What do you know today that you didn't know yesterday?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The star Gilese 710, about half the mass and size of the sun, and 1/10 as bright, is currently 67 light years from the sun and too dim to be visible to the naked eye.  But in 1.1 million years, it is expected to pass within 0.13 light year of the sun.  At its closest approach, it would be 25 times closer to the sun than the distance between the sun and the nearest star to the sun now.  

It is estimated that a star comes this close to the sun only once every 100 million years on average.

During its closest approach Gilese 710 will be brighter in the sky than Venus, and will move across the sky by approximately the width of the full moon ever century.   

The passage of Gilese 710 is expected to send a storm of comets into the inner solar solar system.   During the peak of the comet storm, estimated to occur 2 million years after the closest passage of Gilese 710, naked eye comets will appear in the night sky at least 50 times more frequently than now.  there will also be a substantial increase in the probability that the earth will be struck by sizable comets over a period of several million years.

At which point no one will be here to see it.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

no one you know, that is not the same as no one.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

no one you know, that is not the same as no one.

In this case, it’s a dead cert that they’re the same. I admire your faith in the survival of the human species, I just don’t share it.

Boru

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Boru

[Angrboda]

"Country-style" ribs aren't actually ribs at all.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Jerome 'Curly Howard' Horowitz was an avid dog lover, estimated to have saved/fostered more than 5000 stray dogs during his short lifetime (he died at 48).

Nyuk nyuk awesome.

Boru

[Rev. Rye]

Stuff I learned about Phil Hartman from Dreading's new video about him:

• The thing that spurred on his comedic talents was trying to vie for attention after dealing with siblings who were either straight A students, all-American (or is that all-Canadian?) athletes, or developmentally disabled. This probably shouldn't be too surprising, given how much the connections between comedy and mood disorders have come to light in the past eight years.
  
  
• He was classmates with future Manson family member Squeaky Fromme.
  
• He co-created Pee-Wee Herman along with Paul Reubens and the fact that he stayed in obscurity as Reubens got a big movie and TV show led to their friendship deteriorating.
  
• Somehow, fellow Groundling Jon Lovitz got scouted for SNL before Hartman. Unlike Reubens, at least this friendship lasted until Hartman's death to the extent that he bashed Andy Dick's head in after finding out that he supplied Brynn with the cocaine she was on the night of the murder.
  
• Brynn was a narcissist and yandere of epic proportions even before she killed him. The sort of woman who sends comediennes Phil acted with graphic death threats and then during the many times she tried to join the SNL cast, she sticks her tongue down several of his male fellow cast members. And when they shoot a short clip for the SNL intro and featured her, Brynn kept trying to steal the focus away from him.
  
• Phil Hartman's big strategy for calming down after fights with Brynn was to crash into slumber. This may have helped facilitate his murder.
  
• In an epic display of "are you shitting me," when the press found out about the murder, their response was to try and blame Phil for his own murder, either by accusing him of cheating on Brynn or claiming he was gay for whatever reason.
  
• Somehow, Brynn's brother decided that the anti-depressant Zoloft was to blame and sued Pfizer. They settled, even though the theories behind the lawsuit made no sense.
  

[Orbit]

"Country-style" ribs aren't actually ribs at all.

What are they?

[Mister Agenda]

"Country-style" ribs aren't actually ribs at all.

What are they?

Cuts of pork shoulder.

[Angrboda]

"Country-style" ribs aren't actually ribs at all.

What are they?

Country-style ribs aren't ribs at all, but blade steaks or chops. Cut from the blade portion of the loin's shoulder end, they often include part of the upper rib bones, though they may be boneless. They have a lot of connective tissue and fat, making them ideal for barbecue, not unlike real ribs. This flavorful cut, which is thicker and meatier than spareribs and baby backs, takes well to moist cooking methods, like braising, which melt its connective tissue into tenderness.

(link)