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Giant Cloud of Methanol Found in Space
kakos writes "Astronomers have recently discovered a giant cloud of methanol in our region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The cloud measures 463 billion kilometres across. Study of this cloud could lead scientists to a greater understanding of how star formation occurs. Furthermore, the abundance of organic molecules in interstellar space could also shed light on the chemical origins of life."
Finally, a solution for our post-peak oil problems! Now, all we need to do is make a solar powered spaceship and pack a really long siphoning hose...
as "great tasting", with "less tar".
Oh wait, you said Methanol...well, we can still get totally wasted off of that, broseph!
/Frat Aliens
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
You know things are starting to slip when it has to be explicitly pointed out in an article about an astronomic discovery that you can't drink the thing.
Other than jokingly, I wonder how many people thought "Cool, space booze!"?
Remember kids, looking at it in a telescope is fine, but drink it and you'll go blind. Instead of imbibing galactic moonshine, buy your alcohol only from a legitimate manufacturer.
This is old news.
Smeghead every day of the week.
This reminds me of the pool of ethanol I swim in in my dreams.
Property is theft.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
Time for a regime change in space, let's liberate aliens and bring them democracy.
-- javaDragon is an instance of JavaDragon.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
Really, nerds not knowing that methanol causes blindness is the bigger joke.
Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
"There's Coffee in that Nebula"
Of course, Americans don't have a peak oil problem anyway: in their world,
oil is either limitless or it actually grows from the Earth's mantle.
*THIS IS WHAT AMERICANS ACTUALLY BELIEVE*
Methanol (sporting a mere 6 atoms) is an "organic" molecule in the sense of being related to the chemistry of life only by courtesy, because it's got a carbon atom. I suggest information about how methanol is distributed between the stars will have as much relevance to the origin of life as knowing how helium or hydroxyl radicals or plain old dust is distributed. Which is to say, not much.
you know, If we could muster enough methane, the right catalyst, and a gallon of vermouth we could have a martini almost half a light-year across.......
And who says there's no God...
== That terrible green-green grass, and violent blooms of flower dresses, and afternoons that make me sleepy.==
not only are you a tool, but an inefficient one who can't even post a url correctly.
having said that i never use the preview btuton
Maybe Bush was wrong all along. Maybe he should've invaded Vulcan for WMDs & terrorists. Nevermind they have the galaxy's largest supply of Methanol reserves. Must liberate the alcohol cause God told me so!
Maybe the desnity is indicated somewhere in the article... should I read the article? This is Slashdot, no way!
You just got troll'd!
Could this have been the result of a cosmic Exxon Valdez?
That must be Benders heaven!!!
...that on every article about space exploration, there's always a sentence attached, which reads something like "[this discovery] could lead scientists to a greater understanding of X" (where X is usually Life, Universe, or Everything)
It's kind of starting to get on my nerves.. oh well..
Did you know that "FTW" ("for the win") is a direct translation of "Sieg Heil"?
MELLLVAR
It is I!
[Everyone gasps and looks up. Above them is a hovering, green cloud.]
BENDER
Whoa! What a cheesy effect!
MELLLVAR
I am not an effect! You doubt my power?
BENDER
I do.
[Melllvar zaps Welshy with a bolt of lightning and he falls over.]
WELSHY (shouting)
Aye!
[Fry runs to him and holds him.]
FRY (screaming)
Welshy!
They are just mixing up another batch of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.
...is that considered free as in Beer?
Farting methanol? I get the image of someone ass-huffing a girl.
To blow that shit out of it. Man, that would be good.
Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
...is that the cloud isn't made of just methanol. It just has enough methanol to be detectable from its radio emissions. Most of this cloud (which has been known for a long time) is made up of hydrogen and helium, just like most of the universe.
Wake me up when they find some ethanol. :\
Wow, that's the hugest fart in the entire .. sorry, I thought you said methANE.
Sorry. Forget I said that. Sorry
"Cats like plain crisps"
Theirs a preveiw butotn?/
OK, two things about TFA:
1.) Am I the only one who could not see the cloud in the picture?
2.) I like how they added "Methanol is not suitable for human consumption".
GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
This should be news? Haven't you heard about Beer in Space?
from the to-stupid-for-words dept.
Holy crap! There must be a whole bunch of belching cows in interstellar space!
How long you could run your laptop over there!!!
hmmmm?
Bush insurance perhaps?
burrocrisy
and that would be what? Ruling by jackasses? Never has a slashdot misspelling been more apropos
That aint no troll!
Some say he is made with ascii, others that he is eyeballed daily by millions. All we know is, he is known as the Sig
... whether you like it or not! He's right; marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco in the sense that alcohol and tobacco contain substances that lead to serious diseases, and marijuana doesn't. Moreover, marijuana is also no more dangerous than alcohol in terms of impairment during use. The only reason marijuana is illegal is historical: because it was frequently used by Mexican and African Americans in the early part of the 20th century, racists used it as a scapegoat to hurt those groups. Newspapers printed hysterical crap like "OMG! Doped-up niggers are gonna rape your white wife!!!one! Ban marijuana now!!!" and people were stupid enough to belive them (or were racist themselves, and agreed anyway).
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
First off, I find this so very funny. In an article on cosmology, they have to state that methynol is not suitable for human consumption! But then, the headline did make me think, "ROAD TRIP!"
Really, though, this is an important discovery (one of several) that puts another nail in the coffin of the various theories and ~philosophies~ that say life couldn't spring up from space junk. Those scientists, and creationists, need to rethink their ideas a bit. The 'stuff of life' had to come from somewhere and while forming directly here on planet Earth is well within the realm of possibility, so is the idea of life forming here (or anywhere else) from bio-chemicals from space. If you happen to be a hard-core creationist, then you need to consider the idea that God created the 'stuff of life' with the universe and we are but one of many peoples under Him. What ever you believe as a scientist and/or religious individual, you have to see the scientific facts for the truths that they are.
Excuse me.
Methanol isn't as flammable as Gasoline.. but it's still flammable!!! What's going to happen to us when a passing comet sets off sparks and 460 BILLION KILOMETERS of space explodes? The shock wave will knock earth out of rotation and send us hurtling out of the Solar System! We're all going to freeze to death!
I for one welcome our giant methanol overloards.
Just free as in radical.
(CH3+ + OH- => CH3OH)
Sorry, that should be:
CH4 + H2O -> CH3OH + H2
I feel like a Yorkshireman, losing H's like this...
that isn't ethanol
Who farted?
Zqykyqhjjjayzyyxx, I'm looking at you!
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife