"Considering the statistically unlikely percentage of planetary orbits that would naturally line up so that the planet would transit its sun from our point of view..."
About 10% of the "Hot Jupiters" (which are very close to their suns) are lined up close enough to edge-on to the line of sight that they show transits, and something like 1% for planets in more Earthlike orbits are lined up close enough to edge-on, IIRC.
(The closer the planet is to the surface of the star, the more likely it is to line up close enough to transit from our point of view; in the limit of a planet skimming the surface of the star, the percentaqe would approach 100%, of course. )
On the Planetary Society blog page, Emily Lakdawalla has completely demolished this assertion, showing the "nearly-true color" version of the image (the one shown is highly colorized), and the context image showing where on the sloped wall of the crater this "pooling water" is supposed to be.
The Pancam is probably the best calibrated science camera ever built by humans, and definitely the best calibrated camera ever built weighing less than a few hundred grams. Does your cell phone take radiometrically calibrated 12-bit images in 13 spectral bands? And, more important, can it send images back from Mars?
Look at publications with pancam specifications at the
Pancam instrument page.
Good God, I like New Scientist because they have an attitude, but couldn't they have asked an actual MER scientist about the image?
That's a false-color image. For what it's worth, the Pancam true-color page is here:
Pancam True color
and the full-size true-color panorama of Endurance crater is here:
Endurance Pan.
Try looking at this, instead of the false color single frame, and just try convincing yourself that you're seeing water on the sloped sides of the crater.
I have to agree. The "teleportation" discussed in physics articles has nothing whatsoever to do with science-fiction teleportation. It is a buzz word that means copying a quantum state and reproducing it in a different atom (or photon, or electron) somewhere else. It's "teleportation" in the same way that sending a fax is "teleporting" an image.
By an oddity of quantum physics (the "no clone" theorem), when you copy quantum information, you erase it, so when you reproduce a quantum state in a distant atom, the state is erased in the orginal atom. So in some metaphysical sense, the "information" in that quantum state was moved. But the atom itself was not moved; the atom had to be already there. You don't move atoms by "quantum teleportation", you move information.
Wow, that's annoying. I wrote a computer display coffee-table into a science-fiction story that I just finished writing, and now everybody's going to think I just steal ideas from reading Slashdot.
We know Earthlike planets can support life. We don't know if non-Earthlike planets can. Logically we should pay more attention to the worlds which we know can support life than the ones that may (but we just don't know)
"You just don't know" is correct. We don't know.
However, we do know that life can survive in the temperature range where water is liquid. So it is extremely interesting to find the existence of planets beyond the Earth that have conditions where our kind of life can survive.
As for other types of life, based on other chemistries, there has been lots of speculation, but so far no actual biology. Very likely the only way we'll know whether other chemistries will allow life to form is when we find it.
He means exactly what he said: they found a type of planet that had not previously been seen OUTSIDE the solar system.
This is significant because it is evidence that our solar system is not unique.
03/30/2006 10:59 AM MST
New vote machines ignite feud in Emery
Software flaw? County clerk threatens to resign over issue
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3646075
03/30/2006 11:00 AM MST
Emery County clerk takes back his resignation
Now what? But the feud over election machines heats up, and commissioners say the clerk is out of a job
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3649394
Last Updated: 03/31/2006 12:42 AM MST
Short long on battle advice
Voting machine fight: The controversial former S. L. County official says mediation is the answer
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3658052
Last Updated: 04/07/2006 3:51 PM MDT
Former Emery County clerk still fighting to keep job
"The revelations are a serious blow to MIT, which prides itself on its reputation as a scientific powerhouse. "
I would have to say the opposite. Before coming to MIT, he was at both Harvard and Caltech, where he had apparently also been fabricating data.
The difference is that, unlike Harvard or Caltech, at MIT they found it, investigated it, and took action.
Slashdot Mirror
About 10% of the "Hot Jupiters" (which are very close to their suns) are lined up close enough to edge-on to the line of sight that they show transits, and something like 1% for planets in more Earthlike orbits are lined up close enough to edge-on, IIRC.
(The closer the planet is to the surface of the star, the more likely it is to line up close enough to transit from our point of view; in the limit of a planet skimming the surface of the star, the percentaqe would approach 100%, of course. )
On the Planetary Society blog page, Emily Lakdawalla has completely demolished this assertion, showing the "nearly-true color" version of the image (the one shown is highly colorized), and the context image showing where on the sloped wall of the crater this "pooling water" is supposed to be.
The Pancam is probably the best calibrated science camera ever built by humans, and definitely the best calibrated camera ever built weighing less than a few hundred grams. Does your cell phone take radiometrically calibrated 12-bit images in 13 spectral bands? And, more important, can it send images back from Mars? Look at publications with pancam specifications at the Pancam instrument page.
Good God, I like New Scientist because they have an attitude, but couldn't they have asked an actual MER scientist about the image? That's a false-color image. For what it's worth, the Pancam true-color page is here: Pancam True color and the full-size true-color panorama of Endurance crater is here: Endurance Pan. Try looking at this, instead of the false color single frame, and just try convincing yourself that you're seeing water on the sloped sides of the crater.
I have to agree. The "teleportation" discussed in physics articles has nothing whatsoever to do with science-fiction teleportation. It is a buzz word that means copying a quantum state and reproducing it in a different atom (or photon, or electron) somewhere else. It's "teleportation" in the same way that sending a fax is "teleporting" an image. By an oddity of quantum physics (the "no clone" theorem), when you copy quantum information, you erase it, so when you reproduce a quantum state in a distant atom, the state is erased in the orginal atom. So in some metaphysical sense, the "information" in that quantum state was moved. But the atom itself was not moved; the atom had to be already there. You don't move atoms by "quantum teleportation", you move information.
Wow, that's annoying. I wrote a computer display coffee-table into a science-fiction story that I just finished writing, and now everybody's going to think I just steal ideas from reading Slashdot.
Exactly! Well said.
"You just don't know" is correct. We don't know. However, we do know that life can survive in the temperature range where water is liquid. So it is extremely interesting to find the existence of planets beyond the Earth that have conditions where our kind of life can survive. As for other types of life, based on other chemistries, there has been lots of speculation, but so far no actual biology. Very likely the only way we'll know whether other chemistries will allow life to form is when we find it.
He means exactly what he said: they found a type of planet that had not previously been seen OUTSIDE the solar system. This is significant because it is evidence that our solar system is not unique.
Last Updated: 03/24/2006 1:49 AM MST Rolly: A real shock for voters?
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3634490
Last Updated: 03/29/2006 11:35 PM MST Voting machine deal smells (letter)
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3653161
03/30/2006 10:59 AM MST New vote machines ignite feud in Emery Software flaw? County clerk threatens to resign over issue
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3646075
03/30/2006 11:00 AM MST Emery County clerk takes back his resignation Now what? But the feud over election machines heats up, and commissioners say the clerk is out of a job
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3649394
Last Updated: 03/31/2006 12:42 AM MST Short long on battle advice Voting machine fight: The controversial former S. L. County official says mediation is the answer
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3658052
Last Updated: 04/07/2006 3:51 PM MDT Former Emery County clerk still fighting to keep job
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3678385
"The revelations are a serious blow to MIT, which prides itself on its reputation as a scientific powerhouse. " I would have to say the opposite. Before coming to MIT, he was at both Harvard and Caltech, where he had apparently also been fabricating data. The difference is that, unlike Harvard or Caltech, at MIT they found it, investigated it, and took action.