyone else says.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 20 December, 2014, 09:40:12 PM
There's no point in continuing this argument, it's actually the sort of thing left to that other thread, which incidentally keeps me away from the board a lot, but as a sometime scientist the assertion that there's a select few who keep the rest from independently verifying stuff is frankly the most insulting thing. I know what you might say to that Sharks, but you know I'll disagree.

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 09:40:27 PM
I don't accept that.
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Er...
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Seriously, though, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. There are seven billion perspectives on this planet, and that's just the humans, so what right have I got to say that mine is superior to yours? None at all.
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When it comes to David Ike (whom I didn't bring up) I'd say there's about five to ten percent truth in what he says. Hancock, (whom I did bring up) I'd give 20 - 30% truth. Hoagland I'd give 52%, 52.75% tops. And it's that 2.75% that demands I take an interest. And that's all it is - an interest.
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And what exactly is it you want to say that I should accept or believe? I'm certain that there are many things we can agree on and some that we might and a few that we can't.
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Do I think that certain interests are trying to hide the fact that there are ancient ruins elsewhere in the Solar System? 52.75% sure, yeah. So I give the idea some time and some thought. (It's my brain, I can do what I want with it.)
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Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 December, 2014, 10:25:35 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 09:40:27 PM
I don't accept that.
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Er...
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Seriously, though, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. There are seven billion perspectives on this planet, and that's just the humans, so what right have I got to say that mine is superior to yours? None at all.


Even if someones perspective or opinion is that Blacks, Jews, Gays and Asians are sub-human scum? I don't get to say my way of thinking is superior?

Wise up
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 10:28:08 PM
Shark, why try to hide the fact there are ancient ruins. What is so threatening to our psyche that knowledge such as this cannot be released. It is simply nonsensical. All we can do is apply Occam's razor and the simple explanation: there aren't any ruins etc becomes the overwhelmingly likely answer. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 20 December, 2014, 10:28:46 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 09:40:27 PM

Do I think that certain interests are trying to hide the fact that there are ancient ruins elsewhere in the Solar System? 52.75% sure, yeah. So I give the idea some time and some thought. (It's my brain, I can do what I want with it.)
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No shit, it's yours to waste on this drivel.  And evaluate to within a hundredth of a percent how much you believe it.  Keep posting about it and people will keep telling you it's pure bughouse scatterfuck codswallop.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 20 December, 2014, 10:40:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 December, 2014, 06:26:23 PM

Give a scientist data and he or she will work with it properly and correctly. Show a geologist images of Mars and he or she is inAnd science and politics don't mix - because politics will decide what to fund and install bureaucrats to assign data to scientists and scientists to data.

After which the scientist publishes a paper on the data, which includes said data to be peer reviewed. Scientists can spout whatever crazy theories they like, but won't be taken seriously until they present their evidence to be ruthlessy torn apart by the science community. Scrutinized far past the point of "that's photoshopped, you can tell by the pixels"

Either you are hugely ignorant of how modern science works or you are trolling

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 20 December, 2014, 10:40:58 PM
QuoteAs far as I am concerned, this argument has reached an impasse and it might be as well to move on

Funny how that seems to happen when people either ask for facts or present evidence....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 December, 2014, 10:43:02 PM
A guy who said he worked for NASA said so in a chat room several years ago.

HOW MUCH MORE EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED, CLEMENTS?!

Ho ho ho.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 11:10:07 PM
E-mailing specs for a spanner to the ISS and 3D printing it. Zarjazz! Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 20 December, 2014, 11:39:06 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 10:28:08 PMShark, why try to hide the fact there are ancient ruins. What is so threatening to our psyche that knowledge such as this cannot be released.

I don't subscribe to what Sharky is espousing in this instance, but proof of life on other planets would be the biggest news in human history and the developed nations - whether they liked it or not - would be pushed towards new space exploration budgets none of them can afford thanks to their being stuck with long-term contracts with ineffective private companies and their reliance on outdated and increasingly-failing technology.  With the amount of money and conservative worldviews at stake, covering something up probably seems preferable to the alternative.

On the other hand, maybe NASA just don't want another fifty years of people thinking a splodge on a lens is proof of aliens, like what happened with that face thing or those "pyramids".  I mean, there's still nutters arguing we didn't go to the Moon.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 December, 2014, 11:56:51 PM
If there were indeed alien artifacts extant on another planet, asteroid or in free orbit around the Sun, there of course would be a public clamour to recover them. But this would be a boon to the Space Agencies. Budgets would be allocated and there would be a push for technologies to transport a team of technologists/archaeologists to the site. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 December, 2014, 01:28:21 AM
A boon to the space agencies, yes, but detrimental to the private industries that are responsible for western nations' space travel arrangements.  All NASA manned spaceflights are performed through corporate bodies who have deliberately held back the advancement of space exploration so that they won't have to pay to keep up and can continue to use decades-old rocket technology* and maximise profits from lucrative - and binding - government contracts.  Barring their having a lot more X-37s squirreled away somewhere, they can barely perform to standard as it is and would be royally fucked if they suddenly had to take part in a space race with the East.




*If Sharky had instead postulated that the American military industrial complex was conspiring to sabotage rival technologies that could advance the space programme by decades - such as those developed by Space X or Virgin Galactic - I would probably be a lot less skeptical and lap that shit up.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 December, 2014, 01:50:11 AM
Oh there is no dispute here over the role of private corporations in space. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 December, 2014, 02:08:06 AM
Here's an interesting factoid, most countries (at least all the ones who could currently acheive spaceflight) have signed an international agreement to neither independently annex any non-terrestrial territory nor contaminate them with terrestrial flora or fauna. Private corporations have not.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
Okay, so let's assume you're all right and that I'm a f*cking stupid idiot who believes everything he hears and is no better than a racist.
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Explain to me why it's impossible for there to be ruins on Mars or elsewhere in the Solar System.
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As to the why it might be covered up, well I don't really know, do I? Maybe it was because all the exploration started in the paranoid era of the First Cold War and certain interests didn't want the Russians to know. At what point do they "come clean" without stirring up the irrational anger that's been seen on this thread lately? To admit to that initial lie now would damage NASA's credibility and funding - even though the majority of NASA employees would know nothing about it.
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Maybe some of the Apollo missions brought back samples of life or ancient technology - why give that to the world when it could be studied in secret to gain a pharmaceutical or technological edge?
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Maybe it's simple human psychology in action. There's no sound scientific foundation upon which to state with any certainty that there was some kind of local interplanetary civilisation that predates us by maybe millions of years and so the default view of anything that might look odd is "it's strange but it's definitely natural." Given the reception that I, a completely unqualified layman, have been given here for even suggesting the possibility of such a thing, I can only imagine that the attitude within NASA is equally vitriolic. Under those conditions, which one of them would want to be the first to say, "actually, I think that might well be an artificial thing"? That person would be crucified, as I have been here but to a much greater degree.
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Maybe it's a combination of the above or something else. Or maybe I'm flat out wrong,  or only half right, who knows?
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I didn't want to talk about the possible cover-ups and politics concerning this subject - at least not on this thread - but I ended up having to. I wanted to talk about the possibility that there's something out there worth a second look and a different perspective. A different perspective is not a disease.
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I haven't provided any links because in most instances I can't. Most of the stuff I've learned has come from all over the place; books, magazines, internet, conversations and debates, school, TV, radio, imagination, inference, supposition. Yes, supposition - I admit it, how could anyone not? As I said earlier, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything but you demand links and sources as if I am. None of you are stupid, you know where to look if you're interested.
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But I will post one link, in the hopes of dragging this back in the direction I intended. It's a link to an image of Mars.
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Those formations to the bottom left, what could they be? The remains of some ancient alien 'Crystal Palace' buried in mud after the event that killed this world slowly being revealed through erosion? Is it a trick of the light? An ancient collapsed lava tube? Is it an indication of current life, in much the same way as a termite mound as life clusters around and follows a submartian water flow? (Mars appears to be a very dry world but perhaps not bone dry. There has been some hints that water might be able to exist in its liquid state on the surface for a short time before almost instantly boiling off into the atmosphere. The water cycle on wet Earth is very obvious but on Mars it may be way more subtle, just vapours and frost condensing out of the atmosphere and into the soil practically molecules at a time but still seeking the lowest level. Where water is so scarce any rivers would most likely be nothing more than damp streamers of soil with only the whisper of a flow. Life, if life there is, would likely stick close to and even follow these flows, just as plants follow rivers on Earth but in a vastly lower-energy environment.) Or is it just geology? What is it?
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www.msss.com/moc_gallery/ab1_m04/mediummaps/M0400291.jpg
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And regardless of all the politics and shouting, this is an image of Mars. It's magnificent that it even exists at all for us to argue about and admire.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 December, 2014, 08:33:35 AM
QuoteOkay, so let's assume you're all right and that I'm a f*cking stupid idiot who believes everything he hears and is no better than a racist.

Oh for god sake man, get over yourself.
As for the photo - what 'formations'?
Can you tell me the size of the image, please? What scale is it to and what kind of definition are we looking at?  For all I know this image could be twenty metres or twenty miles.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:40:46 AM
Then stop giving me something to get over and debate the topic "Life on Mars?" instead of all this bickering. Or start another topic. Or *something*.  There are all these fantastic images to look at and we're arguing about which way up to hold the photograph.
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I don't know the scale. Have a look on the NASA website, they usually display scale and resolution quite clearly. See for yourself so you know I'm not feeding you a false image of my own creation or something.
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The formations look like "giant worms" and have been called "glass tubes" by others.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 December, 2014, 08:59:37 AM
If ever there was a siege and I wanted a Lieutenant to hold it at all hazards you'd be the man I'd choose Shark. You aren't stupid and I don't think anyone has said you are. You are however very stubborn, and have defended your opinions to the last. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 December, 2014, 09:00:14 AM
Giant space worms... christ.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: CrazyFoxMachine on 21 December, 2014, 09:50:29 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/TDrGZ.gif)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 21 December, 2014, 10:01:59 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
Okay, so let's assume you're all right and that I'm a f*cking stupid idiot who believes everything he hears and is no better than a racist.
.
Explain to me why it's impossible for there to be ruins on Mars or elsewhere in the Solar System.

Nobody said it's flat-out impossible.  It's just exceedingly unlikely, an extraordinary claim for which you've not even provided ordinary evidence.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
As to the why it might be covered up, well I don't really know, do I? Maybe it was because all the exploration started in the paranoid era of the First Cold War and certain interests didn't want the Russians to know. At what point do they "come clean" without stirring up the irrational anger that's been seen on this thread lately? To admit to that initial lie now would damage NASA's credibility and funding - even though the majority of NASA employees would know nothing about it.

And again, this is why people are rubbishing this stuff.  You can think of silly, convoluted reasons why NASA might cover this up til the cows come home, but until you've shown that they are it's utterly pointless.  And you haven't, at all- you just take it as a given and spin increasingly complex narratives from there.  And again, how big is this minority that are actively covering this up?  Do you see why this doesn't belong in a science thread?

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
Maybe some of the Apollo missions brought back samples of life or ancient technology - why give that to the world when it could be studied in secret to gain a pharmaceutical or technological edge?

Yeah and maybe they found it actually was made of green cheese.  Or that it actually is a cosmic egg.  You see how easy it is to generate infinite possibilities and demand that somebody else disprove them, rather than actually adducing positive evidence for them in the first place? 

And again, this requires that literally thousands of people- from the Apollo astronauts themselves, and their families, to mission control, to the NASA scientists- be filthy liars, for no conceivable gain to themselves and which none of them has ever broken ranks over. 

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
Maybe it's simple human psychology in action. There's no sound scientific foundation upon which to state with any certainty that there was some kind of local interplanetary civilisation that predates us by maybe millions of years and so the default view of anything that might look odd is "it's strange but it's definitely natural." Given the reception that I, a completely unqualified layman, have been given here for even suggesting the possibility of such a thing, I can only imagine that the attitude within NASA is equally vitriolic. Under those conditions, which one of them would want to be the first to say, "actually, I think that might well be an artificial thing"? That person would be crucified, as I have been here but to a much greater degree.

Oh, stop playing the wounded ingénue.  I assume you wanted to converse with adults, wouldn't you prefer people to tell you they think you're speaking bollocks?   I would.  And a NASA scientist who produced positive evidence for any of this stuff would win the Nobel prize and guarantee trillions of dollars of funding for a new space race.  And you've not been "crucified" for "even suggesting the possibility of such a thing", your arguments and sources have been criticised for being shoddy, pseudoscientific, evidence-free, and relying on enormously powerful cabals.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
Maybe it's a combination of the above or something else. Or maybe I'm flat out wrong,  or only half right, who knows?

You're wrong.  With the same certainty that I reject astrology and the existence of fairies.  It's trivially possible that you might not be, but I'm not holding my breath.

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 08:18:43 AM
But I will post one link, in the hopes of dragging this back in the direction I intended. It's a link to an image of Mars.
.
Those formations to the bottom left, what could they be? The remains of some ancient alien 'Crystal Palace' buried in mud after the event that killed this world slowly being revealed through erosion? Is it a trick of the light? An ancient collapsed lava tube? Is it an indication of current life, in much the same way as a termite mound as life clusters around and follows a submartian water flow? (Mars appears to be a very dry world but perhaps not bone dry. There has been some hints that water might be able to exist in its liquid state on the surface for a short time before almost instantly boiling off into the atmosphere. The water cycle on wet Earth is very obvious but on Mars it may be way more subtle, just vapours and frost condensing out of the atmosphere and into the soil practically molecules at a time but still seeking the lowest level. Where water is so scarce any rivers would most likely be nothing more than damp streamers of soil with only the whisper of a flow. Life, if life there is, would likely stick close to and even follow these flows, just as plants follow rivers on Earth but in a vastly lower-energy environment.) Or is it just geology? What is it?

Dunno.  Have you asked a geologist?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 10:05:01 AM
No, Rich, I don't think that's what they are at all. I don't think it's likely that anyone actually does. The comparison to a worm is simply descriptive, as I thought I made clear. I would be amazed to discover that those things are actually giant living worm things, or the skeletons of them. Of all the possible descriptions of this feature I think that is one of the most unlikely.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 21 December, 2014, 10:09:19 AM
Oh, and whaddayaknow, a reverse Google image search on that photo revealed as the first result sourced Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_lava_tube) on Martian lava tubes, then one of Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy  (http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/hoagland/glassworm.html) pages on the subject.  And Richard Hoagland's fucking vomitous site, but hey, Google's not perfect.

Weird, people do know what they are, they do have an entirely naturalistic explanation, and we're not required to posit the existence of a conspiracy of underpants gnomes Illuminati bureaucrats/scientists that are simultaneously big and powerful enough to cover this up, but incompetent and stupid enough to allow evidence for the subject of their cover up to slip through, so that a random Brit on an internet comic forum can expose them.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 21 December, 2014, 10:22:07 AM
I'm certainly not on the side of the spaceworms here, and Russell's Teapot (or even Aldrin's Fist) does of course apply to all this, but I also think there is an element of unpleasantness in the way this argument is being conducted.  Science, for all that it's the closest thing to a belief system that I enjoy, is always an imperfect tool because it is socially constituted, and by default operated by people. Granted it's the best tool, and probably the only tool for the job, but asking questions about vested interests and the conservative power of paradigms is a legitimate activity.  I would ask that Shark presents some solid evidence to inform his concerns, but I don't see that expressing those concerns should invite the kind of derision I'm seeing here - if for no other reason than that highhanded pronouncements have a tendency to alienate and aggravate rather than inform and convince.  On both sides.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 21 December, 2014, 10:59:42 AM
QuoteI would ask that Shark presents some solid evidence to inform his concerns, but I don't see that expressing those concerns should invite the kind of derision I'm seeing here

No so much derision, but repeated frustration at the constant inability to produce evidence for outrageous claims. I see no reason at all to treat ludicrous ideas with any kind of respect. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 December, 2014, 11:04:51 AM
Ah but we're not getting anywhere with the discussion. Any other notable scientific news, bar the space spanner (not spinner). Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 December, 2014, 11:27:16 AM
Y'know what this reminds me of? Just after the History channel threw credibility out the window and started airing shows about Ancient Aliens, South Park addressed it. The jist of the episode was the pseudoscientists making more and more outrageous claims, offering no evidence and then claiming "you can't disprove me so I'm right!". All the while, Stan and Kyle get increasingly frustrated about having to explain the notion of burden of proof.

Look Shark, I'm not saying there's no possibility of life elsewhere, in fact I'm pretty sure there is, but your arguments are virtually baseless. If I were trying to convince someone there was life on other planets, I would start by referring to extremophiles and finish with the first line of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

IN CURRENT (actual) SCIENCE NEWS:
Did anyone read about the fish they found much deeper than they thought fish lived. 27,000 feet down in the Marianus Trench. The depths of the ocean is another frontier that has barely been explored, who knows what we might find next?
Please don't suggest Mermaids or Atlantis.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 December, 2014, 11:35:08 AM
More fish. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 December, 2014, 11:36:02 AM
Quote from: King Pops on 21 December, 2014, 11:27:16 AM
Did anyone read about the fish they found much deeper than they thought fish lived.

Fake. What are they REALLY finding down there? Eh? Eh?!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JamesC on 21 December, 2014, 12:31:42 PM
Maybe Gerry Anderson was on to something. First we had Stingray which showed an ancient civilisation beneath the sea and then Captain Scarlett showed us why it's a bad idea to go poking around on Mars.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 01:00:21 PM
My only claim is that life on Mars, past or present, is a possibility that I, personally, like to explore. If I had proof I'd show it to you - honest I would. If scientists at NASA had it, they'd show it to us as well.
.
Science is a conservative thing, I get that, it doesn't accept anything without incontrivertable proof. As far as science is concerned, given current understanding, Mars is a sterile rock and it will continue to be regarded as such until unassailable evidence to the contrary is found. There's nothing wrong with that approach - when you pick a rock up it's just a rock until you examine it closely and start to look for things, ask questions about it, analyse it, look at it. And then, the more you find out about it, the less it becomes just a rock and the more it becomes a complex, fascinating and even surprising thing in its own right.
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The surveyors on and around Mars, while technological marvels, are quite limited. Mars is a big place and the instruments we've sent can only image small fractions of it at a time and for many of the interesting and unusual features a second, third or fourth look would be helpful. But it's not as simple as that, you can't just tell an orbiter to slide over to Cydonia and take a snapshot. You have to wait until the orbiter passes close enough again, and in the correct lighting conditions, and using the correct camera and settings, and get the orientation correct and everything. So deciding what deserves a closer look is an important part of the mission.
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There are some things on Mars that demand a closer look and should be (in my opinion) prioritised for the next available pass and I think that Rich's Giant Space Worm is one of them.
.
The process of understanding Mars is undoubtedly going to be a long and frustrating one and the instruments we have there are tiny - the equivalent of a handful of microbes trying to map an orange.
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And as I keep saying, I'm not trying to convince anybody that there's life on Mars because I don't know. But I fail to see how it offends you all so much to speculate and explore the concept using certain images like the one I posted a link to if need be.
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Now, if you think that it's impossible to believe in the possibility of life on Mars without also believing in pixies, mermaids and fairy dust then that's your own affair. I was mistaken to rise to that simplistic "conspiracy theory" hypothesis you all seem to think you understand so well as this is not the thread for that. JPM is the only one who even tried to address what he thinks I think, and did a thorough and interesting job of it, but I don't want to argue about that on this thread.
.
King Pops himself points out a new discovery that expands our understanding of the expanding limits of life and then veers off into some deluded claptrap about mermaids instead of, oh, I don't know, wondering if that new discovery of fish where there was previously thought to be none might shine a light on the possibility of life elsewhere.  Jim then suggests something equally infantile instead of engaging with the argument about the possibility of extraterrestial life, past or present.
.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 21 December, 2014, 01:10:07 PM
Gerry Anderson's shows were deliberate misinformation and those involved were merely... ugh... puppets.

I agree with Sharky's broad point that at a certain level some of science is merely our best guess using the information we have available and how we can understand that information in our own limited way.  Boffins are in it to make a pound note and you can't fault them for wanting to eat - and they're at least offering answers and not just saying Allah did it to keep us on our toes, so there's that.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 December, 2014, 01:28:45 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 01:00:21 PM
Jim then suggests something equally infantile instead of engaging with the argument about the possibility of extraterrestial life, past or present.

I have expounded on the subject of extraterrestrial life at some length (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,33858.msg708184.html#msg708184) and am on record as saying I would be unsurprised if life was found on Mars (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,32312.msg820772.html#msg820772).

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 December, 2014, 01:29:23 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 01:00:21 PM

King Pops himself points out a new discovery that expands our understanding of the expanding limits of life and then veers off into some deluded claptrap about mermaids instead of, oh, I don't know, wondering if that new discovery of fish where there was previously thought to be none might shine a light on the possibility of life elsewhere.
.

Except I kind of did. I said my arguments for life elsewhere would begin with extremophiles. Either you didn't read that part or I need to apologise for not explaining what extremophiles are. They're forms of life that have been discovered on Earth in environments which were previously thought uninhabitable. Like inside volcanoes or beside those black smokers at the bottom of the sea where the water is supposed superheated, or even inside the antarctic permafrost, just deep enough so the suns rays don't tear them apart, but not so deep they don't receive any energy from it. These are the things astrobiologists study when considering the possibility of life beyond the stars.  But it still comes back to the same problem: we don't really know how life develops on planets because we only have a sample group of one to study and we don't even fully understand it. Finding life on another planet (and I'm just talking simple shit, not exocivilizations) would greatly expand our understanding of life.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 21 December, 2014, 02:24:45 PM
This thread is far too dismissive of mermaids for my liking.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 02:47:50 PM
Excellent, now we're getting somewhere, thank you. I myself mentioned tardigrades earlier as a possible model for some form of Martian, or even lunar life and I know what an extremophile is. At the moment I don't think we've got the correct instruments on Mars to answer this question definitively yet.
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I'm sure I'm not alone on this thread on wanting to see people go to Mars. There's no better information gathering device to have on site than the MKI Human Eyeball.
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We have to look at the images available as dispassionately as possible and consider all the options, even if only to dismiss them as unlikely or even impossible.
.
Looking at some of the Spirit and Opportunity images, sometimes I am struck by the rough similarity between a lot of rocks in certain areas which, even though of different sizes, share a kind of fat "dolphin fin" kind of shape. One explanation is that the prevailing winds have eroded these rocks into similar shapes over the years. Someone else might claim they were manufactured objects of some kind. I hypothesise that they might be the shells of rather large, snail-like animals that might not move very much.
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The most obvious explanation is, to me, the first one. My second choice would be the third but until a rover actually goes over and pokes one, or they change position over two or three images, then the first and simplest explanation has to suffice. That doesn't mean it's pointless looking through the images for supporting data to put into the Possible Circumstantial Evidence file - apart from anything else, looking through the images on NASA's website is enormously engrossing.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 21 December, 2014, 02:50:41 PM
Quote from: JPMaybe on 21 December, 2014, 10:01:59 AM
Dunno.  Have you asked a geologist?

Adjusts glasses, thumbs lapels

Well, seeing as you ask...

First of all I'll lay out my cards; I describe myself as a geologist/Earth scientist though do not currently work in that area (any offers greatly recieved). My geological knowledge is general, but sedimentary rocks tickle my fancy as palaeoenvironmental records, I also like a bit of deformation and who doesn't love volcanoes and stuff? My 'specialism' is using geochemistry to provenance glacial sediment (dunno why the job offers aren't flying in!  ::) )
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 21 December, 2014, 03:37:58 PM
What?! I wrote a long and likely quite boring post about how I'd interpret that fuckin image - where's it gone? Balls.

There's a lesson there somewhere.

The above post looks really stupid and pointless now so could the mods remove it please?

M.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 04:06:34 PM
Jim, I followed the link to your earlier post in which you talk about the same things we've talking about here. It's an interesting, informed, reasonable and enjoyable post of the type I enjoy reading. The fact that it didn't contain a single link is neither here nor there, is it?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 04:18:42 PM
I for one would like to know what you think, Mikey. The opinion of a trained mind is always interesting.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 21 December, 2014, 04:27:22 PM
After a lot of geological, fluvial and glacial gubbins I went for Giant Space Worm skeletons.

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 04:33:28 PM
Heh, I went for partially collapsed lava tubes with bright organics (mosses or lichens maybe) growing in the moisture trapped by the exposed and eroded expansion cracks.
.
It's a funny old world, innit?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 December, 2014, 05:54:10 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 04:06:34 PM
The fact that it didn't contain a single link is neither here nor there, is it?

You understand that there's a difference between me saying "Here's a well-known philosophical observation [The Fermi Paradox] and a bunch of relatively non-controversial facts [the estimated age of the universe; the age of the planet; the broad divisions of geological time] and from the latter, I infer what I presume to be a logical answer to the former" and you saying "I postulate a massive fucking conspiracy theory on which basis I will reject or cast doubt on basic scientific reporting without so much as a sniff of evidence beyond 'some bloke in a chat room told me a few years ago'" ...?

Because, if you don't understand the difference between those two scenarios, then I will have to re-evaluate my previous statements about not thinking you're stupid, and if you do then that post was a blatant troll with the sole intention of aggravating me.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 21 December, 2014, 06:05:15 PM
The Fermi paradox has fascinated me for years. The simplicity is beautiful. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 06:26:28 PM
I was commenting on my engaging with your points in no way being diminished by the lack of links. If there was something you said that I disagreed with or wanted to learn more about I'd have rooted about on the web for myself.
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And I'm not talking about conspiracies, you are. The fact that I suspect something's going on is neither here nor there on this thread. The fact that you disagree is also neither here nor there on this thread. I've already said it was a mistake for me to rise to that aspect of the debate and tried to talk about just the same topics you discussed in that first link.
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But no, for some reason you just won't let it drop, will you? You don't believe some of the things I do, I get that, honestly I do - but I don't bang on at you for being wrong.
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But as you seem determined to take offence at almost everything I say, I suppose none of that matters.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 December, 2014, 07:23:11 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 December, 2014, 06:26:28 PM
And I'm not talking about conspiracies, you are.

I would invite any rational human being to read your last few posts to this thread and try to work out how you kept a straight face when you typed that.

Beyond that, you're right: whether the aggravation is instigated, intentionally or otherwise, by you or whether it is a deficiency in my reading of your posts is immaterial. The net result is ill-feeling and further derailment of this thread, for which I will apologise to the Hive Mind and shut my gob.

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 22 December, 2014, 11:53:24 AM
Some groovy images of the moon courtesy of the Taikonauts.

http://moon.bao.ac.cn/multimedia/img2dce3.jsp (http://moon.bao.ac.cn/multimedia/img2dce3.jsp)

M
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 22 December, 2014, 03:37:11 PM
Lovely stuff. I may have to pinch one or two of those...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 December, 2014, 05:33:22 PM
They take forever to open on this 'phone but the ones I've seen are gorgeous. So sharp and clear, wonderful images.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 22 December, 2014, 11:12:43 PM
Aren't they just. I could look at images like these all day long.

(http://i.imgur.com/mSREXsB.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/roEbjcP.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 December, 2014, 11:17:30 AM
Kind of boggles your mind when you sit and think "I'm looking at a rock, like any other rock, on another celestial body". These pictures add a very wonderful tangibility to the fantasy of space exploration.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 23 December, 2014, 01:43:09 PM
Those photos are just so clear. Probably because there's none of that pesky atmosphere to obstruct the lens/sensor. Lovely images.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 December, 2014, 01:50:18 PM
Clearly just the Gobi desert at night and some Lego Technic.

Can't stop looking at these. Perversely magical.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 23 December, 2014, 02:11:19 PM
The photo of the Rock is a joy.
Keats words : 'Thou foster child of silence and slow time' come to me over this image of some thing beautiful from deep time. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2014, 08:21:16 PM
Interesting findings about Mars taking much longer to lose its water than previously thought (http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/12/mars-dried-out-over-a-much-longer-period-than-previously-thought/).

If life ever existed on a warmer, wetter Mars then this presumably makes the likelihood of extremophile microbial/bacterial life adapting to their increasingly-hostile environment more probable, rather than less...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 December, 2014, 05:11:49 AM
Not to mention possible plant life, perhaps mosses and lichens.
.
www.msss.com/moc_gallery/m07_m12/images/M08/M0804688.html
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2014, 07:40:29 AM
A detailed library of raw images from Mars (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/), listed day-by-day with details on which of the rover's cameras took them. Difficult for a layman like me to make a huge amount of sense of them without context or scale, but just fascinating nonetheless. The MastCam seems to have the best of them...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 24 December, 2014, 03:31:15 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 23 December, 2014, 08:21:16 PM
If life ever existed on a warmer, wetter Mars

More interesting stuff (http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/12/nasas-maven-charts-a-disappearing-martian-atmosphere/) on the processes by which Mars may have lost its atmosphere. Convincing in theory, it suggests a lower limit on the size of planet that can hang onto its atmosphere over cosmological timescales (ie, billions of years).

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 December, 2014, 12:33:21 PM
The Dawn spacecraft has begun its final approach to the Asteroid Belt dwarf planet Ceres. It is about to become the first spacecraft in history to leave the orbit of one previously unexplored celestial body and enter the orbit of another. How cool is that? The 'USS Enterprise' is another step closer...
.
dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/feature_stories/Dawn_spacecraft_begins_approach.asp
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 30 December, 2014, 03:46:42 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 December, 2014, 11:17:30 AM
Kind of boggles your mind when you sit and think "I'm looking at a rock, like any other rock, on another celestial body". These pictures add a very wonderful tangibility to the fantasy of space exploration.

Like this Martian sunset  -- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/MarsSunset.jpg/1280px-MarsSunset.jpg

Or Earth as viewed from Mars -- http://www.space.com/24593-mars-rover-curiosity-sees-earth-photos.html

Not new photo's, but still I could marvel at these all day long..
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 January, 2015, 06:46:15 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol)

Jesus.  Nobody told me there was a Demon Star; nor that it was called after Liam Neeson.

Come on, yous, let's go there.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 January, 2015, 07:31:47 PM
My favourite star(s)! I love watching it wax and wane, and the fact that it's one eye of Medusa's severed head.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 January, 2015, 08:30:38 PM
Now it's my favourite star too. After Harry Styles, that is. Ha ha ha! That's a really funny joke.  Classic!  Fair play to me ;-(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 January, 2015, 12:20:12 AM
I seem to recall that star being one of H.P. Lovecraft's favourites as well.
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Also - a "promising set of potential biosignatures" discovered on Mars: online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2014.1218
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 January, 2015, 04:30:58 PM
Hubble takes a new image of the 'Pillars of Creation' (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/01/06/hubble_and_m16_revisiting_the_pillars_of_creation.html). The article contains a link to a brilliantly high-res (33Mb) version of the image which is totally worth downloading and ooh-ing over for a few minutes.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 06 January, 2015, 05:05:33 PM
Holy shit, that's amazing.  I love the Pillars of Creation - not just because they have a name worthy of the best 80s power-ballad band ever, but also because the sheer vastness of them just cannot be conceptualised by the human imagination.  I think I got this link from one of our own boarders, but anyone who doesn't realise just how big this nebula is should zoom out till they find it.  It's like the end of Zenith Phase IV.


http://scaleofuniverse.com/ (http://scaleofuniverse.com/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 06 January, 2015, 06:07:20 PM
Am I wrong in saying that the Strontium Dogs story about Feral and the Gronks interaction with the Sorcerers of Lyrae involved the Demon Star Algal. The follow on is that Algal is in Persae and the sorcerers are from Lyrae? Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 06 January, 2015, 06:08:03 PM
Algol.....even. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 January, 2015, 01:48:42 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 06 January, 2015, 04:30:58 PM
Hubble takes a new image of the 'Pillars of Creation' (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/01/06/hubble_and_m16_revisiting_the_pillars_of_creation.html). The article contains a link to a brilliantly high-res (33Mb) version of the image which is totally worth downloading and ooh-ing over for a few minutes.

Cheers

Jim
That's a fucking phenomenal image and I would buy it as a poster if I could. I should really get into astronomy more.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tombo on 07 January, 2015, 09:24:29 PM
The number of exoplanets discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope has surpassed 1'000 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30705517) one of which has snatched the title of "Most Earth-Like"
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 08 January, 2015, 12:59:49 PM
and here's another of the Homunculus nebula http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30721794 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30721794)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 08 January, 2015, 01:23:56 PM
Quote from: Tombo on 07 January, 2015, 09:24:29 PM
The number of exoplanets discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope has surpassed 1'000 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30705517) one of which has snatched the title of "Most Earth-Like"

That's mental.  Exoplanets,  let alone earth-like ones,  were only known in science fiction until 1992. Will somebody please invent FTL travel?  I want to see the exoplanets!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 10 January, 2015, 03:45:51 AM
When reading this, I was reminded of that time I started ranting about gravitational lensing.

Here's the article:

Astronomers have directly measured the spin of a supermassive black hole in a quasar that is located 6 billion light years away. (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/rxj1131/)

Here's the picture:

(http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/rxj1131/rxj1131.jpg)

It's a composite of the visible and x-ray spectrums. In one of Neil DeGrasse Tyson's books* there is a fantastic chapter about how limited our senses is are. We can only hear limited frequencies, we can only see a small range of the electromagnetic spectrum, yet through miraculous ingenuity we can experience the universe beyond our biological limitations.

There's a theory. It looks like there's something supermassive in the centre of our galaxy. Maybe a black hole. The only other blackholes it is currently possible to observe are really far away. Now maybe that's because of our limited technology, maybe it's because you can only find black holes really far away. Or in cosmological terms, a long time ago. Maybe when we're looking at black holes we're watching galaxies beginning to aggregate.

*Death by Black Hole**
**They don't call them that in France because the literal translation of 'black hole' is a vulgar euphemism.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 13 January, 2015, 02:12:28 PM
From broadsheet.ie this morning: http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/01/13/futura-press/ (http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/01/13/futura-press/).
Science fiction creates the future
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 13 January, 2015, 03:21:20 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 13 January, 2015, 02:12:28 PM
From broadsheet.ie this morning: http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/01/13/futura-press/ (http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/01/13/futura-press/).
Science fiction creates the future

interesting list (though something went a bit wrong with the waterbeds entry!). Someday I'm going to trawl through all my 2000ads for a definitive list of Tharg predicting the future.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 January, 2015, 08:30:10 AM
Here's a thing. Apparently the IAU is launching a competition today to name exoplanets. Should we form a little group of Squaxx to enter with some suitably twoothsome names? Quaxxan, Termight, Nu-Earth and, er, some other ones.
.
Anyway, here's some linkies:

www.nameexoworlds.org/the_exoworlds

www.nameexoworlds.org/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 14 January, 2015, 10:02:59 AM
DREDD WORLD! That's my name for some mungously huge Exo planet 11 times the mass of Jupiter.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 January, 2015, 12:35:06 PM
How about planets being called things like Belardinelli and Hicklenton, maybe? But what would you name the star?
.
Star = Tharg
Planets = Dredd, Alpha, Hammerstein, Zenith etc?
.
Star = Sci-Fi
Planets = Clark, Asimov, Verne, Wagner etc?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Goaty on 14 January, 2015, 01:27:52 PM
Oh dear!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11344733/Astronauts-evacuated-from-International-Space-Station-section-due-to-harmful-leak.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11344733/Astronauts-evacuated-from-International-Space-Station-section-due-to-harmful-leak.html)

Astronauts evacuated from International Space Station section due to 'harmful leak'

Astronauts on the International Space Station were evacuated from its US section on Tuesday because of a leak of "harmful substances" from the cooling system, Russia's space agency said.
The "toxic substance was emitted from a cooling system into the station's atmosphere" in the US segment of the station, the agency said in a statement.
The crew was evacuated from the American sector and is now "safely located in the Russian segment," it added.
The American section has now been sealed off.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 January, 2015, 02:24:21 PM
Or, as Fox news might report it, "Brave American Astronauts Held by Putin's Cronies!"
.
Seriously, though, that sounds serious. Then again, if all you've got around you is a hard vacuum and radiation, I guess everything's serious. Fingers crossed for those folks, I'm sure they can fix it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 14 January, 2015, 05:25:26 PM
I've seen Interstellar. This won't end well.

Bad jokes aside, thoughts go out to the brave explorers on the edge of the world.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 15 January, 2015, 12:45:39 AM
Approaching Titan a Billion Times Closer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMxL3ZhO8A8)

It's like zooming in on Google Earth. But on Titan.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 January, 2015, 06:28:59 AM
The situation on the ISS seems do have been a false alarm caused by something called a Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) issuing data that another system interpreted as an ammonia leak. Whatever that means.
.
Anyway, the situation seems to have returned to normal, thankfully.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 15 January, 2015, 08:55:15 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 15 January, 2015, 06:28:59 AM
a Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) issuing data that another system interpreted as an ammonia leak.

Isn't this what the Borg tried to turn the Enterprise's deflector dish into in First Contact?  I'd start scanning for nano-probes toot sweet.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 15 January, 2015, 09:21:57 AM
The Borg would take a look at this sh*thole and run. They only assimilate to achieve greater perfection. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 January, 2015, 09:31:07 AM
Uh-oh... Tordels is right. What were the exact environmental conditions in the American module before it was abandoned?
.
And why are there tubules growing out of my Blackberresistance is futile...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 15 January, 2015, 05:17:22 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 14 January, 2015, 05:25:26 PM
I've seen Interstellar.

So have I.  :(

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Grugz on 15 January, 2015, 09:44:25 PM
well, I hope stella didn't mind
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 16 January, 2015, 10:10:25 AM
Beagle 2... so near, yet so far... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 January, 2015, 11:18:40 AM
A E Van Voight 'd be turning in his grave. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: I, Cosh on 16 January, 2015, 11:20:07 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 16 January, 2015, 11:18:40 AM
A E Van Voight 'd be turning in his grave. Z
Just quoting this so everyone knows I got this terrible joke. Cheers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 January, 2015, 01:03:38 PM
It was bad I concede. Z :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 January, 2015, 04:51:04 PM
When I was a squirt, there were nine planets in the Sol System. Now there are only eight. Or is that ten? Some scientists have done some sciencey stuff and calculated that there may be two more planets out beyond the orbit of Neptune: www.agenciasinc.es/en/News/Trans-Neptunian-objects-suggest-that-there-are-more-planets-in-the-solar-system
.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 January, 2015, 05:26:59 PM
Officially 8, according to the IAU: I miss Pluto/Charon. Z  :(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 January, 2015, 05:53:23 PM
Speaking of Pluto and Charon, the New Horizons space probe is about to start taking photos of Pluto and its moons to help fine-tune its approach. They're just going to be points of light at this distance but, as it hurtles closer,  I can't wait for the first close-ups of this distant, mysterious world!
.
pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/whereis_nh.php
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 17 January, 2015, 03:15:25 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 16 January, 2015, 05:26:59 PM
Officially 8, according to the IAU: I miss Pluto/Charon. Z  :(

Me too.  Weird how growing older means that science grows older too, and thus you constantly have to adjust your mental image of things you've never seen.  It was disappointing to find out that tyrannosaurs didn't stand menacingly upright after all; but far more so to discover they had fecking feathers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 17 January, 2015, 03:50:41 PM
Don'tthink of it as losing Pluto, think of it as gaining dozens, maybe hundreds, of new dwarf planets!

The one that continues to mess with my head is the Jovian system: 4 moons, Io, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa (on which no landing may be attempted), nicely shown on a poster from Armagh Planetarium. 4 moons, imagine that! Oh wait, maybe it's actually 7. Or 12.  No, it's 63.  Just leave me alone.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 20 January, 2015, 12:25:13 PM
I imagine how I feel. Some of my best mates were Brontosaurs and now I find out I imagined them.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 21 January, 2015, 01:27:15 PM
Neat overview of Curiosity's 28 months (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/science/space/curiosity-rover-28-months-on-mars.html?WT.mc_id=AD-D-E-KEYWEE-SOC-FP-JAN-AUD-DEV-INTL-0101-0131&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=IntlAudDev&kwp_0=8032&kwp_4=58645&kwp_1=120734&_r=1) on Mars... scroll down to get rid of the headache-inducing animation that greets you on clicking that link!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 24 January, 2015, 07:56:30 PM
Didn't really know where to post my delight in Pauline Cafferky's release from hospital fully recovered; but here seems good. My compliments to her fantastic medical team. I hope recoveries like this will be a further incentive to translate this into results in West Africa. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 January, 2015, 07:38:15 PM
She's erstwhile Irish goalie Packy Bonner's cousin don't you know. Weirdest headline for this story by a mile.

Apparently the Canadians had a viable cure about ten years ago but a lack of funding meant they couldn't store it properly and it all spoiled. Also the head of CDC in the states claims they could've had a cure years ago if the government didn't spend all their money on bombs. Puts Shark's Call me Dave's earlier post in context
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 25 January, 2015, 07:40:50 PM
Quote from: King Pops on 25 January, 2015, 07:38:15 PM
She's erstwhile Irish goalie Packy Bonner's cousin don't you know. Weirdest headline for this story by a mile.

Never knew that.  Then again,  I also thought that 'erstwhile' meant 'worthy' until a couple of months ago.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 January, 2015, 07:45:10 PM
I'm claiming that fact is relevant to science as it falls under the remit of genetics
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 25 January, 2015, 07:48:40 PM
 Well that's your erstwhile understanding of the term put finally to rest Jayzus. Z  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 February, 2015, 12:10:33 AM
Cure for tinitus (http://my-tinnitus-solution.com/?hop=haff1) .



Great news if true as I understand tinitus is a real torture for a lot of people. (Thankfully I don't get it much although I do remember heraring a vague ringing when the room is very quiet, particuarly when I was a child, but it was never that disturbuing for me. )The video explanation takes ages to get to the point, which basically boils down to:

Scientist bods in Oxford uni discovered tinitus is caused by the breakdown of something called the myelin sheath which covers nerves in the ears (or is it nerve leading form the cochlea to the brain? Not too clear on that.) It's protection basially.

A particular compound of chemicals will allow your body to create antibodies which will rebuild the myelin sheath.

These chemicals are found in foods that can be bought easily. So change your diet a bit according to the guide this guy is trying to flog, and ... cure for tinitus, with large excess rate.

Yes, it could be a con. They provide a money back guarantee but in the end, will they honour it?

I don't know. But if true, I thought it woudl be of interest anyway. I know there are likely to be tinitus sufferers here as it's a pretty widespread condition.

I might get the guide for a mate of mine if he's interested as he suffers from it. The introductory price (33.07 including postage) seems a bit steep to me as we're basically taliking about a book, but I imagine for a sufferer of the condition that wouldn't be much at all. If it works.

The guy in the video doesn't half go on though...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2015, 01:30:54 AM
If it's just a matter of diet, and isn't patient-specific, wouldn't it be nice for someone to make that information freely available. My eyebrow, she is raised.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 02 February, 2015, 07:15:32 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 17 January, 2015, 03:15:25 PM
Me too.  Weird how growing older means that science grows older too, and thus you constantly have to adjust your mental image of things you've never seen.  It was disappointing to find out that tyrannosaurs didn't stand menacingly upright after all; but far more so to discover they had fecking feathers.

Everyone knows that Tyrannosaurs were furry (see Flesh Book One and Dinosty for details).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 02 February, 2015, 07:47:59 AM
Several tons of ill disposed; single minded carnivire would have been a bad boy/girl to meet, feathered or not. Z  :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 February, 2015, 08:48:19 AM
I too am sceptical of the tinnitus cure. Check out mainstream medical sites and herbal/natural remedy sites as well. If those greedy pharmaceuticalists and crazy herbalists haven't found a cure yet I"m pretty sure Mr Buymybook hasn't either. Although there is a small chance I could be wrong.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 02 February, 2015, 11:09:12 AM
According to the video, it wasn't so much him discovering the cure as Oxford researchers.
Theyre not making it available yet as they have to go through the correct procedures which will take years.

As this guy is not in the medical profession he isn't restricted.

Don't get me wrong. I'm skeptical too. Just providing devil's advocate as it were.

I particularly disliked the bit at the start where he mentioned 'doctors lying about there be in no cure for tinnitus.   Even if it is for real, if it's a new thing , then they'd be ignorant of it, yes? How is speaking what they understand to be true a lie?

The fact he is taking that tactic to sell his book doesn't really give him much credence.

But... I'm curious and hopeful. Personally if it's for real I think he should only charge enough to cover the costs of book production and delivery but I'm naive about these things.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 02 February, 2015, 11:42:31 AM
Sounds like absolute bollocks to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelin

If your diet could spur the regeneration of myelin, that'd be.... immense. Neurologists would be weeping with joy.

In any case, dietary changes are not pharmaceuticals. They don't need to test a banana and put it through NICE and trials and so on to tell you it's a good source of potassium and you should probably put down the chips and eat some of them from time to time. And taking that into account, there are various tests which appear to have shown a tendency for vitamin D and B12 deficiencies in adults with tinnitus. Something which you can remedy easily with a quick trip to the pharmacy and some multivitamins. No need to spend £33 on this chap's book.


Seems like a team in Leicester is actually the one with the latest studies on the matter, so the cynical part of me says that Oxford reference is a calculated attempt at acquiring prestige.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2014/february/tinnitus-study-signals-new-advance-in-understanding-link-between-exposure-to-loud-sounds-and-hearing-loss





Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 February, 2015, 04:59:20 PM
Dunno if anyone else is listening to the Infinite Monkey Cage just now, but we've had a couple of very interesting snippets that I hadn't heard: that there's a large, salt water body with roughly the same salinity as Earth's oceans under the ice on Enceladus that is likely to contain compounds "of biological interest", and that the Rosetta mission has detected long-chain carbon molecules and amino acids on 67P...

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 02 February, 2015, 05:28:27 PM
67 p is that a stellar catalogue number for Pegasus or Perseus? Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 February, 2015, 05:46:11 PM
The P stands for 'periodic comet'.   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyumov%E2%80%93Gerasimenko)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 February, 2015, 05:48:17 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 02 February, 2015, 05:46:11 PM
The P stands for 'periodic comet'.   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyumov%E2%80%93Gerasimenko)

And was substantially quicker to type than Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 02 February, 2015, 05:49:27 PM
Cheers for the info. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 03 February, 2015, 08:17:22 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 02 February, 2015, 04:59:20 PM
Dunno if anyone else is listening to the Infinite Monkey Cage just now, but we've had a couple of very interesting snippets that I hadn't heard: that there's a large, salt water body with roughly the same salinity as Earth's oceans under the ice on Enceladus that is likely to contain compounds "of biological interest", and that the Rosetta mission has detected long-chain carbon molecules and amino acids on 67P...

That's today's work-based listening material sorted - thanks, Jim.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 06 February, 2015, 05:56:02 PM
Pluto! - http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/february/nasa-spacecraft-returns-new-images-of-pluto-en-route-to-historic-encounter/#.VNT-pZ2sWZs


(http://i.imgur.com/yxPJJZn.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 06 February, 2015, 06:33:55 PM
And Charon. Cant wait to see the high res stuff from the fly-by. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 07 February, 2015, 06:04:14 PM
Stumbling across some anti-vaccination stuff made me (once again) appreciate how fantastic science is, because from the perspective of the pre-jenner days I am like a superhuman thanks to science. I'm (likely) immune to hepatitis, rabies, polio, poxes of varius types, tetanus, TB, and probably more from before I started to be interested in this stuff.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 08 February, 2015, 09:00:36 PM
Quote from: Theblazeuk on 07 February, 2015, 06:04:14 PM
Stumbling across some anti-vaccination stuff made me (once again) appreciate how fantastic science is, because from the perspective of the pre-jenner days I am like a superhuman thanks to science. I'm (likely) immune to hepatitis, rabies, polio, poxes of varius types, tetanus, TB, and probably more from before I started to be interested in this stuff.

Of course, that also makes you autistic with an inflamed colon.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 08 February, 2015, 09:10:32 PM
:

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 08 February, 2015, 10:21:39 PM
 :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 09 February, 2015, 08:50:44 AM
Well played,  sir.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 February, 2015, 06:29:36 AM
Smile for the camera!
.
(http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/15861603283_3579db3fc6_o.jpgn)
.
Hubble captures gravitational lensing.
.
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/15861603283_3579db3fc6_o.jpgn
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 February, 2015, 02:56:14 PM
Nasa are considering sending a submarine to Titan to sail the methane sea there.

If that's not drokking fantastic I don't know what is
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 February, 2015, 03:06:50 PM
Is there oil on Titan, serious question? Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 February, 2015, 03:30:37 PM
I don't think there's any evidence. Seems highly unlikely though, you would need complex macrofauna to have existed on ancient Titan to form fossil fuels.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 February, 2015, 03:31:59 PM
Yes, but how long before I can go on a scuba holiday their!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 February, 2015, 03:35:25 PM
Well before you even start worrying about transport, you'd need a scuba suit that could sustain you in liquid methane, which is about -165oC.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 February, 2015, 03:37:44 PM
Cheers KP, I remember reading a Stephen Baxter short story where they turned hydro carbons into petro chemicals on the oceans. The oceans contained some form of liquid methane. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 February, 2015, 04:04:54 PM
The lakes on Titan are basically lighter fluid. It's been estimated that there are more hydrocarbons on Titan than anywhere else in the Solar System - including Earth.
.
www.universetoday.com/12800/titan-has-hundreds-of-times-more-liquid-hydrocarbons-than-earth/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 February, 2015, 04:26:27 PM
Cool, if we could only stop fucking around killing poor people over resources down here and try and develop some kind of workable off earth industrial base as per Gerard O'Neill, Sagan, Dyson and so many others. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 February, 2015, 05:19:12 PM
I wonder if that's what the judges imprisoned on Titan are doing? Filling an endless supply of disposable lighters to sell to other Mega Cities to help fund the Justice Department?*
.
*in the prog, I mean, not in real life...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 February, 2015, 06:36:05 PM
www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/02/16/Scientists-fail-to-explain-strange-plumes-spotted-on-Martian-surface/1111424106792/
.
Uh-oh, isn't this how the War of the Worlds started?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 17 February, 2015, 12:35:19 PM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 16 February, 2015, 04:26:27 PM
Cool, if we could only stop fucking around killing poor people over resources down here and try and develop some kind of workable off earth industrial base as per Gerard O'Neill, Sagan, Dyson and so many others. Z

Maybe send some kind of giant oil refinery in space named after a Joseph Conrad novel that stops off at  remote planetoid LV246  on the way home. That can't possibly end in tears.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 February, 2015, 01:09:09 PM
And 50 years later send a penny pinching military mission after them in a ship named after a town in a Conrad novel 'it's the only way to be sure'. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 February, 2015, 07:22:01 AM
Our Solar System does not orbit the centre of the Milky Way in a straight line but undulates like a roller coaster. Does this motion periodically send us through a plane of "dark matter" which perturbs Oort objects and heats the Earth's core, causing geological upheavals, comet impacts and mass extinctions?
.
mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/448/2/1816.full
.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 February, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
Nah. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 February, 2015, 10:00:47 AM
Although I hate WIMPs as a mechanism for anything, that paper is pretty exciting, and in a decent journal too.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 February, 2015, 11:04:53 AM
I personally distrust the idea of "dark matter" - although I know now my mistrust was based on a misconception. I was labouring under the impression that dark matter was actual matter, but invisible and intangible matter. Now it seems that dark matter isn't necessarily matter at all, just a label given to a phenomena which could be anything from invisible/intangible matter to unknown energies to wrinkles in spacetime to multidimensional geometry. I'm still not sold on the idea but it's now making a little more sense to me.
.
I think the phenomena needs a better name buy I'm sure that will come in time as we discover more about it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 March, 2015, 06:58:47 AM
Some scientists have being doing some science on computers and think it's possible for at least one basic requirement for life to exist in extremely cold environments such as Titan.
.
Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome (http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/1/e1400067).
.
I didn't understand a word of it, naturally, but these folk seem to know what they're talking about and so I allowed myself to experience a feeling of bemused excitement.
.
It got me thinking, though, about how an intelligent cryo-species might develop technologically. Humans' technological advancement arguably began in earnest with the mastery of fire; but what about Titan? With virtually no oxygen, what would be the equivalent?
.
Even if these hypothetical cryo-people could light something as innocuous to us as a camp fire, to them the heat would be extreme - the equivalent, I suppose, of volcanic heat. So I reckon they would have to use either natural geothermal heat or a chemical process.
.
As water ice is as hard as rock on Titan, maybe their first technologies would be about melting water ice and moulding it into axe-heads, spear-tips and knives. (The equivalent to our Stone Age; their Ice Age?) Later, they might learn to add certain things to the melted water so that when it freezes again it becomes stronger, less brittle or even flexible - alloys made from water rather than metals (their Bronze Age maybe).
.
This would be a very useful technology; they could create many things from ice; anything from a sewing needle to a sword to the spire of a cathedral. Would they ever be able to generate temperatures high enough to develop metallurgy, though? Could they ever build and launch a Sputnik, or would their own environment make this next to impossible for them?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 04 March, 2015, 06:26:05 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 03 March, 2015, 06:58:47 AM
Some scientists have being doing some science on computers and think it's possible for at least one basic requirement for life to exist in extremely cold environments such as Titan.
.
Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome (http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/1/e1400067).
.
I didn't understand a word of it, naturally, but these folk seem to know what they're talking about and so I allowed myself to experience a feeling of bemused excitement.
.
It got me thinking, though, about how an intelligent cryo-species might develop technologically. Humans' technological advancement arguably began in earnest with the mastery of fire; but what about Titan? With virtually no oxygen, what would be the equivalent?
.
Even if these hypothetical cryo-people could light something as innocuous to us as a camp fire, to them the heat would be extreme - the equivalent, I suppose, of volcanic heat. So I reckon they would have to use either natural geothermal heat or a chemical process.
.
As water ice is as hard as rock on Titan, maybe their first technologies would be about melting water ice and moulding it into axe-heads, spear-tips and knives. (The equivalent to our Stone Age; their Ice Age?) Later, they might learn to add certain things to the melted water so that when it freezes again it becomes stronger, less brittle or even flexible - alloys made from water rather than metals (their Bronze Age maybe).
.
This would be a very useful technology; they could create many things from ice; anything from a sewing needle to a sword to the spire of a cathedral. Would they ever be able to generate temperatures high enough to develop metallurgy, though? Could they ever build and launch a Sputnik, or would their own environment make this next to impossible for them?

Which reminds me; Must re-read A.C.C's 2061, again at some point soon.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 March, 2015, 06:57:02 PM
Anyone know what this might be? My mate sees it as irrefutable proof for the existence of aliens.  My definition of 'proof' is quite different,  but I still haven't a bleeding clue what it could be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvTw5nwazGs&sns=em (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvTw5nwazGs&sns=em)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 05 March, 2015, 07:24:39 PM
It's clearly an Inhibitor pack lurking on the sun. :)

Actually it looks like some sort of coronal mass ejection as part a solar flare or filament eruption.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 05 March, 2015, 07:33:26 PM
Ooh. Not just flowing water on Mars, but the possibility of a bloody great ocean of the stuff (http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/05/nasa-finds-evidence-of-a-vast-ancient-ocean-on-mars)...!

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 05 March, 2015, 10:43:24 PM
Shit Jayzus, it is the Excession from that banks novel!!!. There are lots of magnetic flux and high temperature plasma phenomena going on in the solar atmosphere.

The posible.super abundance of water on Mars is intriguing; as is the Lunar water ice. Makes some form of future human presence all the more workable. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 March, 2015, 01:09:30 AM
So, those bright spots on ceres. What the fuck are they? Has me on tenterhooks, it's very exciting. The main theories are either water being ejected by some sort of geyser or ice volcano, or aliens*. I'm kinda hoping it's a new phenomenon entirely.

*because, y'know NASA is an organisation founded solely to hoodwink the public.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 08 March, 2015, 08:53:14 AM
My money's on Gully Foyle.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 08 March, 2015, 10:33:57 PM
Quant suff! Tordel dude. Z :lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 March, 2015, 06:51:06 PM
Ooh - there's going to be a solar eclipse on Friday! www.ukweatherforecast.co.uk/solar-eclipse-friday-20th-march-uk-weather-forecast/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 March, 2015, 07:49:01 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 16 March, 2015, 06:51:06 PM
Ooh - there's going to be a solar eclipse on Friday! www.ukweatherforecast.co.uk/solar-eclipse-friday-20th-march-uk-weather-forecast/

yeah, looking forward to that. Shame that it's not a totality though. The difference between "it's gone very gloomy" and day turning to midnight like a switch has been flicked is quite big.

I went down to Devon for the 1999 one and found it to be spine-tinglingly impressive, but nobody seemed to have been that impressed when I got home. (I do live in Manchester though - If it had rained fire and rainbows, most folk would've said " 'sa'right, but I've seen better!")
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 10:20:06 AM
I love exoplanets, me.  They were only in science fiction when I was a kid, and now they're real.

What I'd like to know, though, is how the hell do astronomers know what they're like?  How can they possibly know that there's a planet made of diamond, or one where liquid glass rains sideways?  Surely you can't see this with even the most powerful telescope.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 10:43:43 AM
I think it's a combination of factors including the mass of a planet, its distance from the parent star and looking at absorbtion lines from light shining through their atmospheres from both the parent and other stars - and guesswork based on known factors. I may be wrong on this, of course.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 10:49:02 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 10:43:43 AM
I think it's a combination of factors including the mass of a planet, its distance from the parent star and looking at absorbtion lines from light shining through their atmospheres from both the parent and other stars - and guesswork based on known factors. I may be wrong on this, of course.

Cheers Sharky, that's more than I knew anyway
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 March, 2015, 11:00:41 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 10:20:06 AM
I love exoplanets, me.  They were only in science fiction when I was a kid, and now they're real.

One important thing to remember about the seeming abundance of exoplanets... there's a quick run down of detection methods here (http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/page/methods), but —I believe— the transit and lensing methods are among the most commonly used. These only work when the planets travel across 'our' field of vision — if any star has planets whose plane of the ecliptic not edge-on to us, those planets are effectively invisible to lensing and transit detection.

It's actually quite likely that planetary systems around stars are the norm.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 March, 2015, 11:15:08 AM
Yes, it is about the head on orientation.

The fascinating thing is the detection methods can now define terrestrial sized planets (super earth's etc).

The spectrum absorption lines are also interesting.

The Nearest stars are showing up possible planetary systems eg Alpha Cent A + B and Tau Ceti. The last Tau Ceti is particularly interesting as it is almost 6 billion years old (2 billion more than the Sun) so life if omni prevalent would have potentially started off earlier. Though I have read the star is surrounded by a massive debris field. Hope they didn't blow themselves up!! Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 03:21:48 PM
 Thanks, guys, it's great to get a better understanding of this fascinating subject.  What with the 'many worlds' theory of quantum physics and the existence of these bizarre planets, reality is getting more 2000ad all the time. 
Which sort of makes the Fermi Paradox all the more prominent.  Where is everyone?  I want Dyson Spheres and gas monsters.

(If you are absolutely sure you have the correct answer, shut up.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 17 March, 2015, 03:31:23 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 03:21:48 PM
Which sort of makes the Fermi Paradox all the more prominent.  Where is everyone?

I'm absolutely sure I have the correct answer (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,33858.msg708184.html#msg708184).*

Cheers!

Jim

*No, I'm not.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 17 March, 2015, 03:40:19 PM
I remember that post.  Got to say, it's the best argument for the Fermi Paradox I've seen.  You really do know your shit (or at least are very convincing when hypothesising your shit).
I would still really, really love if scientists found a Dyson Sphere, or at least a slice of one like in Ringworld.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 March, 2015, 03:44:51 PM
Wonderful post Jim. I am facinated with the paradox. I'd say it is berserkers or some sinister von Nuemann type device (qnd we're blaring our existance out over the local stellar region (radio waves out to over 100 ly)....kidding sort of. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 March, 2015, 03:47:08 PM
It wouldnt be a solid sphere, more of a swarm of discrete structures in orbit around a star. It would be interesting if there are stars which are showing a steady drop in their light curves over a couple of centuries. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 04:13:13 PM
I'm glad there are some things upon which Jim and I can agree.
.
Myself, I suspect that simple life is ubiquitous, complex life is common and "intelligent" life is rare. Dip that rarity into deep time and it's not surprising we haven't found any yet.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Link Prime on 17 March, 2015, 05:24:39 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 04:13:13 PM
I'm glad there are some things upon which Jim and I can agree.

One would hope you're both fans of 2000AD too.

Interesting stuff on the thread today.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 06:24:16 PM
That's true. See? We are getting along! (I'm also a fan of Jim's lettering - but don't tell him that...)
.
In other (old) science news, what does everyone think about this Cannae Drive (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/31/nasa-validates-impossible-space-drive) thing? I've only just come across this and there seems to be very little about it out there. Some sites say it's impossible (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/outthere/2014/08/06/nasa-validate-imposible-space-drive-word/), and I can't find anything about it on NASA's main website, but some scientists seem to think there might be something to it (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140006052) - though nobody seems quite sure what that something might be. If it's true, it could open up a new world of exploration.
.
I don't know what to make of it but I'd love for this thing to actually work...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 17 March, 2015, 09:15:11 PM
Cannae: the impossible victory love the symbolism. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 17 March, 2015, 10:21:43 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 17 March, 2015, 06:24:16 PM
That's true. See? We are getting along! (I'm also a fan of Jim's lettering - but don't tell him that...)
.
In other (old) science news, what does everyone think about this Cannae Drive (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/31/nasa-validates-impossible-space-drive) thing?

I forgot which thread we were in and genuinely expected a website about angry Scotsmen against the fascistic DVLA when I clicked that link.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 March, 2015, 07:13:35 AM
This is possibly the best link title I've ever posted: Iron Rain. (https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/iron_rain/#.VQpygusRfBA)
.
You'd think all the Moon's craters have been found already with maybe a few tiddlers left to be spotted, right? Not a bit of it - researchers recently discovered a 124 mile wide Lunar crater and named it after Emilia Earhart. (http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2015/Q1/purdue-team-puts-earhart-on-the-moon-with-discovery-of-new-crater.html)
.
Finally, some maths for exoplanet fans predicts "...that there are, on average, 2 ± 1 planets in the habitable zone of each star." (http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/448/4/3608.full)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 March, 2015, 07:42:55 AM
Two great links to have with brekkie, cheers Shark. My reading of the latter is that the 2+/-1 figure for the habitable zone relates to those systems where Kepler has already snagged planets, rather than a general average? It is, as others keep noting in this thread, the most incredible thing to see an article of faith for the ageing SF fan turned into reality.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 19 March, 2015, 07:49:06 AM
The Irish News did a nice wee article on it yesterday. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 March, 2015, 08:57:40 AM
I would read it the same way, Tordels - although I guess it could be extended to something like, "all stars of the type and range analysed by Kepler have an average of one to three planets in the habitable zone." So, I think, could be extended to cover the whole galaxy and, further, all galaxies similar to our own. But I'm not a mathematician or an astrophysicist so my interpretation could be wrong.
.
But yes - it is arsom to see old sci-fi tropes making the transformation from fantasy through theory to fact. One wonders when alien life will make the same journey, as it surely must.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 March, 2015, 09:12:38 AM
As an aside, I often wonder about "rogue planets" wandering interstellar space, orphaned by supernovae or gravitational upsets (say when two stars pass each other, disrupting their systems). How many stars have "stolen" planets from other stars? The inhabitants (if any) who might arise billions of years after their planet has been captured might really be scratching their heads over why their homeworld is of a different age and composition to the rest of their solar system.
.
Further, a rogue planet stripped away from its parent star and wandering into a nebula might, because of its gravity, act as the initial "seed" for the growth of a new star. As it pulls more and more gas and dust towards it, growing bigger and bigger, could such an orphan eventually become so bloated that it transforms into a star with planets of its own? I wonder if stars formed in this manner would be any different to other stars or, in a universe as old as ours, is this how the majority of stars are formed these days? And is interstellar space filled with lonely, cold planets and their moons?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2015, 09:15:09 AM
Does anyone know where I could get some of those protective glasses for watching the eclipse through? Despite Cox and O'Brien advocating them last night on BBC2 I don't see them for sale anywhere...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 20 March, 2015, 09:35:45 AM
 Looking rather dim now ( currently on a bus on way to work ) but with the cloud cover its been pretty overcast anyway.

I do think it's a bit darker than normal for this time though but not that much for this weather.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 20 March, 2015, 09:41:56 AM
Totally unobstructed view in Belfast, wonderful. Z :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Banners on 20 March, 2015, 09:56:47 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 March, 2015, 09:15:09 AM
Does anyone know where I could get some of those protective glasses for watching the eclipse through? Despite Cox and O'Brien advocating them last night on BBC2 I don't see them for sale anywhere...

There will be plenty on eBay any moment now...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 20 March, 2015, 10:10:44 AM
Bit darker here but heavy cloud cover means no show anyway. Disappointing. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2015, 10:17:06 AM
Oh fuck I missed it! Cloud cover was horrendous here in Bolton.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 10:37:34 AM
So the edge of the path of the total eclipse was as dull as the sunshine on Uranus.
Tee hee, snigger, guffaw etc......

(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/albion79uk/af07d5a438c69a53fc3babb2ce431601_zps0f1a8124.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 March, 2015, 10:43:58 AM
Was pretty cloudy to start with but got some great views in the end.

Temperature dropped quite a bit, enough for me to be able to see my breath and the dog went a bit fruity.

This was my view

(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/MattoftheSpurs/eclipse%2020.03.2015%20017_zps5kgekpgz.jpg) (http://s178.photobucket.com/user/MattoftheSpurs/media/eclipse%2020.03.2015%20017_zps5kgekpgz.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 March, 2015, 10:45:35 AM
Now, we wait....
(http://ben-park.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bigtriffids.gif)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mattofthespurs on 20 March, 2015, 10:45:38 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 March, 2015, 09:15:09 AM
Does anyone know where I could get some of those protective glasses for watching the eclipse through? Despite Cox and O'Brien advocating them last night on BBC2 I don't see them for sale anywhere...

I was trying to source some for my Son's school. With two weeks to go, and needing about 20 pairs, the cheapest I could find was nearly £8 a pair :o

Ended up buying 15 copies of this month's Sky At Night magazine at £4.99 a pop. The magazine included a free pair of glasses per issue.  :P
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 March, 2015, 10:56:01 AM
Cloud cover was near total in South Dublin, with occasional drizzle, but despite that we kept the kids back from school for an hour (since there were no plans for watching there, which is a bit of a disgrace) and we set up basecamp in the park across the road and waited, our pinhole camera and earnest upraised faces being gently mocked by passersby. Who were laughing on the other side of thir faces when, after only one pevious glimpse at about 8:50 to even indicate where the sun was, bang on the point of maximum occlusion the clouds parted and were treated to a perfect view, if only for 30 seconds, and our slightly soggy bits of cardboard were suddenly in demand.  In the minutes before the birds had all settled to roost in the trees, the inceasing coldness was palpable and the briefly revealed remarkably thin ring of sunlight was blazing bright aganist the deep grey sky.  Absolutely magic.

Other glimpses followed,  not the same sustained progression I enjoyed tracing back in 1999, but just as exciting, the missus and I described where we were and what our lives were like the last time, and the kids were enthralled by the whole thing.  Love eclipses, just love 'em. 

Do hope the alien hunters were out in force on the Faroes, perfect place to bag one.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 11:05:15 AM
Clouds here were just thin enough to be an absolute boon - we could look without hurting our eyes and we also had a welding mask to pass around between us when the clouds occasionally broke. I tried to project it through my cheapy old Aldi telescope, which I'd forgotten I'd rescued, but it didn't work. Still, bloody brilliant sight!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 11:38:35 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 March, 2015, 10:45:35 AM
Now, we wait....
(http://ben-park.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bigtriffids.gif)

There wasn't an eclipse in Day of the Triffids. It was a meteor shower.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:03:01 PM
It wasn't a meteor shower - it was an orbital weapons platform.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dunk! on 20 March, 2015, 12:04:40 PM
Quote from: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 11:38:35 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 20 March, 2015, 10:45:35 AM
Now, we wait....
(http://ben-park.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bigtriffids.gif)

There wasn't an eclipse in Day of the Triffids. It was a meteor shower.
Eclipse means Audrey 2 has arrived.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 12:07:32 PM
No weapons platform was involved in blinding the people.....

http://triffids.wuthering-heights.co.uk/summary.php
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:12:32 PM
I read the book at school and remember our teacher made a big thing of it being a Russian or American orbital weapons platform. The blindness, he said, was a metaphor for the people of the Earth being blind to the dangers of weapons proliferation.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 12:21:02 PM
It is said the Triffids came from Russia.
In the book they visit Pulborough, which is where I work, and in the village I grew up in, West Chiltington, there is a road called Wyndham Lea.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 12:29:13 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:12:32 PM
I read the book at school and remember our teacher made a big thing of it being a Russian or American orbital weapons platform.

I have seen it mentioned today that the weapons thing is hinted at in the book so you may well be right Sharky.
Years since I read it.

Sorry for the off topic stuff folks, back to the science......
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:40:10 PM
Well, Science (Fiction) is Drokking Fantastic too!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:40:25 PM
Well, Science (Fiction) is Drokking Fantastic too!
.
Double-posts, less so. Grrr...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 March, 2015, 02:02:25 PM
(http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd359/anaconda888/IMG_0129_zpsxjhkp6ir.jpg)

I dug out my old glasses from 1999 and watched it while walking from Hebden Bridge to Todmorden along the canal. This followed a great gig by one of my favourite singers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2BVN91wW28) at my favourite club (http://thetradesclub.com/) last night and a very pleasant stay with delicious cooked brekkie at my favourite B&B.

Good music in good company, good food, good beer, a bracing walk in lovely countryside and awe-inspiring celestial entertainment thrown in to boot. It's not been a bad couple of days.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: I, Cosh on 21 March, 2015, 02:01:00 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 20 March, 2015, 10:56:01 AM
Other glimpses followed,  not the same sustained progression I enjoyed tracing back in 1999, but just as exciting, the missus and I described where we were and what our lives were like the last time, and the kids were enthralled by the whole thing.  Love eclipses, just love 'em. 
This is quite marvellous.

It was cloudy here but still got a fairly decent effect. It was cloudy in Penzance last time too. Looking at NASA's eclipse website yesterday, it turns out there's one across the continental US in 2017 and my pal's house in a South Carolina is about four miles from the path of totality. Told her to expect visitors.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 21 March, 2015, 10:30:20 PM
Quote from: Albion on 20 March, 2015, 12:29:13 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 March, 2015, 12:12:32 PM
I read the book at school and remember our teacher made a big thing of it being a Russian or American orbital weapons platform.

I have seen it mentioned today that the weapons thing is hinted at in the book so you may well be right Sharky.
Years since I read it.

Sorry for the off topic stuff folks, back to the science......
The derailment is my fault, I believe, for my shocking attempt at a joke that clearly didn't stand up to scrutiny!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 April, 2015, 01:08:11 AM
I didn't know whether to post this link here or in the "Truth?" thread but then I thought, Hell, why not be optimistic?
.
COLD FUSION REACTOR VERIFIED BY THIRD-PARTY RESEARCHERS, SEEMS TO HAVE 1 MILLION TIMES THE ENERGY DENSITY OF GASOLINE (http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/191754-cold-fusion-reactor-verified-by-third-party-researchers-seems-to-have-1-million-times-the-energy-density-of-gasoline)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 09 April, 2015, 01:34:36 AM
It probably belongs in the "Truth?" thread because this:

QuoteAnyway, now that we've got the necessary cynicism/scrutiny out of the way....

Is a direct quotation from that article.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 April, 2015, 01:59:24 AM
"Obviously, if these third-party findings are to
be believed — if the E-Cat really is performing
cold fusion — then this is rather exciting. We
are talking about an extremely cheap, green,
and dense power source that could quite
literally change the world."
.
Another direct quote from the article.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Theblazeuk on 09 April, 2015, 11:06:23 AM
'Dense' power source?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 April, 2015, 11:14:41 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 April, 2015, 01:59:24 AM
"Obviously, if these third-party findings are to be believed — if the E-Cat really is performing cold fusion...

Those are humungously big IFs - we've had our hopes raised in the past about cold fusion, I won't be celebrating just yet
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JPMaybe on 09 April, 2015, 11:50:59 AM
I would lay money on this result being false, either by mistake or fraud.  There's all the previous problems with the E-Cat- the proposed Nickel/Hydrogen fusion reaction is unobserved in nature, for one.  This isn't a peer-reviewed paper, for two.  Claiming that no radiation was detected despite stating that "...E-Cat fuel undergoes nuclear transformations" beggars belief.  And the paper acknowledges that Andrea Rossi himself participated in the experiment: "Andrea Rossi...gradually brought it to the power level requested by us. Rossi later intervened to switch off the dummy, and in the following subsequent operations on the E-Cat: charge insertion, reactor startup, reactor shutdown and powder charge extraction. "

It's almost certainly horseshit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 April, 2015, 02:05:13 PM
I was under the impression that all genes come exclusively from parents but it seems this might not be the case. This paper on Horizontal Gene Transfer (http://genomebiology.com/2015/16/1/50) might indicate a need to reassess our understanding of evolution...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 April, 2015, 09:30:04 PM
NASA Releases Tool Enabling Citizen
Scientists to Examine Asteroid Vesta (http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/NASA_ReleasesTool_To_Examine_Asteroid_Vesta.asp).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 April, 2015, 06:47:49 AM
For the launch of Sentinel-2A, ESA is inviting
you to take part in a photo contest focusing on
the theme of 'colour vision'.
.
Up for grabs is the opportunity to visit ESOC,
ESA's operations centre in Darmstadt,
Germany, as a guest at the VIP event on the
night of the launch. Four runners-up will
receive gift packages through the post.
.
Photographs should be your artistic
interpretation of the theme 'colour vision'
together with one or more of the Sentinel-2
application areas. Application areas include
vegetation (or lack of), agriculture, changing
landscapes and inland and coastal water bodies.
.
This could mean photographs of a patchwork of
fields, close-ups showing the intricate details of
a leaf, sunlight seeping through trees, the edge
of a clear-cut forest, the blues and greens of
waves on a beach or sunset colours reflecting
on a lake. There's no need to go far to capture
an image of how Sentinel-2's colour vision
applies to your own neighbourhood. Be
creative the possibilities are endless!
.

How to enter: Photos can be uploaded via the
Earth observation launch blog at http://
blogs.esa.int/eolaunches/2015/04/13/
competition-application-form/
.

The competition is open now and will accept
entries until 09:00 CEST on 18 May 2015.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 May, 2015, 06:33:48 AM
Peering into the heart of the Milky Way galaxy,
NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
(NuSTAR) has spotted a mysterious glow of
high-energy X-rays that, according to scientists,
could be the "howls" of dead stars as they feed
on stellar companions. (http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-nustar-captures-possible-screams-from-zombie-stars)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 May, 2015, 07:18:39 AM
A newly discovered exoplanet which is too big for its parent star. (http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/new-exoplanet-too-big-for-its-stars)
.
The beautiful and majestic 'Pillars of Creation' revealed in 3D. (http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1518/)
.
The asteroid thought to have done for the dinosaurs 66 million years ago may have triggered the largest global lava flows on the Earth. (https://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/04/30/did-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-trigger-largest-lava-flows-on-earth/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 02 May, 2015, 11:23:15 PM
What is The Great Attractor? (http://www.universetoday.com/113150/what-is-the-great-attractor/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 03 May, 2015, 12:20:47 AM
Not to be confused with my Uncle's Massey Ferguson, The Great Tractor. She can pull a busload of hippos so she can!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 May, 2015, 12:43:26 AM
Stephen Baxter had a terrific explanation for the Great Attractor in his Novel: Ring. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 May, 2015, 10:18:35 AM
New research suggests that our Universe could be a giant hologram. (http://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-suggests-that-our-universe-could-be-a-2d-hologram)
.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 May, 2015, 06:31:36 PM
Quote from: White Falcon on 16 May, 2015, 10:18:35 AM
New research suggests that our Universe could be a giant hologram. (http://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-suggests-that-our-universe-could-be-a-2d-hologram)
.

Ach, that's not really a new theory. It's been kicking about since I was at university. Reads like a bit of a pre-loaded filler article that was lined up for a slow news day. A bit like those articles that occasionally crop up about dark matter or whether or not anything existed before the Big Bang or maybe Einstein was wrong. Not that I'm trying to discredit the article, but one of these days there could be movement on one of these speculative theories that will be ignored due to WOLF being cried in articles such as this.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 May, 2015, 06:55:09 AM
Surface biosignatures of exo-Earths: Remote detection of extraterrestrial life. (http://www.mpia.de/news/science/2015-03-biosignatures)
.
Reinterpreting dark matter (http://www.basqueresearch.com/new/reinterpreting-dark-matter).
.
Superflare
Stars with Large Starspots (http://subarutelescope.org/Pressrelease/2015/05/11/index.html).
.
Comet Wild 2: A window into the birth of the solar system? (http://university%20of%20hawaii%20at%20manoa%20press
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Grugz on 22 May, 2015, 06:41:06 PM
co-codamol.....just kicking in and I feel a bit happy!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Rog69 on 23 May, 2015, 01:24:35 PM
Quote from: Grugz on 22 May, 2015, 06:41:06 PM
co-codamol.....just kicking in and I feel a bit happy!

It's the good stuff.

I hurt my back a few years ago and needed to keep working so I stupidly necked a couple of my wife's out of date prescription Co-codamol before jumping in my car and heading off. I had no idea how strong this stuff was and I had to pull over when it kicked in because it felt like I was driving a hovercraft.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 25 May, 2015, 11:19:16 PM
Quote from: Rog69 on 23 May, 2015, 01:24:35 PM
Quote from: Grugz on 22 May, 2015, 06:41:06 PM
co-codamol.....just kicking in and I feel a bit happy!

It's the good stuff.

I hurt my back a few years ago and needed to keep working so I stupidly necked a couple of my wife's out of date prescription Co-codamol before jumping in my car and heading off. I had no idea how strong this stuff was and I had to pull over when it kicked in because it felt like I was driving a hovercraft.

Yes, the 'operating heavy machinery'  bit shouldn't be ignored (nobody was hurt, right?)

When I was on Tramadol a few years back my entire daily routine was:

       
  • wake up
  • have some food (so I didn't have an empty stomach)
  • take Tramadol
  • watch one episode of Game of Thrones (if I was lucky)
  • back to sleep for four hours, and repeat
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 15 June, 2015, 10:58:57 AM
Philae has woken up!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 15 June, 2015, 04:55:21 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 June, 2015, 10:58:57 AM
Philae has woken up!

Yeah! Cool or what?

M.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 22 June, 2015, 08:48:36 PM
Quote from: Mikey on 15 June, 2015, 04:55:21 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 15 June, 2015, 10:58:57 AM
Philae has woken up!

Yeah! Cool or what?

M.

Cool. Most definitely.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 July, 2015, 06:17:40 AM
After photographing some mysterious, evenly-spaced markings on Pluto (http://m.space.com/29842-latest-pluto-photos-new-horizons.html), the New Horizons probe has mysteriously shut down (http://www.universetoday.com/121199/nasa-loses-contact-with-new-horizons-probe-now-in-safe-mode/) and gone into Safe Mode. Let's hope the high i.q. guys at NASA can get this sorted out soon - I've been busting to see images of this mind-bendingly remote dwarf planet for years!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 06 July, 2015, 02:14:50 PM
Quote from: White Falcon on 06 July, 2015, 06:17:40 AM
After photographing some mysterious, evenly-spaced markings on Pluto (http://m.space.com/29842-latest-pluto-photos-new-horizons.html), the New Horizons probe has mysteriously shut down (http://www.universetoday.com/121199/nasa-loses-contact-with-new-horizons-probe-now-in-safe-mode/) and gone into Safe Mode. Let's hope the high i.q. guys at NASA can get this sorted out soon - I've been busting to see images of this mind-bendingly remote dwarf planet for years!
They've already sorted it out.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 July, 2015, 03:33:14 PM
Oh. This could be something... Do micro-organisms explain features on comets? (http://phys.org/news/2015-07-micro-organisms-features-comets.html)

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 July, 2015, 03:33:27 PM
Good oh!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 06 July, 2015, 08:16:31 PM
Boo. Microbial life comet claims turn out to have come from a complete crackpot and have been reported remarkably uncritically by numerous news outlets that should know better. (http://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/2015/jul/06/no-alien-life-on-philae-comet) Apologies for my previous (albeit guarded) excitement.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 July, 2015, 09:41:33 PM
First high res images of Pluto and Charon (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33543383) from New Horizons' close pass.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 16 July, 2015, 12:17:03 AM
Absolutely enthralled with this mission....jeez the Planet (and it is a fucking Planet in my books) even has a heart. One very happy Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 16 July, 2015, 03:05:22 AM
It always bugged me that there were never any pictures of Pluto in textbooks. What does Pluto look like? A deceptively simple question that has finally been answered. Only took 85 years.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 July, 2015, 06:07:57 AM
Indeed. I'm getting the same sense of wonder I experienced all those years ago from the Voyager missions. Fantastic!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 16 July, 2015, 02:07:25 PM
The New Horizons missions is almost eerily well timed with the release of Armada by Ernest Cline (which I'm reading). I'm loving the photos, [spoiler]but I'm very glad that we didn't find a giant swastika on the surface of Pluto a la the book.[/spoiler]

It's missions like that this that remind us why space exploration and science is not only necessary, but beautiful.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 July, 2015, 03:10:43 PM
Free: Download Neil deGrasse Tyson's 6- Lecture Course, The Inexplicable Universe. (http://www.openculture.com/2015/07/free-download-neil-degrasse-tysons-6-lecture-course-the-inexplicable-universe.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 July, 2015, 08:12:52 AM
(http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nh_01_stern_05_pluto_hazenew.jpg)
.
Bye, bye, Pluto. (http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-new-horizons-team-finds-haze-flowing-ice-on-pluto)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 26 July, 2015, 11:35:36 AM
What a marvellous image, that. Just superb.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 26 July, 2015, 01:59:06 PM
My pressiciousss!!Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 August, 2015, 06:35:15 PM
ISS transits the Moon...
.
(http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/transit_iss_moon_101220_70_crop-580x580.jpg)
.
Amateur photographer Dylan O'Donnell
captured this image of the International Space Station passing in front of the moon on June 30.
CREDIT: Dylan O'Donnell (http://m.space.com/29889-space-station-crosses-moon-photo.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 August, 2015, 06:44:19 PM
We are living in great times in terms of extreme planetary exploration. Simply wonderful. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 August, 2015, 06:49:17 PM
Indeed. How long before somebody figures out how to capture images (probably fuzzy at first) of extrasolar planets? I hope I live long enough to see that!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 August, 2015, 06:53:48 PM
We can barely resolve pluto even from the hubble scope(and that's above the atmosphere). 5 light hours away. Extra solar planets. Gotta be decades away? Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 03 August, 2015, 06:54:48 PM
At the rate planetary exploration has excelorated over the last decade alone, you can bet on it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 August, 2015, 07:00:26 PM
You would need a massive array near the oort cloud to really resolve images. Mind you I'm probably wrong. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 August, 2015, 07:19:44 PM
Maybe an arrangement of massive lenses millions of miles apart? I don't know. Have to be careful, though, if it's set up wrong we might set fire to Jupiter!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 August, 2015, 07:24:52 PM
A fire upon the deep. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 August, 2015, 08:09:51 PM
Fry Jupiter!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 August, 2015, 07:15:11 AM
A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/from-a-million-miles-away-nasa-camera-shows-moon-crossing-face-of-earth)
.
(http://en.es-static.us/upl/2015/08/moon-crossing-earth-face-July-2015-DSCOVR-still-e1438807991931.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 06 August, 2015, 07:24:47 AM
I challenge anyone to view that gif without hearing the Space:1999 theme. Arsom stuff.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 August, 2015, 07:59:07 AM
Heh, the first thing I thought was, 'That's no moon...'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ming on 06 August, 2015, 09:52:50 AM
Also: why does the Earth look so very sad?  :(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 06 August, 2015, 09:57:49 AM
Not sad just a bit blue.  Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Fungus on 06 August, 2015, 10:16:09 AM
With a clown nose. What a messed-up world.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 August, 2015, 12:38:40 PM
It's sad because we're killing it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 August, 2015, 05:50:47 PM
Just lost it's pet Lion. If anyone has seen Cecil please call us on 01204....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 August, 2015, 05:08:18 PM
A Hungarian-US team of astronomers have found what appears to be the largest feature in the observable universe: a ring... 5 billion light years across! (http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/newly-discovered-structure-could-be-the-largest-in-the-universe/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 August, 2015, 08:30:30 AM
"The octopus appears so utterly different from
all other animals, even ones it's related to, that the British zoologist Martin Wells famously called it an alien. In that sense, you could say our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien," said Clifton Ragsdale, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and leader of the team that worked on the octopus at the
University of Chicago. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150812134251.htm)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 September, 2015, 09:55:02 AM
Shudder.

http://www.glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html (http://www.glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 September, 2015, 10:16:43 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 02 September, 2015, 09:55:02 AM
Shudder.

http://www.glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html (http://www.glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html)

Make an android based on the paranoia-laden reality-questionning identity-bending writings of a true genius who believed he was possessed by the prophet Elijah - and give it internet access.  What could possibly go wrong?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 02 September, 2015, 10:24:03 PM
The last Phillip K. Dick android they made went missing. It remains a source of massive regret that I couldn't sell my series where Hunter S. Thompson kidnapped the PKD android and they went on a fear-and-loathing style road trip across the USA.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 September, 2015, 10:41:11 PM
Oh brother, that is the best story concept I've heard in years. Call it Electric Gonzo, pitch it as 3iller (for starters), get Warren Pleece to draw it, and any old eejit to letter it cos they do all that on computers now.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 02 September, 2015, 10:49:01 PM
If it's any consolation, Jim, I know of at least one writer working for the big two who also couldn't sell that exact same premise to Image a few years ago.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 September, 2015, 06:29:39 AM
New Pluto Images from NASA's New Horizons: It's Complicated. (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-pluto-images-from-nasa-s-new-horizons-it-s-complicated)
.
(http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nh-chaos-region-9-10-15.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 September, 2015, 08:53:44 PM
Composite image of The ISS transistioning the sun:

(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1509/transits_luethen1024.jpg)

Looks to me like a squad of TIE fighters flying in formation, possibly as the vanguard of an Imperial Star Destroyer...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 September, 2015, 12:55:57 PM
Cassini Finds Global Ocean in Saturn's Moon Enceladus. (http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/cassini-finds-global-ocean-in-saturns-moon-enceladus)
.
"A global ocean lies beneath the icy crust of
Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus, according to new research using data from NASA's Cassini mission."

.
(http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia19656_labeled.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Goaty on 16 September, 2015, 12:58:43 PM
I knew it! Now need to building a Flamethrower and find a horse!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 28 September, 2015, 04:17:38 PM
NASA have confirmed that liquid water exists on the surface of Mars. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/science/space/mars-life-liquid-water.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 28 September, 2015, 05:06:59 PM
aaaah, I was hoping it was going to be confirmation of life, but small steps... still exciting!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 28 September, 2015, 05:08:14 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 28 September, 2015, 05:06:59 PM
aaaah, I was hoping it was going to be confirmation of life, but small steps... still exciting!

NASA confirms life on Mars, Daily Mail runs a scare story about Martian 'migrants' threatening to overwhelm our culture...

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 29 September, 2015, 01:09:55 PM
Quote from: Scolaighe Ó'Bear on 28 September, 2015, 04:17:38 PM
NASA have confirmed that liquid water exists on the surface of Mars. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/science/space/mars-life-liquid-water.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0)

celebrated in the Google logo doodle today
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 06 October, 2015, 04:40:10 PM
Every Apollo mission photograph -  https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/albums

Beautiful, just beautiful....
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 06 October, 2015, 08:51:40 PM
Insane. Yet beautiful at the same time.

But brace yourselves, here come the conspiracy wackos.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 06 October, 2015, 09:46:43 PM
I just Net surfed to see if anyone thought the actual moon itself is a fake. They do. It's all a hologram or the illumaniti who have nothing better to do than put fake moons up in the sky. You cannot save the human race from it own stupidity.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 07 October, 2015, 10:13:20 AM
And now I've done the same, and here's the irrefutable evidence.http://blackbag.gawker.com/is-the-moon-real-1691362378 (http://blackbag.gawker.com/is-the-moon-real-1691362378)

Ali G put the question to Buzz Aldrin, who refuted it. But he would, wouldn't he?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 07 October, 2015, 10:49:26 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 07 October, 2015, 10:13:20 AM
And now I've done the same, and here's the irrefutable evidence.http://blackbag.gawker.com/is-the-moon-real-1691362378 (http://blackbag.gawker.com/is-the-moon-real-1691362378)
Two paragraphs in and I think I might have lost several brain cells.

People will believe any old bollocks to try and sound smart.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 10:56:12 AM
...nuclear power. I used to think there were only three options when it comes to nuclear power - fission, fusion and magic. Magic would include your fringe ideas like cold fusion and zero-point energy. Fusion would seem to be the best idea, creating tiny stars inside magnetic shields. And then there's nuclear fission - that tiger we have by the tail at the moment. I don't deny that nuclear fission reactors are useful but they're also a huge pain in the arse and a constant worry. No, nuclear fission has to go.

Or does it?

I've just discovered something called a Molten Salt Reactor (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Molten-Salt-Reactors/) and it's kind of blown my mind a bit. In a MSR, the coolant (molten salt) also contains the nuclear fuel - so it can't melt down. Let me just repeat that - it can't melt down. That's amazing.

Hit one of these reactors with a missile or have the staff all get drunk and fall asleep on Christmas Eve and... Nothing. The reactor's not pressurised (unlike a conventional reactor, which has to run at ~160 atmospheres to stop the water turning into explosive hydrogen) and so if the molten salt leaks out or is left unattended it just cools down into a virtually inert lump.

Molten salt reactors can recycle a lot more of their own waste. Noxious beasties are drawn out of the fuel as gases, processed and then returned as fuel. There is waste but it's less toxic and about 1/3 that of a conventional reactor. These reactors do not yield weapons-grade waste products. Maybe that's why they seem to be keeping this technology off the radar...

Still, there seem to be plenty of companies at least ostensibly looking into this technology, which has been kicking around since at least the 1960s, here's the website of one of them (http://terrestrialenergy.com/imsr-technology/). Let's hope those high-I.Q. boys out there can pull this together - it seems like a win/win to me. And no need for magic or bottled stars at all!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 October, 2015, 10:59:58 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 06 October, 2015, 09:46:43 PM
I just Net surfed to see if anyone thought the actual moon itself is a fake. They do. It's all a hologram or the illumaniti who have nothing better to do than put fake moons up in the sky. You cannot save the human race from it own stupidity.

I wonder what people were seeing in the sky before holograms were invented? In the Middle-Ages, for example.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 11:43:05 AM
Witchery?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Richmond Clements on 10 October, 2015, 11:45:59 AM
That is certainly the only logical answer...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 11:50:44 AM
We can't deny the Moon has some odd properties and fortuitous arrangements and so I guess it's only natural for people to look for patterns within patterns. All things being equal, I think the Moon's far more likely to be a lump of rock than anything else. Beyond that... who knows what's possible?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 October, 2015, 12:12:07 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 10 October, 2015, 10:59:58 AM
I wonder what people were seeing in the sky before holograms were invented? In the Middle-Ages, for example.

I think the advocates for a holographic moon might think aliens are responsible. Guys with the technology far in advanced of our own, even back then.

That leads us to the head scratching concept that, these people find advanced aliens with super holographic technology producing a fake moon more believable than an actual chunk of rock orbiting our planet.

I found the 'what makes it glow' bit particularly amusing. I think most people with a minimum of astronomical knowledge could answer that one.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 12:27:05 PM
Yep, a misaligned BRIGHTNESS knob on the patented Alien Lunahologramatograph Projector hidden inside the hole at the North Pole...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 October, 2015, 12:28:01 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 October, 2015, 12:12:07 PM
That leads us to the head scratching concept that, these people find advanced aliens with super holographic technology producing a fake moon more believable than an actual chunk of rock orbiting our planet.

Not unrelated to the idea that the periodic meddling of an immortal invisible omnipotent omniscient loving-yet-strangely-cruel being is a more believable cause for the world around us than readily observable natural processes.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 October, 2015, 12:40:29 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 12:27:05 PM
Yep, a misaligned BRIGHTNESS knob on the patented Alien Lunahologramatograph Projector hidden inside the hole at the North Pole...

Hee hee. Like.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 12:46:14 PM
In the Beginning, God said, "..."

But Man held up a finger for silence.

"What?" Said God.

Man beamed and held his arms a-wide and said, "Let there be Science!" And there was Science. Shed-fulls of the stuff. Science making galaxies and starting fires and microwaving chicken nuggets. Science everywhere, all over the place.

But the more the scientists looked the less they understood. And then they got to superstrings, tiny loops of vibrating energy that don't properly exist. Innumerable tiny ?s making up everything. All the ?s released by God when Man interrupted him at the Beginning of the Universe.

If there is a moral to this piffle, there jolly well shouldn't be.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 10 October, 2015, 01:15:07 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 10 October, 2015, 12:28:01 PM
Quote from: Mardroid on 10 October, 2015, 12:12:07 PM
That leads us to the head scratching concept that, these people find advanced aliens with super holographic technology producing a fake moon more believable than an actual chunk of rock orbiting our planet.

Not unrelated to the idea that the periodic meddling of an immortal invisible omnipotent omniscient loving-yet-strangely-cruel being is a more believable cause for the world around us than readily observable natural processes.

I see your point, and I can see why you would come to that conclusion.

I wouldn't see it as quite the same though. Particularly as the 'readily observable natural processes' aren't really all that observable since you'd have to had been around millions of years to actually observe it. (Yeah I know we can extrapolate from things that we CAN quantify, but we nearly always end up in to the realm of conjecture and theory than actual verifiable fact in doing so. And I don't particularly disagree that natural processes were involved anyway. I just don't see natural processes and a supreme creator as being mutually exclusive.)

But anyway, I don't wan't to derail the thread into THAT old creation/evolution* debate. People get uppity, bad feelings arise... and it's not what the thread is about.

But rock over hologram. Yes of course.  People have walked on it and bounced lasers off of it and sent probes there. Even if some of those situations were hoaxes (and I'm not saying I believe that, but I suppose it's a possibility) there is too much to discount.

*I use the word 'evolution' broadly to mean the forming of 'stuff' over time including stars and planets rather than just genetic evolution which caused us to form over millions of years from fish-monkeys (and amoeba or what-have-you, before that) as a result of a series of genetic mutation accidents. There may be a better word for it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2015, 01:43:09 PM
I...I just can't fathom how...how people can think the moon is a hologram. What kind of dodgy LSD do you have to be on to dream that one up!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Professor Bear on 10 October, 2015, 02:41:08 PM
It actually makes sense if you think about it: the moon always looks exactly the same - and never rotates so we can see the back - because they're projecting a picture from Earth.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 10 October, 2015, 03:24:15 PM
So the tides move themselves do they? The 'great Moon projector' does this too? That said some scientists believe the Universe itself may be a hologramme and we're all just information seing a 3 dimensional space when it's really a 2d flat one. Bonkers sounding to me but there we go I'm not a scientist. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150427101633.htm
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 October, 2015, 04:02:00 PM
No, no, no... the tides are controlled by the patented Pseudograv Tidal Bulginator located in the hole at the South Pole. Do try and keep up...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 10 October, 2015, 05:02:58 PM
 :lol: You're on fire today, Sharky.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 10 October, 2015, 05:12:30 PM
I blame the commies, a holographic moon is just the kind of thing those fiends would try to pull off!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 October, 2015, 05:07:39 PM
Where to Look for Intelligent Life?

In his 2014 article,  A Strategic "Viewfinder" for SETI Research (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/273862753_A_strategic_viewfinder_for_SETI_research), Massimo Teodorani explored a problem vexing to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) (http://www.seti.org/) - where do you look for signals?

To start with, dishes were pointed at likely candidate stars virtually at random. As time and technology passed, candidates for inhabited solar systems decreased as knowledge about stars themselves grew. There's not much point looking to a red giant or a white dwarf because the processes that making them what they are probably evaporated their attendant planets long ago. Modern programs like Kepler (http://kepler.nasa.gov/) and Spitzer (http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/) have narrowed down the options even more by discovering actual exoplanets (http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/). Even so, it's a Big universe out there and narrowing things down from a few trillion to a few billion isn't much help.

I liken it to those explorers of old who died of hunger or thirst in the Outback, surrounded by sources of water and nourishment they had no clue how to look for. Like lifting pebbles on an endless shingle beach in the hope of finding a crab or a worm. Sure, some of those pebbles are going to have things living under them but an awful, awful lot aren't. Add to that the sheer amount of data to sift through and it's not even much like looking under a pebble, more like glancing.

What is needed, Teodorani reasons, are more ways to narrow down the field. One option, he suggests, is to look first for signs of mega-scale alien engineering projects such as a Dyson Sphere (http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Dyson_sphere). Now, to me a Dyson Sphere is a massive solid shell constructed around a star, like the one Scottie crashed into in that episode (http://www.startrek.com/database_article/relics) of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but not so.

Even if it was so, a Dyson Sphere like that would essentially hide the star altogether, leaving nothing but a cool, invisible infra red pinprick in the cosmos.  Z. Osmanov, however, in his article On the search for artificial Dyson-like structures around pulsars (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/276420493_On_the_search_for_artificial_Dyson-like_structures_around_pulsars), suggests ring-like structures instead. This makes more sense. Enclosing a whole star inside a shell is a rather large and materially expensive project but to construct huge pieces of a Dyson Sphere in orbit of a star would seem easier - even for hyper-advanced space aliens.


Constructions like this, Teodorani thinks, will have two tell-tale signatures. Firstly, the chunks of machinery (or whatever) orbiting the star will give off anomalous IR emissions and, secondly, will give rise to curious luminosity fluctuations. Find something like that in the data and you might have a reasonably good target to focus SETI on for a really good look. Or listen. Or whatever the Hell it is they do with that damned screensaver (http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/) of theirs.

About five years ago, on the Planet Hunters (http://www.planethunters.org/) website, where anyone can join in the hunt for extrasolar planets, something stirred (http://oldtalk.planethunters.org/discussions/DPH101e830?object_id=APH10115382).  Tabetha Boyajian, a postdoc at Yale, looked into it (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.03622v1.pdf). What she found was a mystery.

A small, unassuming F-type main-sequence star (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-type_main-sequence_star) with the dispiriting name KIC 8462852 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIC_8462852) has a normal IR signature and a very odd light curve. There's something going on around this star not seen anywhere else to date. It should be a big planet, a cloud of dust or gas or rubble - but things like that leave IR fingerprints and around KIC 8462852 there are none. It could be natural fluctuations on the star itself, sunspots for example, but no other F-type star has been observed to act in this way. Something's there but it's unclear what it is.

The most reasonable hypothesis put forward by Boyajian et. al. in her paper is that the fluctuation is caused by a shattered comet even though she admits this scenario is not without problems. The debris field would have to be massive and be proceeding tail-first, which isn't impossible. It also isn't impossible that such a cometary break-up would have such a low IR fingerprint, despite the energies involved. Still, that's where her paper ends.

A recent article on The Atlantic website, The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy (http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/),  quotes Boyajian as saying there are "other scenarios" she is considering. Boyajian is now working with Jason Wright and Andrew Siemion, the Director of the SETI Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. The three of them are writing up a proposal to point a massive radio dish at the unusual star, to see if it emits radio waves at frequencies associated with technological activity.

Will they find anything? Who knows - but it seems like a good place to look.

(https://s17-us2.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grenzwissenschaft-aktuell.de%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F10%2F01408.jpg&sp=fcdf4e57964072756c34a69e93e2e8bf)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 October, 2015, 06:51:51 PM
(http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/casJPGBrowseS91/N00249411.jpg)

Latest Cassini (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/?start=1) images of Enceladus (http://www.universetoday.com/122871/cassinis-close-flyby-of-enceladus-yields-surprising-perplexing-imagery/). Wow.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 October, 2015, 02:57:13 PM
Hot off the press (I haven't read it myself, yet) - The Ĝ Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations with Large Energy Supplies. IV. The Signatures and Information Content of Transiting Megastructures (http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.04606), by Jason T. Wright (https://twitter.com/astro_wright) et al. Some SETI-centric thoughts about KIC 8462852...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 October, 2015, 08:22:48 PM
SETI Institute Undertakes Search for Alien Signal from Kepler Star KIC 8462852. (http://www.universetoday.com/122971/seti-institute-undertakes-search-for-alien-signal-from-kepler-star-kic-8462852/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 October, 2015, 01:29:03 PM
One that might be of interest to some, but i'm taking up the Scuba Archaeology Course, working out in Scapa Flow next September. A bit of training up in Oban and off the Welsh coast beforehand, as well as simulations, as well as specialty kit i'll have to get used too (some of which is bloody expensive!) but i'm jumping with giddy joy right now. :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 October, 2015, 01:43:13 PM
Sounds like the experience of a lifetime, Hawkie - great stuff!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 November, 2015, 06:28:50 PM
Unknown artificial object headed for impact near Sri Lanca on Friday the 13th of November. (http://projectpluto.com/temp/wt1190f.htm)

Space junk, probably. Fascinating to think about what's up there and what becomes of it.


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 10 November, 2015, 06:00:42 AM
Quote from: Tordelback on 21 August, 2013, 06:50:35 PM
Had the terrific experience of seeing an actual nova over the weekend, even if I didn't know it at the time.


A most belated welcome to the club, TB.

SN1987A (http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1202/23sn/) on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud marked Stevie's induction during February of the eponymous year.

Which by strange coincidence was also the first anniversary of the publication of the third & final volume of The Ballad of Halo Jones. Make of that what you will.

For those of you who are unfortunate enough to have never experienced the splendor that is the Southern Sky, the LMC is generally visible to the naked eye as a faint cloud forming a veiled backdrop to the constellations of Dorado & Mensa.








Oh, & you know how they say that a supernova briefly outshines the rest of its galaxy?

It's true.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 November, 2015, 07:45:28 AM
Yep the southern night sky is essentially a vista towards the galactic centre; in the northern hemisphere we are looking towards the edge of the galaxy.  Still nice though. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 November, 2015, 10:10:02 AM
Quote from: ZenArcade on 10 November, 2015, 07:45:28 AM
Still nice though.

Ahh it's alright, I suppose.

My brother moved to Oz decades ago, and despite being an outdoorsy type just looks at me blankly when I quiz him about the Magellanics, the dark nebulae of Crux and the Carina cluster. Such a waste!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 10 November, 2015, 10:28:12 AM
Jeez, what a pity. It is supposed to be stunning.  Maybe if we can drag our Thryll Seeker away from his Slaine kick for a while, he can post us some pics of the Coal Sack. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 10 November, 2015, 10:32:05 AM
Pluto continues to be interesting (http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/volcanoes-on-pluto-look-a-lot-like-those-on-earth-and-mars/). Keep in mind that NASA is doing this with basically no money... imagine what they could be doing if they'd had the money the US has pissed away on completely futile interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 11 November, 2015, 07:53:28 PM
Aaaargh - Phobos is disintegrating: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-moon-phobos-slowly-falling-apart (https://earthsky.org/space/mars-moon-phobos-slowly-falling-apart)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 11 November, 2015, 08:30:27 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 November, 2015, 07:53:28 PM
Aaaargh - Phobos is disintegrating: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-moon-phobos-slowly-falling-apart (https://earthsky.org/space/mars-moon-phobos-slowly-falling-apart)

Geeks.

Clearly, Geeks.

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 November, 2015, 09:46:38 PM
Only 30 - 50 million years left? I'll miss the poor old bugger
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 11 November, 2015, 10:03:37 PM
Vape 'em. Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 11:33:56 AM
The latest images of Pluto.


(http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/image_card_4x3_ratio/public/thumbnails/image/nh-mountainousshorline.jpg?itok=I5ySyWg1) (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/images/index.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 December, 2015, 11:40:55 AM
Unbelievable. I can't quite wrap my head around the fact thats on the other side of the solar system.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 11:58:35 AM
I know. It looks for all the world like an aerial shot of Scotland in winter, with roads cutting through snow-blanketed moors. I'm not for one second suggesting that's what it is - it just looks like that. Beautiful.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 December, 2015, 12:00:37 PM
Astonishing. Are those frost hexagons?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 12:04:40 PM
I'd imagine they're something like that.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 December, 2015, 12:18:33 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 11:58:35 AM
I know. It looks for all the world like an aerial shot of Scotland in winter, with roads cutting through snow-blanketed moors. I'm not for one second suggesting that's what it is - it just looks like that. Beautiful.

It's interesting that you think that aliens exist on Pluto, who have been inspired by stray earth radio transmissions of Scottish civil engineering documentaries.
I find it a bit far fetched myself, but I find it fascinating that you believe that premise with the entirety of your being.

Ahem. Those photos truly are amazing.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 05 December, 2015, 01:05:42 PM
Amazing to think of all that landscape out there in the dark, under three moons - and this not even a 'true' planet.  Really hints at what the scale of the universe means in human terms.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 01:09:53 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 05 December, 2015, 12:18:33 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 11:58:35 AM
I know. It looks for all the world like an aerial shot of Scotland in winter, with roads cutting through snow-blanketed moors. I'm not for one second suggesting that's what it is - it just looks like that. Beautiful.

It's interesting that you think that aliens exist on Pluto, who have been inspired by stray earth radio transmissions of Scottish civil engineering documentaries.
I find it a bit far fetched myself, but I find it fascinating that you believe that premise with the entirety of your being.

Ahem. Those photos truly are amazing.

Heh. And to prove the existence of Scottish engineers on Pluto - I think* I've found** its stargate...

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/41119706@N00/23511228816/in/dateposted-public/)(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/714/23511228816_7a1f84fc0c_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/BPBcd5)

* No I don't.
** No I haven't.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 05 December, 2015, 01:25:36 PM
OK, you've convinced me. Hoots, mon!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 05 December, 2015, 01:29:24 PM
Looks the foot print of a Froglet from The Clangers...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 05 December, 2015, 03:02:28 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 05 December, 2015, 01:25:36 PM
OK, you've convinced me. Hoots, mon!

Mmmmmm...
Wouldn't the astronomical cost of just getting there, forever negate the possibility of any Scotch encroachment?   ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 05 December, 2015, 03:07:23 PM
In my experience, it doesn't pay to underestimate them.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 09 December, 2015, 05:09:58 PM
Hey Sauchie some one dropped a tupenny piece on Pluto. Z :-\
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 15 December, 2015, 02:40:44 AM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 December, 2015, 01:29:24 PM
Looks the foot print of a Froglet from The Clangers...

So the Clangers are in actual fact cosmic coelacanths, preserved through the ages within a Thrintun stasis box?

Wow.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 December, 2015, 09:17:14 PM
Voyager to a Star. (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=34708)

Fascinating article discussing the idea of using the last of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2's propellant to push them towards nearby stars. Is it worth it? It will take both craft ~130,000 years to get close, by which time they'll be a long time dead. I'd say yes, it's absolutely worth it - not in terms of science, both craft will stop sending data in a few short decades from now and fall forever silent - but as a gesture, Hell yes.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 14 January, 2016, 05:18:20 PM
new exhibition of retouched NASA photos at Natural History Museum: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35292518 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35292518)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 19 January, 2016, 12:11:02 PM
If it's not a Dyson Swarm, then someone must be powering up a Starkiller Base.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/01/18/tabby_s_star_faded_substantially_over_past_century.html

Cheers!

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2016, 12:46:32 PM
This really is fascinating, isn't it? An article over at Centauri Dreams (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=34837) reports that if the light dips were caused by comets then there'd have to be 648,000 giant comets with diameters of ~200km to be orbiting the star. The largest known comet in our own Solar System (Comet Hale-Bopp), has a diameter of only 60 km. So comets don't seem likely.

I wonder, in my own non-expert way, whether it could be something like the star not being spherical. Maybe the thing was perturbed by a passing black hole or similar some time ago, leaving it the shape of a blob of hot wax in a lava lamp which is slowly returning to a spherical shape. Or maybe it's being orbited by a few smaller black holes which are periodically swallowing some of the star's light or even perturbing its shape to a lesser extent than the above. But I guess both these hypotheses would produce secondary effects, such as x-ray emissions and whatnot, which would have been detected by now. So it's probably not that, either.

I'd like to think it's a Dyson swarm, or something similarly artificial, but my gut tells me it's probably something entirely natural that hasn't been seen before. Shame, really, just once I'd like for the only explanation to be LGM.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 January, 2016, 06:58:54 PM
Ahhh, but what is 'natural' and what is 'artificial'?  Is a bird's nest artificial? A worm's cast?  A dung beetle's ball? Intelligent lfe ain't the only type - who knows what lurks out there, obscuring or maybe even consuming stars as it goes about its mindless business.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 19 January, 2016, 07:00:40 PM
I'm calling it now, it'll all turn out to be Thoths fault. Little shit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 January, 2016, 07:06:23 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 19 January, 2016, 06:58:54 PM
Ahhh, but what is 'natural' and what is 'artificial'?  Is a bird's nest artificial? A worm's cast?  A dung beetle's ball? Intelligent lfe ain't the only type - who knows what lurks out there, obscuring or maybe even consuming stars as it goes about its mindless business.

Indeed so. Could easily be a colony of budongs!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Ancient Otter on 20 January, 2016, 10:16:58 PM
10th planet, mass nine times of planet Earth out there according to maths...reckoned to spotted within the next five years.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 21 January, 2016, 04:41:25 PM
Your fighting with Pluto block, I can tell...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: richerthanyou on 23 January, 2016, 12:33:06 PM
I am drunk. For the last time ever. at least in the forseeable future. and now after a mental night out im on my bed watching a scanner darlky. and this movie is making more sense now than it ever has before. my head is spiining like crazy and i cant concentate. My face hurts from smiling too much. I need food. so bad. my brain feels like its behind a barried. disconnected from realisty.


reminder to myself. i dont drink. at all. i feel like ive been drugged. at least im in my own bed and wearing my own clothes. i dont know if this belongs in drokking fantasitc. i guess it kinda does. i mena, wwhat a way to end an era.

everything hurts. i have ot be up in a few hours; no chace.   

ok guys

i feel like im getting drunker by the seasond

this is richer than you

sigigin out

PERACE

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 23 January, 2016, 01:10:20 PM
Now there's a post you'll wake up and regret.  (Not that I've never posted here with booze on me.)

PERACE AND LROVE TO YOU TOO  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 January, 2016, 01:39:30 PM
Maybe it'sh shome kind of exshperiment? Alcoholographic computer interfashe prototype tesht? *hic*
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 January, 2016, 02:21:43 PM
(https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.geekwire.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F01%2F160122-blue2-1-630x542.jpg&sp=876c27b1f5c2971b6fc409785de82ed6)
(https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.geekwire.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F01%2F160122-blue2-1-630x542.jpg&sp=876c27b1f5c2971b6fc409785de82ed6)(https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fearthsky.org%2Fspace%2Fblue-origin-soft-landing-new-shepard-november-23-2015&ua=TW96aWxsYS81LjAgKFdpbmRvd3MgTlQgNi4xKSBBcHBsZVdlYktpdC81MzcuMiAoS0hUTUwsIGxpa2UgR2Vja28pIENocm9tZS8yMi4wIFNhZmFyaS81MzcuMg&uadata=baa9eae3f6f4421a50013fc1049ea3c1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.es-static.us%2Fupl%2F2015%2F11%2Fblue-origin-11-23-2015.jpg&sp=de67d92e73c906c343240c1c9d50c051&f=acc4d9421bb160412640429b303b45c7.jpg)
The very same New Shepard booster that flew above the Karman line and then landed vertically at its launch site last November has now flown and landed again, demonstrating reuse. This time, New Shepard reached an apogee of 333,582 feet (101.7 kilometers) before both capsule and booster gently returned to Earth for recovery and reuse. (https://www.blueorigin.com/news) The world looks more like Thunderbirds every day!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: richerthanyou on 23 January, 2016, 06:02:31 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 23 January, 2016, 01:39:30 PM
Maybe it'sh shome kind of exshperiment? Alcoholographic computer interfashe prototype tesht? *hic*

Nope, it was supposed to go in the life thread, not science

Although thanks to the wonders of science I know exactly how much alcohol a man will consume before he decides that $64 for 4 mojito cocktails sounds like a good deal. Mint leaves and some rum my arse! Never again.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 February, 2016, 08:39:49 PM
KIC 8462852: No Dimming After All? (http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=34927)

Bugger.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 February, 2016, 09:13:25 PM
"Dust on the lens."

Cheers

Jim
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 February, 2016, 10:55:48 AM
The folk over at the Ordnance Survey (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35579849) seem to have some time on their hands. Here's their new map. Of Mars...


(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1646/24743699650_d49ae3fb2b.jpg)

It's beautiful. I love it.
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/osmapping/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 April, 2016, 07:46:24 AM
Washington Post: This student put 50 million stolen research articles online. And they're free. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/this-student-put-50-million-stolen-research-articles-online-and-theyre-free/2016/03/30/7714ffb4-eaf7-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html)

Is she correct, or just a thief? I think she's doing the right thing and support her all the way.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Modern Panther on 03 April, 2016, 09:30:26 AM
While there certainly seems to be something wrong with the system of publishing science journals, I don't think this is the way to fix it.

(I think it's quite telling that, in the article there's an interview with a guy who represent the publishers and when asked why they don't pay for the articles they print he says " it sounds like a compelling argument, but it isn't".  He then gives no explanation as to why it isn't!). 

This woman seems to have used nefarious means to steal passwords, then given free access to works without the permission of the original author.

  The justification that since research is state funded all results should be free could easily be expanded to justify any sort of theft - I was educated at the taxpayers expense, therefore anything I use that education for belongs to everyone, without my consent.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 April, 2016, 08:30:00 AM
"Audi is making a new fuel for internal combustion engines that has the potential to make a big dent when it comes to climate change – that's because the synthetic diesel is made from just water and carbon dioxide." (http://www.gizmag.com/audi-creates-e-diesel-from-co2/37130/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=4f65f6819f-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-4f65f6819f-911453615)

"Fusion technology breakthrough could herald demise of coal." (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Fusion-technology-breakthrough-could-herald-demise-30284280.html)

Crowdfunded nuclear fusion experiments. (http://lppfusion.com/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 May, 2016, 09:57:07 PM
Fascinating story about the oldest human construction ever found - over 175,500 years old http://gu.com/p/4jhhy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other (http://gu.com/p/4jhhy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other).

Can you still call it "human" if it's Neanderthal? What do our resident bone-botherers think?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 25 May, 2016, 10:00:19 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 25 May, 2016, 09:57:07 PM
Fascinating story about the oldest human construction ever found - over 175,500 years old http://gu.com/p/4jhhy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other (http://gu.com/p/4jhhy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other).

Can you still call it "human" if it's Neanderthal? What do our resident bone-botherers think?
I think the general consensus is that, providing it falls into the Homo (settle down at the back!) genus, then it constitues "Human".
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 May, 2016, 06:10:59 AM
S'all just words, innit? Our genus is Homo, our species H.sapiens sapiens, only surviving member of that genus (and indeed family): human is really just an informal term.  All this stuff has changed several times in recent decades, but we normally distinguish between 'hominins' (the whole family, back to our common ancestor with chimps), 'humans' (back as far as 2.5mya+) and 'anatomically modern humans' (200kya+), Neanderthals certainly qualify for the middle group, so definitely human.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 June, 2016, 06:38:39 AM
Pluto may have a subsurface ocean. (https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/06/pluto)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 August, 2016, 09:39:29 PM
It'll turn out to be something boring, though, won't it?  :(

http://observer.com/2016/08/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/ (http://observer.com/2016/08/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 30 August, 2016, 12:43:07 PM
It's probably just a reflection from the foil hat Trump keeps under his hair.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 30 August, 2016, 01:11:47 PM
ET phone's home, mis dials and gets the Emperors Space Marines? Bound to end unhappily and this is probably just something that's been mistaken for something else.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 30 August, 2016, 03:33:15 PM
I know, I know. Some day we'll find that sodding ringworld / Dyson sphere.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 August, 2016, 03:46:47 PM
Still, at least they've found an Earth-like (?) Planet orbiting in the habitable zone of Proxima B. The universe is filling up...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 September, 2016, 10:48:37 PM
Sometimes I really love my job. Not so often these days, but when it's good it's still the best thing there is. Days pass like minutes, all tasks are clear, everything concrete is understood, the mind flies on far ahead speculating and the spirit follows.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 September, 2016, 10:09:59 AM
Artificial object found on comet!  :rolleyes:

(http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2016/09/philae_close-up/16114878-1-eng-GB/Philae_close-up_medium.png)

Less than a month before the end of the mission, Rosetta's high-resolution camera has revealed the Philae lander wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Philae_found)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 06 September, 2016, 11:27:24 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 06 September, 2016, 10:09:59 AM
Artificial object found on comet!  :rolleyes:

(http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2016/09/philae_close-up/16114878-1-eng-GB/Philae_close-up_medium.png)

Less than a month before the end of the mission, Rosetta's high-resolution camera has revealed the Philae lander wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Philae_found)

Isn't that the lander that was set to land on a comet and then they lost contact? If so, it's not really mysterious at all!

Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 06 September, 2016, 03:59:52 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 06 September, 2016, 11:27:24 AM

If so, it's not really mysterious at all!



I'm not sure anyone said it was.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 06 September, 2016, 04:08:29 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 06 September, 2016, 03:59:52 PM
Quote from: NapalmKev on 06 September, 2016, 11:27:24 AM

If so, it's not really mysterious at all!



I'm not sure anyone said it was.

You're absolutely right! I was going by the shocked face emoj in Sharkies post.

Cheers
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 15 September, 2016, 10:21:07 AM
Rosetta finds complex, solid organic matter on 67P. (http://www.sci-news.com/space/rosetta-solid-organic-matter-67p-churyumov-gerasimenko-04173.html)

Fascinating... </spock>
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2016, 07:52:52 AM
New Evidence Suggests Pluto has a Subsurface Ocean. (http://spaceref.com/pluto/new-evidence-suggests-pluto-has-a-subsurface-ocean.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 24 September, 2016, 09:04:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2016, 07:52:52 AM
New Evidence Suggests Pluto has a Subsurface Ocean. (http://spaceref.com/pluto/new-evidence-suggests-pluto-has-a-subsurface-ocean.html)

The Plutonians are coming for us! Martians?,Venusians? NO! it's Pluto we have to invade and bomb to save our civilization.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2016, 12:55:38 PM
They are undoubtedly a cold race...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 24 September, 2016, 01:18:03 PM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 24 September, 2016, 09:04:18 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2016, 07:52:52 AM
New Evidence Suggests Pluto has a Subsurface Ocean. (http://spaceref.com/pluto/new-evidence-suggests-pluto-has-a-subsurface-ocean.html)

The Plutonians are coming for us! Martians?,Venusians? NO! it's Pluto we have to invade and bomb to save our civilization.

You are Tony Blair and I claim my five pounds.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 September, 2016, 08:20:26 PM
Rather farsighted of Disney to already hold the trademark for our alien adversaries.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 January, 2017, 10:42:53 AM
(http://images.spaceref.com/news/2017/oopia21260.jpg)
Earth and her moon, as seen from Mars, from four sets of images acquired on November 20th 2016 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA link. (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21260)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 23 February, 2017, 08:03:22 AM
That news that NASA were waiting to announce yesterday:

Seven Earth sized planets discovered 40 light years away (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/22/thrilling-discovery-of-seven-earth-sized-planets-discovered-orbiting-trappist-1-star).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 February, 2017, 11:02:17 AM
This is so brilliant, isn't it? All those worlds out there, not only these seven, just begging to be explored. A starship! A starship! My kingdom for a starship!

If only we could make the world listen to the words of the late, great Bill Hicks - "The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we ... kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok ... But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace."
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Fungus on 23 February, 2017, 11:53:50 AM
Was lucky enough to see Bill Hicks and he's missed...  :(

Anyway: that Moon /Earth pic stopped me in my tracks, there. Beautiful.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2017, 12:17:40 PM
Good stuff, Sharky!  That Hicks segment always reminds of the Kim Stanley Robinson Science in the Capital environmental SF trilogy, where the mind-boggling financial demands of sustainable solutions to climate change-driven disasters  facing Our Heroes seem completely unattainable... until they are compared to the annual military budget, and are revealed as surprisingly modest.

That, and that Jem not-of-and-the-Holograms song.

The Trappist news is great, and only the beginning.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 February, 2017, 09:01:00 PM
Only the beginning indeed. With research and development of propulsion systems like Starshot (https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/3) and antimatter thrusters (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2114765394/antimatter-propulsion), amongst other exciting ideas, already underway, it's still just about possible that I may get to see the first images from another star system in my lifetime - if I'm really, really lucky and look after myself really, really, really well. I never thought I'd ever get to see images of Pluto - so, fingers crossed!

As telescopes improve, however, maybe I'll get to see a fuzzy blob orbiting Proxima, maybe even a fuzzy blue blob, as ideas like the Starshade (https://science.nasa.gov/technology/technology-stories/starshade-enable-first-images-earth-sized-exoplanets) (hopefully) come to fruition in the coming decades. (For an idea concerning a truly impressive telescope idea, check out the Megatelescope (http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/PT.3.3395)!)

Even SETI is getting some very clever ideas. Remember the old sci-fi idea of self-replicating Von Neumann Probes? Well, now they're thinking about virtual Von Neumann Probes,  where instead of having physical devices replicate and propel themselves through the galaxy, electromagnetic signals are initially transmitted where their signaling properties are designed to be amplified and replicated using natural stellar and physical processes. Such natural processes might include gravitational lensing to refocus signals and using stellar lasers or masers to amplify a given signal.

Science truly is drokking fantastic!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 February, 2017, 09:21:49 PM
Still be 78 years roundtrip even for light, never mind adding the time for getting something physical there to send a signal on its 39-year journey back... Even Starshot would take several centuries, plus the time to actual develop and build one.

Only chance us lot have of seeing images *from* Trappist 1 is if there's someone there and they (coincidentally) start sending them to us. Images *of* it, that's another matter...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 23 February, 2017, 09:38:52 PM
Theres a Future Shock in that...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 February, 2017, 09:51:44 PM
Starshot's researchers envisage accelerating a microprobe to around 20% of lightspeed, which could get it to Proxima in 20 years. Of course, at that kind of speed (equivalent to the Moon's orbit around the Earth every six seconds) the probe's not going to be able to stop for a proper look around and will hurtle through the system in just a few hours but the possibilities for some snapshots arriving back on Earth just over four years later are properly mouthwatering. I'm 50 now, so if we can stop wars and spend our resources more wisely within the next 25 years, I might just get to see actual images from another solar system by my 99th birthday.

Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm an inveterate optimist!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 24 February, 2017, 09:54:05 AM
Apologies Shark, thought you were talking about Trappist. Yeah, Proxima Centauri is a massive longshot, but just possible. Switched. As I'm still holding out for a second view of Haley's Comet, I'll join you in your optimism.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 February, 2017, 10:19:44 AM
Here's hoping!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 06 March, 2017, 05:27:16 PM
Positioning a magnetic dipole shield at the Mars L1 Lagrange Point could enhance Mars's atmosphere and facilitate crewed missions there in the future, says NASA. (https://phys.org/news/2017-03-nasa-magnetic-shield-mars-atmosphere.html)


Revolutionary 3D-Printed House Takes Less than a Day to Build and Only Costs $10,000. (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-04/house-was-3d-printed-under-24-hours-cost-just-10000)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 March, 2017, 07:43:49 PM
Images of Jupiter from the Juno probe - just, wow! (https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing)

(https://d2xkkdgjnsfvb0.cloudfront.net/Vault/Thumb?VaultID=7355&Interlaced=1&Mode=R&ResX=960&OutputFormat=jpg&Quality=90&t=1485289964)

(https://d2xkkdgjnsfvb0.cloudfront.net/Vault/Thumb?VaultID=7182&Interlaced=1&Mode=R&ResX=960&OutputFormat=jpg&Quality=90&t=1485289964)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 07 March, 2017, 08:11:41 PM
 :o
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 March, 2017, 12:48:46 PM

(http://potatoes.space/mars/images/potatoes-on-mars.png) (http://cipotato.org/press-room/blog/indicators-show-potatoes-can-grow-mars/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 09 March, 2017, 01:39:45 PM
Holy sneck!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 09 March, 2017, 01:45:44 PM
That means we can look forward to having chippies on Mars!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 March, 2017, 02:01:51 PM
(https://s14-eu5.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https:%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FVrer4vEY-1w%2Fhqdefault.jpg&sp=0f35d0662c1eed3657ae3667d4abfc43)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 09 March, 2017, 03:44:55 PM
Those are...my god...those are on the other side of out solar system! What a time to be alive!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 09 March, 2017, 03:49:36 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 March, 2017, 07:43:49 PM
Images of Jupiter from the Juno probe - just, wow! (https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing)

(https://d2xkkdgjnsfvb0.cloudfront.net/Vault/Thumb?VaultID=7355&Interlaced=1&Mode=R&ResX=960&OutputFormat=jpg&Quality=90&t=1485289964)

(https://d2xkkdgjnsfvb0.cloudfront.net/Vault/Thumb?VaultID=7182&Interlaced=1&Mode=R&ResX=960&OutputFormat=jpg&Quality=90&t=1485289964)

Sharky that's a Guinness advert you fool!  ;)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 March, 2017, 04:09:51 PM
Isshit? *hic*

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 09 March, 2017, 06:04:54 PM
Wait... Is the Irish government secretly terraforming other planets in our solar system?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 March, 2017, 06:30:52 PM
Yes, just to be sure...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 09 March, 2017, 06:40:31 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 09 March, 2017, 03:49:36 PM
Sharky that's a Guinness advert you fool!  ;)


(http://files2.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_1953/19532305/file/guinness-beer-surge-1-600-69404.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 March, 2017, 09:46:16 AM
I really want this to happen.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/ (http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 March, 2017, 10:34:26 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 11 March, 2017, 09:46:16 AM
I really want this to happen.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/ (http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/)

I'm putting mini guns on mine and strafing the neighborhood.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 March, 2017, 10:41:54 AM
I thought that was a given.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 March, 2017, 10:49:43 AM
Very Gerry Anderson - lovely idea!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 11 March, 2017, 11:16:14 AM
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 11 March, 2017, 10:34:26 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 11 March, 2017, 09:46:16 AM
I really want this to happen.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/ (http://www.broadsheet.ie/2017/03/10/hot-pods/)

I'm putting mini guns on mine and strafing the neighborhood.
My own personal Airwolf, just what I needed!!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 April, 2017, 10:13:24 PM
Tree meat, bio-eyes, lawyer-bot and Walter all underway
http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_2435_13-new-technologies-that-are-about-to-change-everything/ (http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_2435_13-new-technologies-that-are-about-to-change-everything/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 April, 2017, 03:18:29 PM
Early this month, Cassini again photographed the Earth (and Moon) through the icy rings of Saturn.

(https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Earth-and-moon-from-Saturn-April-12_2017.jpg)

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."     Carl Sagan.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 21 April, 2017, 03:29:30 PM
I'd say someone should show that image to Trump (or May), but they'd just keep trying to clean their screens.

Top quote Sharky. :)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 23 April, 2017, 02:52:13 PM
Now, if mankind could just come together as one, and put all our collective energies into building a mahoosive space needle...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 April, 2017, 09:14:20 AM
"We placed a spider web-shaped micro-magnetic pattern which was designed to move the superparamagnetic particles toward the center of the biosensor and a high sensitivity
biosensor on the platform."

OMG! Of course, you know what this means, right? Er... Well, apparently it means we're one step closer to a Star Trek style tricorder.DGIST develops 20 times faster biosensor. (http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/physics-astronomy/dgist-develops-20-times-faster-biosensor.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 April, 2017, 09:47:44 AM
I just wanted to post this artist's impression of OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21430) an icy, Earth-sized planet orbiting something so small that it might not even be a star some 13,000 light years away.

(https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/images/largesize/PIA21430_hires.jpg)

I was reading about this and decided to post because it's boring. When I think about how little was known when I was growing up and how big an impression the years and decades apart images and discoveries by Mariner, Viking and Voyager were, those stunning first images of the surface of Mars, of mighty Jupiter, majestic Saturn and magnificent Neptune and Uranus, of a hellish Venus - I remember how exciting those images and discoveries were to me. We didn't even know if there were other planets out there, beyond the unimaginable gulfs, orbiting other stars. It seemed likely but how could we ever know for sure? Short of building a USS Enterprise or digging up a Stargate it seemed we could never know.

Now we seem to discover a new planet every day and they have become as numerous and commonplace as the pebbles beneath our feet. I just thought it was worth saying that Science is Drokking Fantastic Because OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is boring.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 13 May, 2017, 03:46:00 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 27 April, 2017, 09:47:44 AM
Now we seem to discover a new planet every day and they have become as numerous and commonplace as the pebbles beneath our feet. I just thought it was worth saying that Science is Drokking Fantastic Because OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is boring.
First exo-planet discovered in 1988, over three and a half thousand discovered since then...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 May, 2017, 05:45:36 PM
Wonderful!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 May, 2017, 08:37:24 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 13 May, 2017, 03:46:00 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 27 April, 2017, 09:47:44 AM
Now we seem to discover a new planet every day and they have become as numerous and commonplace as the pebbles beneath our feet. I just thought it was worth saying that Science is Drokking Fantastic Because OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is boring.
First exo-planet discovered in 1988, over three and a half thousand discovered since then...

Weird, i never even heard of an exoplanet being discovered till a few years ago. Don't know how i missed that; it truly is mind blowing to know that science fiction is steadily becoming reality
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 May, 2017, 08:48:24 PM
I think the first one was an inferred discovery, something to do with mathematics and all stuff like that. I think it was only confirmed later, in the early to mid 90s, when other exoplanets were discovered using similar methods.

We really need a warp drive so we can go and have a proper butcher's at these things!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 May, 2017, 10:32:53 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 May, 2017, 08:48:24 PM
I think the first one was an inferred discovery, something to do with mathematics and all stuff like that. I think it was only confirmed later, in the early to mid 90s, when other exoplanets were discovered using similar methods.

We really need a warp drive so we can go and have a proper butcher's at these things!

Bags not me on the one that rains liquid glass sideways.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 May, 2017, 06:23:28 AM
Bagsie the Planet of the Nymphomaniacs!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 03 June, 2017, 09:54:54 AM
Bit scary this. Morphology, incept dates...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170601124126.htm
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 June, 2017, 10:38:31 AM
Pfa. Chiromancers have been doing that for centuries...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 03 June, 2017, 11:10:09 AM
Apparently the rocket into the sun will be fine as they are sending it at night. :-X
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 June, 2017, 12:13:48 PM
Kindly leave the stage...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 03 June, 2017, 01:52:58 PM
Remarkable Jupiter fly-by animation. Link originally cribbed from MOLCH-R's FB feed.

Wow. (https://vimeo.com/219993811)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 07:14:47 PM
(https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1726a.jpg)


This orange blob shows the nearby star Betelgeuse, home star of our favourite green editor, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first time that ALMA has ever observed the surface of a star and this first attempt has resulted in the highest-resolution image of Betelgeuse available.

Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars currently known -- with a radius around 1400 times larger than the Sun's in the millimeter continuum. About 600 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), the red supergiant burns brightly, causing it to have only a short life expectancy. The star is just about eight million years old, but is already on the verge of becoming a supernova. When that happens, the resulting explosion will be visible from Earth, even in broad daylight. (http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1726a/)


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 26 June, 2017, 08:32:20 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 07:14:47 PM
(https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1726a.jpg)

This orange blob shows the nearby star Betelgeuse, home star of our favourite green editor, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first time that ALMA has ever observed the surface of a star and this first attempt has resulted in the highest-resolution image of Betelgeuse available.

Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars currently known -- with a radius around 1400 times larger than the Sun's in the millimeter continuum. About 600 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), the red supergiant burns brightly, causing it to have only a short life expectancy. The star is just about eight million years old, but is already on the verge of becoming a supernova. When that happens, the resulting explosion will be visible from Earth, even in broad daylight. (http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1726a/)

I had no idea Betelgeuse was so young!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 08:41:21 PM
Me neither, nor that it was so close to blowing up - no wonder Tharg's come here!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 26 June, 2017, 11:16:42 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 08:41:21 PM
Me neither, nor that it was so close to blowing up - no wonder Tharg's come here!

The threat of a supernova is fake news: Tharg is an economic migrant pure and simple, just here for the groats our over-generous comics fans shower such moochers with, while home-grown editors like Big E and Lord Peter Flint are on the scrap heap.  We need to give the ETC the powers they need to deal with his kind.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 11:53:47 PM
I'm sure the Dictators of Z.R.A.G. (Zarjaz Refugee Abuse Group) are on the case...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 27 June, 2017, 12:46:32 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 26 June, 2017, 11:16:42 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 26 June, 2017, 08:41:21 PM
Me neither, nor that it was so close to blowing up - no wonder Tharg's come here!

The threat of a supernova is fake news: Tharg is an economic migrant pure and simple, just here for the groats our over-generous comics fans shower such moochers with, while home-grown editors like Big E and Lord Peter Flint are on the scrap heap.  We need to give the ETC the powers they need to deal with his kind.

The truth about Starlord has finally come to light - he was deported!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 06 July, 2017, 09:54:21 PM
Parp.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 16 July, 2017, 10:24:06 AM
At last, after three and a half years years of variously looking for work, doing short contracts, then back to looking I've only gone and landed a permanent job!

And as a sweetener, I'm also off work altogether for I estimate at least another few weeks which gives me time to get some packing done as I've also got my house sold  :D

Still need to buy a new house, but our options have increased because of said employment.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Something Fishy on 16 July, 2017, 02:12:44 PM
well done Mikey.  What will you be doing?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 July, 2017, 02:26:31 PM
Nice one Mikey!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 July, 2017, 02:41:49 PM
Good stuff, Mikey - congratulations!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 16 July, 2017, 05:04:49 PM
Yes well done Mikey. Been in a similar way...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 August, 2017, 11:50:15 PM
NASA is advertising a job that only a Squaxx could properly fill - Planetary Protection Officer! (https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/474414000)

Imagine it... "It's okay, Ma'am, I'm Planetary Protection Officer Shark - Legendary - and that green blob is under control now..." Hmmm - maybe not! :D
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 12 August, 2017, 10:56:24 PM
Perseides meteor shower, in a few minutes 23:00 apparently. (I only just found out.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 August, 2017, 11:26:47 PM
It's been a good night for the Perseids so far down our way - clouds cleared almost completely just around sunset, moon's staying pleasantly out of the way for a waning gibbous, some terrific clusters of meteors 3 or more within seconds of each other.  Sitting out with the missus, hot water bottles and wine, the boy is sitting out with his friend-who's-a-girl at her house, and were comparing notes by whatsapp.  Good as it gets, really.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 13 August, 2017, 02:12:44 AM
It was very cloudy tonight where I live (Dartford, Kent)  so I unfortunately saw nothing.

Never mind.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Spikes on 14 August, 2017, 07:56:56 PM
Nowt all weekend - too cloudy. Bah!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Monarch on 21 August, 2017, 04:37:12 PM
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7G2zbox-lxM/VPwjShYjuDI/AAAAAAAAB_s/WUSablOA118/s1600/zenithphasetwo4.jpg)

live images of todays eclipse

(i am so sorry)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 August, 2017, 09:30:03 AM
(https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss052e056245.jpg)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 September, 2017, 04:10:53 PM
Dark DNA. (https://theconversation.com/introducing-dark-dna-the-phenomenon-that-could-change-how-we-think-about-evolution-82867)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 September, 2017, 02:52:56 PM
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-59bbf2d5/turbine/la-1505484959-n1nwd4qio5-snap-image/650/650x366) (https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images/)

Enceladus setting behind Saturn - one of Cassini's final images.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 18 September, 2017, 09:27:21 PM
I shall miss Cassini. APOD just won't be the same
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 September, 2017, 09:40:59 PM
We've had some great probes in my lifetime - the things we have seen! Only the gods have seen more.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 September, 2017, 08:53:52 AM
Possible hominin
footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of
Crete? (Proceedings of the Geologists'
Association,  31 August 2017.) (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/%3Cbr%20/%3ES001678781730113X)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 September, 2017, 09:29:26 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 19 September, 2017, 08:53:52 AM
Possible hominin
footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of
Crete? (Proceedings of the Geologists'
Association,  31 August 2017.) (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/%3Cbr%20/%3ES001678781730113X)

It's a really interesting one alright, but I think the jury is still out: this is the era of the great proliferation of ape species, with lots of possibility for unknown species using bipedal locomotion, and there are no known hominin fossils from the wider area at all.  It may be that we are looking at a previously unknown hominid (member of the great apes family, basically - an example able to walk on two legs would be orangutans), or even a 'lesser' ape (gibbons can get about on two legs), rather than an unknown hominin (the homo and australopithicene species, post the split with chimps).

Still awesome though!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 September, 2017, 09:55:38 AM
Trans-Time tourists, obviously!

But yeah, really interesting. I can't help but be reminded of those supposedly million year old hammers and other out of place/time Fortean archaeological things. Time is, after all, really deep and who knows what remains to be discovered?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 October, 2017, 05:07:56 PM
How will NASA dispose of dead bodies in space? (https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/11997-here-s-how-nasa-plans-to-dispose-of-dead-bodies-in-space)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 12 October, 2017, 07:08:34 PM
What? No scream to usher the souls to Sto'Vo'Kor? They are without honour.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 October, 2017, 04:58:39 PM
(https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hubble_birthofstars_0.jpg)

Hubble's New Messier Catalogue. (https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 October, 2017, 08:19:32 PM
Arsom!  Having only a manual-mount Russian reflector that my father-in-law found broken at a parish sale, subsequently repaired jury-rigged by my own graceless claws, working through the Messiers is my main stargazing pasttime, after gawping at Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon, and trying to snag the ISS (not easy).  So this page is a godsend, thanks Sharky!

Must say, the Ligo Neutron Star collision has completely monopolised my reading time this week. The deeper you dig into it, the more mind-blowing it becomes - for me I think it's become the most exciting astronomical event since Shoemaker-Levy 9, and that's really saying something. 

Although my kids are by now utterly sick at my attempts to frame and communicate each new penny that drops into my echoing skull.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 October, 2017, 08:27:40 PM
Space is really cool! Glad you enjoyed the link, Tordels. Must admit, I'm falling behind and know virtually nothing about that collision - I must have a shufti.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 20 October, 2017, 08:31:05 PM
Watching neutron stars colliding (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/16/astronomers-witness-neutron-stars-collide-global-rapid-response-event-ligo) - my favourite bit of this article is that the lead scientist has "a ringtone on his phone reserved for when black holes or neutron stars collide."
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 October, 2017, 08:33:23 PM
Doesn't everybody?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 October, 2017, 08:41:26 PM
Just read that article. Do gravitational waves "travel" at the speed of light, then, or have I misunderstood the sequence of events?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 20 October, 2017, 10:13:30 PM
Yep, as near exactly the same speed, within a variation of only about 1 in 1015, or thereabouts.  Which is something we didn't know, and scuppers a range of current models of dark energy and dark matter which predicted gravity to be faster or slower than light.  Einstein wins again. 

However, the superficially cooler thing for me is the revelation that every atom in my wedding ring was created in a neutron star collision.  And we didn't know that either.

This is one of the best articles I've found so far: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20171016
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 October, 2017, 07:36:01 AM
That's an excellent article, Tordels, thanks. I wonder what these "glitches" are, remembering that the first detections of the cosmic microwave background radiation were initially thought to be glitches as well. I also wonder what effects, if any, a gravitational wave might have locally, within a few light years of the causation event - enough to perturb orbits in a solar system or even disturb material objects, or might a local observer see a shimmer in the sky, the gravitational lensing equivalent of heat haze?

More reading to be done!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2017, 07:15:24 AM
The real Rama - 1I/2017 U1 'Oumuamua' - A Messenger From Another Solar System. (https://www.noao.edu/news/2017/pr1706.php)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 16 November, 2017, 07:28:45 AM
Extraordinarily exciting, innit? Real hair-stander-upper.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 16 November, 2017, 07:36:23 AM
Yes, I think so too. There are already ideas being put forward to intercept the object with a probe (https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03155) but my gut tells me that, now this first one has been discovered, more will be detected which might be easier to get to.

The galaxy gets closer every day!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 December, 2017, 06:51:10 AM
Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/voyager-1-fires-up-thrusters-after-37).

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 02 December, 2017, 08:57:00 AM
Now that's reliability for you.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Bolt-01 on 02 December, 2017, 10:19:21 AM
That's amazing.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 02 December, 2017, 10:51:37 AM
Fantastic!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 December, 2017, 12:14:44 PM
Is this now interstellar probe the most impressive vehicle ever built by mankind, or what?

It was part of my childhood and impressed me deeply with the images it returned and it continues to impress me even now - a spiritual brother to 2000AD. It may now be all alone in the night but I'll never forget it's out there.

I look forward to the day when another, next generation probe hurtles past it - maybe snapping a photo or two of this significant mote as it zips by.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 02 December, 2017, 12:20:55 PM
Isn't the Golden record on Voyager 1 up for a Grammy this year?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 December, 2017, 10:59:05 PM
Tekeli-li! (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08565-y)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 December, 2017, 06:59:52 AM
P-p-p-provocative.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 13 December, 2017, 10:58:44 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 02 December, 2017, 06:51:10 AM
Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/voyager-1-fires-up-thrusters-after-37).

Aerojet Rocketdyne, That really should be a MC1 perps name!!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 December, 2017, 06:58:12 PM
A project searching for intelligent life in the cosmos is going to check the first known interstellar asteroid for signs of alien technology. (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42329244) (BBC)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 13 December, 2017, 07:00:34 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 13 December, 2017, 06:58:12 PM
A project searching for intelligent life in the cosmos is going to check the first known interstellar asteroid for signs of alien technology. (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42329244) (BBC)

They think it might be RAMA too!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 December, 2017, 07:16:53 PM
I doubt they'll find anything but it has to be worth a listen. I just hope they don't hear Greensleeves in chimes and a list of ice cream prices...

On second thoughts, that would be ace!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 December, 2017, 06:56:37 AM
Ancient fossil microorganisms indicate that life in the universe is common. (http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ancient-fossil-microorganisms-indicate-that-life-in-the-universe-is-common) (UCLA)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 December, 2017, 04:08:31 PM
Nanosat fleet proposed for voyage to 300 asteroids and back in 3.2 years. (http://www.europlanet-eu.org/nanosat-fleet-proposed-to-300-asteroids/#.WjwBYxeGeNQ.facebook)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 05 January, 2018, 12:14:14 PM
Will 2018 be a year of scientific breakthroughs – or frustrations? (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/05/2018-scientific-breakthroughs-quantum-computers-space)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Big_Dave on 18 January, 2018, 07:04:33 PM
time travel

https://youtu.be/NvXeWXsgHsg
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 February, 2018, 07:12:13 PM
(https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/27337123_10155791284942012_1422443081309825723_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoiYiJ9&oh=6b64b3874e6121d34b3fbd57aa6a504d&oe=5ADA8970) Composite photo of Venus from the Akatsuki probe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 02 February, 2018, 08:35:24 PM
Sagan wept that's gorgeous.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 February, 2018, 04:28:18 PM
First planets discovered in another galaxy! (http://www.ou.edu/content/publicaffairs/archives/2018/OUAstrophysictsDiscoverPlanetsinExtragalacticGalaxies.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 February, 2018, 07:04:32 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 04 February, 2018, 04:28:18 PM
First planets discovered in another galaxy! (http://www.ou.edu/content/publicaffairs/archives/2018/OUAstrophysictsDiscoverPlanetsinExtragalacticGalaxies.html)

They have LITERALLY discovered planets a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... that has to be the greatest missed opportunity for a headline in (our) history.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 March, 2018, 07:01:07 AM
The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent
humans to Mars yet. (http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-nasa-has-not-sent-humans-to-mars-2018-2?r=US&IR=T)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Goaty on 19 March, 2018, 06:00:33 PM
Self-driving Uber car kills a person. Not surprise it happens.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/19/uber-self-driving-car-kills-woman-arizona-tempe (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/19/uber-self-driving-car-kills-woman-arizona-tempe)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 April, 2018, 12:35:24 PM


Thanks to a rare cosmic alignment,
astronomers have captured the most distant
normal star ever observed, some 9 billion light years from Earth. (http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/04/02/cosmic-lens-helps-hubble-capture-most-distant-star-ever-seen/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 03 April, 2018, 12:48:58 PM
... and yet this week's subscription prog is still a nosho!   :'(
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 June, 2018, 09:24:47 PM
Freeman Dyson - "I kept quiet for thirty years, maybe it's time to speak." (https://www.52-insights.com/freeman-dyson-i-kept-quiet-for-30-years-so-maybe-its-time-to-speak-interview-science/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 July, 2018, 10:35:24 AM

Was There an Early Habitability Window for Earth's Moon? (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2018.1844)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 August, 2018, 06:04:18 PM

NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched to touch the Sun! (http://spaceref.com/missions-and-programs/nasa/ula-launches-nasas-parker-solar-probe-to-touch-sun.html)

The things we can build these days boggle the mind.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 12 August, 2018, 08:22:25 PM
The only question I haven't seen the answer to about the Parker Solar Probe though is 'are they still planning on landing the probe at night?'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 August, 2018, 08:33:00 PM

Don't be so daft. It's going far too fast to land...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 13 August, 2018, 03:12:44 PM
A crash landing is still a landing.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 13 August, 2018, 06:25:46 PM
Sorry, is that the government's Brexit strategy slogan?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 14 August, 2018, 04:03:52 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 13 August, 2018, 06:25:46 PM
Sorry, is that the government's Brexit strategy slogan?
:lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: soggy on 14 August, 2018, 08:37:12 PM
I did see one report from a reputable news source that felt the need to point out, in both in the headline and the  main text, that it is an unmanned probe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 August, 2018, 08:38:44 PM

Heh, no need for Thunderbird 3, then.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 September, 2018, 08:02:31 PM
Artificial Intelligence Helps Find New Fast Radio Bursts. (https://seti.org/press-release/artificial-intelligence-helps-find-new-fast-radio-bursts)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 September, 2018, 08:58:38 PM
Quote from: soggy on 14 August, 2018, 08:37:12 PM
I did see one report from a reputable news source that felt the need to point out, in both in the headline and the  main text, that it is an unmanned probe.

To paraphrase Ali G in his interview with Buzz Aldrin: Why can't they send someone there in the winter, when the sun is cold?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 September, 2018, 10:22:23 AM
Spock's Home Planet, Vulcan, Found Orbiting
40 Eridani A. (http://spaceref.com/exoplanets/spocks-home-planet-vulcan-found-orbiting-40-eridani-a.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 31 October, 2018, 07:36:43 AM

Parker Solar Probe Becomes Fastest-Ever Spacecraft. (https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2018/10/29/parker-solar-probe-becomes-fastest-ever-spacecraft/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=NASA+-+National+Aeronautics+and+Space+Administration&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=58921076)

At about 10:54 p.m. EDT, Parker Solar Probe
surpassed 153,454 miles per hour...


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 01 November, 2018, 12:46:04 PM
Shark, these people ^^^ you quote are all scientist! you know the majority of them are wrong and in the pay of * insert tinfoil hat here*
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 November, 2018, 01:08:15 PM
Indeed. These scientists, however, are working on relatively simple but ultimately unpredictable (http://cosmologyscience.com/cosblog/references/phenomena/unpredictable-motion-of-planets-and-galaxies-celestial-mechanics/) systems to come up with fairly accurate predictions because the probe-makers pay them to. Other scientists work on extremely complex systems with fundamental chaotic aspects which they feed partially into computer simulations and interpret the estimated results as solid, unquestionable fact because the ruling class pays them to. Calms down
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 01 November, 2018, 01:14:48 PM
Oh come on!  You know this is all completely bunkum.

For a far more accurate view of the universe try these guys.   (https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 01 November, 2018, 01:40:54 PM
Sorry Shark, wasn't meant to troll you, just sheer devilment! >:D


Its not rocket science by the way... hold on...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 November, 2018, 02:00:27 PM
No probs - sometimes I just can't help myself!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 01 November, 2018, 06:19:34 PM
Belief in a flat earth was the swan-song of my mate's many conspiracy theories.  It all began to crumble when he began to see how quickly that particular one fell apart.  And I'll smugly put it out there that I helped him on his way by introducing him to concepts like cognitive bias and Occam's Razor (with thanks to Danny Franks for introducing the latter to ME).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 01 November, 2018, 06:31:38 PM

I did look into the Flat Earth theory but was far from convinced - way too much special pleading.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 10 December, 2018, 06:24:05 PM

After 41 years, Voyager 2 has passed beyond the heliopause and into interstellar space - but it will take up to 30,000 years to leave the Solar System proper. (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7301)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 December, 2018, 11:13:14 PM
Festive Red Planet.  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-46645321?__twitter_impression=true)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 December, 2018, 12:13:17 AM

Well, that's the ski resort sorted...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 03 January, 2019, 12:14:38 PM
Two space-related stories that really impressed me.

https://www.thejournal.ie/chinese-spacecraft-moon-far-side-landing-4421117-Jan2019/

https://www.independent.ie/world-news/north-america/ultima-thule-nasa-reveal-highres-picture-of-snowmanshaped-faraway-object-37677292.html

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 03 January, 2019, 06:56:38 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 01 November, 2018, 06:31:38 PM
I did look into the Flat Earth theory but was far from convinced - way too much special pleading.

Plus evidence (http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/seven-ways-to-prove-earth-is-round). 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 January, 2019, 11:32:05 PM
Here's one of the conversations I had with a Flat Earther: Me - "If the Earth is flat, why doesn't it tumble through space like a flipped coin?" FE - "Because it's not in space." Me - "Eh?" FE - "It's floating on a cosmic ocean." Me - "Water?" FE - "Of course." Me - "I see. So what's the water sitting on or in?" FE - "Nothing, it's just water that's infinitely deep." Me - "Infinite water means infinite mass, which means infinite gravity - so how come the Earth doesn't sink or get crushed flat?" FE - "Because of the crystal dome covering the disk, keeping it airtight and buoyant." Me - "And this dome must be infinitely thick, obviously, to avoid being crushed by the infinite gravity of the infinite water." FE - "Not at all. The crystal dome is perfect because God made it." Me - "Seriously?" FE - "Yes - it's the only explanation that makes sense." Me - "I'm sorry, that makes no sense at all to me." FE - "F*ck off you f*cking moron troll." Me - "Come on, don't be like that, Mum."
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 04 January, 2019, 01:37:37 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 03 January, 2019, 11:32:05 PM
Me - "Come on, don't be like that, Mum."

Maybe your mum had the same secondary school geography teacher as me.  No word of a lie, in among some stuff that's science-based (in other words, the curriculum) he also taught us:

1. That the earth is flat.
2. That the ages people live to in the early bible are accurate because of a magical layer in the atmosphere that existed in biblical times.

After that, he neatly got back on track with cumulonimbus and such.  There's nowt as queer as folk.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2019, 08:20:59 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 03 January, 2019, 06:56:38 PM

Plus evidence (http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/seven-ways-to-prove-earth-is-round).

The comments... Oh, God, I read the comments...!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 04 January, 2019, 09:16:22 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 04 January, 2019, 01:37:37 AM:

1. That the earth is flat.
2. That the ages people live to in the early bible are accurate because of a magical layer in the atmosphere that existed in biblical times.

After that, he neatly got back on track with cumulonimbus and such.  There's nowt as queer as folk.

Sweet jebus. My geography teacher was a pig-ignorant bully of a woman who did nothing but read the book aloud with numerous mispronunciations, but it would seem that things could have been worse.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 04 January, 2019, 11:36:56 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 04 January, 2019, 08:20:59 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 03 January, 2019, 06:56:38 PM

Plus evidence (http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/seven-ways-to-prove-earth-is-round).

The comments... Oh, God, I read the comments...!

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders—the most famous of which is, "Never get involved in a land war in Asia"—but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never read the comments!"
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 09 January, 2019, 08:31:04 PM
Repeating Signal from Space Detected (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/radio-signals-fast-radio-bursts-frbs-galaxy-signal-repeated-space-scientists-a8719886.html)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 09 January, 2019, 08:41:46 PM

Fascinating stuff. There's going to be some really cool process behind this - like quivering quasars or palsied pulsars.

Gotta' love that Universe!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 10 January, 2019, 12:14:11 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 January, 2019, 08:41:46 PM
There's going to be some really cool process behind this - like quivering quasars or palsied pulsars.

yeah, that's what THEY want you to think.  :-X
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dudley on 12 January, 2019, 07:45:59 AM
Cockroach milk is incredibly good for you. https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-think-we-should-start-drinking-cockroach-milk-superfood (http://cockroach%20milk%20is%20incredibly%20good%20for%20you.%20https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-think-we-should-start-drinking-cockroach-milk-superfood)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 January, 2019, 10:29:22 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 09 January, 2019, 08:41:46 PM

Gotta' love that Universe!

It's alright, I suppose.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 January, 2019, 12:53:51 AM

Pity it got cancelled.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 03 February, 2019, 08:55:15 PM

The Case Against Dark Matter. (http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/05/the-case-against-dark-matter?fbclid=IwAR2rFSvYxcqgs8n7gW_P20VHtzHVKO5_iO_L2XhLa-8lYVclIPEaRdDhBB8)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: ZenArcade on 03 February, 2019, 11:42:04 PM
I'm not versed on the case against dark matter shark.... Could you shine some light on it?  Z
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 04 February, 2019, 05:30:06 AM

Only dark light, Z...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 19 July, 2019, 03:30:09 PM
Tomorrow is 50 years since the first moon landing. Nasa has some things going on.

https://www.nasa.gov/ (https://www.nasa.gov/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2019, 09:16:16 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 19 July, 2019, 03:30:09 PM
Tomorrow is 50 years since the first moon landing. Nasa has some things going on.

https://www.nasa.gov/ (https://www.nasa.gov/)

Just back from the Blue Dot festival at Jodrell bank, which, as you might expect, was very moon-themed this year. Every night from 12-3am they played Apollo 11 radio chatter across the fields, with accompanying lights and words projected onto the Lovell Telescope, very inspiring to go to sleep to.

Also heard a nice anecdote about how they got the thing built - the radio-astronomers were always looked down on by "proper" astronomers, and they couldn't persuade the government to fund them ... until the Russians put Sputnik up and Bernard Lovell casually mentioned "oh yes, we could track that ... or anything else they put up" ... and all of a sudden, the chequebooks opened!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 23 July, 2019, 01:21:54 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 19 July, 2019, 03:30:09 PM
Tomorrow is 50 years since the alleged first moon landing.

FTFY Buzz
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2019, 01:37:25 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2019, 09:16:16 AM
Just back from the Blue Dot festival at Jodrell bank, which, as you might expect, was very moon-themed this year. Every night from 12-3am they played Apollo 11 radio chatter across the fields, with accompanying lights and words projected onto the Lovell Telescope, very inspiring to go to sleep to.

Never heard of this festival, it sounds amazing.  Tell us more!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2019, 02:01:20 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 July, 2019, 01:37:25 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2019, 09:16:16 AM
Just back from the Blue Dot festival at Jodrell bank, which, as you might expect, was very moon-themed this year. Every night from 12-3am they played Apollo 11 radio chatter across the fields, with accompanying lights and words projected onto the Lovell Telescope, very inspiring to go to sleep to.

Never heard of this festival, it sounds amazing.  Tell us more!

Lovely festival - https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/home (https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/home) - all the usual array of big and small stages plus dance tents etc, plus delicious but overpriced food and beer; but all in the shadow of the mighty Lovell telescope and with loads of family-friendly science talks and hands-on events. This year, you could smell space, meet the Clangers and record messages which were beamed from a telescope in the Netherlands, bounced of the actual motherflipping moon, and then relayed to one of the Jodrell bank telescopes to be played to the crowd.

Of the bands, Hot Chip were pretty meh, Kraftwerk were good but went on too long; 808 state were ace, and New Order were mindblowing. Fell asleep each afternoon and missed Jarvis Cocker, Anna Calvi and Henge. New finds for the weekend for me were Oshun and Easy All Stars.

They went totally cashless this year - I object to this on principle but it did work very smoothly - you load cash onto your wristband and use that to pay for literally everything on-site. So by the end of each night I'm lurching around like a drunk but wealthy zombie holding my wrist out for more chicken and beer. Painful checking my balance each morning!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 23 July, 2019, 02:18:43 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 23 July, 2019, 01:21:54 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 19 July, 2019, 03:30:09 PM
Tomorrow is 50 years since the alleged first moon landing.

FTFY Buzz
Of FFS.  ::)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 23 July, 2019, 02:36:00 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 23 July, 2019, 02:01:20 PM...but all in the shadow of the mighty Lovell telescope and with loads of family-friendly science talks and hands-on events. This year, you could smell space, meet the Clangers and record messages which were beamed from a telescope in the Netherlands, bounced of the actual motherflipping moon, and then relayed to one of the Jodrell bank telescopes to be played to the crowd.

This sounds awesome.  I hate festivals as a rule, being a demophobic misanthropist who equates tents with peace and quiet and trees and board-games by torchlight, but I'm keen to go with the kids to one at some point so they don't end up like me (my brothers live for festivals, and I envy them). I've become acutely conscious that at 13 my eldest will only tolerate our company for a couple of years more at the outside, so I need to get on with it: this sounds like just the ticket. 

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 23 July, 2019, 03:23:00 PM
Hey, my sister was there! Sounds amazing
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 August, 2019, 07:19:02 PM

Dark Matter May Be Older Than the Big Bang. (http://spaceref.com/astronomy/dark-matter-may-be-older-than-the-big-bang.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 August, 2019, 07:30:08 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 12 August, 2019, 07:19:02 PM

Dark Matter May Be Older Than the Big Bang. (http://spaceref.com/astronomy/dark-matter-may-be-older-than-the-big-bang.html)

Damn, that's clever. Hope this holds out, it's so wonderfully neat.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 August, 2019, 09:27:39 AM
> Using a new, simple mathematical framework, the study shows that dark matter may have been produced before the Big Bang during an era known as the cosmic inflation when space was expanding very rapidly.

Eh? Bit of an editorial problem there I think.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: IAMTHESYSTEM on 13 August, 2019, 09:38:11 AM
That's pretty wild. Some cosmologists suggest there might be dark matter hangovers from previous universes but I have no idea about that. "Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried  Alice.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 August, 2019, 03:02:57 AM
Tekeli (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1042231?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR0yz7v4U8QqF5gScV9-vitDgtuG-cl409t2e1UzgDIsizggvx8ZKqrW7eQ)-li (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeagipoZmyfmAAkb0-kcySrCKPhl0dIdx)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 09:25:05 AM
T-Rex grew bigger than previously thought...! (http://paleontologyworld.com/paleontologists-curiosities/huge-t-rex-fossil-suggests-many-dinosaurs-were-bigger-we-thought?fbclid=IwAR3RyG8lFC95UJlYUVOhTAhA9DI_qRgZmQh8Nblbht6UrHDg7X4jWQoMlMI)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 16 August, 2019, 09:38:19 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 09:25:05 AM
T-Rex grew bigger than previously thought...! (http://paleontologyworld.com/paleontologists-curiosities/huge-t-rex-fossil-suggests-many-dinosaurs-were-bigger-we-thought?fbclid=IwAR3RyG8lFC95UJlYUVOhTAhA9DI_qRgZmQh8Nblbht6UrHDg7X4jWQoMlMI)

That Thoth and his time-travelling antics.  Still can't quite picture Satanus with feathers though.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 August, 2019, 01:09:45 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 16 August, 2019, 09:38:19 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 09:25:05 AM
T-Rex grew bigger than previously thought...! (http://paleontologyworld.com/paleontologists-curiosities/huge-t-rex-fossil-suggests-many-dinosaurs-were-bigger-we-thought?fbclid=IwAR3RyG8lFC95UJlYUVOhTAhA9DI_qRgZmQh8Nblbht6UrHDg7X4jWQoMlMI)

That Thoth and his time-travelling antics.  Still can't quite picture Satanus with feathers though.

Have you ever seen a Cassowary in person?! Pure Therapod blood, those things are scary how much like late Cretaceous none avid raptors they are.
(https://www.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au/wp-content/uploads/cassowary-h.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 16 August, 2019, 01:49:19 PM
Just been at Tidbinbilla one of the deep space tracking stations where they have a lovely bit of moon rock and the sub reflector from Honeysuckle Creek (Just down the road) that received the moon landing pictures.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 16 August, 2019, 02:31:45 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 09:25:05 AM
T-Rex grew bigger than previously thought...! (http://paleontologyworld.com/paleontologists-curiosities/huge-t-rex-fossil-suggests-many-dinosaurs-were-bigger-we-thought?fbclid=IwAR3RyG8lFC95UJlYUVOhTAhA9DI_qRgZmQh8Nblbht6UrHDg7X4jWQoMlMI)
Big and old. It was smart and probably getting smarter. Just as well they were killed off by a big rock.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 16 August, 2019, 03:30:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 August, 2019, 01:09:45 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 16 August, 2019, 09:38:19 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 09:25:05 AM
T-Rex grew bigger than previously thought...! (http://paleontologyworld.com/paleontologists-curiosities/huge-t-rex-fossil-suggests-many-dinosaurs-were-bigger-we-thought?fbclid=IwAR3RyG8lFC95UJlYUVOhTAhA9DI_qRgZmQh8Nblbht6UrHDg7X4jWQoMlMI)

That Thoth and his time-travelling antics.  Still can't quite picture Satanus with feathers though.

Have you ever seen a Cassowary in person?! Pure Therapod blood, those things are scary how much like late Cretaceous none avid raptors they are.
(https://www.tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au/wp-content/uploads/cassowary-h.jpg)

I see what your mean.  You'd wonder how it is that Creationists manage to keep on lying to themselves.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 16 August, 2019, 03:48:24 PM
I always thought there was a touch of the velociraptor about these giant chickens... (https://youtu.be/vX4Jh-44-Nk)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 16 August, 2019, 03:50:31 PM
I can't pass the Geese in Taylor Park without feeling like i'm living the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park.

Bloody snappy cunt birds.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 16 August, 2019, 05:27:00 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 16 August, 2019, 03:50:31 PM
I can't pass the Geese in Taylor Park without feeling like i'm living the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park.

Bloody snappy cunt birds.
Canada Geese? Dreadful birds. I don't think anyone would object to reducing their numbers.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 17 August, 2019, 09:33:43 AM
Quote from: von Boom on 16 August, 2019, 05:27:00 PM
Canada Geese? Dreadful birds. I don't think anyone would object to reducing their numbers.

Thin out their numbers!

(https://static1.fjcdn.com/comments/Quick+ned+thin+out+their+numbers+_6f6dc486bd56e6e916cec246a265f109.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: M.I.K. on 17 August, 2019, 02:38:57 PM
I was going to make an observation that wildlife in a rural setting always seems to be far more timid than in an urban one, but then remembered that's 'cos there's a higher proportion of folk in the countryside that are likely to 'reduce their numbers'.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 August, 2019, 12:38:46 PM

Lynne Kelly on Memory Palaces, Ancient and Modern. (https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2019/08/19/60-lynne-kelly-on-memory-palaces-ancient-and-modern/)

QuoteMemory takes different forms. Memories can be encoded in the strength of neural connections in our brains, but there's a sense in which photographs and written records are memories as well. What did people do before such forms of memory even existed? Lynne Kelly is a science writer and researcher who specializes in forms of memory in the ancient world, as well as a competitive memory expert in her own right. She has theorized that ancient structures such as Stonehenge might have served as memory palaces, encoding social knowledge over extended periods of time. We talk about how to improve your own memory, the origin of religion, and how prehistoric cultures preserved their know-how.

I reckon all you archaeological types will enjoy this - but I can't remember why...


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 20 August, 2019, 01:34:09 PM
I have a passing recollection of writing / the printing press being objected to on the grounds that it was likely to have an impact on our ability to remember things.  I just can't quite put my finger on where I came across it though.

Sorry, what were we talking about?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 21 August, 2019, 11:35:05 AM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 20 August, 2019, 01:34:09 PM
I have a passing recollection of writing / the printing press being objected to on the grounds that it was likely to have an impact on our ability to remember things.  I just can't quite put my finger on where I came across it though.

Sorry, what were we talking about?

I've heard that one too; about writing I'm pretty sure.  Probably Q.I. - most things I know come from there.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2019, 02:35:32 PM

They mention that in the podcast.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 25 August, 2019, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2019, 02:35:32 PM

They mention that in the podcast.

No Such Thing as a Fish?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 August, 2019, 12:22:28 PM

No, the one I linked to above.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 August, 2019, 01:47:33 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 25 August, 2019, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2019, 02:35:32 PM

They mention that in the podcast.

No Such Thing as a Fish?

My 3rd favourite podcast (after spacespinner & MCBC, of course). I especially like Czinsk ... Chezins...Ceczs...the female one.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 25 August, 2019, 11:38:48 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 25 August, 2019, 01:47:33 PM
Quote from: sheridan on 25 August, 2019, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 August, 2019, 02:35:32 PM

They mention that in the podcast.

No Such Thing as a Fish?

My 3rd favourite podcast (after spacespinner & MCBC, of course). I especially like Czinsk ... Chezins...Ceczs...the female one.

Anna Ptaszynski - though I'm going to have to have that in front of me next time I listen, as it isn't pronounced how I'd have thought (or spelt how I'd have guessed from hearing it).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 26 August, 2019, 12:08:56 AM
yeah, I did look her up once to check the spelling and was surprised by that rogue 'P' - the most surprised I've been about a name-spelling since the last time I met an Irishwoman (they're just taking the piss  :lol:).

Puts me in mind of THIS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d1d5dEikNk)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 26 August, 2019, 06:52:00 AM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 August, 2019, 12:08:56 AM
yeah, I did look her up once to check the spelling and was surprised by that rogue 'P' - the most surprised I've been about a name-spelling since the last time I met an Irishwoman (they're just taking the piss  :lol:).
]

Racist.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 September, 2019, 09:32:10 AM

Another interstellar visitor? This time it's a comet. (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7498)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 13 September, 2019, 11:07:25 AM
We have jetpacks!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 13 September, 2019, 11:37:32 AM
Having jetpacks sounded great, but unfortunately we got jetskis first, so have a very clear idea of what kind of jackasses will be spoiling our peace and quiet now.



So very, very old.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 13 September, 2019, 11:50:29 AM
I fecking hate, hate microlights, constantly buzzing my home town, you hear them a mile off, and they drone on and on and on til the are over head, then its the same as they depart, its the usual single male 'enjoying' himself, not unlike the clowns on Harleys...

We could use Drones to bring em down :think:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Link Prime on 13 September, 2019, 11:54:21 AM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 13 September, 2019, 11:50:29 AM
I fecking hate, hate microlights, constantly buzzing my home town, you hear them a mile off, and they drone on and on and on til the are over head, then its the same as they depart, its the usual single male 'enjoying' himself, not unlike the clowns on Harleys...

We could use Drones to bring em down :think:

Literally: Old man shakes fist at clouds.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 13 September, 2019, 03:43:58 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 13 September, 2019, 11:50:29 AM
I fecking hate, hate microlights, constantly buzzing my home town, you hear them a mile off, and they drone on and on and on til the are over head, then its the same as they depart, its the usual single male 'enjoying' himself, not unlike the clowns on Harleys...

We could use Drones to bring em down :think:
Laser-guided potatoes would be more fun.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 13 September, 2019, 04:56:28 PM
Quote from: von Boom on 13 September, 2019, 03:43:58 PM
Laser-guided potatoes would be more fun.

"Spud Gun to chips!"
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 24 September, 2019, 10:30:22 AM

Looking for Lurkers: A New Way to Do SETI (http://astrobiology.com/2019/09/looking-for-lurkers-a-new-way-to-do-seti.html) Monolith hunting!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 28 October, 2019, 06:15:23 PM
Hubble captures creepy cosmic Dormammu-type face (https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1919/) in time for Hallowe'en.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 November, 2019, 12:16:41 PM
I've spoken before about my love of exoplanets, where the stuff of science fiction has become real in my lifetime, mand you people have kindly explained to me how they are detected.

I have a particular fascination with that one that has a constant whirling rain of molten glass.  Now, apologies if you've explained this one to me before - my memory isn't what it was - but how on earth can scientists work those kind of details out?  It boggles my tiny mind.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 November, 2019, 12:30:41 PM

They're kind of guessing, I guess, based on the numbers and known processes.

For example, it fascinates me that it probably rains diamonds on Saturn because lightning burns methane to soot, the soot falls to more extreme temparatures and pressures where it's compressed to diamonds - which eventually melt and evaporate. It's all pure speculation based on known physical laws and I think they do the same thing with exoplanets, but with much more limited data.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2019, 02:26:30 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 02 November, 2019, 12:16:41 PM
I've spoken before about my love of exoplanets, where the stuff of science fiction has become real in my lifetime, mand you people have kindly explained to me how they are detected.

I have a particular fascination with that one that has a constant whirling rain of molten glass.  Now, apologies if you've explained this one to me before - my memory isn't what it was - but how on earth can scientists work those kind of details out?  It boggles my tiny mind.

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/earth_like_exoplanet.png (https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/earth_like_exoplanet.png)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 02 November, 2019, 02:39:43 PM
They read science fiction, then announce it as fact, who's going to disprove any off it in their lifetime?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 November, 2019, 03:42:46 PM
 If I had a teleporter,  Huff, you'd be sent straight to the Planet of Glass Rain to check your theory out.  ;)

Sharky, you're right, I know, but I just can't understand how they can work out the physics from that far away. Distance from the central star, perhaps? Apparently it's a gas giant, but I have no idea how that's worked out either.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Modern Panther on 02 November, 2019, 04:03:59 PM
Spectogaphy.  The exoplanet passes in front of its star, and they measure the wobble in light.  The light frequency tells you what the planet's atmosphere is made of, whilst the wobble size and period gives how big the planet is and how fast it's moving.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 November, 2019, 05:35:15 PM
Couldn't really ask for a more concise or clearer explanation than that. Thanks, MP
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 November, 2019, 08:37:41 PM
Quote from: Modern Panther on 02 November, 2019, 04:03:59 PM
Spectogaphy.  The exoplanet passes in front of its star, and they measure the wobble in light.  The light frequency tells you what the planet's atmosphere is made of, whilst the wobble size and period gives how big the planet is and how fast it's moving.

Always bearing in mind that there is a LOT of educated guesswork involved. And sometimes, pesky science throws a big spanner into what we thought we knew: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/02/hubble-constant-mystery-that-keeps-getting-bigger-estimate-rate-expansion-universe-cosmology-cepheid (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/02/hubble-constant-mystery-that-keeps-getting-bigger-estimate-rate-expansion-universe-cosmology-cepheid)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 06 November, 2019, 12:59:49 PM
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVDT-s5GYaE/WboiYZE48NI/AAAAAAAAJJE/YxbgyE4DuiwVTuI27nj6TLJmuwiFIALsACHMYCw/s1600/RCO020.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 18 November, 2019, 07:25:41 PM
About time.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/18/scientists-develop-slippery-toilet-coating-stop-poo-sticking (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/18/scientists-develop-slippery-toilet-coating-stop-poo-sticking)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Frank on 21 November, 2019, 10:37:22 PM

Item on Sky News (22:25pm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Auq9mYxFEE)) about 'digital skin' focuses on allowing amputees to receive haptic feedback from artificial limbs and for relatives to embrace via long-distance Skype calls.

Desperately trying not to invoke the old rule that any technological innovation will be utilised for porn (https://www.businessinsider.com/how-porn-drives-innovation-in-tech-2013-7?r=US&IR=T).


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 22 November, 2019, 04:52:07 PM
Quote from: Frank on 21 November, 2019, 10:37:22 PM
...haptic feedback from artificial limbs and for relatives to embrace via long-distance Skype calls.

Desperately trying not to invoke the old rule that any technological innovation will be utilised for porn (https://www.businessinsider.com/how-porn-drives-innovation-in-tech-2013-7?r=US&IR=T).

That really is the funniest bit of River-in-Egypt I've seen in years. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 26 November, 2019, 10:17:07 AM

Our favourite comic once again predicted the future - Nu-Earth may not be alone. (https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2019/20191125-cfca.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 30 December, 2019, 12:35:46 PM

Is Tharg's home system in danger??? (https://astronomy.com/news/2019/12/betelgueses-bizarre-dimming-has-astronomers-scratching-their-heads)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 09 January, 2020, 09:58:08 PM
It is the talented, imaginative and innovative young people like these - whose projects are covered in the articles about the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, below - that give even an old misanthrope like me some hope for the future. Their hard work and inspiration is a credit to their schools, peers, parents and above all, themselves. Fair play to all these Young Scientists!

https://www.thejournal.ie/young-scientist-autism-students-wristband-4959147-Jan2020/

https://www.thejournal.ie/slurry-pit-sensor-4959232-Jan2020/#comment-8523890
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 03 February, 2020, 02:04:29 PM
Biological robots.
https://youtu.be/MJ8NorRU_6c (https://youtu.be/MJ8NorRU_6c)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 28 February, 2020, 02:51:00 PM
The explosion of a supermassive black hole has left a dent the size of 15 milky way galaxies in space.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/27/biggest-cosmic-explosion-ever-detected-makes-huge-dent-in-space (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/27/biggest-cosmic-explosion-ever-detected-makes-huge-dent-in-space)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 10 March, 2020, 07:16:52 PM
Here's something we kids of the 80s would not have believed could ever happen. https://www.thejournal.ie/second-person-cleared-of-hiv-reveals-identity-5039475-Mar2020/ (https://www.thejournal.ie/second-person-cleared-of-hiv-reveals-identity-5039475-Mar2020/)

Pity about the other thing going round right now.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 11 March, 2020, 10:40:39 PM
This is the coolest thing I've read in ages: working out the length of a dinosaur's day from studying shells  (https://phys.org/news/2020-03-ancient-shell-days-half-hour-shorter.amp?__twitter_impression=true) - and that's just the start of all the brilliant inferences!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 12 April, 2020, 08:59:05 AM
Incredible timelapse (https://twitter.com/TransTerraScape/status/1248863593602244609?s=09) of Good Friday's final flypast of Earth by the BepiColombo Mercury mission. And then Earth receding (https://twitter.com/esa/status/1249088159633346561?s=09) yesterday as she heads for Venus. ALL the feels.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 15 April, 2020, 03:23:38 PM
The pessimist in me can't help but imagine, a cartoon of some guy, staggering out from the wreckage of his house, looking at what remains of his gaff and shouting:' "It'll zip safely by Earth", they said! "223,000 feckin' miles away" they said! '

https://www.space.com/house-size-asteroid-2020-gh2-earth-flyby-april-2020.html#xenforo-comments-30547





Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 02 September, 2020, 07:05:02 PM
Well this is fucking weird - toy boats floating upside down on levitating water. I say we burn all of these scientists as a precaution.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/02/whatever-floats-your-boat-scientists-defy-gravity-with-levitating-liquid (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/02/whatever-floats-your-boat-scientists-defy-gravity-with-levitating-liquid)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 09 September, 2020, 02:33:48 PM
Speaking of water doing weird things - I've seen one of these in reality, on display for a while in the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin.  I think it's basically a giant printer but my word, it's utterly mesmerising.

https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2020/09/09/the-water-clock-at-this-japanese-railway-station-is-simply-next-level-stuff/ (https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2020/09/09/the-water-clock-at-this-japanese-railway-station-is-simply-next-level-stuff/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 September, 2020, 06:45:31 PM
That's pretty cool - but I still prefer my favourite clock, the one at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1wCzby14o (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1wCzby14o)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 09 September, 2020, 08:47:45 PM
Quote from: Dandontdare on 09 September, 2020, 06:45:31 PM
That's pretty cool - but I still prefer my favourite clock, the one at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1wCzby14o (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1wCzby14o)

Wow.  Don't fancy his job much, mind you.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 September, 2020, 01:54:42 PM
Press conference at 3:00pm today, apparently.

Phosphine gas detected in the atmosphere of Venus, which no non-biological processes are known to produce. (https://www.disclose.tv/signs-of-extraterrestrial-life-found-on-venus-412517?fbclid=IwAR3JmeiqlMkPCxUufI5wadiQM-up1LXYBbrpLoTSDph9Zli_KuB6FjQLDR4)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Link Prime on 14 September, 2020, 02:21:45 PM
Time to reset the Drake Equation.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 September, 2020, 03:01:19 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 September, 2020, 01:54:42 PM
Press conference at 3:00pm today, apparently.


Didn't take long to get a chat going with them.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 September, 2020, 03:15:29 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 14 September, 2020, 01:54:42 PM
Press conference at 3:00pm today, apparently.

Sorry, my mistake — some kind of briefing from The Royal Astronomical Society at 4:00pm. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IIj3e5BFp0&feature=youtu.be)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 14 September, 2020, 03:26:45 PM
Looking forward to it. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 14 September, 2020, 04:08:46 PM
Well, that was a bit underwhelming! Damn you scientists and your measured lines of enquiry! I want hyperbole and wild speculation!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 14 September, 2020, 05:00:05 PM
I was hoping for a message from our new Venusian overlords now that our atmosphere is warm enough for them to live here.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Link Prime on 15 September, 2020, 09:09:30 AM
Been racking my brain trying to think of the name of a documentary I saw a few years ago with 'artistic concepts' of Venusian atmosphere dwelling aliens.
They were kinda like that Green Lantern who looks like an onion with tentacles.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 15 September, 2020, 12:59:47 PM
Nah.  They're just green men with jetpacks.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 16 September, 2020, 11:48:42 AM
four armed is fore warned
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Robin Low on 21 November, 2020, 11:44:04 AM
This thread's been a quiet recently, so let's cheer it up a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqReeTV_vk

Regards,

Robin
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 22 November, 2020, 08:39:03 AM
Ray Harryhausen knew the score!

Complete fossilised T-Rex skeleton found locked in battle with Triceratops. (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-reveal-the-worlds-first-ever-complete-t-rex-skeleton/ar-BB1baBuh)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 22 November, 2020, 09:13:16 AM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 22 November, 2020, 08:39:03 AM
Ray Harryhausen knew the score!

Complete fossilised T-Rex skeleton found locked in battle with Triceratops. (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-reveal-the-worlds-first-ever-complete-t-rex-skeleton/ar-BB1baBuh)

Wow that I'd never heard of this, yet know details of the WAGatha Christie case is a shocking indictment of what I pay attention to and what the mainstream media hold to be important.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Greg M. on 22 November, 2020, 11:08:17 AM
One day, future palaeontologists will find a complete fossilised Coleen Rooney skeleton locked in battle with Rebekah Vardy.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 22 November, 2020, 12:06:01 PM
That's amazing. (The dinosaurs, that is, not the footballers' wives.) Also never knew that the Triceratops' surname was 'Horridus'.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mardroid on 24 November, 2020, 04:20:38 AM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 22 November, 2020, 12:06:01 PM
That's amazing. (The dinosaurs, that is, not the footballers' wives.) Also never knew that the Triceratops' surname was 'Horridus'.

Me neither. Makes me thing of the Grizzly bear's moniker (Ursus Horribillis). I don't understand Latin in general, but I think I understand that.  :lol: (Not entirely fair on the bear. We humans will leave tasty morsels in our rubbish dumps and wander into their territory.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 November, 2020, 07:30:40 PM

In philosophical mood, I ask: what does "trust the science" actually mean?

Trust the scientist? Well, scientists are only human. Most just do their thing to pay the bills and feed their children. They go where the money is, do what the money says, just like the rest of us. And, just like the rest of us, they often disagree - on everything from the Many Worlds interpretation of Quantum Theory to climate change to virology. So, trust all the scientists or some of them? Which ones? Why? If so, trust the science translates to trust some of the science. With no disrespect to scientists in general, I'm not sure I like that.

Trust the scientific results? Again, what to do when the results conflict or have multiple possible interpretations? Which results to trust? Again, I'm left with trust some of the science, and again I'm not sure I like it.

Trust the scientific projections? I see the same problem only moreso - predicting the future has never been a particularly fruitful area of endeavour, save for fundamentals like physical processes governed by natural laws - and even this is not perfect, as several lost Mars probes adequately demonstrate. Trust some of the science. Nope.

By this point it seems to me that "trust the science" is a political slogan designed to win arguments and avoid questions.

But there is one more possibility.

Trust the scientific method. This is based on relentless testing and questioning, recording and interpreting results and, most importantly, that the current dominant theories in any given discipline are simply our best and most educated guesses. These educated guesses have a lot to support them, which is why they serve as current models or frameworks, but some result or discovery or interpretation could come along at any moment to radically alter or even sweep them away. The scientific method is the same for us all. And there's the definition of trust the science I can almost go for.

It's arguably the most important tool we've ever developed, we must never allow it to be reduced to a political slogan or, worse, a religion.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 November, 2020, 07:47:02 PM

Ignore me.

I am currently engaged in a repeat experiment involving the addition of certain chemically interesting fluids to my general biological mass.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 25 November, 2020, 07:53:55 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 November, 2020, 07:30:40 PM
It's arguably the most important tool we've ever developed, we must never allow it to be reduced to a political slogan or, worse, a religion.

I 100% agree. Maybe I've only started to notice this during the pandemic, but politicians when politicians say "Trust the Science" or "Follow the science" they use the word "science in the same way their predecessors might have used the word "bible".

As for everything else you've put there....

Are you familiar with the term JAQing off?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 25 November, 2020, 08:45:08 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 November, 2020, 07:30:40 PM
In philosophical mood, I ask: what does "trust the science" actually mean?

It's probably better than trusting polemic.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 25 November, 2020, 10:04:27 PM
You already reached the answer that I would have given - don't trust the scientist trust the method - unbiased, repeatable experiments with peer-reviewed methodology, and the core belief that We Don't Know Everything - every piece of research strengthens some theories, demolishes other, but the end result is a continually improving understanding. The word science simply means 'knowledge'
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 25 November, 2020, 10:32:53 PM
And trusting the method, 97% of them agree on climate change beingreal and man made. So I wouldn't say there is any significant number that disagree there.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 January, 2021, 02:33:20 PM
Quote from: Mister Pops on 25 November, 2020, 07:53:55 PM


Are you familiar with the term JAQing off?


Ha! No, I wasn't - that's brilliant! Please tell me there's also one called FAQing about...

Tips, even if that 97% figure is entirely accurate, unbiased and uncomplicated, it has no bearing on the science itself. It is a political argument, a logical fallacy (appeal to the majority/appeal to authority), to say that 97% of S believe in ACC therefore ACC is true.

What we should say, rather, is that ACC is probably true. Because the word "probably" is where the science lives. Science is all about the probabilities, which is a problem for politics, which prefers certainties.

So, what about the remaining 3% of scientists? If all the scientists polled fell within broadly similar parameters (and if they didn't, the whole study's meaningless anyway), what makes this minority so worthy of scorn and ridicule? Why should the gospels data of the believers be deified and the gospels data of the non-believer damned?

I mean, call me old fashioned but I'd like to think that if two climatologists disagreed they'd study their conflicting data together in order to reach a more accurate understanding of reality's probable state and not just call one another "ignorant tw*ts" on Facetube.

Anyway - Go science!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 07 January, 2021, 02:43:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 January, 2021, 02:33:20 PM

What we should say, rather, is that ACC is probably true

I'm going to quote you on that.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 07 January, 2021, 03:00:14 PM

:-D

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 30 January, 2021, 01:20:23 PM
My new go-to excuse for why I do not partake of any form of exercise: "I'm not a lazy git! I could actually die from exercise-induced anaphylaxis!"  :)

https://www.livescience.com/can-people-be-allergic-to-exercise.html


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2021, 08:24:38 AM
Great enjoyed the Perseverance landing last night. Very genuine low-key Mission Control coverage from NASA made for a nail-biting watch, but the best bit was the radiant joy on every single person"s face, even through their masks. You don't see a lot of that these days, it was a tonic.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1362625946549846019

They seem to have really nailed the sky-crane method, it was mere minutes from orbital de-coupling of what they adorably called the Crew Stage to wheels on the ground, no stress about entangling chutes/balloons or opening panels.

Can't wait to see that drone-copter in action, it feels like the start of something wonderful.

(even if it is just the Silver Surfer to Musk's off-world slave-empire Galactus).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 February, 2021, 11:18:10 AM
That's amazing.  Love that we're now getting live tweets from Mars too, about the Perseverance finding its 'forever home'. 

Forgive me if I'm being horribly naive, but the Mars shots from that video are surely CGI recreations of the events, aren't they? 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: wedgeski on 19 February, 2021, 11:38:29 AM
Here's an up-FPS'd descent video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esj5juUzhpU&ab_channel=Bard), wonderful stuff. (The audio is fake, BTW.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 19 February, 2021, 12:11:05 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 19 February, 2021, 11:18:10 AM
...the Mars shots from that video are surely CGI recreations of the events, aren't they?

Yup, that's just a snazzy CGI visualisation made in advance spliced into the timeline. No live footage for obvious reasons, but for the landing coverage they ran a live graphic simulation using the current data feed (speed, altitude, etc) which was really quite something. A 30 year lifespan on their nuke plant and the mission parameters are for 5 years of operation, which is kind of incredible.  It even has an oxygen generation experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Oxygen_ISRU_Experiment#:~:text=Mars%20Oxygen%20ISRU%20Experiment%20(MOXIE,process%20called%20solid%20oxide%20electrolysis.&text=MOXIE%20rides%20aboard%20the%20Perseverance,of%20the%20Mars%202020%20mission.) on board!



Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 February, 2021, 12:20:28 PM

Despite it all, it's a great time to be alive. More of this kind of thing!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 February, 2021, 12:22:12 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 19 February, 2021, 12:11:05 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 19 February, 2021, 11:18:10 AM
...the Mars shots from that video are surely CGI recreations of the events, aren't they?

Yup, that's just a snazzy CGI visualisation made in advance spliced into the timeline. No live footage for obvious reasons, but for the landing coverage they ran a live graphic simulation using the current data feed (speed, altitude, etc) which was really quite something. A 30 year lifespan on their nuke plant and the mission parameters are for 5 years of operation, which is kind of incredible.  It even has an oxygen generation experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Oxygen_ISRU_Experiment#:~:text=Mars%20Oxygen%20ISRU%20Experiment%20(MOXIE,process%20called%20solid%20oxide%20electrolysis.&text=MOXIE%20rides%20aboard%20the%20Perseverance,of%20the%20Mars%202020%20mission.) on board!

Ah, I see. Thanks, TB
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 14 March, 2021, 01:06:41 PM
I found this most interesting.

https://www.livescience.com/proposed-lunar-ark-for-biodiversity.html?utm_source=notification

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 14 March, 2021, 03:22:29 PM

If quantum computing delivers, they may not need samples at all - just raw data from which seeds and eggs can be printed.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Mikey on 07 April, 2021, 01:47:58 PM
Got the first shot of my COVID vaccination this morning, after only having booked it last Wednesday.

I'm putting the event in this thread as it's truly something to consider just over a year ago this virus had everyone in the first lockdown and the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths were only increasing.

The fact we now have more than one type of vaccine available is definitely in the science is drokking fantastic category, as this has been possible due to the years of research into vaccines and epidemiology that the developers have learned from and built upon. This is a Good Thing that should be celebrated.

Also: how about that new eruption in Iceland, eh? It was brilliant being able to follow the events as they developed underground before the surface eruption even began.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 09 April, 2021, 06:15:33 PM
Well, maybe "Fantastic" isn't quite the most appropriate word in this case, but I couldn't think where else to post  this story. All I can say is:"Yikes!"

https://www.livescience.com/satellite-collision-siberian-arctic.html?utm_source=notification

PS: Well done, Mikey, on getting your first Covid shot. Hope it all goes well for you.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:54:53 PM
This article (Muons: 'Strong' evidence found for a new force of nature (https://www.bbc.com/news/56643677)) suggests a fifth category of physical force to go alongside the four currently known. I had only heard of two of the four they already know about, so...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 09 April, 2021, 08:58:08 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:54:53 PM
I had only heard of two of the four they already know about, so...

Up, down, left, right, cheese and beer. That's it. Fucking physicists. What do they know...? Fuckers.

</withnail voice>
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 09 April, 2021, 11:31:08 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 April, 2021, 08:58:08 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 09 April, 2021, 08:54:53 PM
I had only heard of two of the four they already know about, so...

Up, down, left, right, cheese and beer. That's it. Fucking physicists. What do they know...? Fuckers.

</withnail voice>

and fucking magnets. How do they work?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2021, 12:24:16 AM
Out for a run with the eldest a few days ago, and spookily this was the actual topic of our "talk about absolutely anything that will distract from the hurting". Not muon oddities per se (who knew?), but the possibility of an undiscovered boson carrier for a 5th force that would account for expansion anomalies without (my pet hate, may as well just say "God did it") dark energy.

Lest we be viewed as visionary savants, the horrid uphill segment was less insightfully characterised by bitter argument on the possibility of a new massless particle with a different top speed than a photon. My argument was that general relativity simply didn't permit it, his was that that's essentially what Einstein (wrongly) said about quantum probability; and more convincingly "your mind became fossilised in the 20th C", to which I responded with a lively homily about the value of sanding down my shed door.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 10 April, 2021, 12:42:42 AM
Impressive.  When we go out (shopping, not for a run) we talk about what birds, cats, dogs and foxes we can see...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 10 April, 2021, 02:15:53 AM
I'm mostly aligned with Jim here, and often talk about cheese.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: TordelBack on 10 April, 2021, 09:26:07 AM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 10 April, 2021, 02:15:53 AM
I'm mostly aligned with Jim here, and often talk about cheese.

We run and hike a lot these days, in the enforced absence of friends or clubs, and talk about anything to pass the time.To be honest most of our conversations are acrimonious debate on the merits or otherwise of YouTubers and what bonuses stack with what in various games  (my opinion is that nothing ever stacks unless it very explicitly says it does, he takes the 'if it makes sense' approach. Kids, eh?).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 April, 2021, 02:12:15 PM
Quote from: Mikey on 07 April, 2021, 01:47:58 PM
Got the first shot of my COVID vaccination this morning, after only having booked it last Wednesday.

I'm putting the event in this thread as it's truly something to consider just over a year ago this virus had everyone in the first lockdown and the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths were only increasing.

The fact we now have more than one type of vaccine available is definitely in the science is drokking fantastic category, as this has been possible due to the years of research into vaccines and epidemiology that the developers have learned from and built upon. This is a Good Thing that should be celebrated.


Things are finally happening this side of the border too, glacial as the rollout has been.  Almost a quarter of the population (including my elderly parents, at long last) has been vaccinated and hospital admissions and deaths are way down from this time a month ago.  As you say, a Good Thing. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 19 April, 2021, 04:19:24 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 10 April, 2021, 02:15:53 AM
I'm mostly aligned with Jim here, and often talk about cheese.

I run alone, through choice, but think of cheese, toasted mostly.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 19 April, 2021, 06:31:27 PM
I would argue that you can't toast cheese. It's the bread on which the cheese sits that's toasted. So your thoughts are incorrect and it's no wonder you run alone.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 08 May, 2021, 09:21:19 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM
...it gives us images like this:

(http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/351930984-580x385.jpg)

ISS Crew Captures Shuttle Atlantis' Last Brilliant Trip Through the Atmosphere

Wait... Does this means that Earth is not flat? I must be awfully lied to.

My jest aside, science it's great because it constantly evolves. And there are lots of spaces of which we are totally u aware of (well, I am not going to quote that crappy film The Happening with Mark Wahlberg). I am always for trust the science. Trust the scientists? Hm... That's a bit picky. Question is who of today's scientists is pretending to be real.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: NapalmKev on 08 May, 2021, 10:09:04 AM
Quote from: milstar on 08 May, 2021, 09:21:19 AM

Wait... Does this means that Earth is not flat? I must be awfully lied to.


Yes, the Earth is flat... On all six of it's sides!*

Cheers

*For any Flat-Earthers out there, I'm joking.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 May, 2021, 10:33:36 AM

Seven sides. Don't forget the inside, where all the alien dinosaurs live...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 08 May, 2021, 11:04:16 AM
Ah... that's why we are forbidden to travel to inside Earth. But I like to think we are all lizards, David Icke would be pleased with that confirmation.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 17 June, 2021, 04:02:54 PM
The truth is out!

Betelgeuse isn't on the verge of blowing up after all - must have been misinformation spread by the Dictators of Zrag! (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57501416)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 17 June, 2021, 05:42:35 PM
On the cosmological scale of things, it's still going to blow up quite soon...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 June, 2021, 07:19:46 PM
Poor, deluded fools!!! Witness the TRUTH:

(https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5be5d436f4d8ed000696de5f/lede/1541789697177-DonutEarth.jpeg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 June, 2021, 07:10:43 PM
Well that's a bit mind-bending.  I'd be surprised if there wasn't a Donut-Earth Society with members scattered throughout the torus.

I've just got my second Pfizer jab.  In your face, plague!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 18 June, 2021, 07:21:29 PM
Bill Gates: So, you see, dear, now I can track them. This latest one, see, he lives in a house boat just here!
Melinda Gates: [Says nothing, as they separated last month and so contractually aren't in the same location.]
Bill Gates: And this one, see: he's in a Greggs. It's a place for selling grease products - they have them in north England. 
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 June, 2021, 12:23:19 PM
Its always nice that the Flat Earth Society Expo sees attendees fly in from all around the globe.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 20 June, 2021, 06:16:39 PM
Fossilised remains of a prehistoric rhino discovered in China that was "the size of six elephants". (https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/18/asia/giant-rhino-fossil-study-scli-intl-hnk-scn/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2021-06-19T03%3A42%3A16&utm_source=twCNN&fbclid=IwAR0u6qCggE5hPuHzFxh5BHIe6q4uCsdQU6otl9N9MesEvjfZ_q3l14f-iNU)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 20 June, 2021, 09:22:12 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 18 June, 2021, 07:21:29 PM
Bill Gates: So, you see, dear, now I can track them. This latest one, see, he lives in a house boat just here!
Melinda Gates: [Says nothing, as they separated last month and so contractually aren't in the same location.]
Bill Gates: And this one, see: he's in a Greggs. It's a place for selling grease products - they have them in north England.

:lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 June, 2021, 07:56:06 AM

"... Another writer again agreed with all my generalities, but said that as an inveterate skeptic I have closed my mind to the truth.  Most notably I have ignored the evidence for an Earth that is six thousand years old.  Well, I haven't ignored it; I considered the purported evidence and *then* rejected it.  There is a difference, and this is a difference, we might say, between prejudice and postjudice.  Prejudice is making a judgment before you have looked at the facts.  Postjudice is making a judgment afterwards.  Prejudice is terrible, in the sense that you commit injustices and you make serious mistakes.  Postjudice is not terrible.  You can't be perfect of course; you may make mistakes also.  But it is permissible to make a judgment after you have examined the evidence.  In some circles it is even encouraged."
      -- Carl Sagan, The Burden of Skepticism
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 23 June, 2021, 02:13:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 23 June, 2021, 07:56:06 AM

"... Another writer again agreed with all my generalities, but said that as an inveterate skeptic I have closed my mind to the truth.  Most notably I have ignored the evidence for an Earth that is six thousand years old.  Well, I haven't ignored it; I considered the purported evidence and *then* rejected it.  There is a difference, and this is a difference, we might say, between prejudice and postjudice.  Prejudice is making a judgment before you have looked at the facts.  Postjudice is making a judgment afterwards.  Prejudice is terrible, in the sense that you commit injustices and you make serious mistakes.  Postjudice is not terrible.  You can't be perfect of course; you may make mistakes also.  But it is permissible to make a judgment after you have examined the evidence.  In some circles it is even encouraged."
      -- Carl Sagan, The Burden of Skepticism

This is why I say - trust the science. Trust the scientist? Depends on the scientist.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 June, 2021, 03:44:38 PM
You are Michael Gove and I claim my five pounds
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 23 June, 2021, 07:53:33 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 20 June, 2021, 06:16:39 PM
Fossilised remains of a prehistoric rhino discovered in China that was "the size of six elephants". (https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/18/asia/giant-rhino-fossil-study-scli-intl-hnk-scn/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2021-06-19T03%3A42%3A16&utm_source=twCNN&fbclid=IwAR0u6qCggE5hPuHzFxh5BHIe6q4uCsdQU6otl9N9MesEvjfZ_q3l14f-iNU)

That's one big baldy horse right there.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Lorenzo on 27 June, 2021, 02:21:52 PM
Supersurf or the Henley Regatta? Chopper for the next Olympics!

https://www.bbc.com/news/av-embeds/57610362/vpid/p09mjgyd

edit: hmm, dunno how to embed but the link works...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 15 July, 2021, 01:07:03 PM
Well, this is interesting.

https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/vesuvius-scrolls?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 July, 2021, 01:27:28 PM

Fascinating.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 15 July, 2021, 05:33:54 PM
I am waiting for the device that can render people and things invisible, ever since HG Wells; now I am obsessed over it.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 15 July, 2021, 06:12:46 PM
Quote from: milstar on 15 July, 2021, 05:33:54 PM
I am waiting for the device that can render people and things invisible, ever since HG Wells; now I am obsessed over it.

Hyperstealth Biotechnology's "invisibility cloak" can conceal people and buildings. (https://www.dezeen.com/2019/11/07/hyperstealth-biotechnology-quantum-stealth-invisibility-cloak/)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 15 July, 2021, 06:59:53 PM
That's awesome!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 17 July, 2021, 10:10:19 AM
hmmm ... looks like the spambots are back at work.  Still, at least it's a bit more coherent than some of the Russian architecture sites we had not long back ...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 17 July, 2021, 07:04:26 PM
Quote from: furnitopiadubre on 17 July, 2021, 10:07:14 AM

The catalog which filled diverse items furniture composes only first-class factory products...


...and english questionable grammar type wordings.

Now I know how Ed Reardon feels...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 18 July, 2021, 02:13:48 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 17 July, 2021, 10:10:19 AM
hmmm ... looks like the spambots are back at work.  Still, at least it's a bit more coherent than some of the Russian architecture sites we had not long back ...

Hmmm...A 2000 AD / Ikea crossover range of furniture could have potential.

Judge Bed?

Robohunter Reclining Chair etc...?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tjm86 on 18 July, 2021, 04:14:43 PM
Strontium Bog?

Nemesis the Wardrobe?

Sinister Deckchair?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Jim_Campbell on 18 July, 2021, 08:19:03 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 18 July, 2021, 04:14:43 PM
Sinister Deckchair?

WOULD DEFINITELY BUY.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 18 July, 2021, 08:32:10 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 18 July, 2021, 08:19:03 PM
Quote from: Tjm86 on 18 July, 2021, 04:14:43 PM
Sinister Deckchair?

WOULD DEFINITELY BUY.
Wood. Definitely buy.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 18 July, 2021, 11:32:45 PM
(https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/08/dezeen_Curt-deck-chair-by-Bernhard-Burkard-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 21 July, 2021, 12:00:42 AM
Considering I took a dump on China on global pollution in the other thread, but that number of 372 miles per hour spins my head around. And that aerodynamic design. The future is here!

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229097.shtml
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 19 August, 2021, 07:10:29 PM

Boston Dynamics Drops New Video Of 5-Foot Atlas Humanoid Robot Effortlessly Doing Parkour. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4DML7FIWk&ab_channel=BostonDynamics)

Jeepers - looks like a scene from a Hollywood film.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 20 August, 2021, 12:45:39 PM
I think I just saw the T-0.1.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 August, 2021, 04:57:23 PM

"I need your clothes, your bike, and 316 AA batteries."

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: von Boom on 20 August, 2021, 07:21:50 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 August, 2021, 04:57:23 PM

"I need your clothes, your bike, and 316 AA batteries."
:lol:
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 21 August, 2021, 05:20:19 PM
It looks like a man in suit xD wonder if we ever have people turned into robots. At least it'd mean that Superman III was way ahead of its time.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 05 September, 2021, 10:54:40 AM
https://uastemcells.com/blog/european-scientists-have-grown-brains-from-the-stem-cells-of-people-from-northern-europe-rich-in-neanderthal-genes/ (https://uastemcells.com/blog/european-scientists-have-grown-brains-from-the-stem-cells-of-people-from-northern-europe-rich-in-neanderthal-genes/)

Interesting.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 September, 2021, 09:40:34 AM

Largest Virtual Universe Free for Anyone to Explore (https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2021/20210910-cfca.html)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: wedgeski on 13 September, 2021, 09:55:44 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 13 September, 2021, 09:40:34 AM

Largest Virtual Universe Free for Anyone to Explore (https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2021/20210910-cfca.html)
Also this as a related interest:

https://www.illustris-project.org/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 13 September, 2021, 08:34:09 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 13 September, 2021, 09:40:34 AM

Largest Virtual Universe Free for Anyone to Explore (https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2021/20210910-cfca.html)

Did they conceive a black holes that suck you in and usher you into a alternate universe?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Colin YNWA on 29 September, 2021, 12:35:23 PM
QuoteThe first specimen - named Ceratosuchops inferodios - has been labelled a "horned crocodile-faced hell heron".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-58728161 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-58728161)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 29 September, 2021, 03:14:31 PM
Shouldn't they be depicted with feathers? Or is that only some dinosaurs? (It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that feathered dinosaurs weren't just something Pat Mills made up for the craic in Legend of Shamana.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: blackmocco on 29 September, 2021, 03:23:46 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 29 September, 2021, 03:14:31 PM
Shouldn't they be depicted with feathers? Or is that only some dinosaurs? (It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that feathered dinosaurs weren't just something Pat Mills made up for the craic in Legend of Shamana.)

Turns out everyone got a little carried away with the feathers thing. Some clearly had. Some clearly hadn't.

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/first-fossilized-skin-of-a-carnivorous-dino-reveals-carnotaurus-had-scaly-skin-with-no-feathers/
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 30 September, 2021, 02:20:03 PM
Aha.  Thanks.  Dinosaurs have changed a lot since my day one way or the other though.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 09 November, 2021, 10:11:44 AM
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/no-one-knew-they-existed-wild-heirs-of-lost-british-honeybee-found-at-blenheim (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/no-one-knew-they-existed-wild-heirs-of-lost-british-honeybee-found-at-blenheim)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 December, 2021, 10:28:45 AM

DSCOVR: EPIC - Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/?date=2021-12-04), includes an image of the recent Antarctic eclipse.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: wedgeski on 08 December, 2021, 11:21:34 AM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 December, 2021, 10:28:45 AM

DSCOVR: EPIC - Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/?date=2021-12-04), includes an image of the recent Antarctic eclipse.
That's fantastic!
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 17 December, 2021, 10:03:36 PM
More fodder for the Darwin Awards: Anti-5G necklaces found to be radioactive (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59703523)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 December, 2021, 10:21:42 AM

All alone in the night...

(https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.spaceref.com/news/2021/oo51750549287.jpg)
This mosaic depicts the International Space Station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module's space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021. (spaceref.com)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: milstar on 22 December, 2021, 12:13:15 AM
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/rats-playing-doom-twitch/ (https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/rats-playing-doom-twitch/)

Can't say I'd uninteresting to watch rats playing for sheer curiosity, but this is animal abuse to me.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 08 January, 2022, 07:30:25 PM
After thirty odd years and a fortnight of squeaky bums, NASA has confirmed the James Webb Space Telescope is fully deployed! (https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1479837936430596097?s=20)

I remember first hearing about it during my undergrad, which is a lot longer ago than I like to admit.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 January, 2022, 08:32:25 PM

Yup - itching to see what it sees.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 January, 2022, 12:48:34 PM

China's $1 trillion 'artificial sun' fusion reactor just got five times hotter than the sun (https://www.space.com/china-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor-five-times-hotter-than-the-sun).

China's "artificial sun" has set a new world record after superheating a loop of plasma to temperatures five times hotter than the sun for more than 17 minutes, state media reported.

The EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius) for 1,056 seconds, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The achievement brings scientists a small yet significant step closer to the creation of a source of near-unlimited clean energy.


space.com

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Proudhuff on 11 January, 2022, 01:03:06 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 January, 2022, 12:48:34 PM

China's $1 trillion 'artificial sun' fusion reactor just got five times hotter than the sun (https://www.space.com/china-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor-five-times-hotter-than-the-sun).

China's "artificial sun" has set a new world record after superheating a loop of plasma to temperatures five times hotter than the sun for more than 17 minutes, state media reported.

The EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius) for 1,056 seconds, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The achievement brings scientists a small yet significant step closer to the creation of a source of near-unlimited clean energy.


space.com

What could possibly go wrong?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: wedgeski on 11 January, 2022, 02:12:55 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 11 January, 2022, 01:03:06 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 11 January, 2022, 12:48:34 PM

China's $1 trillion 'artificial sun' fusion reactor just got five times hotter than the sun (https://www.space.com/china-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor-five-times-hotter-than-the-sun).

China's "artificial sun" has set a new world record after superheating a loop of plasma to temperatures five times hotter than the sun for more than 17 minutes, state media reported.

The EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius) for 1,056 seconds, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The achievement brings scientists a small yet significant step closer to the creation of a source of near-unlimited clean energy.


space.com

What could possibly go wrong?
Not a lot, really, as I understand it. Obviously the reactor is a dangerous piece of machinery but there's no chance of runaway reactions.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Tiplodocus on 11 January, 2022, 02:31:58 PM
I heard one of the scientists building it got welded to some ai controlled robotic tentacles they used to manipulate the reaction.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 January, 2022, 02:44:55 PM

He octo have known better.

I'll get me lab coat...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 07 February, 2022, 11:26:20 PM
Paralysed man with severed spine walks thanks to implant (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60258620)

Every so often I get a wee reminder that we are, in fact, living in the future.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 22 March, 2022, 03:42:38 PM
2MASS J17554042+6551277 is a completely unremarkable star. I'm not sure it's even visible to the naked eye, but if it is, just barely. It does have an entry in wikipedia now, because it was what the James Webb telescope pointed at to get its mirrors all nice and aligned. To achieve alignment, the tolerances have to be less than the wavelength of infrared light so all the mirrors are reflecting in phase to the receiver. Otherwise you just get a bunch of images from smaller mirrors superimposed on top of one another. But now, instead of 18 small mirror telescopes, there's one big one. It took a picture of 2MASS J17554042+6551277, and this is what NASA released* (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220319.html):


(https://science.nasa.gov/science-red/s3fs-public/styles/image_gallery_scale_960w/public/atoms/telescope_alignment_evaluation_image_labeled1024.jpg?itok=OwM0C-C1)

Those six big spikes are optical artifacts, it's essentially like lens-flare, but replace lens with 18-perfectly-aligned-mirrors. So 18-perfectly-aligned-mirrors-flare. The JWST is so sensitve, it's getting glare off a barely visible star. This won't be as much of a problem when the JWST starts its serious work, 2MASS J1blahblah is only** ~2000 light years away, so much closer than the stuff JWST is going to study.

The truly remarkable thing is when you zoom in on those points of light behind 2MASSandsoforth.

(https://i.imgur.com/K0bSx9M.png)

Those are galaxies! Without meaning to or even trying, this thing is capturing pictures of galaxies!

And they still haven't even released the full resolution/data-set image because they're still perfecting the callibration and resolution***. Not to get too technical, but I believe they still have to de-sprongle the widgets and reverse the polarity of the sprockets.

*link to APOD's much larger image.
**in cosmological terms
***and NASA has been stung before by the tin-foil behatted extrapolating nonsense from slightly blurry images.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 22 March, 2022, 04:37:25 PM
A line that cries out to be roared in desperation by TOS Scotty:

"It's nae use Captain! Ah'm gonnae have tae de-sprongle the widgets and reverse the polarity of the sprockets!"

(Thanks for the post, Mister Pops. It really will be fascinating to see what new images and info await us, courtesy of this technology.)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 22 March, 2022, 06:55:16 PM

Ah, the dichotomy of humanity - that we can see such soaring beauty whilst mired in such abyssal ugliness.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 May, 2022, 02:03:26 PM

The engineering team with NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is trying to solve a mystery: The interstellar explorer is operating normally, receiving and executing commands from Earth, along with gathering and returning science data. But readouts from the probe's attitude articulation and control system (AACS) don't reflect what's actually happening onboard.

The AACS controls the 45-year-old spacecraft's orientation. Among other tasks, it keeps Voyager 1's high-gain antenna pointed precisely at Earth, enabling it to send data home. All signs suggest the AACS is still working, but the telemetry data it's returning is invalid. For instance, the data may appear to be randomly generated, or does not reflect any possible state the AACS could be in. (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/engineers-investigating-nasa-s-voyager-1-telemetry-data)

Thrill-sucker infestation?

These are my favourite two spacecraft of all time, I hope they can figure it out.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2022, 02:33:25 PM
Have they tried turning them off and on again?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: sheridan on 20 May, 2022, 02:45:55 PM
computer read-outs on contact lenses (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61318460) (couldn't quite work out if it was a concept, prototype or really exists yet).
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 20 May, 2022, 04:59:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2022, 02:33:25 PM
Have they tried turning them off and on again?

:D

I imagine the on/off button is pretty hard to reach right now...

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 21 May, 2022, 03:05:16 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 20 May, 2022, 04:59:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmumbler on 20 May, 2022, 02:33:25 PM
Have they tried turning them off and on again?

:D

I imagine the on/off button is pretty hard to reach right now...

(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/enfuturama/images/a/a8/Finglonger.jpg/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 06 July, 2022, 11:05:25 PM
This is more pure maths than science, but in honour of the current Prime Minister of England, I thought I'd share 3Blue1Brown's latest video on How to Lie Using Visual Examples (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYQVlVoWoPY)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 12 July, 2022, 10:47:27 AM


(https://media2.spaceref.com/news/2022/james_webb_space_telescope_first_image_full.png)
"This first image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb's First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies - including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared - have appeared in Webb's view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length by someone on the ground." (http://spaceref.com/astronomy/the-first-james-webb-space-telescope-is-awe-inspiring.html)
Wow.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 12 July, 2022, 03:24:04 PM
The zooming-out version here.  And all this could be stuffed into a little pyramid in Peter St John's desk.
https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/07/12/that-james-webb-telescope-picture-was-awesome-but-wait-until-zoom-out/ (https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/07/12/that-james-webb-telescope-picture-was-awesome-but-wait-until-zoom-out/)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 12 July, 2022, 09:10:17 PM
Man, i'm glad the universe is made out of coach seat upholstery.

Thanks Nasa.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 12 July, 2022, 10:00:37 PM
Now you mention it...
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 13 July, 2022, 12:21:06 AM
I would compare it to a Wetherspoons' carpet, but to each their own.

There's looks like a lot of gravitational lensing going on there. A lot of hints at structure beyond my ken.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 13 July, 2022, 07:32:14 AM

Indeed. So many wonders in one tiny patch of sky. I find it marvelous that when Einstein started his work the scientific consensus was that the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the universe - and now, look at that, galaxies everywhere scattered about with such casual majesty. Awesome in the truest sense of the word.

Impatient for more!

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 19 July, 2022, 01:38:12 PM
An interesting article here, by David Moore of Astronomy Ireland about the James Webb Space Telescope.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-40918946.html


Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 25 July, 2022, 09:49:38 AM

Quote from: Mister Pops on 06 July, 2022, 11:05:25 PMThis is more pure maths than science, but in honour of the current Prime Minister of England, I thought I'd share 3Blue1Brown's latest video on How to Lie Using Visual Examples (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYQVlVoWoPY)
Just got around to watching this. I didn't understand a word of it (being a mathematical dunce) but I did enjoy it - though I enjoyed this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvCytJvd4H0&ab_channel=3Blue1Brown) better. My solution worked but was completely wrong, and the real solution is a proper d'oh inducing headslapper.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Funt Solo on 26 July, 2022, 09:09:36 PM
Covid origin studies say evidence points to Wuhan market (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62307383)

It's an interesting article, with the key point at the end:

QuoteThe major risk of being distracted by looking for someone in a laboratory to blame for all this ... "is that we run the risk of letting this happen again because we've focused on the wrong problem."
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 August, 2022, 02:50:03 PM

(https://media2.spaceref.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22093654/jupiter-auroras2-scaled.jpg)

The James Webb Space Telescope has a gander at Jupiter.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Dandontdare on 23 August, 2022, 03:01:56 PM
so the red spot isn't actually red?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Definitely Not Mister Pops on 23 August, 2022, 03:50:27 PM
I'm guessing it has something to do with JWST being calibrated to infrared. It compensates for the doppler red shift at a intergalactic scales, but it might make reds look white at interplanetary scales. That's my guess, but it could just be an instagram filter.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 23 August, 2022, 06:28:15 PM

This is a composite image from Webb's NIRCam instrument (two filters) and was acquired on 27 July 2022, it says here. Probably some kind of false colour image to enhance the details, I'd guess, but I can't be arsed looking it up.

Still. Nice pic, innit?

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 September, 2022, 11:17:49 AM
Don't they artificially colour most of the space pictures?  I could be wrong, and probably am.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 02 September, 2022, 11:20:34 AM
I've pretty much left Facebook, and only use Instagram to advertise my murals.  I have no intention of leaving Whatsapp though, I like it - I live alone and do a lot of things alone, but don't want to be alone ALL the time.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 02 September, 2022, 04:49:16 PM

You're never alone with a dog. I'd be lost without my little Jack Russel/Patterdale cross (Patterjack?). He doesn't listen to me, fetch my slippers or allow me into my own bed but he's good company and cheap to run.

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 11 September, 2022, 03:14:45 PM
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 02 September, 2022, 11:20:34 AM
I've pretty much left Facebook, and only use Instagram to advertise my murals.  I have no intention of leaving Whatsapp though, I like it - I live alone and do a lot of things alone, but don't want to be alone ALL the time.

Oops! Was wondering what had happened that post - it was meant for the Black Dog thread, iirc.  Apologies al - a right weirdo I must have looked posting that kind of thing on the science thread.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 27 September, 2022, 10:09:30 AM

(https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/ubernode_alt_horiz/public/thumbnails/image/all_dimorphos_dart_0401930040_12262_01_raw_0.png)

NASA's DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-first-ever-planetary-defense-test)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 08 October, 2022, 12:21:06 PM

(https://media2.spaceref.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/07151519/FeentMQX0AMlbut.jpg)


@markmccaughrean just tweeted this image: "Hello darkness, my old friend" – A tiny snippet from our new #JWST data, showing a planetary system in the making, floating in space & silhouetted against the bright background light of the Orion Nebula."
(spaceref.com)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 11 October, 2022, 02:49:39 PM

(https://media2.spaceref.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/09213916/3947d913-223d-4eac-b978-218e7d462229.jpg)

Mary Kay Awards Education Grant to Young Woman Aspiring to Become First Latin American Woman Astronaut to Visit Mars. (https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/mary-kay-awards-education-grant-to-young-woman-aspiring-to-become-first-latin-american-woman-astronaut-to-visit-mars/)

(More to the point hereabouts, this pic inspires me to consider writing "Danielle Dare - Astronaut of the Future...")
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: paddykafka on 03 March, 2023, 03:18:18 PM
An early example of the dinosaur otherwise known as Edwardius Scissor-Handus.  :)

https://www.livescience.com/jurassic-worlds-bizarre-scythe-clawed-dinosaur-couldnt-have-been-a-slasher-study-confirms?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2023-03-03-Dinosaurs-scyth

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 July, 2023, 07:30:55 PM

Plastic-Eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of tons of Landfill Waste. (https://news.utexas.edu/2022/04/27/plastic-eating-enzyme-could-eliminate-billions-of-tons-of-landfill-waste/) (From 2022.)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: Hawkmumbler on 18 July, 2023, 07:38:46 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 18 July, 2023, 07:30:55 PMPlastic-Eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of tons of Landfill Waste. (https://news.utexas.edu/2022/04/27/plastic-eating-enzyme-could-eliminate-billions-of-tons-of-landfill-waste/) (From 2022.)



As someone who just got done binging Doomwatch, the very first episode of which dealing with the consequences of such an organism running riot, i am singularly in awe at it's ability and reasonably concerned about it's other applications.
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JohnW on 18 July, 2023, 07:47:29 PM
May I refer my learned friends to The Great Plasteen Disaster?
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: The Legendary Shark on 18 July, 2023, 09:44:33 PM

Heh, I was thinking that as I posted it. Science has always been a double-edged sword and often opens nightmarish doors. Remember the Grey Goo? (The Grey Goo scenario is a hypothetical situation involving self-replicating nanobots that consume all matter on Earth while creating copies of themselves, resulting in the complete destruction of all life and the planet. It is considered a potential danger of advanced nanotechnology. This concept originated in a 1986 article by physicist K. Eric Drexler, who discussed the potential risks of unchecked self-replication in nanotechnology, it says here...)

Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 04 August, 2023, 07:34:07 PM
Well, I wouldn't say drokkin fantastic, but this is the first day I've had this week where I wasn't riddled with anxiety as a result of my own daft actions.

See, this day last week I was pulled over for a broken motorbike tail light that I didn't know I had. The old bill very quickly saw on their smartphones, no less,  that i wasn't taxed either and quite properly seized my bike and demanded that I show my licence in a Garda Station within ten days.

I got home to realise my licence was missing and there was no way I could replace it before the deadline. So I ordered a new one anyway and spent a week fretting as I opened an empty postbox day after day. Monday would have been that deadline but it's a bank holiday, meaning no post,meaning the ship has already sailed.

Today a mate very kindly offered to tow my bike out of the compound. While he did so, the people who worked there called the garda who had stopped me. I asked to speak to him - he was very friendly and didn't hesitate to extend my deadline.

So I'm not going to court after all and I have my lawmaster back and all is good in my canalside cabin (Apart from the massive fees involved and the fines I will soon have to pay, but that's another story.)
Title: Re: Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...
Post by: JayzusB.Christ on 04 August, 2023, 07:34:59 PM
Fuck, wrong thread. That was for the LIFE is fantastic one.  Mods?