Dec 19

If any of you are into astronomy, or just want to get a good view of our neighbor, Mars, then you better act quick!

Link to National Geographic story – link

Technically, Mars was closest to the Earth yesterday, December 18th, at 6:46 pm EST at 54,783,381 miles from us…. but who’s counting? You can still catch a nice glimpse of the red planet if you try.

Here’s an odd tidbit about Mars:

“The combination of the thin atmosphere and low temperatures make it
impossible for water to exist as a liquid on the surface of Mars. It would either
freeze or evaporate.”

However, some scientist think that if we start producing super-greenhouse gases on the planet, it will help heat it up to semi-livable temperatures within a few decades….. and we should know ALL about Global Warming at this point. Imagine, colonies on another planet in our own lifetime!

…of course, that’s probably what they said about the Space Program in 1969 too. ;o)

Cheers!

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Oct 29

If you haven’t heard the buzz by now, I’ll point you to Smartusa.com.

Miranda and I took some pictures of Sunday’s event in Hyde Park, Tampa. Check them out in my Flickr Album.

…and if you’re concerned about the safety of driving in such a small car, don’t be. Odds are that if you drive a regular sized car, you’re just as likely to be injured/killed if hit by a truck or SUV. However, you stand a better chance of survival in the Smart because it’s more maneuverable and literally a large roll cage!

Check out this 70 mph crash into a concrete wall on YouTube…..yes, I’ll be getting a Smart when they become available.

It’ll cost @ $13,500 and get @ 50 mpg. My GTI that I drive now cost about $22,000 and gets @ 25 mpg. See the savings?

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Oct 14

In 2000, Sachiko Kodama began work on a ferrofluid art project that she named “Protrude, Flow”. Ferrofluid is a very interesting material that was originally developed by NASA. It has now found itself being used for a whole range of devices. This Artwork is on display at the Patricia Faure Gallery at the Bergamot Station (Santa Monica,CA).

read more | digg story
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Jun 26

A little while back, GM unveiled a new “hybrid” concept car called the Volt. ( link )

Unlike most hybrids today that run mostly on gas and partially on electric, tis car will run almost entirely on electric, but only use a gas engine to recharge its batteries.

This is a car with a fully-electric 161-horsepower 16KWH engine, powered by a Lithium-ion battery pack. The batteries can be charged via a 110 volt wall outlet and can drive for 40 miles on pure electricity (NO GAS!).

It has a small onboard gas/alternative fuel motor that can charge the batteries on the fly allowing the car to drive uninterrupted up to 650 miles!

If only they keep this car alive and not kill it like they did the EV1 back in the 90′s, I will have to buy one!

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Nov 11

This is something I've been meaning to do for quite a while, but kept forgetting about until I saw Tom Brokaw's show on Global Warming again yesterday.

BP.com has an online calculator to help you estimate your CO2 emissions as well as advice on reducing it.

Here were our results:

…not too shabby, but there are still ways I can reduce it even more. To put that result in perspective, if you drove a mid-size car 1.5 times around the world, it would emit roughly 20 tonnes of CO2.

What's yours?

Here's a link to the page with links to the Flash & non-Flash versions of the calculator:
LINK

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Nov 09

I’ve never been one to believe everything I’m told.

When it comes to science, I think that many people only see half of the story. Take the science of physic’s for example…Many physicists think that the laws of physics are the same throughout the known universe.

I never have and never will.

When someone mentions physic’s, I usually add “You mean ‘Earth’-physics?” to their muttering. Like them, many scientists have their heads buried in the sand once they hear an idea and say it is “fact” because it makes sense to the majority.

::aside:: hmmm… maybe this is why I felt that school was ‘stupid’ when growing up and failed every year of high school? ::/aside::

During school, I had questioned many scientific theories, but never had the guts to debate them with my teachers. Sure, many theories/laws that concern the Earth are accurate, but I feel that many that concern matters outside our world are not.

For example…. traveling at the speed of light (light speed). Scientists say there is nothing faster, I disagree. They just can’t measure anything faster because their ideas are prevented from going outside-the-box of the human brain. In addition, many books and people will tell you that “If you look at a clock and move away from it at the speed of light, the clock will stop…”

Bull-poopie.

“Time” is a human invention. What it measures is constant at any speed or place. Regarding my previous example: I could care less about the clock stopping… I would be more impressed by how you could still SEE that clock from nearly 186,000 miles away in that first second. Scientists are merely playing on what an observer would see “IF” it happened… yadda yadda dribble.

Anyhoo, I just had to rant and post this so that I didn’t forget an explanation behind the “Big Bang” theory that many scientists are stating as a fact.

Yes, astronomers have proof that galaxies are moving away from a central location… but to assume that everything in this universe started out from a little ball of energy? That’s a bit much.

Funny how science is. They will laugh in the face of a person trying to prove that teleportation is possible, but tell them everything started out as a little ball that burst… and they’re scratching their heads and nodding in agreement.

I have never heard any other stories or arguments against that theory, so here is mine:

The reason why the Universe is expanding from a single point is because THAT is the “exit point” of the Black Hole we came through.

Some Theoretical Physicists, such as Hawking & Kaku, think that there is a possibility that there are universes outside of our own. Black Holes have been discovered, but what happens to the matter sucked into them? Some think that they go through a worm-hole of sorts to another part of the Universe… or possibly to different Universe altogether. I think the latter is what happened in our case.

I find it easier to put my reasoning behind the “ass-end of a Black Hole” than into the “Big Bang”. This could even explain a lot of what the Big-Bangers are thinking too… from an observers standpoint, it would have seemed that the Universe started out as a single point and burst into being. They just didn’t realize that it was just being shat out of a Black Hole.
:o \

oh well…. that’s your topic for the coffee house this week. Discuss.

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Aug 27

I know some have probably heard, but there are no longer nine “planets” in our solar system. Being the astronomy buff that I am, I have been keeping track of this on the side… I’m just now getting around to writing about it though. :o \

It doesn’t really bother me much since I’ve always felt “why is this thing that is smaller than our moon a planet?” I also know that “science” can and will change constantly… whether it be brand new discoveries or new discoveries about old “facts”, science changes.

So, at the end of the “General Assembly for the International Astronomical Union” on the 24th, they reached a new definition of the word “planet”

It is, as follows:

(1) A “planet”1 is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2 , (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects3 except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies”.
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1The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
3These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.
_______________________________

Yes, Pluto is a “planet” no more… it is now a “dwarf planet”.

…here’s a link to the official IAU website where they have this posted: LINK

Cheers!

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Jul 22

Mini Cooper with four electic motors makes 640hp…and 2,213 lb-ft of torque!

Using 4 electric motors (one on each wheel), PML has converted a Mini Cooper that boggles the mind!

…however, it does have a small, 250cc 2 stroke engine to act as a generator to recharge the batteries when you are away. 8)

I’ve always wanted to go electric….maybe BMW will consider this? Here’s to hoping.

read more | digg story

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