What did you see on the web today?

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

I might not be the best person to start this but I'll give it a try. There may be astronomy-related web bits that don't fit into the existing categories.

Interesting Earth Science Picture of the Day today. I like the idea of a carbon star. Wonder if they are more graphite-like or diamond-like into their core composition? Maybe all are not "carbon" copies.

http://epod.usra.edu/

[Ann]

Thanks, Ron-Astro Pharmacist, for creating this thread. I saw something that isn't astronomical, but which is interesting anyway. Google wants to shape up, did you know? It wants to separate facts from fiction.

Hal Hodson wrote:

THE internet is stuffed with garbage. Anti-vaccination websites make the front page of Google, and fact-free "news" stories spread like wildfire. Google has devised a fix – rank websites according to their truthfulness.

Google's search engine currently uses the number of incoming links to a web page as a proxy for quality, determining where it appears in search results. So pages that many other sites link to are ranked higher. This system has brought us the search engine as we know it today, but the downside is that websites full of misinformation can rise up the rankings, if enough people link to them.

A Google research team is adapting that model to measure the trustworthiness of a page, rather than its reputation across the web. Instead of counting incoming links, the system – which is not yet live – counts the number of incorrect facts within a page. "A source that has few false facts is considered to be trustworthy," says the team (arxiv.org/abs/1502.03519v1). The score they compute for each page is its Knowledge-Based Trust score.

The software works by tapping into the Knowledge Vault, the vast store of facts that Google has pulled off the internet. Facts the web unanimously agrees on are considered a reasonable proxy for truth. Web pages that contain contradictory information are bumped down the rankings.

I thought that was interesting. It is very good if Google is going to feed us fewer lies, isn't it?

Ann

[rstevenson]

Yikes! Did I just read what I just read?

Google says, "Facts the web unanimously agrees on are considered a reasonable proxy for truth." And then they say, "Web pages that contain contradictory information are bumped down the rankings."

That seems to equate "contradictory" with not agreeing with the "proxy for truth." So if you say something on a web site that no one has said before, it will slide down in the rankings, never to be seen again -- even if it is true!

Somebody needs to rethink this. Yes, the number of untruth sites is too high, and yes, they get too much attention, but this isn't the answer.

Rob

[geckzilla]

If someone says something for the first time and it's not yet actively being discussed (and linked to) then it doesn't matter whether it's true or not because its rank is going to be at the very bottom either way. Still, Rob, I think you are right to be dubious about the matter. I'm hopeful for it, though. Trying something is better than nothing. If it goes awry then hopefully adjustments are made. I'm definitely tired of the Daily Fail and all other kinds of misinformation dominating the 'net.

[Markus Schwarz]

So, would this mean that if more websites say intelligent design is true than sites saying it's false, Google considers intelligent design to be true

[geckzilla]

If there is near-unanimous agreement on intelligent design then at that point it may very well fit the definition of fact. But it's not anywhere near unanimous.

[bystander]

Subtracting Gravity from Alzheimer's
NASA Science News | ScienceCasts | 2015 Mar 04

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[starsurfer]

I saw this today!

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

I saw this today!

I'd say - "That is blue-tiful!!" And not be punning what-so-ever.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Couldn't resist the "web" pun even though I didn't see it. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stati ... ws/spider/

Wonder if they were "Nuts about spiders?" That ISS group could have starred in the next B-movie? "Spiders on a Space Station"

[BMAONE23]

Sounds like SyFy material to be certain

Synopsis:
3 Scientists breed mutated spiders on the ISS. Due to a radiation blast from a solar CME, the spiders begin to grow. Intrigued by the changes, the astronaut/scientists do not immediately destroy the mutant arachnids as they are also displaying signs of increasing intelligence. The subjects continue growing in both size and intelligence until they are able to pounce on and consume the astronauts.

After communications is lost, NASA makes plans to send another crew to determine the malfunction but when they don't report back after opening the hatch NASA considers abandoning the facility. In the months that follow Russian Japan and the ESA make plans to attempt salvage missions but when they get within sight of the ISS, the station is covered in a mysterious webbing and all the space suited astronauts have eight appendages on their suits.....

[Ann]

Couldn't resist the "web" pun even though I didn't see it. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stati ... ws/spider/

Wonder if they were "Nuts about spiders?" That ISS group could have starred in the next B-movie? "Spiders on a Space Station"

Interesting tidbit about the spiders in space (and the free educational web service), Ron!

Recently I've been watching a bit of Simpsons, and in Deep Space Homer NASA sends ants into space (along with Homer, oh no):

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Ann

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

I guess light can play tricks on you or you can play tricks with light. Or even pay to see light tricks. Whatever way you look at it - the Optics Picture of the Day is trippy.
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz1109.htm

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

How many "Pictures of the Day" are there? http://www2.lpod.org/wiki/March_10,_2015

One could go "looney" trying to see them all. I know - if the shoe fits...

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

"Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world"

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-corrugated ... ously.html

We may we're all surfing our galactic web?

[bystander]

LHC Season Two -- A New Era for Physics & Search for Dark Matter

The world’s most powerful particle accelerator is about to be turned back on and enter into a second phase of collisions. Today, Rolf Heuer, Director General of CERN, spoke of ‘a new era for physics’ during the press briefing, held at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Heuer said, “I want to see the first light in the dark universe. If that happens, then nature is kind to me.”

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has undergone important upgrades and repairs over the past two years since the first shutdown. The particle collider boasts new magnets, superior cryogenics, higher voltage and higher energy beams that will allow the machine to run at nearly double the collision energy of the first run.

The first circulating beams of protons in the LHC are planned for the week beginning 23 March, and by late May to early June the LHC aims to be running at 13 TeV. One hope is that these higher energies will allow physicists to extend the search for new particles and to check previously untestable theories such as the elegant theory of supersymmetry which could extend the standard model of particle physics. ...

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

From Quantum Shorts

"Earlier this month, scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Google reported a milestone on the path to building a quantum computer. You can read the paper they published in Nature or some of the many news stories, maybe starting with this nice piece from UCSB."

http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015060/strength-numbers

Maybe it's getting closer to a time when I can replace my old rusty laptop with something else I don't understand?

[Nitpicker]

I found this free optical ray tracing software recently, and am very impressed with it:
http://arachnoid.com/OpticalRayTracer/

Incidentally, the author seems like a pretty interesting fellow, too:
http://arachnoid.com/administration/index.html

Within a few hours of installing the program, I had a reasonably accurate (I think) ray trace model of my Celestron 6SE SCT (minus Schmidt corrector plate and otherwise based on my own measurements, as Celestron doesn't appear to publish much in the way of specifications) and Nikon D5100 DSLR sensor, viz:

If anyone is interested, here is my model, including some inactive approximations to different focal reducers. You can simply copy this data onto the O/S clipboard and paste it into the program:

Code: Select all

# OpticalRayTracer 8.9
# http://arachnoid.com/OpticalRayTracer
# 2015.03.21 22:11:00 AEST

program {
  antialias                 = true
  askBeforeDeleting         = true
  beamAngle                 = 0.000000e+00
  beamCount                 = 34
  beamWidth                 = 1
  clipboardGraphicXSize     = 1280
  colorArrow                = -2147483393
  colorBaseline             = -16760832
  colorBeam                 = -4194304
  colorGrid                 = 1086374080
  colorHighBackground       = -1
  colorLensOutline          = 276865279
  colorLensSelected         = 268484608
  colorLightSource          = -16776961
  colorLowBackground        = -16777216
  colorTerminator           = -16777216
  decimalPlaces             = 4
  defaultWindowHeight       = 916
  defaultWindowWidth        = 1616
  dispScale                 = 0.004226
  dispersionBeams           = 0
  divergingSource           = false
  helpScrollPos             = 1796
  interLensEpsilon          = 1.000000e-06
  intersectionArrowSize     = 0.050000
  inverse                   = false
  maxIntersections          = 500
  selectedComponent         = 4
  selectedTab               = 0
  showControls              = true
  showGrid                  = false
  snapValue                 = 0.500000
  surfEpsilon               = 5.000000e-04
  tableLineLimit            = 500
  virtualSpaceSize          = 450.000000
  windowX                   = -8
  windowY                   = -8
  xBeamRotationPlane        = 0.000000e+00
  xBeamSourceRefPlane       = -450.000000
  xOffset                   = -219.434447
  yEndBeamPos               = 85.000000
  yOffset                   = -23.736416
  yStartBeamPos             = -85.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = -3.766700
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 1
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 0
  leftSphereRadius          = 685.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 30.000000
  name                      = C6SE Primary Top
  rightCurvature            = 0
  rightSphereRadius         = -685.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = false
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -167.000000
  yPos                      = 45.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 3.766700
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 1
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 0
  leftSphereRadius          = 685.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 30.000000
  name                      = C6SE Primary Bot
  rightCurvature            = 0
  rightSphereRadius         = -685.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = false
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -167.000000
  yPos                      = -45.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 3.371732
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 1
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 0
  leftSphereRadius          = 228.500000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 25.000000
  name                      = C6SE Secondary
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 27.500000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = false
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -420.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 13.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 7.850000
  name                      = D5100 Sensor Height
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 13.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = 1.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 13.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 11.800000
  name                      = D5100 Sensor Length
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 13.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = 1.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = false
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 3.226018
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 0
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 0
  leftSphereRadius          = 99.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 11.000000
  name                      = Bintel Focal Reducer
  rightCurvature            = 0
  rightSphereRadius         = 99.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -48.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = false
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 3.351904
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 0
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 0
  leftSphereRadius          = 240.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 18.000000
  name                      = Celestron f/6.3 Focal Reducer
  rightCurvature            = 0
  rightSphereRadius         = 240.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -80.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 117.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 117.000000
  name                      = C6SE Baffle Top
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 117.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -167.000000
  yPos                      = 14.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 117.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 117.000000
  name                      = C6SE Baffle Bot
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 117.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -167.000000
  yPos                      = -14.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 1.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 27.500000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 27.500000
  name                      = C6SE Obstruction
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 27.500000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 1.000000
  xPos                      = -422.000000
  yPos                      = 0.000000e+00
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 1.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 22.500000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 18.000000
  name                      = C6SE Secondary Baffle Top
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 22.500000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 1.000000
  xPos                      = -403.500000
  yPos                      = 27.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 1.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 22.500000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 18.000000
  name                      = C6SE Secondary Baffle Bot
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 22.500000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 1.000000
  xPos                      = -403.500000
  yPos                      = -27.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 169.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 169.000000
  name                      = C6SE OTA Top
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 169.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -266.000000
  yPos                      = 80.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 90.000000
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 169.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 169.000000
  name                      = C6SE OTA Bot
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 169.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -266.000000
  yPos                      = -80.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 33.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 32.000000
  name                      = C6SE OTA Back Top
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 33.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -98.000000
  yPos                      = 47.000000
}

object {
  active                    = true
  angle                     = 0.000000e+00
  centerThickness           = 2.000000
  dispersion                = 59.000000
  function                  = 2
  ior                       = 1.520000
  leftCurvature             = 3
  leftSphereRadius          = 33.000000
  leftZValue                = 20.000000
  lensRadius                = 32.000000
  name                      = C6SE OTA Back Bot
  rightCurvature            = 3
  rightSphereRadius         = 33.000000
  rightZValue               = 20.000000
  symmetrical               = true
  thickness                 = 2.000000
  xPos                      = -98.000000
  yPos                      = -47.000000
}

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

2.05 bits per photon. That's a good trick!!

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/new ... hy-a-boost

I'll believe it when my computer boots up instantly – better yet when it boots me up. Just like Geck does so well.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Bernard's star. May's Astronomy has the full story on it.

http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/glenn ... naway-star

It seems it's a runaway. Most distance estimates show it at about 6 light years. But apparently in about 10,000 years it may only be around 3.85 light years away.

Back in the 70's there was the British study - Project Daedalus.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Maybe it's time to resurrect and modify the idea? No telling what we could accomplish within 10,000 years and it wouldn't be as far as originally thought. Instead of 5 billion years for our star, red dwarfs last for trillions of years. All aboard - next stop Bernard's star.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

There are some very clever people out there that help us imagine things we'll probably never see.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... -mars.html

Though images aren't what our eyes and brain would come up with, it's a pretty good alternative. And even arm our Curiosity with sound.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

http://almaobservatory.org/en/press-roo ... y-galaxies

Do you think this is from a civilization long, long ago? Hopefully by now they are all flying Delorean's

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Not sure this is astronomy-related but it's always fun when something's paradoxical. http://www.wired.com/2015/07/paradoxica ... al_twitter

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Quarknado 1

Gas-nados are erupting on the sun. They may be showering its surface with cooked "squarks" that bite with scintillating symmetry and tantalizing tessellations.

Just having some phun with physics.

[Beyond]

Quarknado 1

Gas-nados are erupting on the sun. They may be showering its surface with cooked "squarks" that bite with scintillating symmetry and tantalizing tessellations.

Just having some phun with physics.

Yore write, Ron, fizzicks can be phun.