Science Tuesday

Why do scientists ruin their important discoveries with stupid names?

That's a rhetorical question.

Hobbit Declared a New Species as Debate Continues.

The Hobbit. [insert eyeroll here]

Ever since the 18,000-year-old remains of the three-foot-tall adult female hominid were unearthed in 2003 on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, scientists have argued whether the specimen was a human with an abnormally small head or represents a new species in the human family tree. The diminutive creature had a brain approximately one-third the size of modern adult humans.

Some scientists named the specimen Homo floresiensis, a dwarfed offshoot of Homo erectus, a human ancestor that lived as far back as 1.8 million years ago.

I understand that scientists want to connect the general public to their discoveries or topics of interest... but the Hobbit?

My eyes hurt.

Anyway, more information is at Livescience.com.

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Bad news: Hubble's primary camera shuts down.

Damn.

While other scientific work can still be done by the aging observatory, the unit that failed, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, is the one most scientists depend upon. NASA scientists say they expect to be able to restore just one-third of its observation ability, probably by mid-February.

"We're not optimistic at all" about returning it to full function, said Dave Leckrone, a senior scientist on the Hubble at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

Remove the wrapper from the turkey before cooking

The US-Iran-Iraq-Israeli-Syrian War:

At a not-for-quotation pre-speech briefing on Jan. 10, George W. Bush and his top national security aides unnerved network anchors and other senior news executives with suggestions that a major confrontation with Iran is looming.

Commenting about the briefing on MSNBC after Bush's nationwide address, NBC's Washington bureau chief Tim Russert said "there's a strong sense in the upper echelons of the White House that Iran is going to surface relatively quickly as a major issue - in the country and the world - in a very acute way."

Russert and NBC anchor Brian Williams depicted this White House emphasis on Iran as the biggest surprise from the briefing as Bush stepped into the meeting to speak passionately about why he is determined to prevail in the Middle East.

"The President's inference was this: that an entire region would blow up from the inside, the core being Iraq, from the inside out," Williams said, paraphrasing Bush.

I watched this on MSNBC Wednesday night. While the men were serious and little freaked out by the briefing, I doubt it's had much impact on them. When the conversation got to this point:

MSNBC's Chris Matthews then interjected, "And it could be the rationale for going into Iran at some point."

Russert paused for a few seconds before responding, "It's going to be very interesting to watch that issue and we have to cover it very, very carefully and very exhaustively."

I laugh out loud. It was not a happy laugh. The 4th Estate has done a seriously piss-poor job for the past six years. I have no faith, no hope, in that changing.

So, Bush's actions and rhetoric over the past several weeks continue to mesh with a scenario for a wider regional war - a possibility that now mainstream journalists, such as Tim Russert, are beginning to take seriously.

Don't count on it Mr. Parry.

See the Professor's take on the attack of the US Embassy in Athens. And expect this to happen with more frequency folks.

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There is hope for this sorry-assed country afterall: Bush's approval rating hits new low.

Public approval of Congress has edged up a bit now that Democrats are back in control, but it's still nothing to write home about. Approval for the way Congress is handling its job rose to 32 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll, up from a meager 27 percent a month earlier. That puts Congress on par with President Bush, whose 32 percent approval rating represents a new low for him in AP-Ipsos polling.

Will you put impeachment back on the table now, Ms. Pelosi?

Oh, and while you're at it, Ms. Pelosi, do something about this wonderful economy Mr. Bush has given us:

Study: 744,000 Are Homeless in US:

"In the last 12 to 18 months, the homeless population has essentially exploded in Philadelphia," said Marsha Cohen, executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project, which provides free legal services to the homeless in Philadelphia. "We are seeing big increases in singles and families, both on the street and attempting to enter the homeless system."

"It's a whole influx of new people, and that's the really scary part," Cohen said.

Please take a look at Homeless & Crisis Assistance, at Charity.com; it's a list of charities which provide help to the homeless. Give if you can.


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Alaska stargazers excited about comet:

NASA astronomer Tony Phillips says Comet McNaught is the brightest comet visible from Earth in 30 years. It is six times brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997, and 100 times brighter than Halley's Comet when it appeared in 1986, Phillips told The Associated Press on Thursday.

"It will remain a spectacular comet for weeks, perhaps months, in the Southern Hemisphere," Phillips said. "It could emerge as the brightest comet in recorded history."

Cool! Actually, COLD! 40 degrees below zero. It's information like that that keeps in me in New England. One of these days I'll get to Alaska, just not in January.

Back to the Moon

I'm not sure how I feel about the plan NASA has to take us back to the Moon by 2020. I'm on the fence because both arguments have merit. I want human beings to go back to exploring the universe in a more concentrated, intensive, way and I'm not sure having a Lunar base will aid the investigation of the cosmos. More than likely it will get bogged down in politics slowing the process of discovery.

Just an FYI: Space Shuttle Launch Visible Across Eastern US Thursday.

Friday Night Poker

I made it home sober. With shoes.

Yeah, it was that boring.

I had two slices of pizza, one Cosmo, a canoli, lost US$16, and was back home and in bed before midnight.

Sweet beybey jesu, Bingo night at St. MaryTheresaHolyNamewhatever would have been more exciting.

The most interesting conversation of the night? What television shows we like. And even that moronic topic tappered off into nothingness after a minute or two.

We're skipping December.

No one will either notice or care.

For the rest of the weekend I just unplugged. I got laundry and the dreaded grocery shopping done and then read for the rest of Saturday (Queen Emma And The Vikings: A History of Power, Love, And Greed In Eleventh-Century England and The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, if you are curious). On Sunday I crocheted while listening to "American Experience" on PBS - about the Kennedy family. Like I needed to learn anything else about the most dysfunctional family in the United States.

I remembered the Leonid showers driving into work this morning.

Maybe I shouldn't bitch about how boring poker was considering just how mindblowingly boring the rest of my life is.

I ignored the talking heads because they just make me want to kill them all slowly and painfully with long pointy sticks and rabid screaching wombats.

I ignored the rest of broadcast/cable televsion because, seriously? there is nothing on.

So it wasn't until today I saw TomKat had gotten hitched.

'Never-ending kiss' caps TomKat wedding.

I'm still hurling.

Issues:

1) Katie... dear... HE IS A FUCKING FREAK! Hello, Scientology? Haven't you had enough clues NOT TO MARRY THIS GUY?

After exchanging vows before a Scientology minister Saturday, Cruise and Holmes engaged in a "never-ending kiss," according to Giorgio Armani, who attended the wedding outside Rome and designed the outfits of the bride, the groom and their baby, Suri.

2 years. Tops.

2) Women who have BRED, given BIRTH!, should not wear white to their goddamn wedding.

EVER!

It should be so freakin' obvious that you wouldn't need a law... but...

New Law: No woman gets to wear white unless she can PROVE she is a VIRGIN!

Having the child you gave birth to attend said wedding is another clue you shouldn't be WEARING WHITE!

Look, the conservative whack jobs in this country want to codify what marriage is, who can and cannot get married - I say fine, bring it on! Let's start at the beginning, shall we? If you are too stupid not to know that wearing white means you are a VIRGIN... maybe you shouldn't be allowed to get married at all.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

I hate weddings.

Everything comes before the whole reason to get married.

3) The only thing worth two months salary... DeBeer's stupid commercial which flashes a gignormous rock on the screen with the above voice over.

The only thing worth two months salary is a DOWN PAYMENT ON A HOUSE!

4) Wedding dresses starting at US$1,000. There isn't US$100 worth of material in the damn things, which you will only wear once regardless of how many times you get married (and yeah, each time the dumb dodo's will wear white). I could almost understand if you wore the damn dress several times, but once? A grand and a whole lot more on a dress you will never, ever wear again?

5) The never-ending angst over the band, the food, the colors (and what the fuck is this about? The bride has to pick her colors? Is it a wedding or a fucking joust?), who sits where, limos, first dance, alcohol... and on and on and on. I've been a bridesmaid twice, maid of honor once. That those three women are still alive is a fuckin' miracle. I deserve to be Sainted because I am responsible for THREE MIRACLES!

By the way, the longest any of those three marriges lasted? 3 years. Uh huh. All three of them put their parents into hock (their parents own stupid fault). All three got engagement rocks the size of Gibralter because the first one (or, in once case, THREE) selected rings weren't good enough for their highnesses - all three of which got pawned before the ink was dry on the divorce papers. One of these first-class broads even got alimony for reasons I will never, ever, understand except that the groom was such a fucking moron I didn't even feel bad for him.

Thankfully, none of these people spawned before or after the intial wedding. They have all since remarried (wearing white), spawned, divorced, spawned, remarried (yup, in white), spawned some more. One of them has been married five times in the last twenty years. Wore white each time.

I've got at least ten pages of ranting about brides maid/maid of honor dresses that has all been written before. But what is with this new trend of the Mother of the Bride dressing up like she's the one getting married?

Don't even get me started on the goddamn tiaras.

And why, in this day and age, do we still have Bridal Showers? Just so we can buy sleazy underwear that we would never be caught dead in to give to someone else who will probably never wear it? This makes sense?

sigh

Every single wedding I have ever been a part of - family, guest, attendant - the same thing is said at the rehearsal ever single time:

We have to write our vows

Let's see... it's T -12 and counting to the ceremony and now you assholes are thinking of this? Shouldn't you two have been thinking about what marriage means before the rehearsal?

We have to write our vows

But if you have two vaginas or two penises... well that's just wrong! Wrong I say! The Bible says... something about that! Wrong, wrong, wrong and you're going to Hell.

Yeah, whatever.

Marriage, naturally, leads to divorce:

The McCartney meltdown has lessons for all marriages

No-fault divorce will never happen, though, until society gets over its undue veneration of marriage. Commercialised at the entry stage (all those gift-wrapped electric woks) and at the exit (all those lawyers' fees), it is invested with fake dreams. While many marriages are long and happy, some are little more than a charade in which the irreligious make promises they will not keep to someone else's god. Even those who marry in civil ceremonies are bound by the same legal strictures.

In France, where the 'pacte civil de solidarité' gives tax and immigration breaks to heterosexual and same-sex couples alike, marriage is plummeting. The option of civil partnerships allowing for simple, non-adversarial dissolution must be better for men, women and children than a system that offers nothing between the insecurity of informal bonds and a contract still prone to end in feuding.

I knew I loved France for a reason.



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Update:

Saw this headline on top of google news:

TomKat wedding 'a stunt':

The cynics among us may not be surprised, but there are reports this morning the "wedding of the year" was a stunt.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have admitted they were actually married four days before their Rome extravaganza, staging a big show to promote the Church of Scientology.

It's been reported a Scientologist advisor was placed at every table at the reception to answer questions.

Roman clergy say the sham is insulting and Bracciano's mayor is considering taking back the honorary citizenship she offered after the couple refused to wave to well-wishers.

I'm all for TomKat being the next Secretary of State. All in favor, say Aye!


How's about just Ambassador to Italy?

In case you are wondering

yes, it is a very boring day at the office.

Economist Milton Friedman dies at 94.

You can read more about him at Wiki. You can thank him for the way we withhold payroll taxes in the US.

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And the winner for the 2006 Darwin Award is...

Man accidently shoots himself in groin

oh, wait... he didn't die. Oh well, moron, better luck next time, eh?

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Strong Leonid Meteor Shower Expected This Weekend.

Wo0t! I'll try to head upstate to see if I can see this meteor shower. There's too much light pollution around my area to see much of anything, usually.

For more information on the Leonids, see Space.com.

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Tomorrow is Ladies Poker Night at my sister's house. Featuring Cosmo's. I may have to fight the dog for the couch.

America's dumbassification

Love it. Never saw or heard that expression before. But, I'm usually behind the times.

America's dumbassification - I read that in an article by Melanie McFarland at Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I'm liking it, whomever came up with it first.

America's dumbassification.

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The nightmare that is Gaza continues to intensify.

Israel on alert as Palestinians bury civilian victims

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World welcomes shift in US Politics

Against the broad mood of satisfaction, however, there were voices of concern that a power split between Democrats and Republicans in Washington might mean uncertainty in crucial areas like global trade talks.

It's not just international relations that are apt to suffer, domestic issues will most likely not be dealt with either.

Both parties are cooing "bipartisan" to all and sundry. I think, come January (if not sooner) we're going to see a hardening of ideologies. In short, not much is going to get done in the next two years.

Italian Premier Romano Prodi said Rumsfeld's surprise resignation underscored the depth of what has happened in America.

"Even though U.S. politics had already started changing, Rumsfeld's resignation means an accentuation of this change," Prodi said. "We'll see over the next few days what the new direction will be. But certainly we have a political structure ... deeply different from that of a few days ago."

I think Rummy's resignation is a bone Bush and Co are throwing the American public. Bush's press conference yesterday was just bullshit meant to soften people up, make them think things are going to change.

They won't.

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Ah, enough doom and gloom. Let's enjoy the awesome majesty of our Universe!

This image of the Orion nebula, taken by NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and released November 7, 2006, shows an infrared and visible-light composite that indicates that a 'gang' of four monstrously massive stars at the center of the cloud may be the main culprits of mayhem in the familiar Orion constellation. The stars are collectively called the 'Trapezium' and can be communally identified as the yellow smudge near the center of the image. Swirls of green in Hubble's ultraviolet and visible-light view reveal hydrogen and sulfur gas that have been heated and ionized by intense ultraviolet radiation from the Trapezium's stars.

This image provided by NASA Thursday Nov. 2, 2006 is a recent photo from the Cassini spacecraft showing the mighty planet Saturn, and if you look very closely between its wing-like rings, upper left, revelas a faint pinprick of light. That tiny dot is Earth bustling with life as we know it. The image is the second ever taken of our world from deep space. The first was captured by the Voyager spacecraft in 1990. This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006. The mosaic images were acquired as the spacecraft drifted in the darkness of Saturn's shadow for about 12 hours, allowing a multitude of unique observations of the microscopic particles that compose Saturn's faint rings.

Comments on the pictures are from AP and Yahoo! news.

The object formerly known as 2003 UB313

is now known as Eris, who was the Greek Goddess of strife.

Fitting, that. Better than Xena too.

Eris has a Moon, named Dysnomia, which is a daughter of Eris in Greek mythology. It means lawlessness.

Also fitting, given the current conditions in the world.

Pluto has been given a new name to reflect its new status as a dwarf planet.

In other news... I'm using the new beta and I'm going to start using tags.

Provided I remember to use them.

Awww...

Poor Pluto. No longer a planet.

I can't access the IAU website for text of the decision yet.

Probably because the rest of the planet is doing so.

A bit more sense

is coming out of the IAU:

Positing new planets divides astronomers.

I do think Pluto should be left alone (though I'm glad to see the term "pluton" is, apparently, history). It's been a planet for 76 years - leave it that way.

Not quite sure what to make of the "dwarfs", but I will have the soundtrack to Snow White running through my head for the rest of the day.

Does the term "orbital dominance" strike anyone else as a bit... kinky?

Edited to add ~

I Heart Pluto

"The solar system is a mess."

Funny! Hat tip to AstroCocktail for pointing this article out.

Woke up to a whole new definition of the local space.

This is weird.

Nine Planets Become 12 with Controversial New Definition

I'm with Michael Brown on this one:

"It's flattering to be considered discoverer of the 12th planet," Brown said in a telephone interview. He applauded the committee's efforts but said the overall proposal is "a complete mess." By his count, the definition means there are already 53 known planets in our solar system with countless more to be discovered.

Alan Boss said:

"It looks to me like a definition that was written by a committee of lawyers, not a committee of scientists," Boss said. "I think these criteria are as arbitrary as any other you might come up with."

and again, I agree.

Here's the draft: Draft Resolution 5 for GA-XXVI: Definition of a Planet

Bizarre.

I consider Pluto a planet, though I understand the argument that says it's not. But 12 planets, including Ceres, which is (in my opinion) clearly an asteroid? Holy frioles Batman! I hope this doesn't pass the IAU.

It's not that I'm not paying attention to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Lebanon, or the lunacy of the US administration - I just need a break from it all. I keep reading about the horrors human beings are inflicting on each other, at home and abroad, but I don't feel much like discussing it.

Maybe next week.

In the meantime I'll share some of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews):

Astronomy

Cassini finds evidence of hydrocarbon lakes on Titan

How cool!

Researchers counted about a dozen lakes six to 62 miles wide. Some, which appeared as dark patches in radar images, were connected by channels, while others had tributaries flowing into them. Several were dried up, but the ones that contained liquid were most likely a mix of methane and ethane.

See Titan at The Nine Planets as well as Universe Today.

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Art



The image above is of Claude Monet's oil painting Springtime, another of my favorites. According to the Fitzwilliam Museum website:

It shows Suzanne Hoschedé, the eighteen-year old daughter of Monet’s then mistress, and later wife, Alice, and his own son, Jean Monet, in the orchard of his garden at Giverny in 1886. The tonality perfectly examplifies the ‘violettomania’ or ‘seeing blue’ for which the Impressionists were repeatedly criticised: one commentator described the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877 as having the overall effect of a worm-eaten Roquefort cheese!

It might seem strange, but, another favorite artist of mine is Piet Mondrian.




I love the clean geometric lines and bold colors of his work.


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Glass




I love beach glass and blown glass, cut glass and stained glass. Glass has fascinated me... forever. And, being 41 years old, that a long freakin' time. The chandelier above is from FunctionArt.com. As much as I love glass, I probably wouldn't hang that in my home, but it's an amazing piece of art containing 101 individual hand-blown glass pieces.

See also:

It's all about perspective ~ Hm. Next glass art piece for my collection? I think I'll email the artist and find out what it costs. It would look really nice on the dining room table.

Blue Bamboo

Rattled

And my favorite of all cut crystal, Waterford:



This is the 8 inch Cecily Rose Bowl.

sigh

I need to marry a billionaire or hit the lottery.

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Gemstones



My birthstone, (as is this, but I don't like it) courtesy of Gemstone.org, the website of the International Colored Gemstone Association.