Earthlike Wet Planet Discovered

Too hot for us, but almost...signs of liquid water in the spectrum.  It orbits around a red dwarf inside the habitable or "Goldilocks" zone.  Click link above for WSJ video.  Also, see Space.com for a recent story on the subject. 30 Billion Earths? New Estimate of Exoplanets in Our Galaxy 
The photo below is from the Woodside Cosmology blog.


 See NASA comment on finding Spock's home world, Vulcan






See the Exoplanet Database Here 

Dark power: Grand designs for interstellar travel - space - 25 November 2009 - New Scientist

Dark power: Grand designs for interstellar travel - space - 25 November 2009 - New Scientist

You may recall the 1060's proposal for intersteller travel, a ramjet propelled by hydrogen scooped up in magnetic fields as the ship sped on. The article above from SCIENCE magazine proposes something similar, propelled by scoops of dark matter!

Timewarp: How your brain creates the fourth dimension - life - 21 October 2009 - New Scientist

Timewarp: How your brain creates the fourth dimension - life - 21 October 2009 - New Scientist

"THE MAN dangles on a cable hanging from an eight-storey-high tower. Suspended in a harness with his back to the ground, he sees only the face of the man above, who controls the winch that is lifting him to the top of the tower like a bundle of cargo. And then it happens. The cable suddenly unclips and he plummets towards the concrete below."

This describes an experiment in which someone is thrown off a building to safely fall in a net. It was to measure how time slows..You know, like when you are in a car crash and everything g..o..e..s..so S>>L>>>O>>W!

The Wireless Future of Energy Tranfer | Singularity Hub

The Wireless Future of Energy Tranfer | Singularity Hub: "The Wireless Future of Energy Tranfer
"June 30th, 2009 by Drew Halley
Filed under computing.

The electronic revolution of the past century has been a tangled affair. Remember when phones were always wired into the wall? When the internet required one more cord from the back of your computer? Wireless is the future, which is all well and good for information transfer. But what about energy itself?"


Remember Nikolai Tesla? He invented alternating current, transmitted energy through the air (not too successfully), and first detected cosmic background radiation? Wireless battery charging is on the horizon. Read the blog referenced above as well as MIT Technology Review and the Patent for such a device.

Radio Australia - Innovations - Solar Prints

Radio Australia - Innovations - Solar Prints: "DESLEY BLANCH : In a country as sunny as Australia, you would think that every rooftop should have a solar panel on it. But the uptake of solar has been quite slow, mainly because of cost. Well, a consortium of Australian scientists may have an answer that is right on the money.

For ABC TV's science and technology program Catalyst, Mark Horstman investigates."

I heard this a few months ago an an Australian Broadcasting Company podcast. A company specializing in printing currency is on the verge of a breakthrough. See Also:

Australia's Printable Solar Cells : Renewable Energy News

Printable solar cells on the way | COSMOS magazine.

iTWire Discussions • View topic - New technology enables solar ...

Mercury looms large as probe closes in for final flyby - space - 29 September 2009 - New Scientist

Mercury looms large as probe closes in for final flyby - space - 29 September 2009 - New Scientist: "NASA's Messenger spacecraft is set to make its third and final flyby of Mercury on Tuesday. If all goes well, the manoeuvre will use Mercury's gravity to slow the probe down enough to go into orbit around the planet in 2011."

The previous Pioneer spacecraft took a few pictures in a flyby long ago. After this, only Pluto, the "Dwarf Planet" will remain unexplored until NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrives.

Reconstruct Mars Automatically in Minutes! | Mars Today - Your Daily Source of Mars News

Reconstruct Mars Automatically in Minutes! | Mars Today - Your Daily Source of Mars News: "Reconstruct Mars Automatically in Minutes!

A computer system is under development that can automatically combine images of the Martian surface, captured by landers or rovers, in order to reproduce a three-dimensional view of the red planet
. The resulting model can be viewed from any angle, giving astronomers a realistic and immersive impression of the landscape. This important new development has been presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam by Dr. Michal Havlena."

Cosmos - Google Docs

Cosmos

Print this page

Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking?

06.01.2002

Eminent physicist John Wheeler says he has only enough time left to work on one idea: that human consciousness shapes not only the present but the past as well

Mars Rover Spirit Hits 2,000 Sols | Mars Today - Your Daily Source of Mars News

Where has Mr. Cosmical been? Not off planet, unfortunately, just preocuppied. However, I am back!
Mars Rover Spirit Hits 2,000 Sols | Mars Today - Your Daily Source of Mars News: "Mars Rover Spirit Hits 2,000 Sols Still alive long after it's projected life. Interestingly, raw photos are posted immediately on the web. Often, amateur enthusiasts download and process the pictures immediately, giving the NASA folks a head start when they get to work. Click HERE to get to the raw images and give it a try. The following is from Mars Today


"August 18, 2009: Today marks the 2,000th Martian day, or sol, of what was initially planned as a 90-sol mission on Mars for NASA's Spirit rover.

Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach the 2,000-sol milestone on Sept. 8. Both rovers have found rocks altered by past action of water on Mars. Both show some signs of aging but remain capable of further scientific investigations.

Since their landing halfway around the planet from each other in January 2004, Spirit has driven 4.8 miles and Opportunity has driven 10.7 miles. Together, they have returned more than 246,000 images. Each Martian sol lasts about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day.}

Mars Rover Spirit Hits 2,000 Sols

August 18, 2009: Today marks the 2,000th Martian day, or sol, of what was initially planned as a 90-sol mission on Mars for NASA's Spirit rover.

Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach the 2,000-sol milestone on Sept. 8. Both rovers have found rocks altered by past action of water on Mars. Both show some signs of aging but remain capable of further scientific investigations.

Since their landing halfway around the planet from each other in January 2004, Spirit has driven 4.8 miles and Opportunity has driven 10.7 miles. Together, they have returned more than 246,000 images. Each Martian sol lasts about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day"

Larger image of Spirit's traverse
Larger image of Spirit's traverse"

List of phases of matter

List of phases of matter: "List of phases of matter

This is a list of the different phases of matter including the more exotic ones."

Everything you wanted to know, as if it mattered!

Searching For ET: Kepler Launch A Success, Search For E.T. Is Underway

Searching For ET: Kepler Launch A Success, Search For E.T. Is Underway: "Gizmodo

As noted earlier, the Keppler launch took place on Thursday and I can now report, it was a success. Click on the link above for the Gizmodo site for more comment. Gizmodo is great for those of us who love electronic gadgetry! Click on this NASA site for mission information.

Beyond Green Roofs: 15 Vertically Vegetated Buildings | WebEcoist

Beyond Green Roofs: 15 Vertically Vegetated Buildings | WebEcoist

Above is a link to a green building website. It is fascinating and hopefully a harbinger of the future. You should see also the first edition of Scientific American Earth 3.0 about the same subject. This also discusses urban farming and mentions a commercial garden in New York City that was in business until about 20 years ago. You could buy local and eliminate all transportation costs from farm to market!

NASA - Search for Habitable Planets

NASA - Search for Habitable Planets

Extra Solar planets keep popping up all over the place. Gas Giants orbiting close to parent stars...against previous theories of planetary formation. Rocky planets have also been found. Keppler will build on the already 230 planets discovered looking for earth size planets in the habitable zone. If launch goes okay, we will increase our knowledge exponentially!
Kepler Scientific Objectives

Image above: Kepler's targeted star field. Credit: Carter Roberts of the Eastbay Astronomical Society The scientific objective of the Kepler Mission is to explore the structure and diversity of planetary systems. This is achieved by surveying a large sample of stars to:

• Determine the percentage of terrestrial and larger planets that are in or near the habitable zone of a wide variety of stars
• Determine the distribution of sizes and shapes of the orbits of these planets
• Estimate how many planets there are in multiple-star systems
• Determine the variety of orbit sizes and planet reflectivities, sizes, masses and densities of short-period giant planets
• Identify additional members of each discovered planetary system using other techniques
• Determine the properties of those stars that harbor planetary systems.

Magenn Power Inc.

Magenn Power Inc.: "Magenn Power's MARS is a Wind Power Anywhere™ solution with distinct advantages over existing Conventional Wind Turbines and Diesel Generating Systems including: global deployment, lower costs, better operational performance, and greater environmental advantages."

"Magenn Power's MARS is a Wind Power Anywhere™ solution with distinct advantages over existing Conventional Wind Turbines and Diesel Generating Systems including: global deployment, lower costs, better operational performance, and greater environmental advantages." They just keep coming up with better and more varied green solutions to the energy problem. The big problem remaining, however is storage and transmission.

Click here or the outline of the issue as discussed at a Boston conference last year.

f

NOVA | The Elegant Universe | Watch the Program | PBS

NOVA | The Elegant Universe | Watch the Program | PBS

If you missed this three hour mini-series, you can watch it online by clicking above. It starts with Einstein's attempts at a unified field theory and goes from there to String Theory and the Higgs Boson.

Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking? | Physics & Math | DISCOVER Magazine

Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking? | Physics & Math | DISCOVER Magazine

Remember as kids, we sometimes thought if we closed our eyes, the world would go away? Well, at least in the strange quantum world it might? For any of you who may wane philosophical, read this!

'Cloak of silence' design is unveiled - physicsworld.com

'Cloak of silence' design is unveiled - physicsworld।

"Get Smart" technology has gone beyond the shoe phone! Also, see this New Zealand Hearld website article on the technology of "Get Smart".

Also, see the CIA museum website for similar strangeness. At one time, the CIA met regularly with Hollywood script writers to exchange ideas! See Hollywood CIA links!

Storing energy from wind? A German approach:

"Learning, Passive House, Wind-to-Battery Storage

Learning

Would World University and School's innovation focus help reshape how people learn, and help to facilitate a culture of learning, if learning becomes very fun, and people find avenues to share ideas richly? Add or take a course in any language and subject. (Here's World University and School's Facebook Group)."

Quantum effects on the Macro Level

I found this by searching the above title.  It is from another blog

"The Other Blog"

The author describes his blog as follows:

"This is my classic stream-of-consciousness blog designed to avoid clogging my friends' inboxes. We've got your interesting URLs for software development, aviation, the environment, and politics. Plus the odd thought. If you want my real writing, see Thoughts Aloft, my other other blog"

First Pictures Taken of Extrasolar Planets - NYTimes.com

First Pictures Taken of Extrasolar Planets - NYTimes.com

He is back and what a zinger this time. Please see the linked NYT article on the first extrasolar planet ever photographed! A tiny dot, but none the less, the first.
Also see Space.com and Science Daily
for more articles.

Finally, click on Sea Snake wave energy demonstration for a video of one concept in sea wave energy production by Water SISWEB

CEATEC: Panasonic Lifewall Is the All-Knowing Gesture-Controlled TV of the Future

CEATEC: Panasonic Lifewall Is the All-Knowing Gesture-Controlled TV of the Future:
I want one! It is similar to the one described by Ray Bradbury in Farenheit 451. Who needs books? Well, maybe I do, but the wall is pretty nifty!

Scientific American: Scientific American Special Editions

Scientific American: Scientific American Special Editions

Be sure and read this special digital edition of Scientific American. The articles include urban vertical farming, fresh water shortages, and other great features.

FEATURES

Is Focusing on "Hot Spots" the Key to Preserving Biodiversity?
Preserving biodiversity in rich habitats is good. But global warming and other new threats may call for a new strategy
By Robert Kunzig

Energy versus Water: Solving Both Crises Together
Water is needed to generate energy. Energy is needed to deliver water. Both resources are limiting the other—and both may be running short. Is there a way out?
By Michael E. Webber

For National Security, Get Off Oil
Former CIA director R. James Woolsey says America's oil dependence is a grave threat
By Stephen D. Solomon

LEED Compliance Not Required for Designing Green Buildings
Constructing buildings to the LEED standard can conserve energy and materials—or be exploited for promotional gain
By Daniel Brook

Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point
The world's most outspoken climatologist argues that today's carbon dioxide levels are already dangerously too high. What can we do if he is right?
By Michael D. Lemonick

Growing Vertical: Skyscraper Farming
Cultivating crops in downtown skyscrapers might save bushels of energy and provide city dwellers with distinctively fresh food
By Mark Fischetti

Hydro/Wind Power Followup

The BPA and the wind community apparently believe that storage of wind and hydro power are too expensive. Please read the following article from the Tacoma News Tribune about hydrogen. Also below is a link to a patented system for converting excess hydro into hydrogen.
Hydrogen: River of Energy

Columbia River hydropower could put Northwest at a forefront of a revolution
By Jack Robertson
The News Tribune"

US Patent 6864596 - Hydrogen production from hydro power

Wind surge poses a risk to salmon and reveals flaws in BPA's power-regulating system - OregonLive.com

Wind surge poses a risk to salmon and reveals flaws in BPA's power-regulating system - OregonLive.com: "Wind surge poses a risk to salmon and reveals flaws in BPA's power-regulating system
With Columbia Gorge turbines pumping out extra electricity, the agency had to quickly adjust its hydro generation"

This was a story in the Saturday, July 05, 2008 Oregonian Newspaper by Gail Kinsey Hill, a staff writer. The gist of the story was that the greatly increased capacity of the wind turbines along the Columbia Gorge through which the Mighty Columbia River flows came close to causing a big problem on the BPA power generating dams. In order to deal with the surplus of electricity, the dams had to stop generating power and spill water over the dam thus potentially causing a problem with migrating salmon. My question is why the excess capacity of either the windmills or the dams could not be converted to hydrogen and stored for later use. Lacking an infrastructure to deliver hydrogen to other places where it could be used, it could be stored on site and used later to power generators or produce electricity when needed using fuel cells.

As a side note, as the old economy of the river based on aluminum smelting is in decline, a significant part of the BPA output is used by Google in it's semi-secret server farm in The Dalles on the banks of the Columbia. Despite Google's efforts to conserve, lots of power is used to run the servers and to cool the plant. Read about this in this Willamette Week article.

A blog about generating hydrogen with excess capacity can be reached by clicking here. Can anyone explain to my why this will not work?