Science tidbits .....

[KichigaiNeko]

From Face Book and beyond.

Yeah I know THE major concern for atheists isn't just finding anomalies within various religious texts and arguing about them.

Let's face it people...that line of discussion has been done to death and I personally will leave it to younger fresher minds to continue exposing the fallacies of religion.

In the interim I would like to post for your perusal tidbits that I come across on the web and facebook (a more viewed site for me...don't ask )

So todays helping of optimism is...



http://rt.com/news/australia-ska-telesco...rable-725/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space...verse.html

MIGHTY AUSTRALIAN TELESCOPE READY TO SCAN THE COSMOS

In the heart of an Australian desert the AUS$152 million telescope will scan the universe for traces of its beginning, the formation and development of stars and galaxies, explore dark matter, test Einstein's theory of relativity and the telescope will "listen" to radio waves from the cosmos that might give astronomers insights into the beginnings of the universe.

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Source: http://txchnologist.com/post/32463368168...gin-fusion
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/1...arp-drive/

DILITHIUM ENGINES

Let's imagine that commercial space flight is a real thing and that you had just booked your holidays to Mars. Depending on the orbit of Mars, it would currently take 6-8 months on current technology to make the trip - that's over a year's worth of holidays spent in one fell swoop! Fortunately for you, that trip could be cut in half thanks to recent developments.

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With fuckin Vegemite!! FFS!

http://phys.org/news/2012-10-australia-s...h.html#jCp

Australia Scientists Tackle Reef-Killing Starfish

October 8, 2012 by Martin Parry
An Australian research team said Monday they have found an effective way to kill the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, which is devastating coral reefs across the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The discovery by James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland state comes after a study showed the Great Barrier Reef had lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years.

Outbreaks of the large, poisonous and spiny starfish, which feast on coral polyps, was linked to 42 percent of the destruction. Researchers said they have developed a culture that infects the starfish with bacteria and can destroy them in as little as 24 hours.

The bacteria also spreads to other starfish that come near or into contact with an infected individual.

[jonb]

I hear that last report and think of cane toads, but I have to say this thread is what it is all about thank you for starting it.

I liked this story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19848109

[Brian37]

How anybody can delude themselves with the amount of scientific facts about a universe so huge, into dwelling on superstition is astounding.

I think about freaky science facts, like gravity affecting time. The power of gravity in a black hole, or the size of a red giant, and that gives me a sense of awe without the bullshit fantasy.

I too get tired of arguing text of any comic book. Our species was around long before our modern myths and the universe will be around long after our species goes extinct and there will be no record of our existence. We are a blip, a mere flicker. Life is what it is and both its positive and negitives need no narcissistic delusions to explain it.

Science continues to kill superstition and the fans of such hate the curtain being pulled back exposing their mortal Oz which is nothing more than their own imaginations.

[KichigaiNeko]

Across the Universe; from quarks to quasars
'bout one turn o' yer hourglass ago
If you live in a first or even second world country, you probably have an abundance of fresh water at your disposal. We take that for granted compared to the third world countries where fresh water is a luxury that is only afforded to the most well off portion of the population. Even comparing a first world country to a third world country, the Earth seems like a drop of water in the Sahara that is our solar system. It's something that is immeasurably imperative to our survival, yet Earth is the only verified place in our galactic neighborhood that holds oceans of liquid water on the surface of an extraterrestrial body. When looking for candidates of Earth 2.0, the Goldilocks region of a star where liquid water could exist on the planet without freezing or evaporating is at the top of our list of requirements.

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This is why the TW Hydrae system is of the utmost fascination to astronomers and astrobiologist alike. Located approximately 150 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Hydra, the planetary system belonging to the orange-dwarf parent star is in the planet-formation stage of evolution where terrestrial planets similar to Earth might be in the process of coalescing. What sets this alien solar system apart from the billions of them that lurk throughout the milky way, is that TW Hydrae rotates with its pole pointed directly towards Earth, which gives scientists the opportunity to observe the young star's disk of interstellar materials -- revealing the process of protoplanetary evolution in stars that are similar to our sun.

As for Earth, one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology involves speculation about the origin of the large reservoirs of water that are contained in Earth's many oceans. One of the leading theories suggests that comets and asteroids from the icy oort cloud were flung inwards to our solar system, crashing into the terrestrial planets and delivering vast amounts of the frozen water to our planet and its two celestial neighbors.

In TW Hydrea's system, astronomers used the Herschel Space Observatory to monitor the star and they discovered that there are traces of water in the young star's stellar debris disk. Furthermore, contained in the disk is over several thousands times more water present than what is found to exist in all of the Earth's oceans combined. Studying the ice's chemistry revealed that the ice likely came from a mixture distributed throughout the alien solar system, which gives credence to the theory that Earth's oceans may have been delivered to us via comet collisions all of those years ago.

- Jaime

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[Minimalist]

How anybody can delude themselves with the amount of scientific facts about a universe so huge, into dwelling on superstition is astounding.

Is the answer "jesus?"

[popeyespappy]

MIGHTY AUSTRALIAN TELESCOPE READY TO SCAN THE COSMOS

I wonder why this isn't part of the Event Horizon Telescope Project? I know some of the collaborators on that project are participating in the SKA project.

[KichigaiNeko]

I wonder why this isn't part of the Event Horizon Telescope Project? I know some of the collaborators on that project are participating in the SKA project.

OooooH! I hadn't heard of the Event Horizon Telescope before! Do you think it is all related?? I know that here in Western Australia everyone is congratulating themselves but really we are just a small part as there is also Africa and New Zealand involved.

Thanks Pappy!

[popeyespappy]

OooooH! I hadn't heard of the Event Horizon Telescope before! Do you think it is all related?? I know that here in Western Australia everyone is congratulating themselves but really we are just a small part as there is also Africa and New Zealand involved.

I don't think so. I did a little poking around and your new array doesn't seem to be involved. It could be because the Event Horizon project is trying to capture an event coming up sometime in the near future (actually 27,000 years ago) with the Milky Way's super massive black hole and they didn't think it would be ready in time. I don't know though.

My one and only trip down under was a working trip to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. It's older but impressive if you're into that kind of stuff.

[Minimalist]

the Milky Way's super massive black hole

I thought that was G-C?

[KichigaiNeko]

the Milky Way's super massive black hole

I thought that was G-C?

I love you Min!

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OooooH! I hadn't heard of the Event Horizon Telescope before! Do you think it is all related?? I know that here in Western Australia everyone is congratulating themselves but really we are just a small part as there is also Africa and New Zealand involved.

I don't think so. I did a little poking around and your new array doesn't seem to be involved. It could be because the Event Horizon project is trying to capture an event coming up sometime in the near future (actually 27,000 years ago) with the Milky Way's super massive black hole and they didn't think it would be ready in time. I don't know though.

My one and only trip down under was a working trip to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. It's older but impressive if you're into that kind of stuff.

Brindabella?? That is old!

Still, interesting that so much is being used to expand our understanding of the universe ... bookmarked the website you offered and will look at it in depth later. Fascinating stuff and much more interesting than who is burning what effigy or flag!!

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So just when are you coming "Down-Under" again Pappy??