Short delay in getting to the Inferior League, I know how all three of you that read my insane ravings here were looking so forward to it. We work our way south to north, starting with the Space Cadets.
The Space Cadets had a disappointing season, but have a solid nucleus and some imports may help them more competitive this season, and have new manager Cecil Cooper to boot. Roy Oswalt leads the staff, which also includes inconsistent Wandy Rodriguez and Brandon Baacke. Shawn Chacon and youngster Chris Sampson are expected to round out the rotation, with Woody Williams waiting in the wings. Mercurical former Snake Jose Valverde takes over the closer spot. The Cadets swing some mean lumber and the park is a bandbox to boot. Switch hitting Lance Berkman, LF Carlos Lee and newcomer SS Miguel Tejada can boom with the best. Rookie J.R. Towles takes over at C for Brad Ausmus, who sticks around to mentor him. Kaz Matsui arrives from the Stones to take over at 2B assuming he returns from injury, with super sub Mark Loretta filling in to start the season.
The Redbirds disappointed last season as well, with a number of key injuries knocking them from contention, and the list this spring looks like a MASH unit. SP Mark Mulder, Chris Caprenter, Matt Clement and potential SP Joel Piniero start the season on the DL or recovering, leaving Adam Wainwright the only dependable arm. Oft travelled Braden Looper and Kyle Lohse fill some innings in the meantime, and Anthony Reyes gets yet another chance with the club as well. Dependable Jason Isringhausen closes, with Russ Springer and Ryan Franklin setting up. There was a considerable roster turnover, with 3B Troy Glaus arrving from Canada for Scott Rolen, SS Cesar Izturis replacing David Eckstein, and CF Rick Ankiel replacing Jim Edmonds and moving up in the order to bat cleanup after superstar 1B Alber Pujols. Young RF Skip Schumacher gets a chance to start for the first time as well.
The Cincinnati Communists also have a new manager, former Little Bear and Midget skipper Dusty Baker. The rotation appears set for the first time in years, led by Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo, with youngsters Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and journeyman Josh Fogg rounding out the starting five. Phenom Homer Bailey will start in AAA and may be a mid-season addition if someone falters. The pen should be improved with the signing of free agent closer Francisco Cordero. The Marxists swing good lumber, led by monster LF Adam Dunn, RF Ken Griffey Jr., 2B Brandon Phillips and 3B Edwin Encarnacion and they should score runs by the bushel basket if new leadoff man CF Corey Patterson can find his way on base and new 1B Joey Votto shows his numbers from last September weren't a fluke.
Up the Ohio River, the Steel City Corsairs have some new hope with the development of some talented young arms, featuring three southpaws, that should take a step forward this season. Ian Snell will be start Opening Day, with lefties Tom Grozelanny, Zach Duke and Paul Maholm (all four under 26 years old) filling out the rotation with rapidly aging Matt Morris. Young Matt Capps closes ahead of lefty setup men Damaso Marte, Johns Graybow and submariner Byung-Hyun Kim. The lineup mostly returns, with LF Jason Bay, 1B Adam LaRouche and RF Xavier Nady providing the punch and CF Nate McLouth providing some thievery, but stellar former batting titlist 2B Freddie Sanchez starts the season on the DL after post season shoulder surgery.
The long suffering Little Bear fans should look forward to a pretty successful 2008 season, as the team won the Central last year under new skip Lou Pinella and made some nice off season acquisitions, inlcuding new Japanese import RF Kosuke Fukudome and SP Jason Marquis. The rotation is set with lights out Carlos Zambrano, lefty strikeout artists Ted Lilly and Rich Hill, and former closer Ryan Dempster filling the starting five and control artist Jon Lieber waiting in wings to provide both starting depth and long relief. Former phenom Kerry Wood moves to the pen and starts a new career as a closer ahead of setup men Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol. The lineup still includes dangerous 1B Derek Lee, 3B Aramis Ramirez, LF Alfonzo Soriano, and speedsters SS Ryan Theriot and CF Felix Pie. CF Reed Johson was signed to provide D and a right handed option in center.
The Barley Pops had a very successful 2007 campaign, but there are a number of unsettled questions coming into 2008. There is a ton of young talent but health and some position moves led the team to struggle this spring. The top of the rotation is set with ace Ben Sheets and veteran Jeff Suppan leading things off. Southpaw Manny Parra, Dave Bush and Carlos Villanueva fill out the staff, at least until the return of Yovani Gallardo. Lefty Chris Capunao is shelved for the season with elbow surgery.
The pen could be questionable with new closer Eric Gagne looking nothing like his old automatic self, and although setup men Dick Turnbow and Salomon Torres both have such experience, but both struggled in the spring. The lineup is very good if they can stay healthy, led by 1B Prince Fielder, 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Bill Hall, LF Ryan Braun, and SS JJ Hardy. New CF Mike Cameron will sit 25 games after being suspended for using a banned supplement, so Tony Gwynn Jr. will fill in. Weeks and Hardy have struggled with illness and injury this spring. Braun and Hall also move positions, which the club hopes improves the defense, but the jury is still out.
The Central should be very competitive between the Windy City and der Beirmeisters, with the Marxists and Corsairs possibly making a move. The Cadets and Redbirds lack the arms to remain competitive but could spoil someone's fall. What I'd like to see is the Corsairs steal it but since they haven't had a winning season in 15 years, I don't see it happening but maybe 2009. I'm thinking the Little Bears win the division due to the strong rotation and the addition of one of Japan's best bats certainly shouldn't hurt.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny Crane: I have an erection. That's a good sign. I'm ready to go to trial. Lock and load.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
NASA Reverses Mars Spirit Rover Shut Down
Universe Today announced yesterday that NASA had decided to shut down one of the Mars rovers, Spirit, in order to save $4 million on its budget - then the agency abruptly reversed itself overnight after a huge netstorm of protest.
"You could almost hear the news sites and blogs rumble to life last night as the news surged through the web about NASA needing to cut $4 million from the MER program. Reports flooded in that the rover scientists were shocked and saddened by this surprise turn of events, the whole world seemed to react. Every other story on Digg.com showed a new article about the budget cut, and looking through the comments, most reactions were of shear disgust about the short-sightedness of the government funded space agency. After all, Spirit and Opportunity represent the most successful robotic planetary mission ever; to simply switch one of them off seemed like a crime."
The two rovers represent what is likely the most successful robotic mission ever, expected to last on the Martian surface only a few months after their 2004 landings. However, due to some extraordinary life saving measures and excellent mission planning adjustments over the last couple of years, they have not only survived brutal storms, extreme Martian winters and mechanical issues, but managed to explore and discover new items about our planetary neighbor that would be impossible without the litttle rovers. The AP is reporting that the budget cut letter was sent without NASA administrator Michael Griffin's approval, hence the reversal.
"You could almost hear the news sites and blogs rumble to life last night as the news surged through the web about NASA needing to cut $4 million from the MER program. Reports flooded in that the rover scientists were shocked and saddened by this surprise turn of events, the whole world seemed to react. Every other story on Digg.com showed a new article about the budget cut, and looking through the comments, most reactions were of shear disgust about the short-sightedness of the government funded space agency. After all, Spirit and Opportunity represent the most successful robotic planetary mission ever; to simply switch one of them off seemed like a crime."
The two rovers represent what is likely the most successful robotic mission ever, expected to last on the Martian surface only a few months after their 2004 landings. However, due to some extraordinary life saving measures and excellent mission planning adjustments over the last couple of years, they have not only survived brutal storms, extreme Martian winters and mechanical issues, but managed to explore and discover new items about our planetary neighbor that would be impossible without the litttle rovers. The AP is reporting that the budget cut letter was sent without NASA administrator Michael Griffin's approval, hence the reversal.
Omaha Weather Office
One of my recent adds to the Local Yokel bogroll, Omaha Weather Office, has moved his site to the link above, lots of groovy new features and stuff - like live local and national readar!
How the Battle of Actium Changed the World
The latest installment of LiveScience's events that changed the world was issued yesterday, noting the Battle of Actium in 31 BC between the forces of Julius Caesar's nephew Octavian and Casear's friend Mark Antony for supremacy of the Roman world.
"It was the pivotal moment in an ancient soap opera, one marked by intrigue, romance, betrayal and widespread consequence.
The Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. was an epic showdown that pitted Mark Antony and Cleopatra against spurned former ally Octavian. When Octavian eventually reigned supreme in battle, it meant the end of the Roman Republic for good and the beginning of the Roman Empire, whose influences were ultimately felt throughout the world.
Antony's colossal defeat also led to his and Cleopatra's Shakespearean double-suicide, providing plenty of movie fodder 2,000 years later."
Actium was the culmination of a long series of events. The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC led to a Roman power vaccuum filled by Octavian, who took control of the Roman west and Antony, one of Casear's top lieutenants, taking control of the Roman east. A truce between the two was cemented by Antony engaged to marry Octavain's sister, but then Egyptian Queen Cleopatra intervened, seducing Antony and giving Octavian the excuse to break the truce.
Actium was a naval battle fought off the coast of Greece, with over 1000 warships taking part in the battle, won handily by Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony committed suicide rather than be captured, and Octavian went on the become Rome's first Emperor, changing his name to Augustus.
"It was the pivotal moment in an ancient soap opera, one marked by intrigue, romance, betrayal and widespread consequence.
The Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. was an epic showdown that pitted Mark Antony and Cleopatra against spurned former ally Octavian. When Octavian eventually reigned supreme in battle, it meant the end of the Roman Republic for good and the beginning of the Roman Empire, whose influences were ultimately felt throughout the world.
Antony's colossal defeat also led to his and Cleopatra's Shakespearean double-suicide, providing plenty of movie fodder 2,000 years later."
Actium was the culmination of a long series of events. The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC led to a Roman power vaccuum filled by Octavian, who took control of the Roman west and Antony, one of Casear's top lieutenants, taking control of the Roman east. A truce between the two was cemented by Antony engaged to marry Octavain's sister, but then Egyptian Queen Cleopatra intervened, seducing Antony and giving Octavian the excuse to break the truce.
Actium was a naval battle fought off the coast of Greece, with over 1000 warships taking part in the battle, won handily by Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony committed suicide rather than be captured, and Octavian went on the become Rome's first Emperor, changing his name to Augustus.
Huskers Fall to UM in OT
Doc Sadler's Husker basketball team fell in overtime to Ole Miss 85-75 to finish the season 20-13. Senior Aleks Maric played a season high 41 minutes in his last game at NU and led the squad with 18 points and 10 boards, his 39th career double-double. Ade Dagunduro had 16 points, including 5 in the last two minutes to force OT and guard Steve Harley added 14.
"In overtime, center Aleks Maric hit a free throw on the first possession to put Nebraska ahead 71-70. But that was one of few things that went well for the Huskers' lone senior in the extra period. Maric committed turnovers on the next two possessions. Then he missed three of four free throws. By then, Ole Miss (23-10) was up by four with 1:29 to go.
"The momentum was swinging, the tide was turning," Maric said. "But we didn't play the way we wanted to. It cost us the game." Sadler wants no one to lay blame on Maric, who played a career-high 41 minutes because frontcourt mates Ryan Anderson (stomach flu) and Chris Balham (knee) were wobbling.
"It goes back to Aleks playing the most minutes he has all year," Sadler said. "And they are big. And he's involved in ball screens every possession, and that's hard.
"Not having Ryan hurt. We've not got enough depth yet. Chris Balham's knee is so bad. He tries, but he can't give you much. So we had to play Aleks a lot longer minutes that we normally play him."
Ole Miss jumped out to a quick nine point lead in the game that left the Husklers playing catch up all game, trailing at the half by four, 40-36. The 40 points UM put up in the first half were the most points given up by NU at the half in 11 games, and UM shot a blistering 62% for the opening half and 52% for the game. UM was led by Chris Warren's 18 points and Eniel Polynice added 15.
"In overtime, center Aleks Maric hit a free throw on the first possession to put Nebraska ahead 71-70. But that was one of few things that went well for the Huskers' lone senior in the extra period. Maric committed turnovers on the next two possessions. Then he missed three of four free throws. By then, Ole Miss (23-10) was up by four with 1:29 to go.
"The momentum was swinging, the tide was turning," Maric said. "But we didn't play the way we wanted to. It cost us the game." Sadler wants no one to lay blame on Maric, who played a career-high 41 minutes because frontcourt mates Ryan Anderson (stomach flu) and Chris Balham (knee) were wobbling.
"It goes back to Aleks playing the most minutes he has all year," Sadler said. "And they are big. And he's involved in ball screens every possession, and that's hard.
"Not having Ryan hurt. We've not got enough depth yet. Chris Balham's knee is so bad. He tries, but he can't give you much. So we had to play Aleks a lot longer minutes that we normally play him."
Ole Miss jumped out to a quick nine point lead in the game that left the Husklers playing catch up all game, trailing at the half by four, 40-36. The 40 points UM put up in the first half were the most points given up by NU at the half in 11 games, and UM shot a blistering 62% for the opening half and 52% for the game. UM was led by Chris Warren's 18 points and Eniel Polynice added 15.
Boston Legal Quotes
Gracie Jane: Gracie Jane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Gracie Jane: Gracie Jane.
Denny Crane: Are you making fun of me?
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Gracie Jane: Gracie Jane.
Denny Crane: Are you making fun of me?
Monday, March 24, 2008
Kepler Telescope Mission
Astrobiology gives a nice brief on the Kepler Space Telescope Mission expected to launch in next year in Febuary. The Kepler is designed to find extraterrestrial planets the size of the Earth, utilzing the "transit method", which finds an extrasolar planet by measuring the drop in brightness of a distant star when a planet passes in front of the star relative to Earth.
More on the Kepler Mission can be found from NASA found here.
"NASA’s Kepler mission, selected in 2001 as the agency’s tenth Discovery mission, is a space-borne telescope designed specifically to look for alien Earths. It is “NASA’s first mission capable of detecting Earth-size and smaller planets around other stars,” says David Koch, an astrophysicist at NASA Ames Research Center near Mountain View, Calif., and the Deputy PI on the Kepler project."
Kepler will be able to detect a drop in a star's brightness as low as one-hundredth of one percent - the difference between looking out a window in your house and looking out it while it is open is around one percent. The Kepler will be launched into an Earth trailing orbit to avoid the effects of the atmosphere, which can vary the amount of detectable light greatly exceeding the sensitivity of Kepler's instuments. Larger planets can be detected from the ground based telescopes, but the smaller worlds we seek do not "dip" the light from their parent stars enought to be detected, hence this mission.
The mission will be conducted over a period of four years, taking measurements of 10,000 stars every 30 minutes. Transits last for only a few hours at a time, so in order to detect one, a large number of stellar "snapshots" need to be taken in order fo discover them. Kepler will continuously examine the same part of the sky located between two of the northern hemisphere's brightest stars, Vega and Deneb. The first planets Kepler will discover will be those closest to their parent stars, and thus making the most transits.
The goal is to find a Earth size world making about four transits around a Sun-like star - making it quite likely to inhabit that star's habitable zone. There are around 5,000 such stars in the regions to be studied, but many possible planets may not lie in an oribital plane we will be able to see. The Kepler team expects to find around 50 such Earth type planets in a star's habitable zone. The mission is likely to find hundreds of other planets as well. 250 planets have already been found from ground based observations, many of them short period "hot Jupiters", gas giants that orbit very close the their stars.
2008 Baseball Preview - National League
Well, it's that time of year again, the time when the weather warms up, robins return and the grass starts to green, which means the Boys of Summer start training in Florida and Arizona. And that means I examine each team, their respective rosters and preview each team's chance of going to the Fall Classic. We'll start off, as usual, with the Inferior Circuit and save the Superior League for later in the week.
Out on the Left Coast, the SF Midgets are still old, with all but one position player over 30. The only player of any note signed was CF Aaron Rowland, who could move to left. The staff, led by Barron von Zito, younsters Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, could keep them in games, but the relief corps is shaky. Hard throwing youngster, Brian Wilson (not the Beach Boy) is slated for the closer spot. The Midgets swung skinny sticks last year hitting .254 and only scoring 683 runs, and don't look to improve that much with the departure of you-know-who.
Moving south to the team formerly from Brooklyn, the staff is pretty well set with Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda, top young gun Chad Billingsley and retread Estoban Loaiza filling out the rotation, and former ace Jason Schmidt waiting in the wings coming off injury. The pen is deep, with Takashai Sato and Jonathan Broxton both capable of shutting down the ninth and vets Rudy Saenz and Scott Proctor on staff. The Boys in Blue made one significant pickup, CF Andruw Jones, in the off season, who should provide both power and dazzling defense. LF (moved from CF for Jones) Juan Pierre and SS Raffy Furcal can both burn up the base paths, and old school 2B Jeff Kent provides some pop. Both 3B Nomar Garciaparra and Adam Larouche start the season injured, leaving young utility man Tony Abreu to man the spot until Nomah returns.
Moving even further south, the SD Priests enjoyed a very successful season last year, but failed in their one game playoff against the Stones for the wildcard. The Spiritual Ones will once again be led in the rotation by staff Pope Jake Peavy, lanky punchout artist Chris Young, the ever youthful Dalai Lama of control, Greg Maddux, and newcomer Randy Wolf, and some kid named Prior if he ever gets healthy. The ageless wonder with the terrific changeup (and career saves leader) Trevor Hoffman closes, and protogee Heath Bell sets up. Uber studs 1B Adrian Gonzalez and SS Khalil Green lead with the sticks, and 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is developing nicely. Highlight reel CF Jim Edmonds arrives wiht his glove from St. Louis as well, and hopes to bounce back with the wood as well. No burners on the squad, RF Brian Giles is figured to leadoff.
While the Snakes won the West last year, the Stones made the Series out of the Wild Card. Hence, the team made a major move, landing AL All-Star game starter Dan Haren from Oakland. The staff should be solid, with former Cy winners Brandon Webb, the Unit, Haren, Doug Davis and young Mich Owings providing the innings and now healthy Brandon Lyon doing the closing. While the Snakes lack power, the are heavy with contact hitters, and CF Chris Young and LF Eric Byrnes can both fly and a savvy about swiping bags. 1B Connor Jackson and 3B Mark Reynolds provide some pop, and both 2B Orlando Hudson and up and coming SS Stephen Drew can both deal the wood and flash the glove. C Chris Snyder calls a good game and flashes some timely wood as well.
The Stones made a historic march to the Series only to fall very abruptly down a cliff and hit all the sharp pointy rocks in facing the Evil Oysters. The rotation set a franchise record with a 4.23 ERA last year and this year is even DEEPER - led by 17 game winner (a franchise record) Jeff Francis. Homegrown talents Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales fill out the rotation, along with former Tigger Mark Redman, and Kip Wells waiting in the wings and Jason Hirsch coming off injury. Manny Corpas returns to close, with former closer Brian Fuentes setting up and picking up an occaisonal ninth inning appearance. The boys can deal the lumber as well, with MVP LF matt Halliday, SS Troy Tulowitski, RF Brian Hawpe, 3B Garret Atkins and 1B Todd Helton all swinging good sticks and lead off man CF Willy Taveras can burn.
I see the division coming down to the Snakes and the Stones but expect the Priests and Team Brooklyn to have an extensive say about how things shake out. The Midgets have a nice shiny new ballpark and some good arms but can't compete. This is one of baseball's best and most competitive divisions, and could wind up being decided in the waning days of the season, and by who can stay healthy all year long. The Stones want to show they belong and that last year wasn't a fluke. The Snakes are probably the team to beat, however, particularly if Unit stays functional all season. the wildcard is pretty likely to come out of this division again.
Out on the Left Coast, the SF Midgets are still old, with all but one position player over 30. The only player of any note signed was CF Aaron Rowland, who could move to left. The staff, led by Barron von Zito, younsters Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, could keep them in games, but the relief corps is shaky. Hard throwing youngster, Brian Wilson (not the Beach Boy) is slated for the closer spot. The Midgets swung skinny sticks last year hitting .254 and only scoring 683 runs, and don't look to improve that much with the departure of you-know-who.
Moving south to the team formerly from Brooklyn, the staff is pretty well set with Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda, top young gun Chad Billingsley and retread Estoban Loaiza filling out the rotation, and former ace Jason Schmidt waiting in the wings coming off injury. The pen is deep, with Takashai Sato and Jonathan Broxton both capable of shutting down the ninth and vets Rudy Saenz and Scott Proctor on staff. The Boys in Blue made one significant pickup, CF Andruw Jones, in the off season, who should provide both power and dazzling defense. LF (moved from CF for Jones) Juan Pierre and SS Raffy Furcal can both burn up the base paths, and old school 2B Jeff Kent provides some pop. Both 3B Nomar Garciaparra and Adam Larouche start the season injured, leaving young utility man Tony Abreu to man the spot until Nomah returns.
Moving even further south, the SD Priests enjoyed a very successful season last year, but failed in their one game playoff against the Stones for the wildcard. The Spiritual Ones will once again be led in the rotation by staff Pope Jake Peavy, lanky punchout artist Chris Young, the ever youthful Dalai Lama of control, Greg Maddux, and newcomer Randy Wolf, and some kid named Prior if he ever gets healthy. The ageless wonder with the terrific changeup (and career saves leader) Trevor Hoffman closes, and protogee Heath Bell sets up. Uber studs 1B Adrian Gonzalez and SS Khalil Green lead with the sticks, and 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is developing nicely. Highlight reel CF Jim Edmonds arrives wiht his glove from St. Louis as well, and hopes to bounce back with the wood as well. No burners on the squad, RF Brian Giles is figured to leadoff.
While the Snakes won the West last year, the Stones made the Series out of the Wild Card. Hence, the team made a major move, landing AL All-Star game starter Dan Haren from Oakland. The staff should be solid, with former Cy winners Brandon Webb, the Unit, Haren, Doug Davis and young Mich Owings providing the innings and now healthy Brandon Lyon doing the closing. While the Snakes lack power, the are heavy with contact hitters, and CF Chris Young and LF Eric Byrnes can both fly and a savvy about swiping bags. 1B Connor Jackson and 3B Mark Reynolds provide some pop, and both 2B Orlando Hudson and up and coming SS Stephen Drew can both deal the wood and flash the glove. C Chris Snyder calls a good game and flashes some timely wood as well.
The Stones made a historic march to the Series only to fall very abruptly down a cliff and hit all the sharp pointy rocks in facing the Evil Oysters. The rotation set a franchise record with a 4.23 ERA last year and this year is even DEEPER - led by 17 game winner (a franchise record) Jeff Francis. Homegrown talents Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales fill out the rotation, along with former Tigger Mark Redman, and Kip Wells waiting in the wings and Jason Hirsch coming off injury. Manny Corpas returns to close, with former closer Brian Fuentes setting up and picking up an occaisonal ninth inning appearance. The boys can deal the lumber as well, with MVP LF matt Halliday, SS Troy Tulowitski, RF Brian Hawpe, 3B Garret Atkins and 1B Todd Helton all swinging good sticks and lead off man CF Willy Taveras can burn.
I see the division coming down to the Snakes and the Stones but expect the Priests and Team Brooklyn to have an extensive say about how things shake out. The Midgets have a nice shiny new ballpark and some good arms but can't compete. This is one of baseball's best and most competitive divisions, and could wind up being decided in the waning days of the season, and by who can stay healthy all year long. The Stones want to show they belong and that last year wasn't a fluke. The Snakes are probably the team to beat, however, particularly if Unit stays functional all season. the wildcard is pretty likely to come out of this division again.
Boston Legal Quotes
Alan Shore: You know we have a little saying in Massachusetts, "Maybe someday you'll get horribly sick and die."
[Melvin looks startled]
Alan Shore: Until then!
Attorney Melvin Palmer: Oh!
[he starts to laugh]
Attorney Melvin Palmer: You. You dog.
[he leaves]
Attorney Melvin Palmer: Ah...
[Melvin looks startled]
Alan Shore: Until then!
Attorney Melvin Palmer: Oh!
[he starts to laugh]
Attorney Melvin Palmer: You. You dog.
[he leaves]
Attorney Melvin Palmer: Ah...
Friday, March 21, 2008
NCAA Tournament
I attended the NCAA Tournament yesterday at the Qwest Center and watched Kansas defeat Portland State 85-61, as well as most of the UNLV - Kent State game, won by the Rebels 71-58. Have to say I was very impressed with KU, there is a definite reason they are a #1 seed - talent disparity between the Jayhawks and the other three teams is patently obvious just from watching the floor.
KU shot 48% from the land of three and 54% overall, while holding Portland St to 38% shooting, and led by double digits just 5 minutes into the game. I have to give some credit to State, they did not just roll over but remained scrappy throughout. Some of the players that impressed me were KU junior guard Brandon Rush and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur, along with the State's sophmore forward Alex Tiefenthaler and UNLV's senior G/F Curtis Terry.
I also witnessed a historic moment in the second game as UNLV held Kent to a NCAA-tying record for fewest points in a half, with just 10, although they did come back in the second half to close the gap to thirteen after trailing by 21 at the half.
KU shot 48% from the land of three and 54% overall, while holding Portland St to 38% shooting, and led by double digits just 5 minutes into the game. I have to give some credit to State, they did not just roll over but remained scrappy throughout. Some of the players that impressed me were KU junior guard Brandon Rush and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur, along with the State's sophmore forward Alex Tiefenthaler and UNLV's senior G/F Curtis Terry.
I also witnessed a historic moment in the second game as UNLV held Kent to a NCAA-tying record for fewest points in a half, with just 10, although they did come back in the second half to close the gap to thirteen after trailing by 21 at the half.
Saturn Moon Titan May Have Underground Ocean
via ScienceDaily, the Cassini space probe is showing evidence that Saturn's largest moon Titan may have an underground ocean of water and ammonia.
""With its organic dunes, lakes, channels and mountains, Titan has one of the most varied, active and Earth-like surfaces in the solar system," said Ralph Lorenz, lead author of the paper and Cassini radar scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., "Now we see changes in the way Titan rotates, giving us a window into Titan's interior beneath the surface."
Members of the mission's science team used Cassini's Synthetic Aperture Radar to collect imaging data during 19 separate passes over Titan between October 2005 and May 2007. The radar can see through Titan's dense, methane-rich atmospheric haze, detailing never-before-seen surface features and establishing their locations on the moon's surface."
The scientists compared early radar maps of Titan's surface from the latest ones gathered, and a number of unique surface features identified in the frist maps had shifted significantly, up to 19 miles in some cases. Such an extenisve displacement is difficult to explain unless the surface is separated from the moon's core, floating on an ocean of water. It is believed the ocean may lie as deep as 62 miles under the surface. Cassini will make another flyby on March 25, using its instruments to both examine the atmosphere and the moon's southeastern surface quadrant.
""With its organic dunes, lakes, channels and mountains, Titan has one of the most varied, active and Earth-like surfaces in the solar system," said Ralph Lorenz, lead author of the paper and Cassini radar scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., "Now we see changes in the way Titan rotates, giving us a window into Titan's interior beneath the surface."
Members of the mission's science team used Cassini's Synthetic Aperture Radar to collect imaging data during 19 separate passes over Titan between October 2005 and May 2007. The radar can see through Titan's dense, methane-rich atmospheric haze, detailing never-before-seen surface features and establishing their locations on the moon's surface."
The scientists compared early radar maps of Titan's surface from the latest ones gathered, and a number of unique surface features identified in the frist maps had shifted significantly, up to 19 miles in some cases. Such an extenisve displacement is difficult to explain unless the surface is separated from the moon's core, floating on an ocean of water. It is believed the ocean may lie as deep as 62 miles under the surface. Cassini will make another flyby on March 25, using its instruments to both examine the atmosphere and the moon's southeastern surface quadrant.
Inner Planets May Have Different Origins
via National Geographic, a new analysis is challenging the long held theory that the inner rocky worlds in our solar system formed from the same general building block materials. The idea is that these planets are formed from the same mineral building blocks as the most common and oldest type of asteroids and meteorites, called chondrites. However, Earth's mineral composition doesn't quite match up, and a new French study (French?) of Mars and the Moon suggest that these worlds don't match up either.
"What our results suggest is that the sorting of the elements that make up these planets may have happened at a much earlier stage than had been believed," said Alex Halliday, a study co-author from Oxford University. "The composition of these worlds is inconsistent with them simply forming out of large 'lumps' of stony meteorites like those we see today in the asteroid belt."
Chondrites are commonly characterized by an abundance of the mineral neodymium 142, which is a byproduct of the decay of the metal samarium. However, Earth contains a higher percentage of neodynium than common chondrites, leading traditional earth science theorists to speculate that Earth's system of plate tectonics was "hiding" elements that would balance out the chemical ratio. However, the new study finds that both the Moon and Mars have the same excess of neodymium, even though they do not have active plate tectonics. These findings may suggest that the rocky planets may have formed earlier in the history of the solar system than the other chondrite type bodies.
"What our results suggest is that the sorting of the elements that make up these planets may have happened at a much earlier stage than had been believed," said Alex Halliday, a study co-author from Oxford University. "The composition of these worlds is inconsistent with them simply forming out of large 'lumps' of stony meteorites like those we see today in the asteroid belt."
Chondrites are commonly characterized by an abundance of the mineral neodymium 142, which is a byproduct of the decay of the metal samarium. However, Earth contains a higher percentage of neodynium than common chondrites, leading traditional earth science theorists to speculate that Earth's system of plate tectonics was "hiding" elements that would balance out the chemical ratio. However, the new study finds that both the Moon and Mars have the same excess of neodymium, even though they do not have active plate tectonics. These findings may suggest that the rocky planets may have formed earlier in the history of the solar system than the other chondrite type bodies.
Boston Legal Quotes
Ernie Dell: You see the thing is, fool that I am, I went out and hired a PI on my own. And guess what I found out, Denny?
Denny Crane: I'm not sure, Ernie, but you need to know I'm billing you for all these rhetorical questions.
[Dell pulls a pistol from his suit and points it at Denny]
Ernie Dell: My own lawyer. My friend. With my wife! Gee, Denny Crane is silent. Talking to me about my qwest for relevance, Denny. Tell me about my ego. Come up with one last profound thing to say. Before I pull this trigger! Come on, Denny, talk! I want to hear what the great Denny Crane has to say now!
[Denny stares at Ernie]
Denny Crane: First off, clients come in here wanting to shoot me all the time, and you know what I tell them? Go ahead. The worst thing about growing older, Ernie? You begin to slip. One day you wake up, and you're less than. And for me, I'm a legend, Ernie. I'm folklore in this town. Lawyers have feared me for years. For Denny Crane to slip, it would diminish my legacy, it would be a tragedy. Denny Crane has to go out big, page 1 of the Globe or the New York Times even. Do me a favor Ernie. Pull the trigger. Immortalize the legend, pull the trigger. I don't ever want to be less than, don't let me become irrelevant, pull it!
Ernie: [cocks the gun] Okay. Before I do, don't you at least want to apologize?
Denny: I do. I'm sorry, my friend. I'm truly sorry. Ernie, that gun. I bought it for you, remember? It's a starter pistol, Ernie.
Denny Crane: I'm not sure, Ernie, but you need to know I'm billing you for all these rhetorical questions.
[Dell pulls a pistol from his suit and points it at Denny]
Ernie Dell: My own lawyer. My friend. With my wife! Gee, Denny Crane is silent. Talking to me about my qwest for relevance, Denny. Tell me about my ego. Come up with one last profound thing to say. Before I pull this trigger! Come on, Denny, talk! I want to hear what the great Denny Crane has to say now!
[Denny stares at Ernie]
Denny Crane: First off, clients come in here wanting to shoot me all the time, and you know what I tell them? Go ahead. The worst thing about growing older, Ernie? You begin to slip. One day you wake up, and you're less than. And for me, I'm a legend, Ernie. I'm folklore in this town. Lawyers have feared me for years. For Denny Crane to slip, it would diminish my legacy, it would be a tragedy. Denny Crane has to go out big, page 1 of the Globe or the New York Times even. Do me a favor Ernie. Pull the trigger. Immortalize the legend, pull the trigger. I don't ever want to be less than, don't let me become irrelevant, pull it!
Ernie: [cocks the gun] Okay. Before I do, don't you at least want to apologize?
Denny: I do. I'm sorry, my friend. I'm truly sorry. Ernie, that gun. I bought it for you, remember? It's a starter pistol, Ernie.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Japanese Delivery a Hit on the ISS
Apparently the ISS astronauts have been getting a little tired of their diet of freeze dried spacefood, so it was a big hit when Japanese astronaut Takao Doi visited and brought in some take out - or is it take up?
"Doi, a veteran spaceflyer who is helping deliver the first segment of Japan's massive Kibo laboratory to the ISS, packed three types of Japanese noodles, some salmon and steamed rice for his crewmates aboard the shuttle Endeavour and space station.
"Actually, the Japanese food was great, especially after being up here for five months," station commander Peggy Whitson told Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda late Wednesday. "Takao was kind enough to bring us chopsticks to make it official."
Doi arrived on the currently running Endeavor STS-123 mission to deliver the both the Canadian Dextre robot arm and the Japanese constructed Logistics Pressurized module the first piece of the Kibo laboratory module, adding what will amount to a "space closet" for additional storage in the lab. The primary module for the lab will be sent up in May, with the last piece a "space porch" arriving in 2009. Doi is also testing some new Japanese designed space threads, including skivvies and experimenting how a boomerang works in zero gee.
The life these people lead is too bizarre to comment on fully, but it does make for some interesting blogging.
"Doi, a veteran spaceflyer who is helping deliver the first segment of Japan's massive Kibo laboratory to the ISS, packed three types of Japanese noodles, some salmon and steamed rice for his crewmates aboard the shuttle Endeavour and space station.
"Actually, the Japanese food was great, especially after being up here for five months," station commander Peggy Whitson told Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda late Wednesday. "Takao was kind enough to bring us chopsticks to make it official."
Doi arrived on the currently running Endeavor STS-123 mission to deliver the both the Canadian Dextre robot arm and the Japanese constructed Logistics Pressurized module the first piece of the Kibo laboratory module, adding what will amount to a "space closet" for additional storage in the lab. The primary module for the lab will be sent up in May, with the last piece a "space porch" arriving in 2009. Doi is also testing some new Japanese designed space threads, including skivvies and experimenting how a boomerang works in zero gee.
The life these people lead is too bizarre to comment on fully, but it does make for some interesting blogging.
Just Another Day at the Office
Some great images available from the STS-123 mission to the ISS. Here astronauts are working on the Canadian built robotic arm known as Dextre.
"During the 3rd spacewalk, astronauts Rick Linnehan (right) and Bob Behnken work on the new Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM). This image highlights how big the station is getting, as the astronauts are almost dwarfted by this one area of the truss section."
There is yet another spacewalk scheduled today.
How Greek Agoras Changed the World
The latest from Livescience's series on items that have changed the world examines the impact of the Greek Agora - the central marketplace in the Greek city-states where not only goods were exchanged, but ideas. The agora also performed the role of the civic center, where politics and governing were conducted.
"Nearly every city of ancient Greece had an agora – meaning meeting place – by about 600 B.C., when the classical period of Greek civilization began to flourish. Usually located near the center of town, the agora was easily accessible to every citizen, with a large central square for market stalls bound by public buildings.
The agora of Athens – the hub of ancient Greek civilization – was the size of several football fields and saw heavy traffic every single day of the week. Women didn't often frequent the agora, but every other character in ancient Greece passed through its columns: politicians, criminals, philosophers and traders, aristocrats, scientists, officials and slaves.
Not only did the ancient Greeks go to the agora to pick up fresh meat and some wool for a new robe, but also to meet and greet with friends and colleagues. Akin to the modern high-powered lunch, much business got done in the casual setting."
The agora held not only the particpatory democratic assemblies, but the law courts as well. Laws were posted in the agora, and Athenian citizens voted for and debated such laws. Thus Athenian democracy started as an idea conceived, formulated, and then conducted in the agora. Most likely so did items such as the Hippocratic oath, and the Pythagorean Theorem (a squared plus b squared equals c squared), as the greatest scietific and philosophical minds met a discussed the issues of the day and taught students - all in the agora.
"Nearly every city of ancient Greece had an agora – meaning meeting place – by about 600 B.C., when the classical period of Greek civilization began to flourish. Usually located near the center of town, the agora was easily accessible to every citizen, with a large central square for market stalls bound by public buildings.
The agora of Athens – the hub of ancient Greek civilization – was the size of several football fields and saw heavy traffic every single day of the week. Women didn't often frequent the agora, but every other character in ancient Greece passed through its columns: politicians, criminals, philosophers and traders, aristocrats, scientists, officials and slaves.
Not only did the ancient Greeks go to the agora to pick up fresh meat and some wool for a new robe, but also to meet and greet with friends and colleagues. Akin to the modern high-powered lunch, much business got done in the casual setting."
The agora held not only the particpatory democratic assemblies, but the law courts as well. Laws were posted in the agora, and Athenian citizens voted for and debated such laws. Thus Athenian democracy started as an idea conceived, formulated, and then conducted in the agora. Most likely so did items such as the Hippocratic oath, and the Pythagorean Theorem (a squared plus b squared equals c squared), as the greatest scietific and philosophical minds met a discussed the issues of the day and taught students - all in the agora.
Methane Found on Extra Solar Planet
ScienceDaily reports the exciting discovery of methane by the Hubble Sapce Telescope in an alien star system. It was found on a "hot Jupiter" called HD 189733b. Methane is a organic hydrocarbon molecule and one of the primary components of natural gas. It is found on many worlds in our own solar system but had never been detected outside it. The interesting thing is that water vapor has already been confirmed on the same planet.
"The planet, HD 189733b, now known to have methane and water vapour is located 63 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula, the little fox. HD 189733b, a "hot Jupiter"-type extrasolar planet, is so close to its parent star that it takes just over two days to complete an orbit. "Hot Jupiters" are the size of Jupiter but orbit closer to their stars than the tiny innermost planet Mercury in our Solar System. HD 189733b's atmosphere swelters at 900 degrees C, about the same temperature as the melting point of silver."
The real import of the finding is that we have now been able to detect atmospheric gasses from a far distant world. Utilizing the same methods, we may soon be able to do the same thing for smaller and cooler worlds that might have evidence of being habitable. The ultimate goal of these studies is to discover prebiotic molecules in the atmospheres of terrestrial type rocky planets orbiting within the habitable zone of another star.
"The planet, HD 189733b, now known to have methane and water vapour is located 63 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula, the little fox. HD 189733b, a "hot Jupiter"-type extrasolar planet, is so close to its parent star that it takes just over two days to complete an orbit. "Hot Jupiters" are the size of Jupiter but orbit closer to their stars than the tiny innermost planet Mercury in our Solar System. HD 189733b's atmosphere swelters at 900 degrees C, about the same temperature as the melting point of silver."
The real import of the finding is that we have now been able to detect atmospheric gasses from a far distant world. Utilizing the same methods, we may soon be able to do the same thing for smaller and cooler worlds that might have evidence of being habitable. The ultimate goal of these studies is to discover prebiotic molecules in the atmospheres of terrestrial type rocky planets orbiting within the habitable zone of another star.
Husker Thump UNC-Charlotte
via OWH, the Nebraska basketball squad defeated UNC-Charlotte in their first round NIT matchup 67-48 to become jsut the 12th team in school history to reach 20 victories in a season.
""That's a number that separates you from a lot of teams," NU coach Doc Sadler said. "That's a credit to our players. "If you would have thought this back in January, you'd be even more proud of it. If you can get 20 wins a year in this league, you're going to have a successful program."
The chance for a 21st win comes Monday night at 6 or 8 at Mississippi (22-10). The second-seeded Rebels beat seventh-seeded UC-Santa Barbara 83-68 at home and get to stay at home against third-seeded Nebraska. NU (20-12) got its 20th win in the same way it collected most of the other 19 — with stifling defense, holding Charlotte 22 points under its season average."
Charlotte's top two scorers were held to 2 of 13 and 4 of 13 shooting. After trailing 16-15 with 8:33 left in the first half, NU took the lead for good with an 18-5 run led off by two inside baskets by senior center Aleks Maric, who became the fifth leading scorer in school history with his nine points last night. He also became just the third player in conference history wiht 1600 points and 1000 rebounds.
Congratulations to the team and Coach Doc Sadler.
""That's a number that separates you from a lot of teams," NU coach Doc Sadler said. "That's a credit to our players. "If you would have thought this back in January, you'd be even more proud of it. If you can get 20 wins a year in this league, you're going to have a successful program."
The chance for a 21st win comes Monday night at 6 or 8 at Mississippi (22-10). The second-seeded Rebels beat seventh-seeded UC-Santa Barbara 83-68 at home and get to stay at home against third-seeded Nebraska. NU (20-12) got its 20th win in the same way it collected most of the other 19 — with stifling defense, holding Charlotte 22 points under its season average."
Charlotte's top two scorers were held to 2 of 13 and 4 of 13 shooting. After trailing 16-15 with 8:33 left in the first half, NU took the lead for good with an 18-5 run led off by two inside baskets by senior center Aleks Maric, who became the fifth leading scorer in school history with his nine points last night. He also became just the third player in conference history wiht 1600 points and 1000 rebounds.
Congratulations to the team and Coach Doc Sadler.
Boston Legal Quotes
[Denny Crane and Ernie Dell walk into Denny's office]
Denny: This is not going to be easy for you to hear, but it needs to be said. I don't give a damn who slept with your wife. Neither do you, really. You don't love her. It's an ego thing. She's a trophy girl, something for your friends to admire. Maybe you should be flattered.
Ernie: I'm not -
Denny, interrupting: I'm talking! Ego, Ernie. You acquire fast cars and young wives, all in hope to stay young yourself and confuse youth with relevance. Well, here's a flash for you. We're all desperate to be relevant. You're 76 years old, want to feel you still mean something, move to Florida, punch a chad, screw up an election. Don't go looking for affirmation between the two artifical jugs of a woman who married you for - gee, could it be your outstanding sense of humor? [Ernie clenches up]
Take a swing, if you want to, if it'll make you fell better.
Denny: This is not going to be easy for you to hear, but it needs to be said. I don't give a damn who slept with your wife. Neither do you, really. You don't love her. It's an ego thing. She's a trophy girl, something for your friends to admire. Maybe you should be flattered.
Ernie: I'm not -
Denny, interrupting: I'm talking! Ego, Ernie. You acquire fast cars and young wives, all in hope to stay young yourself and confuse youth with relevance. Well, here's a flash for you. We're all desperate to be relevant. You're 76 years old, want to feel you still mean something, move to Florida, punch a chad, screw up an election. Don't go looking for affirmation between the two artifical jugs of a woman who married you for - gee, could it be your outstanding sense of humor? [Ernie clenches up]
Take a swing, if you want to, if it'll make you fell better.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Ancient Greek Outpost Discovered
Livescience reports on an amazingly well preserved archaelogical site dating back to the Late Bronze Age Mycenaen Greece. The site, Korphos-Kalamianos, lies partly underwater and was probably built, at least initially, as a military outpost. the site was found along the shores of the Western Aegean Sea 60 miles southwest of Athens and 40 miles east from the major Greek state of the time,and the one that gives its name to the culture, Mycenae. The Mycenaen culture is best known as the time period set forth in the Iliad and Odyssey by the Greek poet Homer, who recounted the events surrounding the legendary Trojan War. The culture is thought to have existed from around 1600 BC to 1100 BC.
"The site is unique because the remains of most Mycenaean towns are completely buried by now under a few millennia's worth of dirt and detritus. This one stands above ground, with many walls incredibly intact.
"Usually to excavate Mycenaean buildings you have to dig underground," Pullen told LiveScience. "What we have here is the plan of an entire town preserved for us. We have the fortification wall, we have all these buildings, and we can often see where the doorways would be. We can see how the buildings relate to each other, because we have obvious alleyways and streets."
The site shows a regular grid pattern suggestive of pre-planned construction that leads us to the military outpost theory, as most naturally developed urban sites tend to evolve in a more ad hoc arrangment. The site also appears to have been largely constructed at once, and lacks the farmland necessary to sustain a population of the size indicated by the area covered by the find. Researchers have yet to explore the underwater ruins, which might confirm the theory the site was devleoped to exploit a natural harbor existing at the time.
"The site is unique because the remains of most Mycenaean towns are completely buried by now under a few millennia's worth of dirt and detritus. This one stands above ground, with many walls incredibly intact.
"Usually to excavate Mycenaean buildings you have to dig underground," Pullen told LiveScience. "What we have here is the plan of an entire town preserved for us. We have the fortification wall, we have all these buildings, and we can often see where the doorways would be. We can see how the buildings relate to each other, because we have obvious alleyways and streets."
The site shows a regular grid pattern suggestive of pre-planned construction that leads us to the military outpost theory, as most naturally developed urban sites tend to evolve in a more ad hoc arrangment. The site also appears to have been largely constructed at once, and lacks the farmland necessary to sustain a population of the size indicated by the area covered by the find. Researchers have yet to explore the underwater ruins, which might confirm the theory the site was devleoped to exploit a natural harbor existing at the time.
How to Get to Alpha Centauri
Space.com covers several ways to potentially get to our nearest instellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri. Interest in sending a probe or a long term mission to the star has been increased by stellar modeling that indicates a high probability of both planetary formation and a strong possibility of a terrestrial type planet in the star's habitable zone. The distance and time required, of course, are both a substantial challenge.
"Sending a person to Alpha Centauri within a human lifetime wouldn't be easy. Alpha Centauri is 4.37 light-years away — more than 25.6 trillion miles, or more than 276,000 times the distance from the Earth to the sun."
A conventional rocket would be impossible to use, taking far to long - a shuttle rocket would require 165,000 years. This has mostly to do with the fact the shuttle uses up is fuel at a prodigious rate. What is required is a method of propulsion that would either sip fuel slowly or gather it along the route, slowly gaining speed (like rolling a stone downhill) at an ever increasing rate, a "constant boost" method. One possibility might be Star Trek like anitmatter engine, although warp drive is probably a long ways off. Unfortunately, only small amounts of antimatter can currently be created at one time and it requires a huge particle accelerator to do it. Storing it safely for even a short time also requires huge magnets - defeating the purpose of a powerful lightweight fuel with a enormous mass for storage.
Another method I alluded to earlier is to gather your fuel as you move along the route, like a ramjet does in the atmosphere, as proposed by astrphysicist Robert Bussard many years ago. Unfortunately, the interstellar medium is nowhere near as dense with the required type of deuterium hydrogen atoms as theorized by the good doctor. A third method could be the "solar sail" method, which utilizes the interstellar solar "wind" created by the Sun's photons. Again there is a problem - the "wind" dies down the further you get away, and you would face a headwind when you started to approach your destination. One way around this would be to use orbital or Lunar based lasers to generate a light "wave" for the spacecraft to ride. However you would need an extraordinarily powerful laser, and laser tend to disperse over distance. Neutrally charged particle beams might provide an answer to this, so it might be the most feasible idea in the short term.
The most radical idea would be nuclear propulsion, where the vehicle is propelled by the repeated explosion of nuclear weapons, with the spacecraft protected behind a "shield". And you thought the environmentalists were aleady in a tizzy. Such a "pulsed proplusion" system works most efficiently on very large craft, however, so sending a colony of a 1000 people would be more feasible than a 1 ton probe. Jordin Kare, a Seattle-based technical consultant on advanced space systems, has come up with a blended "sail beam" system, using laser pulses like bullets to propel many small sails.
One option not mentioned is ion propulsion, but perhaps this is because it is already been deployed, for instance on the dwarf planet/asteroid mission to Ceres and Vesta which orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Such engines create a very small amount of thrust, but use fuel rather sparingly and thus could achieve a fairly significant speed, particularly if coupled with the standard "gravity assist" method to achieve relatively high rates of speed and "sling-shotting" probes all over the soalr systems, such as the Pluto probe New Horizons, or the Voyager missions.
"Sending a person to Alpha Centauri within a human lifetime wouldn't be easy. Alpha Centauri is 4.37 light-years away — more than 25.6 trillion miles, or more than 276,000 times the distance from the Earth to the sun."
A conventional rocket would be impossible to use, taking far to long - a shuttle rocket would require 165,000 years. This has mostly to do with the fact the shuttle uses up is fuel at a prodigious rate. What is required is a method of propulsion that would either sip fuel slowly or gather it along the route, slowly gaining speed (like rolling a stone downhill) at an ever increasing rate, a "constant boost" method. One possibility might be Star Trek like anitmatter engine, although warp drive is probably a long ways off. Unfortunately, only small amounts of antimatter can currently be created at one time and it requires a huge particle accelerator to do it. Storing it safely for even a short time also requires huge magnets - defeating the purpose of a powerful lightweight fuel with a enormous mass for storage.
Another method I alluded to earlier is to gather your fuel as you move along the route, like a ramjet does in the atmosphere, as proposed by astrphysicist Robert Bussard many years ago. Unfortunately, the interstellar medium is nowhere near as dense with the required type of deuterium hydrogen atoms as theorized by the good doctor. A third method could be the "solar sail" method, which utilizes the interstellar solar "wind" created by the Sun's photons. Again there is a problem - the "wind" dies down the further you get away, and you would face a headwind when you started to approach your destination. One way around this would be to use orbital or Lunar based lasers to generate a light "wave" for the spacecraft to ride. However you would need an extraordinarily powerful laser, and laser tend to disperse over distance. Neutrally charged particle beams might provide an answer to this, so it might be the most feasible idea in the short term.
The most radical idea would be nuclear propulsion, where the vehicle is propelled by the repeated explosion of nuclear weapons, with the spacecraft protected behind a "shield". And you thought the environmentalists were aleady in a tizzy. Such a "pulsed proplusion" system works most efficiently on very large craft, however, so sending a colony of a 1000 people would be more feasible than a 1 ton probe. Jordin Kare, a Seattle-based technical consultant on advanced space systems, has come up with a blended "sail beam" system, using laser pulses like bullets to propel many small sails.
One option not mentioned is ion propulsion, but perhaps this is because it is already been deployed, for instance on the dwarf planet/asteroid mission to Ceres and Vesta which orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Such engines create a very small amount of thrust, but use fuel rather sparingly and thus could achieve a fairly significant speed, particularly if coupled with the standard "gravity assist" method to achieve relatively high rates of speed and "sling-shotting" probes all over the soalr systems, such as the Pluto probe New Horizons, or the Voyager missions.
America Losing Space Lead?
via RCP, the Houston Chronicle bemoans the fact that the US may be facing a hiatus of its manned spaceprogram of five years or better. Can't say as though I disagree. China may wind up with a permanent post on the Moon before we do. Wew are facing the prospect of watching other nations leading the exploration of the next frontier.
"With the retirement of the aging space shuttle fleet looming in two years, the United States faces the humiliating prospect of paying billions of dollars to Russia for years to hitch rides to an international space station built largely with American funds.
Even more unsettling, when the next generation Orion space vehicle is finally ready to carry our astronauts back to the moon sometime before 2020, they may find Chinese counterparts already there and working. Having grown accustomed to the leading role in manned exploration of space, Americans are in for an era of diminished expectations and heightened competition for the high ground."
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin points out that the Chinese have 200,000 people working on their space program, just the third nation to send a man into orbit. That is twice the number participating in out own programs. The one caveat to this is America's growing private space industry, led by the SpaceX corporation. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson has proposed additional funding to the Orion program to speed progress there as well. However, the Chronicle does miss a couple of points in their analysis - while our manned exploraiton will definitely be curtailed, our unmanned programs will certainly be able to continue, and there is the possibility of delaying the shuttle retirement for a short period if funding (ever the issue for NASA) could become available.
"With the retirement of the aging space shuttle fleet looming in two years, the United States faces the humiliating prospect of paying billions of dollars to Russia for years to hitch rides to an international space station built largely with American funds.
Even more unsettling, when the next generation Orion space vehicle is finally ready to carry our astronauts back to the moon sometime before 2020, they may find Chinese counterparts already there and working. Having grown accustomed to the leading role in manned exploration of space, Americans are in for an era of diminished expectations and heightened competition for the high ground."
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin points out that the Chinese have 200,000 people working on their space program, just the third nation to send a man into orbit. That is twice the number participating in out own programs. The one caveat to this is America's growing private space industry, led by the SpaceX corporation. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson has proposed additional funding to the Orion program to speed progress there as well. However, the Chronicle does miss a couple of points in their analysis - while our manned exploraiton will definitely be curtailed, our unmanned programs will certainly be able to continue, and there is the possibility of delaying the shuttle retirement for a short period if funding (ever the issue for NASA) could become available.
Husker BaseballTeam Wins 14th Straight
via OWH, Husker Dan Jennings threw a complete game gem to defreat Arkansas 6-1, spoiling the return of former Husker Coach Dave Van Horn. Jennings allowed only one baserunner past second base after the3 sewcond inning. Jennings struck out 7 and walked only two to earn his second victory of the year and third of his Husker career.
"On Tuesday, a crowd of 3,417 applauded Van Horn upon his first trip back with the Razorbacks and then sat back to watch his ex-assistant, Anderson, coach Nebraska to its 14th straight victory.
The winning streak is the longest in Anderson's six years and one away from the most consecutive victories at Nebraska under Van Horn, 15 games, in 2000. Anderson, despite the win, said he'd still prefer not to coach against old boss.
"It's good competition, obviously," he said. "We wouldn't do it unless I thought it was good for Nebraska baseball. But I know Dave very well. This crowd is here. This stadium's here. We're having success because of the things Dave Van Horn did.
I hope he has some emotion that way and feels the pride. It's something that he orchestrated."
NU's left fielder Nick Sullivan unlocked a 1-1 tie with a 2 run shot in the bottom of the second, and NU catcher Mitch Abeita uncorked a 3 run blast in the bottom of the 8th to seal the deal.
"On Tuesday, a crowd of 3,417 applauded Van Horn upon his first trip back with the Razorbacks and then sat back to watch his ex-assistant, Anderson, coach Nebraska to its 14th straight victory.
The winning streak is the longest in Anderson's six years and one away from the most consecutive victories at Nebraska under Van Horn, 15 games, in 2000. Anderson, despite the win, said he'd still prefer not to coach against old boss.
"It's good competition, obviously," he said. "We wouldn't do it unless I thought it was good for Nebraska baseball. But I know Dave very well. This crowd is here. This stadium's here. We're having success because of the things Dave Van Horn did.
I hope he has some emotion that way and feels the pride. It's something that he orchestrated."
NU's left fielder Nick Sullivan unlocked a 1-1 tie with a 2 run shot in the bottom of the second, and NU catcher Mitch Abeita uncorked a 3 run blast in the bottom of the 8th to seal the deal.
Creighton Survives Rhode Island
Via OWH, the Bluejays survive Rhode Island in their first round matchup of the NIT Tournament 74-73. Cavel Witter's 3 pointer from the corner with just 3 ticks remaining on the clock gave the Jays the victory. The Jays were down by 15 at the half, as many as 17 and tralied by 12 with just over 3 minutes remaining, but never gave up fighting. The smallest crowd in Creighton's five years, just 7,948 at the Qwest Center, witnessed one for the ages.
"Things looked pretty dismal for the Bluejays when Marquis Jones made a layup to give the Rams a 70-58 lead with 3:14 remaining. A 3-point basket by P'Allen Stinnett and his layup got Creighton within seven points, and Woodfox made a twisting 3-point shot to cut the deficit to 70-66 with 1:28 left.
Jones made two free throws at the 1:10 mark to push Rhode Island's lead back to six but Woodfox connected again from outside the arc to trim the Rams' lead to 72-69 with 1:03 remaining. Jimmy Baron missed a driving shot that Stinnett rebounded, and Witter made it a one-point game with two free throws with 13.3 seconds to play.
Rhode Island beat Creighton's press with a long pass to Jones, who was fouled by Witter as he drove to the basket. Jones, playing because sixth man Keith Cothran suffered an ankle injury earlier in the game, missed his first free-throw attempt but made the second for a 73-71 lead with 11.5 seconds remaining.
Rhode Island called timeout, allowing Creighton to set up one play. It was supposed to go to Stinnett, who took a pass from Witter on the left wing. Stinnett started to drive for the basket, pulled up for a shot and remembered what Witter had told him as they broke from the huddle after the timeout."
All Atlantic 10 conference G Will Daniels led RI with 16 points, while Woodfox and Stinnet led CU with 22 points apiece. CU will face teh winner of San Diego State and Florida, traveling to Florida if they win but staying at home if SD State topples the Gators.
"Things looked pretty dismal for the Bluejays when Marquis Jones made a layup to give the Rams a 70-58 lead with 3:14 remaining. A 3-point basket by P'Allen Stinnett and his layup got Creighton within seven points, and Woodfox made a twisting 3-point shot to cut the deficit to 70-66 with 1:28 left.
Jones made two free throws at the 1:10 mark to push Rhode Island's lead back to six but Woodfox connected again from outside the arc to trim the Rams' lead to 72-69 with 1:03 remaining. Jimmy Baron missed a driving shot that Stinnett rebounded, and Witter made it a one-point game with two free throws with 13.3 seconds to play.
Rhode Island beat Creighton's press with a long pass to Jones, who was fouled by Witter as he drove to the basket. Jones, playing because sixth man Keith Cothran suffered an ankle injury earlier in the game, missed his first free-throw attempt but made the second for a 73-71 lead with 11.5 seconds remaining.
Rhode Island called timeout, allowing Creighton to set up one play. It was supposed to go to Stinnett, who took a pass from Witter on the left wing. Stinnett started to drive for the basket, pulled up for a shot and remembered what Witter had told him as they broke from the huddle after the timeout."
All Atlantic 10 conference G Will Daniels led RI with 16 points, while Woodfox and Stinnet led CU with 22 points apiece. CU will face teh winner of San Diego State and Florida, traveling to Florida if they win but staying at home if SD State topples the Gators.
Boston Legal Quotes
Matthew Caulder: What's going on?
Alan Shore: I'll keep it quick. These are for you. Photos. Snapshots really. Some delightful little business between you and a hooker. [Caulder starts flipping through the pictures] Friend of mine actually. I earn frequent flyer miles. She's a lovely woman. I arranged for her to seek you out at the bar. I particularly like that one. Don't you? Gives your bottom a nice...aura. Here's the deal, Sharon and the kids get to go to New York, or I start printing copies. Is that suger that you're snorting off of her magnificent porcelain breasts?
Caulder: You're a lawyer in a prestigious law firm for God's sakes!
Alan Shore: I know, awful. Hate to extort and run, but I'm going to need an answer on this, now.
Alan Shore: I'll keep it quick. These are for you. Photos. Snapshots really. Some delightful little business between you and a hooker. [Caulder starts flipping through the pictures] Friend of mine actually. I earn frequent flyer miles. She's a lovely woman. I arranged for her to seek you out at the bar. I particularly like that one. Don't you? Gives your bottom a nice...aura. Here's the deal, Sharon and the kids get to go to New York, or I start printing copies. Is that suger that you're snorting off of her magnificent porcelain breasts?
Caulder: You're a lawyer in a prestigious law firm for God's sakes!
Alan Shore: I know, awful. Hate to extort and run, but I'm going to need an answer on this, now.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Husker DE Coach John Papuchis
I caught this interview by Bill Jordan with Husker DE Coach John Papuchis the other day. Papuchis arrived from LSU with Head Coach Bo Pelini and Husker LB Coach Mike Ekeler. They first covered John's role on the staff.
"Bill Jordan for the Biz of Football: What is your role on the team besides coaching the defensive ends?
John Papuchis: Well, I’ve been working with Bo for a couple years, so as far as helping him put together a plan on defense from week to week and I coach our punt team. I also have a role with our special teams from an administrative prospective as well. I’ll be assisting it and putting together the depth chart and stuff like that. Primarily I’ll coach the defensive ends; I’ll coach the punt team and from an administrative perspective take care of special teams."
They also covered recruiting in general and it's is different between the two schools, his geographic area responsibilities for it, compared Bo's coaching style with LSU Coach Les Miles, how the LSU players reacted to the news of Pelini's hire at Nebraska, how welcomed he has felt at NU, how they prepared LSU for the NC game against Ohio State, and several other interesting tidbits. It's a very nice read on the new coach.
"Bill Jordan for the Biz of Football: What is your role on the team besides coaching the defensive ends?
John Papuchis: Well, I’ve been working with Bo for a couple years, so as far as helping him put together a plan on defense from week to week and I coach our punt team. I also have a role with our special teams from an administrative prospective as well. I’ll be assisting it and putting together the depth chart and stuff like that. Primarily I’ll coach the defensive ends; I’ll coach the punt team and from an administrative perspective take care of special teams."
They also covered recruiting in general and it's is different between the two schools, his geographic area responsibilities for it, compared Bo's coaching style with LSU Coach Les Miles, how the LSU players reacted to the news of Pelini's hire at Nebraska, how welcomed he has felt at NU, how they prepared LSU for the NC game against Ohio State, and several other interesting tidbits. It's a very nice read on the new coach.
How to Market Humanity
Universe Today takes a look at how the SETI Institute plans to market humanity to alien species. The institute has a Director of Interstellar Composition - the individual repsonsible for crafting humanity's message to any aliens that may be lurking in the neighborhood.
If we're going to be communicating with aliens, we'll want to be careful about the words we choose. Get it right, and we've got extraterrestrial friends, here to uplift us to the galactic community. Get it wrong and we might be looking at radio silence, or worse…"
Worse means the Klingons begin the invasion I guess. Hopefully we run into the Vulcans and make a good first impression. Obviously, humanity has more, shall we say, colorful episodes in our history that may damage that impression. However, the man with the job at SETI, Douglas Vakoch, believes honsety is the best policy, and I would have to agree if we intend on maintaining a long term relationship (hopefully diplomatic, cultural and technological exchanges, rather than the ray gun kind) with any other intelligent species that may be out there. Our flaws, after all, are what really make us human.
If we're going to be communicating with aliens, we'll want to be careful about the words we choose. Get it right, and we've got extraterrestrial friends, here to uplift us to the galactic community. Get it wrong and we might be looking at radio silence, or worse…"
Worse means the Klingons begin the invasion I guess. Hopefully we run into the Vulcans and make a good first impression. Obviously, humanity has more, shall we say, colorful episodes in our history that may damage that impression. However, the man with the job at SETI, Douglas Vakoch, believes honsety is the best policy, and I would have to agree if we intend on maintaining a long term relationship (hopefully diplomatic, cultural and technological exchanges, rather than the ray gun kind) with any other intelligent species that may be out there. Our flaws, after all, are what really make us human.
Boston Legal Quotes
Alan Shore: Denny, I find myself having a bit of an identity crisis. I've alwasy prided myself on being - well, nuts. But in this firm, I'm finding myself falling into the sane category.
Denny [chuckles, smiles]:You think I'm nuts, do you?
Denny [chuckles, smiles]:You think I'm nuts, do you?
Monday, March 17, 2008
NU, Creighton Both Make NIT
As expected, both NU and Creighton extend their seasons into the NIT tournament, with both squads receiving a #3 seeding and receiving first round home games. CU (21-10) plays Rhode Island (21-11) on Tuesday 8 PM at the Qwest Center.It will be CU's ninth NIT appearance and third in five seasons. It will be Creighton's 11th post season tournament in a row.
Meanwhile, the Huskers (19-12) will host Charlotte (20-13) on Wednesday at 8 pm in the Devaney Center. The Huskers defeated Mizzou in the Big 12 Tournament, then were defeated by eventual Big 12 Champ Kansas, 64-54, although they put up much more of a spirited fight then previous contests, actually holding a half time lead.
"Nebraska won the NIT in 1996 and finished third in 1987, both under coach Danny Nee. NU also reached the semifinals in New York after three victories in 1983 under Moe Iba. The Huskers have played more NIT games - 33 in 14 appearances - than anyone else in the Big 12.
NU now has the longest NCAA tournament drought in the Big 12 - 10 years. Baylor and Kansas State ended their absences of 20 and 12 years, respectively, by getting at-large bids on Sunday."
A Husker win would result in their first 20 win season since 1998-99. It will be Charlotte's eigth post season appearance in 10 seasons under their coach, Bobby Lutz. The NIT field includes the two NCAA tourney finalists from last year, Florida and Ohio State.
Meanwhile, the Huskers (19-12) will host Charlotte (20-13) on Wednesday at 8 pm in the Devaney Center. The Huskers defeated Mizzou in the Big 12 Tournament, then were defeated by eventual Big 12 Champ Kansas, 64-54, although they put up much more of a spirited fight then previous contests, actually holding a half time lead.
"Nebraska won the NIT in 1996 and finished third in 1987, both under coach Danny Nee. NU also reached the semifinals in New York after three victories in 1983 under Moe Iba. The Huskers have played more NIT games - 33 in 14 appearances - than anyone else in the Big 12.
NU now has the longest NCAA tournament drought in the Big 12 - 10 years. Baylor and Kansas State ended their absences of 20 and 12 years, respectively, by getting at-large bids on Sunday."
A Husker win would result in their first 20 win season since 1998-99. It will be Charlotte's eigth post season appearance in 10 seasons under their coach, Bobby Lutz. The NIT field includes the two NCAA tourney finalists from last year, Florida and Ohio State.
Kurdish Issues in Iraq
Carter Andress at National Review notes yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the Halabja massacre conducted by Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein. Hussein had warplanes and artillery drop mustard gas and nerve agent on the Kurdish town and killed approximately 5,000 people, almost the entire population. The attack initiated a wider campaign of genocide agains the Kurds that killed almost 150,000 and eliminated as many as 1,000 villages in northern Iraq. The rationale for the killing was two-fold; as an ethnic minority in Iraq with their own national aspirations, Hussein doubted their political reliability, and then there was that expensive black stuff in the ground.
"This ethnic cleansing of Kurds, while part of Saddam’s “Arabization” project, also had its pragmatic side: The Kurds were predominant in the oil-rich and strategically important areas of northern Iraq, and oil money could help their separatist movement. Perhaps for this reason, Saddam began his assault on the Kurds in 1979, as soon as he became president of Iraq. But he was no means the only guilty party. The entire Iraqi leadership, as well as tens of thousands of Iraqi army personnel and security forces, were culpable in these sickening crimes against humanity that continued until Saddam was removed from power."
Andress also notes how the Kurds have been both some the strongest proponents of the new Iraqi government but also one of the biggest stumbling blocks. Individual Kurds are signing up in increasing numbers for the new Iraqi army, and heavily involved and participating in the new political process in the Iraqi parliament. However, they have been a obstacle in the creation of the new national oil law, which the Kurds believe currently gives too much power to the central government. The elephant in the room, however, is the status of the city of Kirkuk. The 2005 Iraqi Constitution called for the city's status to be decided by the end of last year. The question whether it will be a part of the Kurdish region has yet to be resolved.
"This ethnic cleansing of Kurds, while part of Saddam’s “Arabization” project, also had its pragmatic side: The Kurds were predominant in the oil-rich and strategically important areas of northern Iraq, and oil money could help their separatist movement. Perhaps for this reason, Saddam began his assault on the Kurds in 1979, as soon as he became president of Iraq. But he was no means the only guilty party. The entire Iraqi leadership, as well as tens of thousands of Iraqi army personnel and security forces, were culpable in these sickening crimes against humanity that continued until Saddam was removed from power."
Andress also notes how the Kurds have been both some the strongest proponents of the new Iraqi government but also one of the biggest stumbling blocks. Individual Kurds are signing up in increasing numbers for the new Iraqi army, and heavily involved and participating in the new political process in the Iraqi parliament. However, they have been a obstacle in the creation of the new national oil law, which the Kurds believe currently gives too much power to the central government. The elephant in the room, however, is the status of the city of Kirkuk. The 2005 Iraqi Constitution called for the city's status to be decided by the end of last year. The question whether it will be a part of the Kurdish region has yet to be resolved.
Lunar Ark Planned
Universe Today examines a proposal for a "Lunar Ark" that would place a substantial body of knowledge on the moon as a repository should some disaster befall our planet.
"Having a backup of your computer is handy, but having a backup of the entire progress of human civilization is even more practical. If a major catastrophic event like nuclear war or an asteroid strike wipes out most of the humans on the planet, it would be helpful for the survivors to have a record of all the accomplishments we've made in the past few thousands of years to help rebuild and repopulate the Earth."
There are already "seed arks" being developed in different areas on our planet committed to maintaining a record of our diverse ecology. The proposal for the Lunar repository would include not only records of plant life, but also include information on animals and human techniques such as smelting metals or how to plant crops. The idea would be for the information stored to be available from earth based "lifeboat" facilities scattered across the planet where survivors of a cataclysm would be able to congregate.
Interesting idea, although a better (although much more difficult) one would be to simply colonize whatever available real estate we can survice on within the solar system, say Mars.
"Having a backup of your computer is handy, but having a backup of the entire progress of human civilization is even more practical. If a major catastrophic event like nuclear war or an asteroid strike wipes out most of the humans on the planet, it would be helpful for the survivors to have a record of all the accomplishments we've made in the past few thousands of years to help rebuild and repopulate the Earth."
There are already "seed arks" being developed in different areas on our planet committed to maintaining a record of our diverse ecology. The proposal for the Lunar repository would include not only records of plant life, but also include information on animals and human techniques such as smelting metals or how to plant crops. The idea would be for the information stored to be available from earth based "lifeboat" facilities scattered across the planet where survivors of a cataclysm would be able to congregate.
Interesting idea, although a better (although much more difficult) one would be to simply colonize whatever available real estate we can survice on within the solar system, say Mars.
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny Crane: [while shaking hands] Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Donny Crane: Donny Crane.
Denny Crane: Denny Crane.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Another Take on Pelini Hire
I ran across a short inteview with Husker Heas Coach Bo Pelini at Yahoo! Sports conducted by Rivals.com sportwriter Olin Buchanan. He also talked with Husker legend Tom Ruud, father of recent linebackers Barrett and Bo about the new coach and the program. Buchanan points out the key to the hire:
"In making his first address to the team, Pelini brought a direct, no-nonsense message of great expectations and demands.
“I told them everybody is going to be held to extremely high standards,” Pelini said by phone last week. “They’re expected to do things right on and off the field and develop a sense of accountability. That’s not up for debate.”
Neither is that Nebraska’s once-proud “Black Shirts” defense hit bottom in ‘07 by allowing at least 40 points six times, including an all-time high 76 points in a loss to Kansas. Nebraska’s defense allowed at least 40 points 11 times in four seasons under Callahan. Before Callahan, the Huskers had allowed at least 40 points just 11 times in 45 seasons from 1959-2003.
But Pelini is a master architect of powerful defenses, having coached top-20 ranked defenses in each season as coordinator at Nebraska (2003), Oklahoma (2004) and LSU (2005-07). Restoring some teeth to the once-ferocious “Black Shirts” is the first step in leading Nebraska back to national prominence."
As a college assistant, Pelini's teams have never won less than 10 games, AND have never been ranked below #13 in total defense and #17 in scoring defense. Pelini indicated there will be subtle yet significant differences in how he runs our program from how his former bosses ran there own teams. Ruud stated that while Callahan was a good coach, Pelini has embraced the state and the culture in a very different way than Callahan, and Buchanan points out how the state has responded to the hire in a very postive manner, even going so far as to list the different T-shirt captions that have caught on utilizing the Coach's nickname.
Nice to have a positive article on the program for a change.
"In making his first address to the team, Pelini brought a direct, no-nonsense message of great expectations and demands.
“I told them everybody is going to be held to extremely high standards,” Pelini said by phone last week. “They’re expected to do things right on and off the field and develop a sense of accountability. That’s not up for debate.”
Neither is that Nebraska’s once-proud “Black Shirts” defense hit bottom in ‘07 by allowing at least 40 points six times, including an all-time high 76 points in a loss to Kansas. Nebraska’s defense allowed at least 40 points 11 times in four seasons under Callahan. Before Callahan, the Huskers had allowed at least 40 points just 11 times in 45 seasons from 1959-2003.
But Pelini is a master architect of powerful defenses, having coached top-20 ranked defenses in each season as coordinator at Nebraska (2003), Oklahoma (2004) and LSU (2005-07). Restoring some teeth to the once-ferocious “Black Shirts” is the first step in leading Nebraska back to national prominence."
As a college assistant, Pelini's teams have never won less than 10 games, AND have never been ranked below #13 in total defense and #17 in scoring defense. Pelini indicated there will be subtle yet significant differences in how he runs our program from how his former bosses ran there own teams. Ruud stated that while Callahan was a good coach, Pelini has embraced the state and the culture in a very different way than Callahan, and Buchanan points out how the state has responded to the hire in a very postive manner, even going so far as to list the different T-shirt captions that have caught on utilizing the Coach's nickname.
Nice to have a positive article on the program for a change.
Rioting in Tibet
There are reports of rioting and two dead from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Tibet was an independent nation until invaded by the Chinese Communists in the 1950s. Political oppostion to the Chinese regime there has been nealry continuous and periodically explodes into violence. The Tibetan spirtiual leader, the Dalai Lama, escaped the Chinese government in 1959 and has led the political opposition from exile.
"U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia said troops using both live ammunition and tear gas fired on crowds torching vehicles and Chinese-owned shops in the center of the ancient capital of Lhasa. It said other reports put the death toll higher, but gave no figures."
The protest apparently started when Buddhist monks led an anniversary march commemorating the failed 1959 uprising against the Chinese, and spread among the population both in Lhasa and outside the city. The Dalai Lama and governments worldwide has called for the Chinese to show restraint in suppressing the protests, which are the largest uprisings in two decades. Accurate information is difficult to attain due to the close restrictions the Communist government imposes on foreigners travelling to the area.
The protests may have been precipitated by the government cracking down on the city's three largest monastaries after monks had launched hunger strikes. Tibetan opposition leaders and exiles believe that China can be pressured into making concessions due to the impending Olympic Games being held later this year in Beijing.
"U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia said troops using both live ammunition and tear gas fired on crowds torching vehicles and Chinese-owned shops in the center of the ancient capital of Lhasa. It said other reports put the death toll higher, but gave no figures."
The protest apparently started when Buddhist monks led an anniversary march commemorating the failed 1959 uprising against the Chinese, and spread among the population both in Lhasa and outside the city. The Dalai Lama and governments worldwide has called for the Chinese to show restraint in suppressing the protests, which are the largest uprisings in two decades. Accurate information is difficult to attain due to the close restrictions the Communist government imposes on foreigners travelling to the area.
The protests may have been precipitated by the government cracking down on the city's three largest monastaries after monks had launched hunger strikes. Tibetan opposition leaders and exiles believe that China can be pressured into making concessions due to the impending Olympic Games being held later this year in Beijing.
Joba and the Bronx
The American Spectator is the last place in the world I expected to see an article on former Husker Joba Chamberlain, but here it is. Michael Dougherty examines the way the Bronx fans have adopted our North Platte native son.
"So how did a rookie who pitched only 24 innings in the major leagues and whose most famous game featured him giving up a Yankee lead in a playoff duel with the Indians become a Yankee instalegend? That Joba Chamberlain's career has exploded is not disputed. Buster Olney, in a cover-story for ESPN the Magazine noted that before he even made it to the majors, "Chants of 'Joba' rattled through Yankee Stadium this season the way 'Maximus' flew around the ring in Gladiator."
First, there's the name that his young niece, who couldn't pronounce his given name of Justin, dubbed him with and which he wound up changing legally. Then there is the personal story of he and his father and their amazing work ethic, which Chamberlain takes to the ballpark. Third is his amazing arm and wicked slider, which can make even the best big leaguer's batting look stupid at the plate. Joba has over 30 strikeouts in 24 innings and a 0.38 career ERA. He also brings some youthful enthusiam to a generally staid and professional Yankee clubhouse, and there is also the memorable playoff game against the Tribe last year in which Joba failed to hold a lead but showed heart pitching in a plague of insects so thick the players could barely see each other on the field.
While Chamberlain was used out of the bullpen last year, he is expected to eventually start. He has indicated that he really doesn't care which role he performs, he's still just happy to be in the big leagues. That attitude, and the fact he quietly does "nice guy" things like taking a low-income family from North Platte to disney World for a week during Spring Training, explain why he is rapidly becoming the new face of the Yankees.
"So how did a rookie who pitched only 24 innings in the major leagues and whose most famous game featured him giving up a Yankee lead in a playoff duel with the Indians become a Yankee instalegend? That Joba Chamberlain's career has exploded is not disputed. Buster Olney, in a cover-story for ESPN the Magazine noted that before he even made it to the majors, "Chants of 'Joba' rattled through Yankee Stadium this season the way 'Maximus' flew around the ring in Gladiator."
First, there's the name that his young niece, who couldn't pronounce his given name of Justin, dubbed him with and which he wound up changing legally. Then there is the personal story of he and his father and their amazing work ethic, which Chamberlain takes to the ballpark. Third is his amazing arm and wicked slider, which can make even the best big leaguer's batting look stupid at the plate. Joba has over 30 strikeouts in 24 innings and a 0.38 career ERA. He also brings some youthful enthusiam to a generally staid and professional Yankee clubhouse, and there is also the memorable playoff game against the Tribe last year in which Joba failed to hold a lead but showed heart pitching in a plague of insects so thick the players could barely see each other on the field.
While Chamberlain was used out of the bullpen last year, he is expected to eventually start. He has indicated that he really doesn't care which role he performs, he's still just happy to be in the big leagues. That attitude, and the fact he quietly does "nice guy" things like taking a low-income family from North Platte to disney World for a week during Spring Training, explain why he is rapidly becoming the new face of the Yankees.
Earth's Inner, Inner Core
Universe Today has an article stating researchers have discovered a new layer to the our shiny blue marble. The Earth's layers have been tradiitonally defined as the crust (the surface where we live), upper and inner mantle, and outer and inner core, but scientist studying the Earth's interior have discovered an inner, inner core within the center of the Earth. The rotation of Earth's iron core generates the planetary magentic field that shields us and every other living organism from stellar radiation.
University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign were using naturally occurring seismic sound waves to study the core, which consists of a solid inner layer and a fluid outer layer. When the examined the results form the inner core, they discovered an anomaly in the results that led to the discovery.
"The team was specifically studying how the waves were affected as they passed through the solid inner core and were surprised to see that it wasn't a uniform sphere of iron.
Instead, the seismic waves clearly showed that there's an additional layer at a diameter of 1,180 km (733 miles), which makes this less than half the diameter of the inner core. This is the Earth's inner, inner core.
So what is it? Here's what the lead scientists, Xiaodong Song had to say:
"Our results suggest the outer inner core is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along Earth’s spin axis," Sun said. "The inner inner core may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment."
Interesting, still iron but formed into a different type of structure. Still no Lost World full of dinosaurs though, sorry Jules Verne.
University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign were using naturally occurring seismic sound waves to study the core, which consists of a solid inner layer and a fluid outer layer. When the examined the results form the inner core, they discovered an anomaly in the results that led to the discovery.
"The team was specifically studying how the waves were affected as they passed through the solid inner core and were surprised to see that it wasn't a uniform sphere of iron.
Instead, the seismic waves clearly showed that there's an additional layer at a diameter of 1,180 km (733 miles), which makes this less than half the diameter of the inner core. This is the Earth's inner, inner core.
So what is it? Here's what the lead scientists, Xiaodong Song had to say:
"Our results suggest the outer inner core is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along Earth’s spin axis," Sun said. "The inner inner core may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment."
Interesting, still iron but formed into a different type of structure. Still no Lost World full of dinosaurs though, sorry Jules Verne.
Ancient Axes found in North Sea
Amazing find in the North Sea is documented at ScienceDaily. An English dredging operation has uncovered 28 ancient flint axes dating back possibly 100,000 years, dramatically proving humans inhabited this area in Europe at a very early date in the last Ice Age. With much of the world's water locked up in polar and glacial ice, the English Channel and North Sea areas now covered by water was a large valley connecting the British Isles with the continent.
"Ian Oxley, Head of Maritime Archaeology at English Heritage, said: “These are exciting finds which help us gain a greater understanding of The North Sea at a time when it was land. We know people were living out there before Britain became an island, but sites actually proving this are rare.”
These finds are some of the finest examples yet found of this type of the early Stone Age tool set used by early humans for a variety of purposes.
"Ian Oxley, Head of Maritime Archaeology at English Heritage, said: “These are exciting finds which help us gain a greater understanding of The North Sea at a time when it was land. We know people were living out there before Britain became an island, but sites actually proving this are rare.”
These finds are some of the finest examples yet found of this type of the early Stone Age tool set used by early humans for a variety of purposes.
Husker Hoopsters Could See Post Season
Big win for Doc Sadler and the Husker Hoopsters over Mizzou last night, 61-56. While the NCAA tourney is still a long shot, the NIT is a definite possibility, perhaps even a probability. One more win would make this season only the 12th 20 win season in school history. Husker move to 19-11 with the victory, just their second Big 12 Tourney win in the last nine seasons. A post season berth would be a huge step forward for the program, which has languished since the departure of Coach Danny Nee.
Doc is in just his second year at NU, but appears to have the program developing in a very positive direction. NU's defensive play in particular has been absolutely stellar this season.
"But to second-year coach Doc Sadler, they are large leaps in his effort to rebuild a program that two summers ago was in danger of mass defections less than a month before school started.
"We've got so much to do," Sadler said. "And each time we do something that we haven't done, it's got to help. This was just another step.
"It's hard to sit there and listen to guys on TV talk about seven out of the last eight years we haven't won a game down here and all that stuff. Believe me, it starts messing with people's heads."
The game was very close and still in doubt until guard Steve Harley made a layup on an inbounds pass with 1:14 remaining, and senior center Aleks Maric sealed it with a blocked shot with 10 seconds left. NU held Mizzou to 31 % shooting and a season low in points after averaging 78 over the course of the season.
NU now faces the daunting challenge of meeting #2 tourney seed Kansas (rated #5 nationally) in the second round, which demolished the Huskers twice by 20 plus points early in the conference regular season. While I don't think we have the firepower to win, I do think NU's team has developed very well and should put up more of a fight.
Elsewhere in the tourney, Okie St faces #1 seed Texas late this morning, Colorado faces Oklahoma in the first afternoon game, NU-KU face off in the early evening and A & M takes on 3 seed Kansas St late tonight.
Doc is in just his second year at NU, but appears to have the program developing in a very positive direction. NU's defensive play in particular has been absolutely stellar this season.
"But to second-year coach Doc Sadler, they are large leaps in his effort to rebuild a program that two summers ago was in danger of mass defections less than a month before school started.
"We've got so much to do," Sadler said. "And each time we do something that we haven't done, it's got to help. This was just another step.
"It's hard to sit there and listen to guys on TV talk about seven out of the last eight years we haven't won a game down here and all that stuff. Believe me, it starts messing with people's heads."
The game was very close and still in doubt until guard Steve Harley made a layup on an inbounds pass with 1:14 remaining, and senior center Aleks Maric sealed it with a blocked shot with 10 seconds left. NU held Mizzou to 31 % shooting and a season low in points after averaging 78 over the course of the season.
NU now faces the daunting challenge of meeting #2 tourney seed Kansas (rated #5 nationally) in the second round, which demolished the Huskers twice by 20 plus points early in the conference regular season. While I don't think we have the firepower to win, I do think NU's team has developed very well and should put up more of a fight.
Elsewhere in the tourney, Okie St faces #1 seed Texas late this morning, Colorado faces Oklahoma in the first afternoon game, NU-KU face off in the early evening and A & M takes on 3 seed Kansas St late tonight.
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny: I don't want you to tail the wife.
Lori: Denny, I don't need to tell you that Ernie Dell is one of our biggest clients. If he wants a private investigator, what's the real harm?
Denny: The harm would be to me.
Lori: I'm sorry?
Denny: I'm the one that's sleeping with his wife.
Lori: Denny, I don't need to tell you that Ernie Dell is one of our biggest clients. If he wants a private investigator, what's the real harm?
Denny: The harm would be to me.
Lori: I'm sorry?
Denny: I'm the one that's sleeping with his wife.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
How to Introduce a Running Mate
The American Spectator's Quinn Hillyer's column this morning focuses not so much on the who of vice presidential nominee selections, for John McCain, but the how. Hillyer has previously done a column on who might make a good selection, and determined that SEC Chair and former California Congressman Christopher Cox would be the top choice according to the criteria he had outlined.
"If one accepts that John McCain should pick a running mate with serious Reaganite credentials, the ability to step into the Oval Office at a moment's notice if necessary (Lord forbid), and the ability to make the ticket at least competitive in a state, region, or constituency that otherwise might be off limits to a Republican, the question then becomes how his campaign should go about making the choice and introducing him to the nation."
He recommends introducing the candidate to the nation much the same way Chief Justice John Roberts was before his confirmation to the Supreme Court. One of his earlier criteria for a selection was someone without heavy political baggage on the national level. McCain's campaign would therefore have the ability to "shape the narrative" for the public. He also recommends the campaign conduct a focus group study of the top possibilities (after the requisite FBI background check) to "prequalify" the selection as much as possible, and to then introduce the candidate in a familiar setting, such as his home state.
As Hillyer points out, with the nomination sewed up and the Democrats current focus on each other, the McCain campaign has the luxury of time to do make the selection and carefully setting the nominee's introduction. He also notes the bigggest factor of the choice is what it tells us about McCain himself - what does he value, what attributes does he seek? The selection is tremendously important as it could go a long way toward getting McCain elected.
"If one accepts that John McCain should pick a running mate with serious Reaganite credentials, the ability to step into the Oval Office at a moment's notice if necessary (Lord forbid), and the ability to make the ticket at least competitive in a state, region, or constituency that otherwise might be off limits to a Republican, the question then becomes how his campaign should go about making the choice and introducing him to the nation."
He recommends introducing the candidate to the nation much the same way Chief Justice John Roberts was before his confirmation to the Supreme Court. One of his earlier criteria for a selection was someone without heavy political baggage on the national level. McCain's campaign would therefore have the ability to "shape the narrative" for the public. He also recommends the campaign conduct a focus group study of the top possibilities (after the requisite FBI background check) to "prequalify" the selection as much as possible, and to then introduce the candidate in a familiar setting, such as his home state.
As Hillyer points out, with the nomination sewed up and the Democrats current focus on each other, the McCain campaign has the luxury of time to do make the selection and carefully setting the nominee's introduction. He also notes the bigggest factor of the choice is what it tells us about McCain himself - what does he value, what attributes does he seek? The selection is tremendously important as it could go a long way toward getting McCain elected.
Dolphin Guides Standed Whales Back to Sea
Amazing story from Livescience of a local bottlenose dolphin named "Moko" in New Zealand going to the aid of a pair of standed sperm whales and guiding them to safety back out to the open ocean.
"Before Moko arrived, rescue workers had been working for more than an hour to get two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, back out to sea after they were stranded Monday off Mahia Beach, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.
But Smith said the whales restranded themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea from the beach, about 300 miles northeast of the capital, Wellington. It looked likely they would have to be euthanized to prevent a prolonged death, he said.
"They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea." Then along came Moko, who approached the whales and appeared to lead them as they swam 200 yards along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea."
Dolphins in the wild often interact playfully with humans and other species, and often trail ships at sea. Dolphins have been reported to have protected stranded swimmers before, but this may be the first recorded instance where the species came to the aid of another one.
Pretty interesting story.
"Before Moko arrived, rescue workers had been working for more than an hour to get two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, back out to sea after they were stranded Monday off Mahia Beach, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.
But Smith said the whales restranded themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea from the beach, about 300 miles northeast of the capital, Wellington. It looked likely they would have to be euthanized to prevent a prolonged death, he said.
"They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea." Then along came Moko, who approached the whales and appeared to lead them as they swam 200 yards along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea."
Dolphins in the wild often interact playfully with humans and other species, and often trail ships at sea. Dolphins have been reported to have protected stranded swimmers before, but this may be the first recorded instance where the species came to the aid of another one.
Pretty interesting story.
Antarctic Meteorites Baffle Scientists
via National Geographic, scientists are struggling to identify the source of a pair of meteorites recovered from the Graves Nunataks region of Antarctica in 2006. First thought to have originated from the planet Venus, the rocks origin have continued to puzzle researchers. The Venusian theory been put to rest as the samples have been proven to be far older than the Venusian surface. The rocks are superficially similar to lunar rocks recoverd by Apollo 16 astronauts, but contain a much higher percentage of sodium.
"The identity of the meteorites' source remains exciting and mysterious, said Allan Treiman, a scientist with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston who led one of the recent investigations of the rocks.
"From what has been reported so far, it's pretty clear that the meteorite is not from the Earth, or the moon, or Venus, or any of the common sources of meteorites," he said. "It's much harder to know where it is from."
The second team conducting analysis of the rocks initially believed them to originate either on the Earth or the Moon due to the composition of an oxygen isotope analysis, but other observations torpedoed that theory as well. Another researcher from the Carnegie Institute, Doug Ramble, beleives he has identified the meteors as the extremely rare brachinite type. These rocks are believed to have originated from early planetoids that orbited between the planets Mars and Jupiter in the early formative years of the solar system.
However, other researchers say that they don't fit neatly into this category either, nor do they exactly fit the more common chondrite type that originates from the asteroid belt, although they do have similiarities to both of these types of meteor. The meteors have a couple of rather unique characteristics that greatly complicate their analysis. One is that they have undergone a partial melting, which is not a chondrite characteristic, and the second is they contain unusually high levels of the mineral feldspar, which is not common of rocks originating between Mars and Jupiter. The melting appears to indicate an origin from a dwarf planet or very large asteroid, but it still uncertain what kind of geologic activity would create such unique characteristics.
Identification of these rocks' origin would greatly aid our understanding of the early formative years of the solar system and how asteroids and planetary bodies form.
"The identity of the meteorites' source remains exciting and mysterious, said Allan Treiman, a scientist with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston who led one of the recent investigations of the rocks.
"From what has been reported so far, it's pretty clear that the meteorite is not from the Earth, or the moon, or Venus, or any of the common sources of meteorites," he said. "It's much harder to know where it is from."
The second team conducting analysis of the rocks initially believed them to originate either on the Earth or the Moon due to the composition of an oxygen isotope analysis, but other observations torpedoed that theory as well. Another researcher from the Carnegie Institute, Doug Ramble, beleives he has identified the meteors as the extremely rare brachinite type. These rocks are believed to have originated from early planetoids that orbited between the planets Mars and Jupiter in the early formative years of the solar system.
However, other researchers say that they don't fit neatly into this category either, nor do they exactly fit the more common chondrite type that originates from the asteroid belt, although they do have similiarities to both of these types of meteor. The meteors have a couple of rather unique characteristics that greatly complicate their analysis. One is that they have undergone a partial melting, which is not a chondrite characteristic, and the second is they contain unusually high levels of the mineral feldspar, which is not common of rocks originating between Mars and Jupiter. The melting appears to indicate an origin from a dwarf planet or very large asteroid, but it still uncertain what kind of geologic activity would create such unique characteristics.
Identification of these rocks' origin would greatly aid our understanding of the early formative years of the solar system and how asteroids and planetary bodies form.
Boston Legal Quotes
Sally: Please tell me you've never seen anything like that before.
Alan: Baring your ass to 24 attorneys, including two overseas, that is an unprecedented triumph. I'm just distraught I didn't think of it myself.
Alan: Baring your ass to 24 attorneys, including two overseas, that is an unprecedented triumph. I'm just distraught I didn't think of it myself.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Oil Profits
Robert Murphy addressed the commercial oil industry and their profits in a column at Townhall earlier this week. The industry gets a bad rap both on exploring, producing and supplying the energy we all use but also on the effects that we the consumer produce when we use it. In addition, there is all that money the industry is making - due in large part to politicians in our country artificially constricting domestic exploration and more importantly due to the fact demand is skyrocketing from developing nations. The actual supply of oil being produced is actually increasing, to almost 85 million barrels per day. Another small factoid is that speculation in the commodities market, along with political factors in the Middle East also raise prices.
"When it comes to public hatred of big business, there’s no better target than oil companies. This hatred has been all the more intense since Exxon Mobil announced last year’s net income at $40.6 billion, the largest-ever profit for a publicly-traded company. With the threat of recession looming, many policymakers have been tempted to pay for relief measures by raising taxes on “Big Oil”—including the House’s recent bill rolling back tax deductions on integrated oil companies (though leaving them in place for other companies). Understandable as this impulse may be, it is a bad idea for average Americans. If the government tries to “do something” about record oil profits, it won’t provide meaningful relief revenue, but will certainly raise the price at the pump."
The major reason for the profits of these companies is their sheer scale. In order to compete with national oil companies like SaudiAramco and Petromex, the private energy industry has consolidated and merged to a large degree as once major players like Texaco and Phillips have combined operations with other firms. This has led to huge revenue streams that lead in turn to the imposing profit numbers. But if you look at the industy in terms of margins, you see that several other industries are more profitable. The oil industry makes around nine cents profit for each dollar of revenue. Industries such as banking and software can make several times that figure, and the average of the S&P 500 companies is 13 cents per revenue dollar.
Many politicians decrying these profits are threatening to impose additional taxes on the industry, which would of course be passed on to all of us consumers. The fact of the matter is that the firms paid almost $81 billion in taxes in 2006, and almost certainly more last year. Taxing something is an almost sure way to reduce the supply. As Murphy notes in closing:
"If politicians are concerned about gas prices, they shouldn’t erect extra hurdles for those companies in the business of finding new supplies of oil. If the government really wants to do something, it can roll back restrictions on offshore and Alaskan drilling. Beyond that, it should just let market prices and the profit motive do their jobs."
I have faint hope politicians will keep their noses out, but I have been surprised on occaission. While drilling in Alaska seems to be off the table for now, there are some developments in the Gulf of Mexico that could wind up being sizable domestic contributions to supply.
"When it comes to public hatred of big business, there’s no better target than oil companies. This hatred has been all the more intense since Exxon Mobil announced last year’s net income at $40.6 billion, the largest-ever profit for a publicly-traded company. With the threat of recession looming, many policymakers have been tempted to pay for relief measures by raising taxes on “Big Oil”—including the House’s recent bill rolling back tax deductions on integrated oil companies (though leaving them in place for other companies). Understandable as this impulse may be, it is a bad idea for average Americans. If the government tries to “do something” about record oil profits, it won’t provide meaningful relief revenue, but will certainly raise the price at the pump."
The major reason for the profits of these companies is their sheer scale. In order to compete with national oil companies like SaudiAramco and Petromex, the private energy industry has consolidated and merged to a large degree as once major players like Texaco and Phillips have combined operations with other firms. This has led to huge revenue streams that lead in turn to the imposing profit numbers. But if you look at the industy in terms of margins, you see that several other industries are more profitable. The oil industry makes around nine cents profit for each dollar of revenue. Industries such as banking and software can make several times that figure, and the average of the S&P 500 companies is 13 cents per revenue dollar.
Many politicians decrying these profits are threatening to impose additional taxes on the industry, which would of course be passed on to all of us consumers. The fact of the matter is that the firms paid almost $81 billion in taxes in 2006, and almost certainly more last year. Taxing something is an almost sure way to reduce the supply. As Murphy notes in closing:
"If politicians are concerned about gas prices, they shouldn’t erect extra hurdles for those companies in the business of finding new supplies of oil. If the government really wants to do something, it can roll back restrictions on offshore and Alaskan drilling. Beyond that, it should just let market prices and the profit motive do their jobs."
I have faint hope politicians will keep their noses out, but I have been surprised on occaission. While drilling in Alaska seems to be off the table for now, there are some developments in the Gulf of Mexico that could wind up being sizable domestic contributions to supply.
How Qin Shi Huang Changed the World
The next in the "world change" series at LiveScience examines the almost mythical Chinese Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who unified the nation around the same time as the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Seven warring states in China had been at war for aroiund 200 years before the nation unified.
"The world's most populous nation and emerging superpower was a jumble of warring states when Qin Shi Huang appeared on the scene in 246 B.C. as a powerful regional leader. Two decades later he was Emperor, bringing together the vast territory that would become China, standardizing its culture and implementing a form of government that his followers would use for another 2,000 years."
Qin Shi Huang established a centralized government, built roads and canals, standardized Chinese currency and the writing system, and abolished the old feudal order. He also was paranoid of attack from both internal and external enemies, and started the construction of China's most notable architectural feat, the Great Wall. He also built himself an enormous mausoleum, which covers four square miles, with a main chamber as large as the Great Pyramid of Egypt. According to records written just after his death, the crypt includes a huge map of his conquests with rivers of mercury running throughout it, thousands of terracotta warriors modeled on his actual warriors (8000 of which have been already found outside the tomb guarding the entrance) and a jewel encrusted "sky" of stars on the ceiling. The actual main chamber has yet to be excavated until better technical means of preserving the artifacts has been developed.
While the Qin Dynasty was overthrown shortly after his death, the nation took its name from him (Qin is pronounced "chin", hence China) and was mostly governed by the system he established for over 2000 years until the Chinese Republic was established in 1912.
"The world's most populous nation and emerging superpower was a jumble of warring states when Qin Shi Huang appeared on the scene in 246 B.C. as a powerful regional leader. Two decades later he was Emperor, bringing together the vast territory that would become China, standardizing its culture and implementing a form of government that his followers would use for another 2,000 years."
Qin Shi Huang established a centralized government, built roads and canals, standardized Chinese currency and the writing system, and abolished the old feudal order. He also was paranoid of attack from both internal and external enemies, and started the construction of China's most notable architectural feat, the Great Wall. He also built himself an enormous mausoleum, which covers four square miles, with a main chamber as large as the Great Pyramid of Egypt. According to records written just after his death, the crypt includes a huge map of his conquests with rivers of mercury running throughout it, thousands of terracotta warriors modeled on his actual warriors (8000 of which have been already found outside the tomb guarding the entrance) and a jewel encrusted "sky" of stars on the ceiling. The actual main chamber has yet to be excavated until better technical means of preserving the artifacts has been developed.
While the Qin Dynasty was overthrown shortly after his death, the nation took its name from him (Qin is pronounced "chin", hence China) and was mostly governed by the system he established for over 2000 years until the Chinese Republic was established in 1912.
SDI After 25 years
Baker Spring of the Heritage Foundation notes that March 23rd will be the 25 year anniversary of an amazing speech by President Ronald Reagan, who proposed a complete revamping of the American strategic posture during the height of the Cold War.
The President announced a strategic policy change from the idea of Mutally Assured Destruction (MAD), where potential conflict between the two competing sides of the Cold War was being prevented by the fact both sides would be destroyed in a strategic missile exchange, to instead focus on a posture in which America committed to developing defensive technology to shooting down these weapons and preventing their detonation, which would likely cause the end of civilization. In effect, each nation's citizenry was being held hostage at the time by its opponent. Reagan rejected that idea. One fear at the time was a period of heightened tension might cause an accidental exchange, which could then lead to an all-out escalation. The president was confident that old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity would solve the technical hurdles given time and proper resources. Deploying even a limited defensive system might be able to prevent such an accident, and would also have the added benefit of greatly complicating the efforts of the attacker from destroying military and civilian targets.
The president's proposal to change the equation greatly aided the end of the Cold War by imposing a huge new economic pressure on its cold war opponent, the Soviet Union. Its leaders realized that nation would have to develop a countervailing such system itself or greatly add to its nuclear arsenal to overwhelm a American defensive system, neither of which it could easily afford given its backward Communist economic system. America wound up winning the cold War almost by default as a result.
Condescendingly dubbed "Star Wars" by the media at the time, the President's Strategic Defense Initiative was ridiculed as being a technically impossible waste of money. Heritage had already initiated a study before the president's announcement, authored by US air Force General Daniel Graham titled High Frontier, which I purchased in book form at the time. In short, it proposed just such a system, and the study addressed many of the criticisms made of the proposal. One might think this may no longer apply given the Cold War has eneded, but it appears clear to me it is more relevant than ever given the world political climate. America still has enemies wishing to do it harm. Spring notes:
"It would be wrong, however, to conclude that the basic rationale behind SDI collapsed with the end of the Cold War. In the post-Cold War world, ballistic missile and nuclear proliferation and a multi-polar strategic environment make President Reagan's preference for defense over the threat of retaliation more relevant, not less so. It is indeed the foundation for a "truly lasting stability." "
There were three core principles in play to both the study and the speech, and I think them still very applicable. The first was a refusal to accept the vulnerability of US citizens to nuclear weapons. The second was for the United States to negotiate and operate from a position of strength in international politics and economics. Third, it recongnized the US would never be safe as long as its enemies could use space as an avenue of attack.
The success of these developments today is unquestionable, given the ability of the US to shoot down a malfunctioning satellite just days ago, as well as successful missile interceptions in the first Gulf War over 15 years ago. In my view, the development and further deployment of a layered strategic missile defense system is certainly in the strategic interest of the United States, and will be for the forseeable future as more nations gain access to missile and fissile technology.
The President announced a strategic policy change from the idea of Mutally Assured Destruction (MAD), where potential conflict between the two competing sides of the Cold War was being prevented by the fact both sides would be destroyed in a strategic missile exchange, to instead focus on a posture in which America committed to developing defensive technology to shooting down these weapons and preventing their detonation, which would likely cause the end of civilization. In effect, each nation's citizenry was being held hostage at the time by its opponent. Reagan rejected that idea. One fear at the time was a period of heightened tension might cause an accidental exchange, which could then lead to an all-out escalation. The president was confident that old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity would solve the technical hurdles given time and proper resources. Deploying even a limited defensive system might be able to prevent such an accident, and would also have the added benefit of greatly complicating the efforts of the attacker from destroying military and civilian targets.
The president's proposal to change the equation greatly aided the end of the Cold War by imposing a huge new economic pressure on its cold war opponent, the Soviet Union. Its leaders realized that nation would have to develop a countervailing such system itself or greatly add to its nuclear arsenal to overwhelm a American defensive system, neither of which it could easily afford given its backward Communist economic system. America wound up winning the cold War almost by default as a result.
Condescendingly dubbed "Star Wars" by the media at the time, the President's Strategic Defense Initiative was ridiculed as being a technically impossible waste of money. Heritage had already initiated a study before the president's announcement, authored by US air Force General Daniel Graham titled High Frontier, which I purchased in book form at the time. In short, it proposed just such a system, and the study addressed many of the criticisms made of the proposal. One might think this may no longer apply given the Cold War has eneded, but it appears clear to me it is more relevant than ever given the world political climate. America still has enemies wishing to do it harm. Spring notes:
"It would be wrong, however, to conclude that the basic rationale behind SDI collapsed with the end of the Cold War. In the post-Cold War world, ballistic missile and nuclear proliferation and a multi-polar strategic environment make President Reagan's preference for defense over the threat of retaliation more relevant, not less so. It is indeed the foundation for a "truly lasting stability." "
There were three core principles in play to both the study and the speech, and I think them still very applicable. The first was a refusal to accept the vulnerability of US citizens to nuclear weapons. The second was for the United States to negotiate and operate from a position of strength in international politics and economics. Third, it recongnized the US would never be safe as long as its enemies could use space as an avenue of attack.
The success of these developments today is unquestionable, given the ability of the US to shoot down a malfunctioning satellite just days ago, as well as successful missile interceptions in the first Gulf War over 15 years ago. In my view, the development and further deployment of a layered strategic missile defense system is certainly in the strategic interest of the United States, and will be for the forseeable future as more nations gain access to missile and fissile technology.
Boston Legal Quotes
Laywer: Where's Edwin?
Edwin: Hello everyone. [Edwin Poole walks in - not wearing any pants]
Alan: Is it casual Monday?
Denny: Edwin, is everything alright?
Edwin: Hunky Dory.
Edwin: Hello everyone. [Edwin Poole walks in - not wearing any pants]
Alan: Is it casual Monday?
Denny: Edwin, is everything alright?
Edwin: Hunky Dory.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Solar Future?
Arnold Kling over at TCS looks at some of our current and potential energy sources, and some of the challenges and opportunities they might meet in our future.
He points out the fact that at the present rate of increase, solar powered electricity generatioon is doubling every two years. This means in twenty years, conceivably all of our power could come from solar - except for the dirty little fact that this current rate of generation is heavily, and I mean heavily, subsidized by our well intentioned but ultimately moronic bureaucrats. He points out that if solar is to ever become our primary energy source, it will have to become far more economical. It is probably possible for it to eventually be a major energy source but only in the very long term.
Our current hydrocarbon resources, coal, oil and natural gas, are also the currently the most economical - despite the best efforts of the environmental lobby to make them increasingly expensive domestically, and the depressing economic and security effects that the control of petroleum resources by dictatorships has on their supply and production. While their short term future is a certainty, their long term prognosis is probably dim as long as these two political forces continue to grow in strength.
Nuclear faces many of the same political opposition but the effects of these forces are weakening, both in response to the "science" of global warming and the possible impact of a shift from a primarily gasoline fueled transportation network to one powered by electricity. These might achieve the economic and political tipping point necessary for new plant construction in this industry. They key here will be the continued development of batteries capable of powering a vehicle with the same theoretical range as one powered by conventional gasoline, or around 4-500 miles or more. In addition, new plant designs with a decreased or eliminated risk of radiation release will also help convince an ignorant and skeptical public of nuclear's potential.
Kling also examines the possibility of biofuels, which are also being heavily subsidized before economic viability. However, he thinks the potential with this technology isn't so much with fuels as it is with the creation of organisms that can take advantage of the sun to generate electricity directly. Conventional bio sources like ethanol, in addition to requiring heavy subsidization, also cannot reach the necessary scale to replace convetional sources - although I say they can help bridge the gap to the time when these might be replaced.
In addition, he explains his reasoning behind leaving off one of the other oft mentioned possibilities, hydrogen. He doesn't believe a distribution network that can parallel the conventional gasoline distribution can be achieved, although he does not discount the potential that might be found in hydrogen fuel cell technology. I tend to agree with him that hydrogen poses some substantial challenges, but some recent breakthroughs I've discovered (and mentioned in previous posts) might make hydrogen a player with the electrical powered transportation transformation that appears to on its way.
He points out the fact that at the present rate of increase, solar powered electricity generatioon is doubling every two years. This means in twenty years, conceivably all of our power could come from solar - except for the dirty little fact that this current rate of generation is heavily, and I mean heavily, subsidized by our well intentioned but ultimately moronic bureaucrats. He points out that if solar is to ever become our primary energy source, it will have to become far more economical. It is probably possible for it to eventually be a major energy source but only in the very long term.
Our current hydrocarbon resources, coal, oil and natural gas, are also the currently the most economical - despite the best efforts of the environmental lobby to make them increasingly expensive domestically, and the depressing economic and security effects that the control of petroleum resources by dictatorships has on their supply and production. While their short term future is a certainty, their long term prognosis is probably dim as long as these two political forces continue to grow in strength.
Nuclear faces many of the same political opposition but the effects of these forces are weakening, both in response to the "science" of global warming and the possible impact of a shift from a primarily gasoline fueled transportation network to one powered by electricity. These might achieve the economic and political tipping point necessary for new plant construction in this industry. They key here will be the continued development of batteries capable of powering a vehicle with the same theoretical range as one powered by conventional gasoline, or around 4-500 miles or more. In addition, new plant designs with a decreased or eliminated risk of radiation release will also help convince an ignorant and skeptical public of nuclear's potential.
Kling also examines the possibility of biofuels, which are also being heavily subsidized before economic viability. However, he thinks the potential with this technology isn't so much with fuels as it is with the creation of organisms that can take advantage of the sun to generate electricity directly. Conventional bio sources like ethanol, in addition to requiring heavy subsidization, also cannot reach the necessary scale to replace convetional sources - although I say they can help bridge the gap to the time when these might be replaced.
In addition, he explains his reasoning behind leaving off one of the other oft mentioned possibilities, hydrogen. He doesn't believe a distribution network that can parallel the conventional gasoline distribution can be achieved, although he does not discount the potential that might be found in hydrogen fuel cell technology. I tend to agree with him that hydrogen poses some substantial challenges, but some recent breakthroughs I've discovered (and mentioned in previous posts) might make hydrogen a player with the electrical powered transportation transformation that appears to on its way.
Shuttle Endeavor Lifts Off
via Space.com., the Space Shuttle Endeavor lifted off this morning for its ISS construction mission STS-123 with a seven person crew. The mission is slated to be the longest in duration yet for the shuttle fleet, scheduled at 16 days with at least five spacewalks planned. It was just the second night launch for the shuttle since the Columbia tragedy. It is the second of six planned mission for the fleet this year.
"During their planned 16-day mission — the longest station-bound flight yet — the crew will perform no less than five spacewalks to install a giant Canadian robot, deliver the first piece of Japan's school bus-sized Kibo laboratory and conduct a series of on-orbit science experiments.
Riding aboard the orbiter with Gorie are pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission specialists Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The launch marks the first spaceflight Johnson, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman.
Reisman will stay aboard the ISS as a member of the Expedition 16 and 17 space station crews. He will relieve European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who will return home on board Endeavour."
The first two spacewalks (and mission days) will be to unpack and assemble the 11 foot Canadian "Dextre" robot arms which will allow ISS crewmembers the ability to conduct repairs from inside the station. The third spacewalk will install the first of three of the Japanese built Kibo laboratory components. The last two excursions will be to test the ability to repair the shuttle's heat tiles and to repair the bearings in the damaged ISS solar array discovered on the last construction mission.
"During their planned 16-day mission — the longest station-bound flight yet — the crew will perform no less than five spacewalks to install a giant Canadian robot, deliver the first piece of Japan's school bus-sized Kibo laboratory and conduct a series of on-orbit science experiments.
Riding aboard the orbiter with Gorie are pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission specialists Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The launch marks the first spaceflight Johnson, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman.
Reisman will stay aboard the ISS as a member of the Expedition 16 and 17 space station crews. He will relieve European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who will return home on board Endeavour."
The first two spacewalks (and mission days) will be to unpack and assemble the 11 foot Canadian "Dextre" robot arms which will allow ISS crewmembers the ability to conduct repairs from inside the station. The third spacewalk will install the first of three of the Japanese built Kibo laboratory components. The last two excursions will be to test the ability to repair the shuttle's heat tiles and to repair the bearings in the damaged ISS solar array discovered on the last construction mission.
NU Baseball on a Roll with shutout
The Husker baseball team improved to 10-2 with NU newcomer Aaron Pribanic twirling a five hit shutout to complete a four game sweep of Northern Colorado. Pribanic threw 101 pitches in the victory and solidified his rotation spot before the start of Big 12 play this weekend at Kansas State.
"Pribanic, a 6-foot-4 right-hander from Plano, Texas, dominated Northern Colorado to the tune of seven strikeouts and no walks before a crowd of 1,152.
The junior by way of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College tossed a complete game over seven innings in his only other NU start, March 2 against UC Riverside, and owns a 0.86 ERA to go with his 2-0 record over 182/3 innings this season.
"He's throwing 92 to 95 (mph) and locating his breaking pitches," Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said. "I don't think anybody wants a piece of that."
The NU squad is on a nine game win streak, its longest in nearly two years, and faces South Dakota State this afternoon at Haymarket Park.
"Pribanic, a 6-foot-4 right-hander from Plano, Texas, dominated Northern Colorado to the tune of seven strikeouts and no walks before a crowd of 1,152.
The junior by way of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College tossed a complete game over seven innings in his only other NU start, March 2 against UC Riverside, and owns a 0.86 ERA to go with his 2-0 record over 182/3 innings this season.
"He's throwing 92 to 95 (mph) and locating his breaking pitches," Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said. "I don't think anybody wants a piece of that."
The NU squad is on a nine game win streak, its longest in nearly two years, and faces South Dakota State this afternoon at Haymarket Park.
NBA's Houston Rockets Win 19th in a Row
While I'm not a big NBA fan, I have followed the NBA's Houston Rockets for a number of years going back to the days of Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone, Clyde "the Glide" Drexler and Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon. The 2007-8 edition of the squad has surpasses all former Rocket teams and all but two teams in NBA history by its 19th victory in a row, exceeded only by a Laker squad and one from the Milwaukee Bucks. They could match the 71-72 Buck squad with a win in Atlanta on Wednesday. More impressive still is that one of the Rocket's best players, center Yao Ming, is out with an injury.
"Tracy McGrady scored 19 points in less than three quarters and Houston routed cold-shooting New Jersey 91-73 on Monday night for its 19th consecutive victory, matching the third-longest winning streak in league history."
Congratulations to Coach Rick Adelman, the team and the city. Houston has now moved to just a single game behind conference leaders San Antonio and the Lakers for the best record in the Western conference at a record of 43-20. Thye have also tied an NMA record by winning their 10th straight game by at least 10 points, another impressive feat. Also of note in NBA news is the Eastern Conference's Boston Celtics winning the 50th game against only 12 losses.
"Tracy McGrady scored 19 points in less than three quarters and Houston routed cold-shooting New Jersey 91-73 on Monday night for its 19th consecutive victory, matching the third-longest winning streak in league history."
Congratulations to Coach Rick Adelman, the team and the city. Houston has now moved to just a single game behind conference leaders San Antonio and the Lakers for the best record in the Western conference at a record of 43-20. Thye have also tied an NMA record by winning their 10th straight game by at least 10 points, another impressive feat. Also of note in NBA news is the Eastern Conference's Boston Celtics winning the 50th game against only 12 losses.
Fahey Faces Ballpark Opposition
via the OWH, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey had the last of his three public forums on the proposed new downtown baseball park and had a pretty vocal reception - and not necessarily in a good way. Around 600 citizens attended the event at Westside High, around twice the number attending previous forums on the issue.
A number of citizens have questioned both the cost involved and need for the new facility - particularly at a time when the city is stretched for funds for a number of other issues and still has not paid off previous upgrades to the current home of the College World Series and Omaha Royals, Rosenblatt Stadium.
"During an hourlong question-and-answer period that was interrupted several times by jeers and shouting, residents questioned everything from the financing plan for the proposed $140 million stadium to whether the NCAA would move the College World Series to another city."
The mostly negative response has prompted City Councilman Frank Thompson to announce that if he had to vote on any ballpark measures today, he would likely vote against.
"I felt like there was a 35-65 split against the mayor," Thompson said. "I also felt like the lack of earlier input came back to hurt the mayor tonight."
Fahey and the ballpark study committee have proposed a $140 million field to be constructed just west of the Qwest Convention Center in downtown's newly tabbed "NoDo" district on what are now two Qwest Center parking lots. If approved, the city may be able to maintain its current status as host of the College World Series for as long as 25 years. The current CWS contract is set to expire after the 2010 season. Omaha has hosted the event for the last 58 years.
A number of citizens have questioned both the cost involved and need for the new facility - particularly at a time when the city is stretched for funds for a number of other issues and still has not paid off previous upgrades to the current home of the College World Series and Omaha Royals, Rosenblatt Stadium.
"During an hourlong question-and-answer period that was interrupted several times by jeers and shouting, residents questioned everything from the financing plan for the proposed $140 million stadium to whether the NCAA would move the College World Series to another city."
The mostly negative response has prompted City Councilman Frank Thompson to announce that if he had to vote on any ballpark measures today, he would likely vote against.
"I felt like there was a 35-65 split against the mayor," Thompson said. "I also felt like the lack of earlier input came back to hurt the mayor tonight."
Fahey and the ballpark study committee have proposed a $140 million field to be constructed just west of the Qwest Convention Center in downtown's newly tabbed "NoDo" district on what are now two Qwest Center parking lots. If approved, the city may be able to maintain its current status as host of the College World Series for as long as 25 years. The current CWS contract is set to expire after the 2010 season. Omaha has hosted the event for the last 58 years.
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny: Denny Crane [shakes fellow lawyer's hand]
Peter: Yes, Denny, I know. I run the New York office. Peter Stone.
Denny: Denny Crane [shakes next lawyer's hand]
Next lawyer: I know, I'm uhhh, Chicago.
Denny: My kind of town, Chicago. I always had the best sex of my life in Chicago. What about you?
Peter: Yes, Denny, I know. I run the New York office. Peter Stone.
Denny: Denny Crane [shakes next lawyer's hand]
Next lawyer: I know, I'm uhhh, Chicago.
Denny: My kind of town, Chicago. I always had the best sex of my life in Chicago. What about you?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Nearest Stellar Neighbor May Have Earth's Twin
via ScienceDaily, a new mathematical model of the formation of our nearest stellar neighbor Alpha Centauri shows a rather intriguing result - the formation of a terrestrial type planet in the habital zone of Alpha Centauri B. The system has long thought to be a likely candidate for such planets, given the relatively high heavy element content of its three stars.
"The closest stars to our Sun are in the three-star system called Alpha Centauri, a popular destination for interstellar travel in works of science fiction. UCSC graduate student Javiera Guedes used computer simulations of planet formation to show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around the star Alpha Centauri B and to be orbiting in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. The researchers then showed that such planets could be observed using a dedicated telescope."
The simulations of Alpha Centauri's formation were run numerous times by a team at the University of California Santa Clara, evolving the system up to an age of around 200 million years. Although the results differed with changing assumptions run in each model, in every case simulated a system of multiple planets with at least one Earth sized planet developed. In many of these simulations, such a terrestrial planet formed in the star's habital zone, where temperatures would allow liquid water to reside.
While the star's relatively high position in the Southern sky and brightness are positive factors in finding such a planet, the gravitational "wobble" created on the star by such a planet would be quite small, and up to five years of direct observation might be necessary in order to detect a planet with current methods. There is a team out of San Francisco State University conducting such observations.
"The closest stars to our Sun are in the three-star system called Alpha Centauri, a popular destination for interstellar travel in works of science fiction. UCSC graduate student Javiera Guedes used computer simulations of planet formation to show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around the star Alpha Centauri B and to be orbiting in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. The researchers then showed that such planets could be observed using a dedicated telescope."
The simulations of Alpha Centauri's formation were run numerous times by a team at the University of California Santa Clara, evolving the system up to an age of around 200 million years. Although the results differed with changing assumptions run in each model, in every case simulated a system of multiple planets with at least one Earth sized planet developed. In many of these simulations, such a terrestrial planet formed in the star's habital zone, where temperatures would allow liquid water to reside.
While the star's relatively high position in the Southern sky and brightness are positive factors in finding such a planet, the gravitational "wobble" created on the star by such a planet would be quite small, and up to five years of direct observation might be necessary in order to detect a planet with current methods. There is a team out of San Francisco State University conducting such observations.
Global Warming Redux
James Lewis over at the American Thinker pokes yet another hole in the "science" of Global Warming. If you haven't heard, 2007 was the coldest year in a century, with a .6 degree decline in temperatures, which wipes out the entire century's temperature increase commonly attributed to human induced global warming. Naturally, all the climate modelers are beginning to react by "tweaking" their models.
"How can this super-cold winter happen? It's got all the faithful a little worried. Climate modeling teams all over the world are sweating 24/7 to deal with it. They are producing epicycles for their models, to hang on the warming story.
"Epicycles" are cycles on top of cycles. When traditional astronomy began to collapse in the years before Copernicus, True Believers reacted by adding lots of little cycles on top of the great cycles of the planetary orbits, to protect their faith. Trouble is, they had to add so many cycles on top of cycles that eventually, the whole system became a laughingstock. Ultimately you could explain anything you wanted -- after the fact."
Lewis also recounts the story if Hungarian mathemetician Ferenc M. Miskolczi, who used to work for NASA, which wouldn't publish his paper (now published in a Hungarian journal) pointing out that all the climate models treat the Earth's atmosphere as infinitely think - because it greatly simplifies the math involved while simaltaneously helpings them "prove" their assumptions. If you correct these models to the actual thickness of the atmosphere (around 65 miles) all the warming effects of greenhouse gasses disappear entirely. Ooops.
The ironic thing about all of this is that NASA administrator James Hansen has been the one complaining about the Bush administration's politicization of science, all the while the agency has been engaging in a fair piece of censorship itself, all in the name of a political agenda of its own. It would be pretty ironic if it wasn't so tragic.
"How can this super-cold winter happen? It's got all the faithful a little worried. Climate modeling teams all over the world are sweating 24/7 to deal with it. They are producing epicycles for their models, to hang on the warming story.
"Epicycles" are cycles on top of cycles. When traditional astronomy began to collapse in the years before Copernicus, True Believers reacted by adding lots of little cycles on top of the great cycles of the planetary orbits, to protect their faith. Trouble is, they had to add so many cycles on top of cycles that eventually, the whole system became a laughingstock. Ultimately you could explain anything you wanted -- after the fact."
Lewis also recounts the story if Hungarian mathemetician Ferenc M. Miskolczi, who used to work for NASA, which wouldn't publish his paper (now published in a Hungarian journal) pointing out that all the climate models treat the Earth's atmosphere as infinitely think - because it greatly simplifies the math involved while simaltaneously helpings them "prove" their assumptions. If you correct these models to the actual thickness of the atmosphere (around 65 miles) all the warming effects of greenhouse gasses disappear entirely. Ooops.
The ironic thing about all of this is that NASA administrator James Hansen has been the one complaining about the Bush administration's politicization of science, all the while the agency has been engaging in a fair piece of censorship itself, all in the name of a political agenda of its own. It would be pretty ironic if it wasn't so tragic.
Boston Legal Quotes
Brad: I think that's my seat.
Alan: Yes, I saw someone's things here and I moved them to a less desirable location.
[Alan points down the table. Brad stares at Alan]
Alan: I'm sorry, we're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?
Alan: Yes, I saw someone's things here and I moved them to a less desirable location.
[Alan points down the table. Brad stares at Alan]
Alan: I'm sorry, we're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?
Friday, March 07, 2008
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny Crane: It's a good feeling, you know, to shoot a bad guy. Something you Democrats would never understand. Americans... we're homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Boston Legal Quotes
[Denny, Tara, and Lori in Denny's office as Denny loads a rifle, preparing to save Alan from a gunman holding him hostage just outside of Denny's office door]
Denny Crane: It's okay; I'm an ex-Marine. I was a trained sniper. Or was I a pilot? I can't remember. Anyway, I'm more of a skeet shooter now, so when I say 'pull,' you're going to open that door.
Tara Wilson: You're insane!
Denny Crane: Pull!
[Tara opens the door; Denny fires]
Denny Crane: It's okay; I'm an ex-Marine. I was a trained sniper. Or was I a pilot? I can't remember. Anyway, I'm more of a skeet shooter now, so when I say 'pull,' you're going to open that door.
Tara Wilson: You're insane!
Denny Crane: Pull!
[Tara opens the door; Denny fires]
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Peak Oil Revisited
The Wall St. Journal has an interesting op-ed by Nansen Saleri disputing the "Peak Oil" myth. Fundamentally, he points out that the theory is seriously flawed due to the inherent difficulties in forecasting the four questionable assumptions for which the theory has to define answers.
"The trivial becomes far more complex because the four factors -- resources in place (how many barrels initially underground), recovery efficiency (what percentage is ultimately recoverable), rate of consumption, and state of depletion at peak (how empty is the global tank when decline kicks in) -- are inherently uncertain."
Despite short-term price fluctuations brought on by speculative market forces, (primarily due to political factors rather than supply issues) there are not only huge reserves available, we are drastically improving our ability to recover them, as well as develop new unconventional sources. In fact, the price fluctuations are greatly assisting our ability to do so, giving national oil firms in particular both the incentive and the ability to make technological improvements to improve recovery methods.
Saleri correctly states that we've used around 1 trillion barrels of oil - out of around 12 to 16 trillion barrels of total supply (about half conventional, half not). In addition, the traditional figure of recoverable petroleum from a given well of 33 percent is steadily improving as new technological methods are being brought to bear, and may eventually double. Increasing the amount of recoverable oil even 10% would result in an additional 50 years of supply at current consumption levels. Doing the math, even without a increase in recoverable conventional supplies, we're used only about a quarter to a sixth of recoverable conventional supplies.
This brings the question of how much oil will we need over the coming years. Current consumption is 86 million barrels per day, with consumption forcasts increasing this figure up to 2% per year, leading to a figure of up to 117 million barrels in the next decade. In the event of any economic slowdown, this figure would likely be much less. "Peak Oil" theory holds that the tipping point will occur when 50% of the recoverable oil has been consumed, but with modern extraction methods, this figure is likely to reach a higher figure - and even a 5% increase in total recovery would delay the onset of the "panic" by 20-25 years.
All of this is not to say that research work on alternative sources of energy is misguided or ill founded, simply that the pessimism and alarmism found in some quarters is certainly not justified - at least not at present. Much like the almost crazed religious obesssion in the global warming debate (and I'm fairly certain there is a large degree of overlap between the two schools) the "Peak Oilers" are simply convinced that the end of civilization is coming soon. In my view, a gradual transistion from petroleum will almost certainly take place over the coming century for a variety of technical and other factors, and I'm quite optimistic the forces of civilization and innovation will almost certainly save us from the "impending catastrophe".
"The trivial becomes far more complex because the four factors -- resources in place (how many barrels initially underground), recovery efficiency (what percentage is ultimately recoverable), rate of consumption, and state of depletion at peak (how empty is the global tank when decline kicks in) -- are inherently uncertain."
Despite short-term price fluctuations brought on by speculative market forces, (primarily due to political factors rather than supply issues) there are not only huge reserves available, we are drastically improving our ability to recover them, as well as develop new unconventional sources. In fact, the price fluctuations are greatly assisting our ability to do so, giving national oil firms in particular both the incentive and the ability to make technological improvements to improve recovery methods.
Saleri correctly states that we've used around 1 trillion barrels of oil - out of around 12 to 16 trillion barrels of total supply (about half conventional, half not). In addition, the traditional figure of recoverable petroleum from a given well of 33 percent is steadily improving as new technological methods are being brought to bear, and may eventually double. Increasing the amount of recoverable oil even 10% would result in an additional 50 years of supply at current consumption levels. Doing the math, even without a increase in recoverable conventional supplies, we're used only about a quarter to a sixth of recoverable conventional supplies.
This brings the question of how much oil will we need over the coming years. Current consumption is 86 million barrels per day, with consumption forcasts increasing this figure up to 2% per year, leading to a figure of up to 117 million barrels in the next decade. In the event of any economic slowdown, this figure would likely be much less. "Peak Oil" theory holds that the tipping point will occur when 50% of the recoverable oil has been consumed, but with modern extraction methods, this figure is likely to reach a higher figure - and even a 5% increase in total recovery would delay the onset of the "panic" by 20-25 years.
All of this is not to say that research work on alternative sources of energy is misguided or ill founded, simply that the pessimism and alarmism found in some quarters is certainly not justified - at least not at present. Much like the almost crazed religious obesssion in the global warming debate (and I'm fairly certain there is a large degree of overlap between the two schools) the "Peak Oilers" are simply convinced that the end of civilization is coming soon. In my view, a gradual transistion from petroleum will almost certainly take place over the coming century for a variety of technical and other factors, and I'm quite optimistic the forces of civilization and innovation will almost certainly save us from the "impending catastrophe".
Boston Legal Quotes
Alan Shore: Sally.
[Sally turns to look at Shore]
Alan Shore: Could I trouble you to do a quick background check? I realize we haven't spoken much since we stopped having sex, and frankly I'm dismayed by that. But, what I need to know is everything you can find out about my new client... .
[Sally turns to look at Shore]
Alan Shore: Could I trouble you to do a quick background check? I realize we haven't spoken much since we stopped having sex, and frankly I'm dismayed by that. But, what I need to know is everything you can find out about my new client... .
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Local Candidates File
The OWH has the complete list of local political hopefuls for elected office in Nebraska, including 73 candidates for the Unicameral, down from 86 for the last election.
Notables include former Governor and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johans, former Democratic Congressional hopeful Scott Kleeb, and Behren manufacturing head (and R turned D) Tony Raimondo for US Senate and the three incumbent Republican Congressmen (Jeff Fortenberry D-1, Lee Terry D-2, and Adrain Smith D-3). Only Fortenberry doesn't face a primary challenge, and will face Marine and Iraqi vet Max Yashirin in the general.
In D-2, Terry faces Steven Laird in the primary, while former Democratic candidate Jim Esch faces Richard Carter of Bellevue. In D-3, Adrian Smith faces Grand Island's Jeremiah Ellison and the Democratic hopefuls are Jay Stoddard of Grand Island
and Paul A. Spatz of Osmond.
Notables include former Governor and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johans, former Democratic Congressional hopeful Scott Kleeb, and Behren manufacturing head (and R turned D) Tony Raimondo for US Senate and the three incumbent Republican Congressmen (Jeff Fortenberry D-1, Lee Terry D-2, and Adrain Smith D-3). Only Fortenberry doesn't face a primary challenge, and will face Marine and Iraqi vet Max Yashirin in the general.
In D-2, Terry faces Steven Laird in the primary, while former Democratic candidate Jim Esch faces Richard Carter of Bellevue. In D-3, Adrian Smith faces Grand Island's Jeremiah Ellison and the Democratic hopefuls are Jay Stoddard of Grand Island
and Paul A. Spatz of Osmond.
Pluto's Small Moons Adopted?
The Universe Today takes a look at the satellites of the "dwarf planet" Pluto, Charon, Hydra and Nix. The last two smaller moons were only recently discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2005 and named the next year. The currently accepted theory of Pluto moon formation is much like that of the Earth's; a major impact event of two objects chipped Charon from Pluto, with the other satellites remaining as leftovers from the collision.
However, the orbits of the two smaller moons lead this theory into question. If they were the result of debris from the impact event, their orbits would almost certainly be irregular and elliptical. However, they are not only both in a near regular circular orbit, they are in resonance with Charon, with Nyx orbiting Pluto 4 times for every Charon orbit and Hydra 6, mcuh like the Jupiter system moons of Io, Europa and Ganymede. The question then remains if they could have simply formed from a cold disk of dust that may have remained from the impact. Again, however, the modelling researchers have conducted of the impact event leads us to believe such a dust disk would be very compact around Pluto - far inside the orbits of the two small moons.
Another possibility is that the two moons formed quite close to Pluto but later migrated due to gravitational interaction between Pluto and Charon, but the simulations conducted so far don't seem to support that idea either. Thus, we are left with the only other solution; that they formed outside of the Pluto-Charon system and were likely captured at some later point as Pluto orbited the Sun.
While the research will continue, it is likely that no definitive answer will be forthcoming until the New Horizons probe visits Pluto in 2015. And perhaps not even at that time.
However, the orbits of the two smaller moons lead this theory into question. If they were the result of debris from the impact event, their orbits would almost certainly be irregular and elliptical. However, they are not only both in a near regular circular orbit, they are in resonance with Charon, with Nyx orbiting Pluto 4 times for every Charon orbit and Hydra 6, mcuh like the Jupiter system moons of Io, Europa and Ganymede. The question then remains if they could have simply formed from a cold disk of dust that may have remained from the impact. Again, however, the modelling researchers have conducted of the impact event leads us to believe such a dust disk would be very compact around Pluto - far inside the orbits of the two small moons.
Another possibility is that the two moons formed quite close to Pluto but later migrated due to gravitational interaction between Pluto and Charon, but the simulations conducted so far don't seem to support that idea either. Thus, we are left with the only other solution; that they formed outside of the Pluto-Charon system and were likely captured at some later point as Pluto orbited the Sun.
While the research will continue, it is likely that no definitive answer will be forthcoming until the New Horizons probe visits Pluto in 2015. And perhaps not even at that time.
North Poles?
Scientific American explains that the Earth has not one North Pole, but several. While you might have heard of the difference between "true" geographic north and "magnetic" north, there are some other alternatives as well. There is also the Alaskan town named "North Pole" - and yes, they do receive quite a few cards addressed to Santa from children around Christmas time.
"Somewhat related to the geographic north pole is the considerably less famous instantaneous north pole, where Earth's rotational axis meets its surface, as well as the celestial north pole, where the axis spears the night sky (in an imaginary extension kind of way). The instantaneous north pole is not fixed. Rather, it moves in an irregular circle caused by "the Chandler wobble"—named for astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler, who discovered in 1891 that our planet wobbles as it rotates. His discovery gives rise to the "north pole of balance," which lies at the center of this circle."
While I knew about the wobble, (more correctly referred to as precession, a complete cycle of which last 26,000 years) which is the reason the star Polaris will not always be the "pole star", one thing I did not know myself regarding the magentic pole is that a compass points down at the north magentic pole but upward at the south magnetic pole, which makes a certain amount of sense. The other thing I didn't know is kind of complicated, but also pretty interesting.
"But there is another magnetically based north pole: the north geomagnetic pole. "One thing that's very confusing is the fact that there's a magnetic pole and a geomagnetic pole and that they're different," says Stefan Maus, a geomagnetic field modeler at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center. "It's a historical and slightly outdated definition."
The geomagnetic poles are almost an artifact of reducing Earth's complex and varied magnetic field to that of a simple bar magnet, or dipole. "The only thing that we really want to know is where the field is really vertical," Maus says. "This other pole, which is just an approximation, is generally not very useful and often leads to confusion." So while the north dip pole lies in Northern Canada, the northern dipole is roughly off the northwest coast of Greenland.
But the geomagnetic pole is useful, if you're in space, argues Jeffrey J. Love, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist. The farther away from Earth you get, the more its magnetic field actually does act like a dipole, or a bar magnet—even if in reality it is no such thing."
The complicated part of this is these dip poles/dipoles also move around, as often as every day, and this north pole is moving toward Siberia at a rate of 6 to 30 miles every year. If I count correctly there are at least six north poles, seven if you count the town, so you had better be clear what you're referring to when you refer to the North Pole. :)
"Somewhat related to the geographic north pole is the considerably less famous instantaneous north pole, where Earth's rotational axis meets its surface, as well as the celestial north pole, where the axis spears the night sky (in an imaginary extension kind of way). The instantaneous north pole is not fixed. Rather, it moves in an irregular circle caused by "the Chandler wobble"—named for astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler, who discovered in 1891 that our planet wobbles as it rotates. His discovery gives rise to the "north pole of balance," which lies at the center of this circle."
While I knew about the wobble, (more correctly referred to as precession, a complete cycle of which last 26,000 years) which is the reason the star Polaris will not always be the "pole star", one thing I did not know myself regarding the magentic pole is that a compass points down at the north magentic pole but upward at the south magnetic pole, which makes a certain amount of sense. The other thing I didn't know is kind of complicated, but also pretty interesting.
"But there is another magnetically based north pole: the north geomagnetic pole. "One thing that's very confusing is the fact that there's a magnetic pole and a geomagnetic pole and that they're different," says Stefan Maus, a geomagnetic field modeler at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center. "It's a historical and slightly outdated definition."
The geomagnetic poles are almost an artifact of reducing Earth's complex and varied magnetic field to that of a simple bar magnet, or dipole. "The only thing that we really want to know is where the field is really vertical," Maus says. "This other pole, which is just an approximation, is generally not very useful and often leads to confusion." So while the north dip pole lies in Northern Canada, the northern dipole is roughly off the northwest coast of Greenland.
But the geomagnetic pole is useful, if you're in space, argues Jeffrey J. Love, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist. The farther away from Earth you get, the more its magnetic field actually does act like a dipole, or a bar magnet—even if in reality it is no such thing."
The complicated part of this is these dip poles/dipoles also move around, as often as every day, and this north pole is moving toward Siberia at a rate of 6 to 30 miles every year. If I count correctly there are at least six north poles, seven if you count the town, so you had better be clear what you're referring to when you refer to the North Pole. :)
Boston Legal Quotes
Denny Crane: [walking in on Alan Shore and Shirley Schmidt in the men's room] If she tries to pee standing up, come get me.
[after closing the door to the stall]
Denny Crane: Lock and load!
[after closing the door to the stall]
Denny Crane: Lock and load!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Oxygen on Early Earth
Astrobiology has a good article on the substantial impact that the rise of oxygen producing organisms have had on our planet. There have been two major increases in the atmospheric oxygen levels in our distant past - both occurring between 635 and 551 million years ago.
"Today, we take oxygen for granted. But the atmosphere had almost no oxygen until 2.5 billion years ago, and it was not until about 600 million years ago when the atmospheric oxygen level rose to a fraction of modern levels. For a long time, geologists and evolutionary biologists have speculated that the rise of the breathing gas and subsequent oxygenation of the deep oceans are intimately tied to the evolution of modern biological systems."
The first change sparked a slight change in microscopic life forms, with the second having a larger impact on the evolution and diversification of early life forms, including a significant spike in complex algaes. Following these developments, the number of species nearly doubled, and shortly thereafter (in evolutionary terms, anyway) the first animals to develop external skeletal structures (shells) evolved.
"Today, we take oxygen for granted. But the atmosphere had almost no oxygen until 2.5 billion years ago, and it was not until about 600 million years ago when the atmospheric oxygen level rose to a fraction of modern levels. For a long time, geologists and evolutionary biologists have speculated that the rise of the breathing gas and subsequent oxygenation of the deep oceans are intimately tied to the evolution of modern biological systems."
The first change sparked a slight change in microscopic life forms, with the second having a larger impact on the evolution and diversification of early life forms, including a significant spike in complex algaes. Following these developments, the number of species nearly doubled, and shortly thereafter (in evolutionary terms, anyway) the first animals to develop external skeletal structures (shells) evolved.
Boston Legal Quotes
Lori Colson: Hi. I'm Lori Colson; we haven't officially met.
Catherine Piper: Hello, dear. Catherine Piper.
Lori Colson: For the future... I don't really appreciate comments about my hair.
Catherine Piper: Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to make conversation. And I assumed you wouldn't want me to go anywhere near your eyebrows.
Catherine Piper: Hello, dear. Catherine Piper.
Lori Colson: For the future... I don't really appreciate comments about my hair.
Catherine Piper: Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to make conversation. And I assumed you wouldn't want me to go anywhere near your eyebrows.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
