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Stories and comments across the archive that link to hawaii.edu.

Comments · 528

  1. Re:Where is this evidence? by domatic · · Score: 1 · on Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution

    Comets crash into things quite often, and should be extinct by now if the solar system is millions of years old. The Oort cloud theory suggest that a cloud of matter 50000 AU away is replenishing our supply, but it doesn't provide a plausible mechanism for launching comets out of the cloud and into the inner solar system (at least, from what I have read about it).



    Two issues. First off, the Oort cloud occupies the outermost regions of the area defined by the Sun's gravitational field. At that distance, things like other stars and gas and dust clouds the solar system is passing through as it orbits the galactic center can easily perturb the multitude of small bodies within it. That seems very plausible to me. Secondly, current astronomical consensus holds that most short period comets have their origins in the Kuiper belt which is just beyond Neptune's orbit. You can read all about this here:

    http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-yea.html#proof3

    but I'll quote a short excerpt for immediate convenience:

    but modern studies of short-period comets have identified their probable origin in a region of space now named the Kuiper Belt, which resembles a flattened ring just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Computer simulations show that such a source would account beautifully for the low-inclination, short-period, prograde orbits, and other features associated with short-period comets. The Kuiper Belt probably has anywhere from 100 million to several billion comets, which probably formed there when the planets formed. The gradual pull of the giant gas planets over time continually send a few of those comets towards the sun. Thus, the short-period comets are replenished from the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is no longer "just" a theoretical construct. As of 1998, more than 60 of the larger objects in the Kuiper Belt have been directly observed! That translates to some 70,000 objects out there whose diameter exceeds a whopping 100 kilometers--not to mention countless numbers of normal-sized comets. Jim Foley was kind enough to pass along an Internet site for those of you who may be interested in these new discoveries. The Kuiper Belt web page (http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jewitt/kb.html) is maintained by David Jewitt, who personally discovered many of these objects.

    I suggest this link as a reputable starting point on the science of comets:

    http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jewitt/HomeSite/Home.html
  2. Re:open street map? by budgenator · · Score: 4, Informative · on Open US GPS Data?

    Street names in the US are assigned by the government and the government can't own a copyright in the US. All most all of those maps have errors and they have a lot of the same errors because they are based on the TIGER, Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system, database. The TIGER database is maintained by the U.S. Census and while they are huge, you can have a lot of fun with them especially when you mix in the Perl module Geo::Coder::US and GMT, Generic Mapping Tool. The TIGER is a database of any known and and a huge number of interpolated data points, for example my house is listed as a known point with it's "official" latitude and longitude, two blocks down is another known point and every house in between is estimated. One thing you quickly notice when playing with the database is that roads often have multiple "official" name, Roads may "officialy" exist but not physically exists and roads may physically exist with out "officially" existing. Roads can even meander and move, especially dirt fire-roads and trails in the woods.

  3. Re:Awesome! by Shag · · Score: 1 · on Upgraded Hubble To Be 90 Times As Powerful

    You know, almost all of those astronomical images are artificially colored and enhanced to maximize their ascetic appeal.

    The images have to be artificially colored because more often than not the images are put together from images outside the visible wavelength. While a lot of imaging is done in wavelengths outside the visible portion of the spectrum, there's plenty done with visible light, too. The actual "problem" arises because astronomers taking photometric measurements of things want to know how many photons are hitting each pixel on the CCD, and they want a nice range of numbers. So instead of building CCDs with red, green and blue pixels each reading out a number from 0 to 255, like you'd have in your digital camera, they build monochromatic CCDs where each pixel reads out a number from 0 to 65536.

    Of course, astronomers do care about color - sort of, anyway. They want to know how many photons hit the chip if they filter out all but certain wavebands. So, ta-dah, they take the same picture through different colored filters. If you want to do visible light imaging of stuff, you'll probably use the popular Bessell BVRI filter set (except maybe without the I since that's for infrared). B is blue, R is red, and V is "visible" which is sort of the yellowish-green part of the spectrum. Stack those images, colorize them, and what've you got? A full-color image.

    Interestingly, this approach was used terrestrially before color film, let alone CCDs, even existed!

    Anyway, if you're imaging at frequencies outside the visible spectrum then yes, it can be difficult to figure out what color a non-visible frequency of light should be! But if you're imaging in the visible spectrum, with a knwon filter set, the results should be much more predictable.

    For example, here are four images of M76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula:

    http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/m76blocks.jpg
    http://www.nightskyinfo.com/archive/m76_planetary_nebula/m76.jpg
    http://ifa.hawaii.edu/~birchall/pix/m76.jpg
    http://www.utahskies.org/report/20011214/m76wcmyl.jpg

    The telescope, camera, sky conditions, location and exposure times are different for each of those - for example, the first and last were taken with 20" and 14" telescopes, respectively, using exposures tens of minutes long, and probably cropped down from a much wider field of view, while I took the third one with a 2+ meter telescope (narrower field of view, just like a longer telephoto lens on a camera) using 30-second exposures. And each observer used whatever software they liked, on whatever computer they liked (quite possibly with no calibration) to process the monochromatic images and colorize things in a way that (they hoped) resulted in the best detail and color they could get.

    Yes, there's some variation in the particular shades of red or blue. But there's no disagreement over whether those parts should be, respectively, red and blue!
  4. Hawaii Hosts The Competition by cmholm · · Score: 1 · on Bill Gates and Microsoft Fund Telescope

    It's interesting that you posted the link to the Mauna Kea Observatories, without noting (knowing?) that UH has been ahead of the LSST folks with its similar PanSTARRS program. Both are intended to repeatedly resurvey the sky, both sell themselves to the public with the NEO search capability, and most astronomers want them primarily for supernova detection and other deep space research.

    Technically, they differ in that the LSST uses one huge cu$tom $cope, while PanSTARRS ties four smaller "commodity" research-grade scopes ganged to stare at the same piece of sky, and then post-processes the four resulting images to subtract cosmic ray detections and errors in the detectors. PanSTARRS currently has a single scope on Maui as a working prototype.

    I hope that both systems become fully operational. The more eyes on the sky, the better.

  5. Astronomer pick up lines by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1 · on Bill Gates and Microsoft Fund Telescope

    "Bill Gates... donated $30 million to an ambitious telescope"

    Talk about an expensive subsitute phallus. Most guys just buy a Corvette and get over it.

    But the scientist gets to drop lines like "Wanna visit my secluded Hawaiian getaway, I'll show you the stars. Don't forget to pack a parka."
    http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/

  6. Re:Currently Reading. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Tunguska Blast Was a Small Asteroid

    > but how well funded are these organizations that do this?

    Very well indeed, thank you.

    PanSTARRS, for example, is funded by the USAF under the ``Multi-
    Disciplinary Advanced Development Space Technology'' program.

    `` PS is funded by USAF for construction, with anticipated first
        light for the prototype PS1 system in 1/2006 and for the full
          PS4 system in early 2008.''

    They have huge data center capacity in Hawaii and the world's
    largest CCD camera array.

    Money is no problem in this area of work.

    http://pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/public/

  7. Re:Hmm.. by boot_img · · Score: 1 · on Tunguska Blast Was a Small Asteroid

    Would there be any chance of a small asteroid (one that could cause some problems) currently heading for earth not be detected yet by scientists? It is impossible for astronomers to chart, track or project the trajectories of the billions of space rocks left over from the formation of the Solar System.
    It is impossible to find and track all of the rocks, but with next-generation surveys, such as Pan-STARRS and LSST, it should possible to get most of the big ones.
  8. So Mighty Mouse is on the way... by jackpot777 · · Score: 1 · on Genetic Modification Produces Mighty Mouse

    ...but is it a case of here I come to save the day?

    Stupid thing to note: this was the only Google hit for the words of the Mighty Mouse cartoon.

    You kids. You've spoiled the internets with your "can i has cheezburger" and your disco music stealing. Get off my lawn.

  9. I see a lot of dead people by someme2 · · Score: 2, Informative · on "All Quiet Alert" Issued For the Sun

    According to http://www.census.gov/ :

    WORLD 2007 Total, all ages 6,602,236,753

    According to http://www.math.hawaii.edu/~ramsey/People.html :

    [...] one estimates that 96,100,000,000 people have lived on the earth.

    The dead outnumber the living roughly 15 to 1.

    So chances are you are already dead!

  10. Re:Camera proponents spin it both ways by Zeio · · Score: 2, Informative · on 10,000 Cameras Ineffective At Deterring Crime

    I'm sorry, but all men are born with an innate right to defend themselves from others and the government. You government takes away your innate rights. People are born with the right to life, liberty and to pursue their dreams and to property, so long as they do no deprive others of their right to live, liberty and property. All people have the right to speak freely, the internet you are using to try and advocate stripping my rights is far more free than your press, all people have the right to self defense against tyranny and crime, all people have the right against search and seizure without proper warrant, all people have the right to not self incriminate, and the right against double jeopardy, all people have the right to a jury of peers and a public speedy trial, and all people have the right to a punishment that is not cruel or unusual.

    I'm sorry your horrible government cant enumerate rights for you. We believe, and have shown, that free people do thrive. Your government executes more people each year than are murdered in the USA, and your government is guilty of killing tens of millions.

    Lets have a list of what PROC/China is up to of late:

    The PRC Chinese government has murdered countless people:
    "DEATH BY GOVERNMENT: GENOCIDE AND MASS MURDER"

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.FIG1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM

    China tires recalled:
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/26/business/26tire.php

    The organising committee of Beijing's Olympic games has promised to investigate charges that official merchandise is being manufactured using child labour.

    The PRC Chinese poison dog food:
    http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070523/chinese_protein_export_scandal-id -104033.html

    The PRC Chinese poison toothpaste:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/02toothpaste.html?ex=1181620800&en=d26dab8b 2bd85303&ei=5070

    The PRC Chinese poison Children's Toys:
    http://consumerist.com/consumer/chinese-poison-train/15-million-thomas--friends- toys-recalled-due-to-lead-paint-from-china-268658.php
    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070614/thomas_recall_07061 4/20070614?hub=CTVNewsAt11
    http://blogs.eastbayexpress.com/92510/2007/06/thomas_why_hath_thou_forsaken.php

    Chinese Seafood Detained for Safety
    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070628/D8Q239O00.html

    CNN "The China Syndrome" Special on China's dire problems in keeping food clean:
    http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/07/04/vause.china.syndrome.cnn

    - Cow milk so inundated with antibiotics you can not make Yogurt from it.

    - Pigs force-fed waste water.

    - Lard made from separating fats from sewage.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2118920,00.html

    China Jails 2 Protestant Church Leaders

  11. Re:Camera proponents spin it both ways by Zeio · · Score: 2, Informative · on 10,000 Cameras Ineffective At Deterring Crime

    I'm sorry, but all men are born with an innate right to defend themselves from others and the government. You government takes away your innate rights. People are born with the right to life, liberty and to pursue their dreams and to property, so long as they do no deprive others of their right to live, liberty and property. All people have the right to speak freely, the internet you are using to try and advocate stripping my rights is far more free than your press, all people have the right to self defense against tyranny and crime, all people have the right against search and seizure without proper warrant, all people have the right to not self incriminate, and the right against double jeopardy, all people have the right to a jury of peers and a public speedy trial, and all people have the right to a punishment that is not cruel or unusual.

    I'm sorry your horrible government cant enumerate rights for you. We believe, and have shown, that free people do thrive. Your government executes more people each year than are murdered in the USA, and your government is guilty of killing tens of millions.

    Lets have a list of what PROC/China is up to of late:

    The PRC Chinese government has murdered countless people:
    "DEATH BY GOVERNMENT: GENOCIDE AND MASS MURDER"

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.FIG1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM

    China tires recalled:
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/26/business/26tire.php

    The organising committee of Beijing's Olympic games has promised to investigate charges that official merchandise is being manufactured using child labour.

    The PRC Chinese poison dog food:
    http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070523/chinese_protein_export_scandal-id -104033.html

    The PRC Chinese poison toothpaste:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/02toothpaste.html?ex=1181620800&en=d26dab8b 2bd85303&ei=5070

    The PRC Chinese poison Children's Toys:
    http://consumerist.com/consumer/chinese-poison-train/15-million-thomas--friends- toys-recalled-due-to-lead-paint-from-china-268658.php
    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070614/thomas_recall_07061 4/20070614?hub=CTVNewsAt11
    http://blogs.eastbayexpress.com/92510/2007/06/thomas_why_hath_thou_forsaken.php

    Chinese Seafood Detained for Safety
    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070628/D8Q239O00.html

    CNN "The China Syndrome" Special on China's dire problems in keeping food clean:
    http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/07/04/vause.china.syndrome.cnn

    - Cow milk so inundated with antibiotics you can not make Yogurt from it.

    - Pigs force-fed waste water.

    - Lard made from separating fats from sewage.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2118920,00.html

    China Jails 2 Protestant Church Leaders

  12. Re:Camera proponents spin it both ways by Zeio · · Score: 2, Informative · on 10,000 Cameras Ineffective At Deterring Crime

    I'm sorry, but all men are born with an innate right to defend themselves from others and the government. You government takes away your innate rights. People are born with the right to life, liberty and to pursue their dreams and to property, so long as they do no deprive others of their right to live, liberty and property. All people have the right to speak freely, the internet you are using to try and advocate stripping my rights is far more free than your press, all people have the right to self defense against tyranny and crime, all people have the right against search and seizure without proper warrant, all people have the right to not self incriminate, and the right against double jeopardy, all people have the right to a jury of peers and a public speedy trial, and all people have the right to a punishment that is not cruel or unusual.

    I'm sorry your horrible government cant enumerate rights for you. We believe, and have shown, that free people do thrive. Your government executes more people each year than are murdered in the USA, and your government is guilty of killing tens of millions.

    Lets have a list of what PROC/China is up to of late:

    The PRC Chinese government has murdered countless people:
    "DEATH BY GOVERNMENT: GENOCIDE AND MASS MURDER"

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.FIG1.GIF

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM

    China tires recalled:
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/26/business/26tire.php

    The organising committee of Beijing's Olympic games has promised to investigate charges that official merchandise is being manufactured using child labour.

    The PRC Chinese poison dog food:
    http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070523/chinese_protein_export_scandal-id -104033.html

    The PRC Chinese poison toothpaste:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/02toothpaste.html?ex=1181620800&en=d26dab8b 2bd85303&ei=5070

    The PRC Chinese poison Children's Toys:
    http://consumerist.com/consumer/chinese-poison-train/15-million-thomas--friends- toys-recalled-due-to-lead-paint-from-china-268658.php
    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070614/thomas_recall_07061 4/20070614?hub=CTVNewsAt11
    http://blogs.eastbayexpress.com/92510/2007/06/thomas_why_hath_thou_forsaken.php

    Chinese Seafood Detained for Safety
    http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070628/D8Q239O00.html

    CNN "The China Syndrome" Special on China's dire problems in keeping food clean:
    http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/07/04/vause.china.syndrome.cnn

    - Cow milk so inundated with antibiotics you can not make Yogurt from it.

    - Pigs force-fed waste water.

    - Lard made from separating fats from sewage.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2118920,00.html

    China Jails 2 Protestant Church Leaders

  13. Re:Catch me if you can.. by pla · · Score: 1 · on Do You Need a Permit to Land on the Moon?

    If I want to launch myself into orbital demise from my own private property then I will, fascists.

    1) That philosophy, which I truly and unsarcastically applaud, works well - as long as you don't plan to come back. Though you did say "demise".

    2) You can't even fly a kite in your own backyard except at the whim of the FAA.

    3) You really think that our nonfunctioning "missile defense" system, which has proven itself totally inadequate of hitting actual missiles broadcasting their location, exists to protect us from "enemies"? It would do a great job of hitting nice slow private launch-vehicles, however...

  14. I'd sue too by mkraft · · Score: 1 · on Shaolin Monks May Sue Over Tale of Defeat by Ninja

    I'd sue too if I was beat by these guys.

  15. No, it's not the world's largest telescope. by CanSpice · · Score: 4, Informative · on World's Largest Telescope Up and Running

    It's not the world's largest telescope. There are plenty of telescopes that are larger than this. The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is about 5 meters in diameter larger. Arecibo is about 295 meters larger.

    And then you've got the array telescopes like VLA and VLBA, if you wanted to get pedantic about effective telescope size.

  16. The Olivine Question by Ranger · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Surprising Further Evidence for a Wet Mars

    There's still this pesky little thing called olivine, a volcanic rock. It's an interesting mineral in that it decomposes rapidly in water, and Mars is covered with thousands and thousands of square miles of it. There is water on Mars, perhaps, not as much as news stories in the press would imply, but the olivine puts an upper limit on the amount of water Mars has had in it's past. I want to know how the scientists can square the evidence of water and the olivine. There have been different epochs in Mars' past. I suppose it's possible that after Mars' wet period ended where most water either froze or evaporated and disassociated with the hydrogen escaping into space then there was a period of volcanism that covered large areas of Mars with olivine. Sadly, I'm not familiar with the sequence of what was formed when. It is hard to date the surface of Mars except in general terms.

    There may have been life on Mars. There may be significant amounts of water in the form of ice on Mars. It's exciting and it will take a long time to sort the geologic or areology of Mars. We should be going to explore Mars because it is an interesting world, not because it might have water or harbored life. Those discoveries are the icing on the cake. Because if those are the reasons we go an don't find anything, that will tell us something, but we will be disappointed and may not be able to get public support nor the tax dollars for future missions. We should look for evidence of life and water, but that shouldn't be our sole focus nor should we expect to find either.

  17. Re:100% Correct -- for many reasons by holophrastic · · Score: 1 · on Should Vendors Close All Security Holes?

    Incidentally, I mentioned those articles -- here's my collection. Let's get them out there to help build our industry.

    They range in subject matters that assist me, with the majority being security related.

    http://www.nbc4.com/money/11588165/detail.html
    http://www.nbc4.com/money/11588165/detail.html
    http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71032-0.html
    http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pag ename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Artic le&cid=1135552209280&call_pageid=971358637177
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM .20050704.gtkirwanjul4/BNStory/specialScienceandHe alth/
    http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=176198
    http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060619 _hyperactive_bob.html
    http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/factsheets/ fs_faq.html
    http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/open-source/open-sourc e-legal
    http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/securi ty/privacy/story/0,10801,108101,00.html
    http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com mand=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=storage&article Id=9004274&taxonomyId=19&intsrc=kc_feat
    http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=f6f 548f7-9dfd-49f4-9ff8-8ae8f4a2e2fd
    http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr 2006/tc20060417_996365.htm?campaign_id=bier_tca
    http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_37 /b4000401.htm?chan=tc&campaign_id=bier_tcst0
    http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1 781895,00.html
    http://panko.cba.hawaii.edu/ssr/Mypapers/whatknow. htm

  18. But there is some evidence! by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Informative · on Surprise Arrest For Online Scientology Critic

    In Herod's case there is at least a tomb so we can be reasonably sure that he existed and was alive around the time of Jesus' birth (~5BC). Also many of the "background" events in the bible are known to be historically accurate e.g. the Romans really did require everyone to return to the town of their birth to be taxed around 5 B.C. So while there is certainly not proof of all the events in the Bible the historical setting at least has evidence to support it.

    Where are the remains of the interplanetary craft? Where are the isotopes left over from the H bombs? The Hawaiian volcanoes were not even around 75 million years ago: the are only 11 million years old. If you don't even get the verifiable facts correct then what hope is there for the ones you cannot verify?

  19. Re:umm by pbhj · · Score: 1 · on Student, Denied Degree For MySpace Photo, Sues

    >>> "How does my choice cause you any problem?"

    When you sleep around, get disease and my work pays for your treatment. That's one way. Suppose your choice was as a pedarast or zoophile that might cause me concerned action to protect vulnerable people / animals. Suppose your choice was public sexual activity (cottaging or dogging) that would be an infringement of my enjoyment of public space. I could go on about HIV-AIDS and it's destruction of whole societies including those who haven't been promiscuous but I think really you know how personal sexuality can infringe on other peoples liberty.

    I gather from your link that you're buddhist? How does polyamoury meet with your moving towards celibacy as an upasaka

    HH Dalai Lama: "If you just think, 'Sex is not good. Buddha prohibited it, so I can't do it,' then it is very difficult to control your desire. On the other hand, if you think of the basic aim, the basic purpose--nirvana--then you will understand the reason for the precept and it will be easier to follow it. When you do more analytical meditation on the Four Noble Truths, you will gain conviction that the first two truths are to be abandoned and the last two to be actualized. Having examined whether these negative emotions--the cause of suffering--can be eliminated, you will become confident that they can. You can see clearly there is an alternative. Now the whole practice becomes meaningful. Otherwise, keeping precepts is like a punishment. When you do analytical meditation, you will realize there is a systematic way to reduce the negative emotions, and you will want to do that because your aim is nirvana, the complete elimination of negative emotions." [ http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tsomo/ordination/hh_q_a.ht ml ]

    Incidentally I know he's a Tibetan buddhist but assume that sex is considered a route towards negative emotion (jealousy etc.) in all branches. Please correct me where appropriate.

  20. Re:Antics like this... by Just+Another+Poster · · Score: 0 · on RMS Protest Song On Gitmo

    Communism isn't a bad thing, infact as children as are taught communism ideals. "Play fair and share" is the basis of Communism and we teach this to children from day one. If you think communism is some how a bad thing I suggest you look up what communism is, because it isn't a small group of people hording everything and leaving nothing for everyone under them to share.

    I have about 110 million people who would disagree with you.

    Karl Marx intended communism as a totalitarian terror state. That's precisely what occurred in practice, along with savage inequalities in wealth and power.

  21. Re:There's a beam in your eye. by Carniphage · · Score: 1 · on Talking CCTV to Scold Offenders in UK

    Guns make Amerika Safe!!!! Knowledge is Stupidity Thanks for the laugh man! http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/MURDER.RATES.WORL D.PNG

  22. Re:Fine by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1 · on New Mexico Might Declare Pluto a Planet
    It's called the Kuiper Belt. Quote...
    Starting in 1992, astronomers have become aware of a vast population of small bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune. There are at least 70,000 "trans-Neptunians" with diameters larger than 100 km in the radial zone extending outwards from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to 50 AU. Observations show that the trans-Neptunians are mostly confined within a thick band around the ecliptic, leading to the realization that they occupy a ring or belt surrounding the sun. This ring is generally referred to as the Kuiper Belt.

    Check this list of 1,000 km scale KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects).

  23. Re:Fine by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1 · on New Mexico Might Declare Pluto a Planet
    It's called the Kuiper Belt. Quote...
    Starting in 1992, astronomers have become aware of a vast population of small bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune. There are at least 70,000 "trans-Neptunians" with diameters larger than 100 km in the radial zone extending outwards from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to 50 AU. Observations show that the trans-Neptunians are mostly confined within a thick band around the ecliptic, leading to the realization that they occupy a ring or belt surrounding the sun. This ring is generally referred to as the Kuiper Belt.

    Check this list of 1,000 km scale KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects).

  24. Re:Simulations by mdsolar · · Score: 2, Informative · on Speed Found to be Key to Galaxy Formation

    I know Josh Barnes has produced some vidio of spirals rotating but I have not found it. Here are some more exciting merger simulation: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/vi d301_04.mpg and http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/v0 211d3.mpg found at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/research/interac tion_models/mice/index.html#modeling. Models which concentrate on just rotation tend to be just two dimensional to save on computing. The are used to study secular evolution which could also lead from the Tully-Fisher to the Faber-Jackson relation.
    --
    Fun with the Sun: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html

  25. Re:Simulations by mdsolar · · Score: 2, Informative · on Speed Found to be Key to Galaxy Formation

    I know Josh Barnes has produced some vidio of spirals rotating but I have not found it. Here are some more exciting merger simulation: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/vi d301_04.mpg and http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/v0 211d3.mpg found at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/research/interac tion_models/mice/index.html#modeling. Models which concentrate on just rotation tend to be just two dimensional to save on computing. The are used to study secular evolution which could also lead from the Tully-Fisher to the Faber-Jackson relation.
    --
    Fun with the Sun: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html

  26. Re:Simulations by mdsolar · · Score: 2, Informative · on Speed Found to be Key to Galaxy Formation

    I know Josh Barnes has produced some vidio of spirals rotating but I have not found it. Here are some more exciting merger simulation: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/vi d301_04.mpg and http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/pressrel/mice/v0 211d3.mpg found at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/research/interac tion_models/mice/index.html#modeling. Models which concentrate on just rotation tend to be just two dimensional to save on computing. The are used to study secular evolution which could also lead from the Tully-Fisher to the Faber-Jackson relation.
    --
    Fun with the Sun: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html

  27. They've already funded this. Did they forget? by Shag · · Score: 1 · on NASA Can't Pay for Killer Asteroid Hunt
    NASA and others have already funded a whole bunch of things to find asteroids. Like:

    LINEAR
    LONEOS
    NEAT
    Spacewatch

    The next generation involves ones that will find more, find smaller (but still dangerous) ones, and find them faster. Like:

    Pan-STARRS (prototype built)
    LSST (proposed)

    Pan-STARRS most certainly is funded, is in active development, already has a single-telescope prototype up and running to some degree, and hopes to have its full system (4 telescopes, each with a 1.4 gigapixel camera) operational in the next few years. (The nastiest rock we're aware of so far will miss us in about 22 years.)

    If there is a life on earth ending event occurring from some asteroid they COULD find, does it matter at all? There is nothing we can do about it anyway.


    Actually, there is. Nature ran an article 2 years ago on a proposal for a "gravity tractor" by NASA astronauts Ed Lu and Stan Love. I've seen Ed's presentation on it, and he knows his stuff. (He's a farkin' astronaut, after all, and was an astrophysicist before that.)

    So, to recap:

    NASA has funded this stuff all along. The stuff Congress wants done probably will actually get done. And NASA's own people are already telling anyone who will listen what to do if we do find the big nasty rock.

    Exactly why nobody at NASA can remember any of this when testifying before Congress... I have no idea. :)

    Disclaimer: I work for the institute that's the lead organization on Pan-STARRS. Ed Lu used to work there too; I've met him; I may be biased. :) I also know and work with the (in)famous David Tholen, who found that 2029 rock, Apophis.

    Oh, and if you'd like to check out a talk given by Ed, David, and Pan-STARRS's Rob Jedicke and Nick Kaiser, I'm sure my buddy over at AstroDay.net won't mind a few visitors... dunno if you'll all be listen to the audio podcast of the session at the same time, though!

  28. They've already funded this. Did they forget? by Shag · · Score: 1 · on NASA Can't Pay for Killer Asteroid Hunt
    NASA and others have already funded a whole bunch of things to find asteroids. Like:

    LINEAR
    LONEOS
    NEAT
    Spacewatch

    The next generation involves ones that will find more, find smaller (but still dangerous) ones, and find them faster. Like:

    Pan-STARRS (prototype built)
    LSST (proposed)

    Pan-STARRS most certainly is funded, is in active development, already has a single-telescope prototype up and running to some degree, and hopes to have its full system (4 telescopes, each with a 1.4 gigapixel camera) operational in the next few years. (The nastiest rock we're aware of so far will miss us in about 22 years.)

    If there is a life on earth ending event occurring from some asteroid they COULD find, does it matter at all? There is nothing we can do about it anyway.


    Actually, there is. Nature ran an article 2 years ago on a proposal for a "gravity tractor" by NASA astronauts Ed Lu and Stan Love. I've seen Ed's presentation on it, and he knows his stuff. (He's a farkin' astronaut, after all, and was an astrophysicist before that.)

    So, to recap:

    NASA has funded this stuff all along. The stuff Congress wants done probably will actually get done. And NASA's own people are already telling anyone who will listen what to do if we do find the big nasty rock.

    Exactly why nobody at NASA can remember any of this when testifying before Congress... I have no idea. :)

    Disclaimer: I work for the institute that's the lead organization on Pan-STARRS. Ed Lu used to work there too; I've met him; I may be biased. :) I also know and work with the (in)famous David Tholen, who found that 2029 rock, Apophis.

    Oh, and if you'd like to check out a talk given by Ed, David, and Pan-STARRS's Rob Jedicke and Nick Kaiser, I'm sure my buddy over at AstroDay.net won't mind a few visitors... dunno if you'll all be listen to the audio podcast of the session at the same time, though!

  29. Re:A Real Moon Colony by jimstapleton · · Score: 2, Interesting · on NASA's Future Inflatable Lunar Base

    They need to get people there first.

    Personally, looking at the maps here, I know wher I'd put the colony.

  30. Overflow by P(0)(!P(k)+P(k+1)) · · Score: -1 · on Software Bug Halts F-22 Flight

    From TFS:

    [E]very fighter completely lost all navigation and communications when they crossed the international date line.

    Since Japan is nineteen hours ahead of Hawaii, I'll assume they're adding a day; and if the onboard system is using, say, 64-bit ints for femtoseconds since takeoff, that's sufficient for an overflow.

  31. Take another look by Engineer-Poet · · Score: 1 · on On Electricity (Generation)
    (Goddammit, why can't I see the italicized text inside blockquotes? Is Slashdot fucking me over AGAIN?)

    We are not rapidly running out of natural gas. We're running out of domestic natural gas, but world natural gas supplies are still quite plentiful.

    And, GW emissions aside, how exactly does this helps our energy security and balance of trade situations? There is considerable resistance to LNG terminals also.

    Note that the US used to use a significant amount of oil for electricity generation.

    A point I've made frequently. (Note that "petroleum" in that table includes refining byproducts such as petroleum coke, so the total of liquids is even less.)

    The primary replacements for oil-fired electric plants were nuclear and coal. Recently we've added a lot of gas-fired capacity. We can't add more gas due to supply limits, coal is a pollution and GHG nightmare and nuclear has a 10-year or so planning horizon. The immediate problems require other solutions, and I think the primary ones are going to be wind, efficiency and cogeneration.

    When it became expensive, we switched, and now oil is almost unused in this country for power generation (except for backup power). Barring some instant, "ooops, we're out of natural gas -- when the heck did that happen?" moment (which is essentially impossible), there's not going to be an electricity shortage.

    Impossible? It happened to New Zealand:

    The Maui gas field has been responsible for 25% of New Zealand's electricity generation. When it runs out in a year or two, not only will a multibillion dollar infrastructure become essentially obsolete overnight but New Zealand will have lost 25% of it's electricity generation capacity. If you thought New Zealand's electricity crisis was a concern it is about to get a whole lot worse.

    It ain't what you don't know that'll get ya. It those things you know that ain't so.

    As for a charcoal fuel cell: it's not about whether or not you can get energy from charcoal in a variety of manners. Feeding it and removing the byproducts, even in a slurry, is the problematic element -- especially when you factor in the cost of making your charcoal consistent enough.

    Consistent? It only has to be fine enough (and ball mills are very good at guaranteeing that). The actual feeding is an engineering problem; if engineers can build gravimetric feeders for powdered coal in furnaces which require steady flames, the management of a carbonate bath which needs feeding every half-hour or so can't be all that difficult. And here's what the originators say about ash:

    The ash in coal may be chemically extracted and thereby reduced to levels below 0.5% at minimal cost and energy penalty. At this level, its impact on electrolyte life no longer limits cell economy.

    In other words, you're going to need to deal with other things before the electrolyte composition changes enough to bother you. More about ash on pages 11-12 of this PDF.

    As for charcoal itself, its production is a lossy process. Much of the original energy is contained in the released gasses -- namely CO, H2, and volatile oils/tars -- but they're mixed in with lots of CO2 and H2O, making for less efficient combustion (not to mention the energy loss involved with the process heat).

    Quite right! Charcoal produced by flash carbonization yields about half the input energy as gas and heat (a pyrolysis process driven by external heat would convert more to carbon and le

  32. Re:Why Keep it going? by Shag · · Score: 4, Informative · on Hubble Telescope's Main Camera Shuts Down

    ground based systems can't look at a single point in space for a long duration image set

    Neither can Hubble. The Hubble Deep Field was pieced together from 10 nights of images. The newer Hubble Ultra Deep Field, from 11 nights.

    Pretty much any half-decent-looking astronomical image you see is a combination of multiple exposures. I'm one of the operators of the 2.2-meter (that's slightly smaller than Hubble) telescope on Mauna Kea, and have been teaching myself the process of getting and combining images in different filters/wavelengths. For example, I made this shot of M76 from about a dozen exposures. (Using, incidentally, the same instrument that was used to discover the Kuiper Belt back in 1992.)

    Just a data point.

  33. Re:"Liberal media" by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1 · on The Return of the Fairness Doctrine?
    You mean like NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, CNN, NPR, Various Publishing Houses

    The New York Times and Washington Post have been reliably conservative on foreign policy. They're reliable supporters of Israel; they've were unquestioning of the Iraq war until recently (if they'd done their jobs and revealed Bush's bullshit before we were up to our necks in it, the war wouldn't have happened). The front section of the Post always has a bunch of ads for fighter planes and weapons systems, after all; a bit of war is good for their sponsors business. They feature conservative voices on their editorial pages, and their reporting on economic issues skews center-right.

    I don't know so much about the LA Times. CNN is also full of conservative voices. NPR is not a for-profit corporation, but has a conservative bias in its sources. "Various Publishing Houses" is vague and meaningless.

    The way I figure it, 1/2 is left wing, 1/2 is right wing, and 0 represent Libertarian position.

    Libertarian capitalism - which is usually what's meant by "capital L" Libertarian, the position of the the Libertarian party, is a right-wing position. Properly speaking, left and right are economic positions, being in favor of labor and capital respectively.

    (It is of course possible to be a leftist or socialist libertarian, but that's "little l" libertarian.)

    The Wall Street Journal is often libertarian capitalist in its bias; certainly there are a number of smaller publications, such as Reason.

    "Yes, I'm saying that conservative social positions correlate with provincialism and ignorance."

    That is your opinion, and is based on the kind of elitism I detest.

    No, it's not just my opinion.

    It's long been clear that urban areas are more social liberal than rural ones. It's harder to maintain prejudices in a more densely populated area where your neighbors are diverse.

    The more educated the population of a state, the less likely that state was to vote for Bush in 2000; college graduates are much less socially conservative than people with less education.

    If being in favor of education and diversity means "elitism", then I will proudly call myself elitist.

    How about this, I leave you alone, you leave me alone, I won't take your money for things you don't like, and you won't take my money for things I don't like. Deal?

    The leave each other alone thing is fine. The "not take my money" has the complication of figuring out just what is my money, since money - like many forms of property - a creation of the state.

    Libertarian capitalists like to talk about getting the government out of "meddling" in economic matters, but when I suggest revoking government issued corporate charters, land and resource deeds, patents and copyrights, all the government interventions that make capitalism possible, they blanch.

  34. LSST v. PanSTARRS Approach by cmholm · · Score: 3, Interesting · on The Astronomical Event Search Engine

    The shop I'm at has been working the image processing and data storage problem for PanSTARRS, another sky survey project that is a bit further along (they have a test scope up and running on Maui). It's interesting to me that both projects are at once using conventional solutions and thinking outside of the box.

    Conventional: LSST will use a single large telescope and detector; PanSTARRS (as it stands) intends to use a dedicated compute cluster for data reduction.
    Novel: LSST is leaning towards distributing its data reduction task over Google's huge server farm; PanSTARRS will use four off-the-shelf 1.8m telescopes, each with a 1.4GP detector, mounted together to image the same piece of sky, and merging the overlapping images in post processing.

    When I was working on the project, one of PanSTARRS requirements was to finish analyzing one night's viewing before the following sunset. Early on, the principal investigators decided to solve the image storage issue by not storing them permanently. Instead, once the science for a night's imaging had been extracted (astrometry, LEO or supernova detection, etc), the original images would hit the bit bucket. Whether they've stuck with that I don't know.

  35. This is so awesome by PurifyYourMind · · Score: 3, Informative · on Birth of an Island

    You usually think of these structures as having been around for at least as long as civilization, but clearly the Earth is ever-changing... very cool.

    Here's a decent intro to island formation:
    http://www.hawaii.edu/environment/ainakumuwai/html /ainakumuwaiislandformation.htm

  36. Too bad Solzhenitsyn is so old by Nova+Express · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Chess Grandmaster Kasparov Versus President Putin
    If I were to pick a single Russian of perfect integrity to challenge Putin for the presidency, it would be Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The man who wrore The Gulag Archipelago, one of the most important books of the 20th centur, and the one which exposed the vast Soviet network of slave labor concentration camps, as well as either the first or second worst (depening on which set of numbers you use) genocides of the 20th century.

    The man who put his life on the line to tell the truth about the evil's of communism is one of the great intellectual heroes of our day, as well someone of absolute integrity and moral authority. Alas, he is also 88 years old, and it's hard to conceive of him undertaking the rigors of a political campaign, or even the office of President, at that age. but one can dream...

  37. Re:I think this has a name by silentounce · · Score: 1 · on Tech Companies Draw on 'Wisdom of the Crowds'

    Your right, this system has existed for centuries. I'm not sure if this Paul Birch knows of it. The system is actual the etymological root of the term "handicap". It's not exactly the same. But it relies on the same principle.

  38. Re:Mexican scientists must be humble by G3CK0 · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Giant Mexican Telescope Launched

    While I understand the frustration at the idiot comments that have been posted so far, I think you are way off base in regards to the scientific research and education that goes on in the US. If you were too lazy to read the article before responding, the summary even states that the US has supplied funding for this project.

    While it is amazing that Mexico has built a new LMT, I feel obligated to remind you of the multiple telescopes the US operates such as Gemini, KECK, NASA IRTF, CSO, SMA, NRAO. These are but a few off the top of my head.

  39. Re:Oh really?? by sponger · · Score: -1 · on China vs U.S. in an 'Internet Race'

    I think you all are a little confused. communist governments are responsible for more deaths than any other ideology EVER

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.8.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.2.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.4.GIF

  40. Re:Oh really?? by sponger · · Score: -1 · on China vs U.S. in an 'Internet Race'

    I think you all are a little confused. communist governments are responsible for more deaths than any other ideology EVER

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.8.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.2.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.4.GIF

  41. Re:Oh really?? by sponger · · Score: -1 · on China vs U.S. in an 'Internet Race'

    I think you all are a little confused. communist governments are responsible for more deaths than any other ideology EVER

    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.8.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.2.GIF
    http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.FIG1.4.GIF

  42. Re:Canada-France-Hawaii telescope? by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 4, Informative · on Supernova Casts Doubt on "Standard Candle"
    because
    CFHT is a joint facility of:

    * National Research Council of Canada (see also Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics),
    * Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France (see also CNRS/INSU ), and
    * University of Hawaii (see also UH/IfA ).
    i.e. two national bodies and one local body. This is all on their website http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
  43. Re:Ion drive by solitas · · Score: 2, Informative · on EU Craft Successfully Hits The Moon

    This page: http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/News/Smart1/ says that the camera's resolution was 0.3 seconds of arc, which equals about 500 meters, per pixel.

    I don't see any kind of change in the surface before/after - does anyone yet know if maybe it ricocheted back up again? 15 seconds/frame probably wouldn't show anything further...

  44. Re:waiting by cptgrudge · · Score: 5, Informative · on Pluto Making a Comeback

    Your post intrigued me, and after some quick research with the help of Google, I agree. You can fire up Celestia and actually see some of them, just make asteroid orbits and names visible. Pluto fits right in with them; it seems to be the largest of them.

    For you unbelievers, here's a list. These objects are all out of the "normal" plane of orbits, just like Pluto.

    Name, Radius
    Pluto, 1,151km
    Ixion, 600km
    Quaoar, 625km
    Orcus, 800km
    Varuna, 450km

    And these are just some "nicely named" ones. See "2003 EL61", "2005 FY9", etc for more examples. And you can add more as well. For those with computers that aren't slow, this page contains a Celestia ssc of 1007(!) TNOs. Doughnut shaped indeed.

    Also, there is a class (like 20%-30%) of them called Plutinos which share Pluto's stable 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. How did this come to be? There are theories, but nothing definitive yet.

    The debate will continue, but if you look at that Celestia ssc of 1007 TNOs, it is pretty clear that Pluto is not a "major planet". If it is, then we've got dozens, possibly hundreds of them.

    (Apologies if this has been covered before.)

  45. Re:Does pornography increase incidents of rape? by maynard · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Possession of Violent Pornography Outlawed in UK
    Nice strawman. Not all porn uses rape play acting. A better question would be "does porn increase promiscuity?"

    Well then, have another study which looks at the increase in porn availability in Japan and contrasts that with the crime rate. Same conclusion.

    "The most dramatic decrease in sex crimes was seen when attention was focused on the number and age of rapists and victims among younger groups (Table 2). We hypothesized that the increase in pornography, without age restriction and in comics, if it had any detrimental effect, would most negatively influence younger individuals. Just the opposite occurred. The number of juvenile offenders dramatically dropped every period reviewed from 1,803 perpetrators in 1972 to a low of 264 in 1995; a drop of some 85% (Table 1). The number of victims also decreased particularly among the females younger than 13 (Table 2). In 1972, 8.3% of the victims were younger than 13. In 1995 the percentage of victims younger than 13 years of age dropped to 4.0%."


    Now, as to your assertion that these studies are "strawmen" arguments, would you please explain this assertion rather than just claiming it so? I don't see the strawman you allege. Next, how do you plan to gage an increase or decrease in promiscuity? Would that be by survey? If so, then good luck getting accurate data (you'll need it).
  46. Re:Powerpoint used well by budgenator · · Score: 1 · on Edward Tufte Talks information Design

    Then wouldn't it make more sense to download something like GMT, Generic Mapping Tool to make you maps, charts and graphs to professional standards with, and then type-set them with something like the scribus desktop publishing system and export the slides to a PDF for printing and display? I guess I just think of power point slides as about equivelent to ruled 3 holed notebook paper, somethings notes are written on and the pre-printing is more or less an altenative to hand drawn pictures.

  47. Re:Required vs Encouraged by edunbar93 · · Score: 1 · on Perseid Meteor Shower To Peak This Weekend

    Star gazing is still another matter altogether. ;-)

    Another matter in which I'm an expert. :) (And so are they)

    While the view generally gets better the higher you go, the higher you go above 10,000 ft, the less oxygen your brain and eyeballs get to see with. O2 improves this so much at 14,000 ft, I've heard pilots describe the difference as "like turning the lights on". Especially at night (someone else mentioned that the FAR rules are lower at night as well).

    While I expect that the view was quite spectacular like you say, it's not anywhere near as good as it could be, unless you're Chilean. "Just lying on the ground" might not be a very vigorous activity, but neither is flying VFR.

  48. Audacity has decent noise removal by brett42 · · Score: 1 · on Recording Skype Audio for Broadcast?

    Audacity has a noise removal effect that was able to remove a really horrible hiss after a hybrid decided to stop behaving before an interview (shameless plug for University Radio Hilo). It takes a sample segment that should be the noise by itself and can then be applied to the rest of the file. It won't improve the source quality, but it might help with the hiss, especially if it's really constant.

  49. Generic Mapping Tool by budgenator · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Writing Code for Surface Plots?

    Generic Mapping Tool, will do everything you want, and a lot you have not even thought of yet. GMT produces postscript and encapsuleated postscript, so if you have a postscript viewer your good to go, runs on unix/linux, is GPL'd so there source code to analyse. There are lots of examples with generating scripts such as time-series collected along a track or a 3D perspective, artificialy illuminated, greyscale image; just reading and understanding the accompanying ducumentation should be good for college credit in cartography.

  50. Generic Mapping Tool by budgenator · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Writing Code for Surface Plots?

    Generic Mapping Tool, will do everything you want, and a lot you have not even thought of yet. GMT produces postscript and encapsuleated postscript, so if you have a postscript viewer your good to go, runs on unix/linux, is GPL'd so there source code to analyse. There are lots of examples with generating scripts such as time-series collected along a track or a 3D perspective, artificialy illuminated, greyscale image; just reading and understanding the accompanying ducumentation should be good for college credit in cartography.