Kepler Exoplanets

Many people are not aware of the Kepler spacecraft and it's mission. This is one of the best uses for tax dollars there is. In short: It is looking for planets around stars. Hopefully it will find one that contains life, or has the right conditions for life.

Kepler is a spacecraft launched by NASA in March of 2009. It has a 0.95 meter telescope that is looking at 156,453 stars in a small 12 degree diameter patch of the sky. By measuring the brightness of a star over time the Kepler detectors can determine the details of any orbiting planets.

So far 1202 potential planets have been discovered! Here is a summary of the types already discovered:


  - 68 Earth-size exoplanets with a radius (Rp) of less than 1.25 Earth radius (Re)

  - 288 super-Earth size exoplanets with 1.25 x Re < Rp ≤ 2.0 x Re   - 662 Neptune-size exoplanets with 2.0 x Re < Rp ≤ 6.0 x Re   - 165 Jupiter-size exoplanets with 6.0 x Re < Rp ≤ 15 x Re   - 19 very-large-size with 15.0 x Re < Rp ≤ 22 x Re

The Kepler Spacecraft

Details fo the Kepler mission details can be viewed at kepler.nasa.gov. The SETI Institute has a very good article that sums up the Kepler mission discoveries and data. See this article.

The Kepler sensors are only looking at a small 12 degree patch of sky. Hopefully, in the future, more resources will be appropriated to explore more of the sky.

Justin Bieber Experiment

Update: See the latest Justin romance update Here...

I saw it! Last weekend was the opening of the Justin Bieber movie. I took 6 kids to see it. ALL of them protested and said they did NOT like Justine Bieber. It would be a terrible movie! A waste of time and money! They went anyway. A Justin Bieber movie is better than no movie at all on a boring Saturday. As they were sitting in the theater seats waiting for the movie to begin they continued the protest.

As for me, I was expecting it to be very cringe-worthy. I didn't like him much either. To be honest, I had never listened to any of his songs more than just passing sound bites. All I really knew of him was what I had read in stupid fan based news articles. I've come to the conclusion that such a judgement is very hypocritical. Making such a judgement after I've heard his songs would be OK. So this was to be an education for me.

Order your Mrs. Bieber Tshirt Here...

We went early to the theater because I was expecting long lines. After all it was opening weekend for the movie. The theater was empty. A total of 25 people were in the theater. And this was opening weekend! I was not surprised when I read on Monday about the poor opening weekend for the movie.

The results? I actually found Justin very charming, smart, someone I'd like to be with! My kids had the same impression. I think it was a bit eye opening for us all.

Here is a list of the thoughts we all took away with us after the movie:

• Justin is very charming.
• Justin is a good singer.
• Justin is talented
• The style and content of his songs SUCK!
  

We all agreed; If Justin ever grows out of his cheesy teenie-bopper ways and starts to navigate towards GOOD music, whatever that is, we'll be listening!

Old Men In Locker Room

If you are a male over 2 years of age you've probably thought about this. When you are in a locker room you often see an old man parading around with no clothes on!, no towel around him like everyone else. Swingin' in the breeze. Sup?

This clever chart may explain this phenomenon. Men's feelings about being in a locker room change with age.

If you are an old man that does this, take heed! We are watching you (but trying not to).

Note:The Emotions axis may be hard to read. Here are the categories starting from top to bottom: "Whoo Hoo! Look at me I'm NAKED", "Somewhat liberating", "No big deal", "A bit uncomfortable", "I'll keep my swim suit on"

This graph is from GraphJam

Unicorn Image Determined Fake!

You may have seen this unicorn image amid reports claiming its authenticity. But recently an image analysis expert has determined this is not a unicorn, but rather a small white horse with a party hat held to it's head.

The image analyst, using state-of-the-art image analysis tools, has detected the signature of a small hand in the upper right corner. This hand is quite possibly holding the horn-like party hat to the horses head. Look at this detailed zoom of the upper right corner of the image:

Unicorn enthusiasts world wide may be disappointed with these findings. Some believers point out that this is quite possibly NOT a hand, but the udders of this small unicorn's mother. This picture may have been taken during unicorn lunch time.

But there is hope. The verdict is still out on this unicorn sighting video. That unicorn sighting may be real - until the experts have their say.

End of the World, May 21!

End of the World?

Have you heard? The end of the world is coming on May 21, 2011. If you are looking into any major purchases in the near future, it may be wise to wait till May 22.

The actual end of the world is now slated for Oct 21, 2011. The Rapture is May 21, 2011. The end of the World is Oct 21, 2011. The Rapture is an event in the futurist interpretation of Christian eschatology, in which it is posited that Christians will be gathered together in the air to meet Christ at, or up to seven years prior to, his return (from Wikipedia). See Here for more details.

It is advised that if you have any big life changing plans or major purchases, wait till May 22. If on that date a lot of your friends show up missing, wait till Oct 22. If you wake up on Oct 22, go ahead and make that big move or purchase.

An alternative plan is to apply for as much credit cards as you can now. If you wake up on May 22 and a lot of your friends are missing, go ahead and max out your credit cards. Don't bother making any payments, on Oct 21 your debt will be erased!

If you wake up on Oct 22 and all is fine, call this guy and ask "What's up?"

Victorian Robots

Mechanical Marvels of the Victorian Era

If you are old enough you may remember your grade school teacher briefly covering the topic of Victorian Robots. Until recently I had forgotten all about this, but I came across an amazing website that covers the rich history of Victorian Robots. Have a look, you'll be amazed if you've never heard of this before!

Read illustrated accounts of the world's first robot, the Steam Man, created in 1865! Subsequent automatons such as the Electric Man and the Automatic Man are also profiled. The most comprehensive section, with more than 20 pages, concerns the mechanical man known as Boilerplate--described as "deliciously detailed" by The New York Times, "charming" by U.S. News and World Report and declared "cool" by NASA!