Starship Asterisk*

neufer wrote: I know. And Boötes doesn't look all that much like a cat either.

"Astronomy has been very exciting in the last two decades," Joseph Wampler of the Lick Observatory reminded the recent meeting in Tucson of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. "If you think the '60s and '70s were exciting, you ain't seen nothing yet."

The supernova discovered Feb. 24, the closest seen from Earth in 383 years, has stabilized mysteriously in the last few days and is not increasing in brightness as fast as predicted, astronomers at several Southern Hemisphere observatories have reported.

As a result, astronomers are not sure whether the explosion of the dying star has peaked and will fade or wil flare to even greater brilliance.

Astronomers also say that if the star is big enough, they could be witnessing the birth of a black hole.

owlice wrote:

neufer wrote: I know. And Boötes doesn't look all that much like a cat either.

Yeah, what is that thing, anyway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer wrote:
<<Boots the Monkey, whom Dora met one day in the forest, is her best friend. He is friendly and enthusiastic, and usually wears nothing but his beloved red boots, hence his name. Boots is present with Dora on most of her adventures, and he helps her solve clues and puzzles. He also loves baseball and enjoys riding Rojo the fire truck. Boots performs a series of acrobatic flips, somersaults, and cartwheels along the way to their destination. His light weight also makes him easy to carry, even for Dora. Without guidance from Dora, the viewer, or another character, Boots is quick to take his own, often dangerous or dead-ended, route. Dora often acts as the voice of reason. Boots "loves" many things. In one episode, he would say many times "I love riddles. Call me 'Mr. Riddles'" or "I love nuts, I love chocolate and I love my ball". Boots' vocabulary is limited but steadily increasing.>>

owlice wrote:
My mother's nickname was Boots.

owlice wrote:
I spent a good part of today going through stuff at her house and came across an August 30, 1980 Science News; the cover reads Ground-based Astronomy's Future: Uphill?, and the related article's title is Will Astronomy Go into Orbit?, which starts:

"Astronomy has been very exciting in the last two decades," Joseph Wampler of the Lick Observatory reminded the recent meeting in Tucson of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. "If you think the '60s and '70s were exciting, you ain't seen nothing yet."

owlice wrote:
Also in today's tonnage was a clipping from the March 5, 1987 Washington Post:
Supernova Stabilizes Puzzlingly: Birth of Black Hole Seen as Possibility.

The supernova discovered Feb. 24, the closest seen from Earth in 383 years, has stabilized mysteriously in the last few days and is not increasing in brightness as fast as predicted, astronomers at several Southern Hemisphere observatories have reported. As a result, astronomers are not sure whether the explosion of the dying star has peaked and will fade or wil flare to even greater brilliance. Astronomers also say that if the star is big enough, they could be witnessing the birth of a black hole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_1987A wrote:
<<SN 1987A appears to be a core-collapse supernova, which should result in a neutron star. Since the supernova first became visible, astronomers have been searching for the collapsed core but have not detected it. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken images of the supernova regularly since August 1990. The images show no evidence of a neutron star. Three possibilities for the 'missing' neutron star are being considered.

• The first is that the neutron star is enshrouded in dense dust clouds so that it cannot be seen.
  
  The second is that large amounts of material fell back on the neutron star, so that it further collapsed into a black hole.
  
  The third possibility is that the collapsed core became a quark star.>>

neufer wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer wrote: ... is friendly and enthusiastic, and usually wears nothing but his beloved red boots

neufer wrote:

owlice wrote: My mother's nickname was Boots.

Do you know why?

neufer wrote: Lick Observatory is associated with Ghirardelli Chocolate.
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 480#p99430

neufer wrote:

owlice wrote: Also in today's tonnage was a clipping from the March 5, 1987 Washington Post:
Supernova Stabilizes Puzzlingly: Birth of Black Hole Seen as Possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_1987A wrote:
<<SN 1987A appears to be a core-collapse supernova, which should result in a neutron star. Since the supernova first became visible, astronomers have been searching for the collapsed core but have not detected it. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken images of the supernova regularly since August 1990. The images show no evidence of a neutron star.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070107.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060125.html

owlice wrote:
of the books in my grandparent's house was a set of Shakespeare's (of Stratford) writings,
the plays all individually bound and clad in dark red,

owlice wrote:
the poetry together in one (maybe more?) volume, printed in 1901.
It was from these that I first memorized Hamlet's soliloquy...

owlice wrote:
The set is boxed now in my mother's attic, but will be finding space on my bookshelves (probably a new bookshelf, since all of mine are full!) soon. I thought of you when I came across them. These would have gone to a used bookstore in the 70s had I not insisted on keeping them when my grandmother moved from my mother's childhood home into an apartment.

I also claimed the Oz books.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbash wrote:
An Atbash cipher for the Roman alphabet would be as follows:

Code: Select all

Plain:   *wizard*  a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Cipher:  *DRAZIW*  Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

neufer wrote: What a coincidence! My feet are individually bound and clad in dark red too!

oldnewideas wrote:Normal prevailing winds from the west in northern Ontario seem to have been replaced by southerlies ..
which I assume is the planet trying to equalize temperature extremes due to global warming.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=45298 wrote: Global Temperature Anomalies, July 2010
Posted August 18, 2010

<<In early August 2010, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) released its analysis of global temperatures for the previous month. In July 2010, GISS found, the global average temperature was 0.55 degrees Celsius (almost 1 degree Fahrenheit) warmer than climatology—defined as average temperatures for the same month from 1951 to 1980. July 2010 was practically in a three-way tie for the warmest July on record, tied with July 1998 and July 2005.

Global Temperature Anomalies, July 2010

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This color-coded map shows global surface temperature anomalies for July 2010 compared to average temperatures for the same time of year from 1951 to 1980. Above-normal temperatures appear in shades of red, and below-normal temperatures appear in shades of blue. Red-hued Greenland, for example, experienced above-normal temperatures while the blue-hued Pacific Northwest experienced below-normal temperatures. Gray patches indicate areas of insufficient data.

The GISS analysis found temperatures more than 5 degrees Celsius (about 10 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than climatology in the region of Eastern Europe, including Moscow, and in Eastern Asia. (Both Moscow and Eastern Siberia faced severe wildfires and smoke in July 2010.) The eastern United States also experienced unusual heat, although not as severe as the heat in parts of Eurasia.

Substantial areas, however, showed below-normal temperatures, including central Asia and southern South America. Parts of South America suffered through sub-freezing temperatures and heavy snow, leading to hundreds of cold-related deaths, ruined crops and livestock, and contaminated rivers after millions of fish froze, said news reports. Temperatures were below normal across much of East Antarctica, although they were well above normal over the Antarctic Peninsula.

In the GISS analysis, the 12-month running mean temperature reached a record high in the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2010. The GISS release pointed out, however, that the nascent La Niña was moderately strong, would probably strengthen, and would likely affect temperatures throughout the remainder of 2010. (Note the long band of cooler-than-normal water over the Eastern Pacific, immediately off South America, characteristic of La Niña.) Just as a strong El Niño tends to nudge global temperatures upwards, La Niña can have the opposite effect. GISS anticipated that La Niña would cause the 12-month running mean temperature to decline over the rest of the year.

The extreme weather events in Russia and Pakistan have fueled speculation about the role of climate. The GISS release stated, “The location of extreme events in any particular month depends on specific weather patterns, which are unpredictable except on short time scales. The weather patterns next summer will be different than this year. It could be a cooler than average summer in Moscow in 2011.” The GISS release went on to explain, however, that global warming does affect the probability and intensity of extreme events. Climate can drive precipitation because temperature affects the amount of water vapor that air can carry. Likewise, in areas experiencing drought, global warming can increase temperature extremes that exacerbate wildfires.>>

"Cold Frozen Arctic Ocean (which no longer exists)"

BMAONE23 wrote:I'n not so sure about that

"Cold Frozen Arctic Ocean (which no longer exists)"

Looking at the North Pole Environmental Observatory site The floating POPS-13 bouy is at 85.34N and is registering temp of -8.8c and the PAWS bouy is at 87N and is at 0.7c Seems cold enough to me.
Per the Chryosphere today site, this side by side comparison indicates much more ice than the Historic low in 2007 and per this Hi Res image Neither NW nor NE passages are open (ice free). Given the Ice level is still lower than the Mean (orange line) it is still much greater than any of the last 3 years.
It has been so cold up there this year in fact that the daily temps have been below the statistical average (bell curve) for most of the entire summer season, so cold in fact that the typical June/July melt ponding has refroze

BMAONE23 wrote:I'n not so sure about that

"Cold Frozen Arctic Ocean (which no longer exists)"

Looking at the North Pole Environmental Observatory site The floating POPS-13 bouy is at 85.34N and is registering temp of -8.8c and the PAWS bouy is at 87N and is at 0.7c Seems cold enough to me.

BMAONE23 wrote:Per the Chryosphere today site, this side by side comparison indicates much more ice than the Historic low in 2007 and per this Hi Res image Neither NW nor NE passages are open (ice free). Given the Ice level is still lower than the Mean (orange line) it is still much greater than any of the last 3 years.

BMAONE23 wrote:It has been so cold up there this year in fact that the daily temps have been below the statistical average (bell curve) for most of the entire summer season, so cold in fact that the typical June/July melt ponding has refroze

wiki answers wrote:Polar bears are efficient swimmers, for such large animals.
While in the water they paddle with their front feet, and use the hind feet as rudders. They can swim at a speeds of 4-6 mph and paddle non-stop for 100 miles. Have been seen swimming several hundred miles from the nearest ice or land. While swimming, they keep their eyes open, their nostrils shut and their ears flattened to their heads. Polar bears can stay under up to 2 minutes. They are also capable of leaping out of the water 7'-8' feet from a swimming start. They have been seen catching seals that way.

Polar Bears Count
Let's talk about the numbers. Scientists have only rough estimates of historical polar bear populations. But we do know that in the 1960s, their numbers dropped sharply due to overhunting. Populations rebounded after restrictions on polar bear harvests went into effect in the1970s. It was a conservation success story.

Current threat. The current threat to polar bears is entirely different, and more dire. Today's polar bears are facing rapid loss of the sea ice where they hunt, breed, and, in some cases, den. Changes in their distribution or numbers affect the entire Arctic ecosystem.

Results from long-term studies show:

* Canada's Western Hudson Bay population: 22% decline since the early 1980s, directly related to earlier ice break-up on Hudson Bay

* Southern Beaufort Sea population along the northern coast of Alaska and western Canada: decline in cub survival rates and in the weight and skull size of adult males; similar observations made in Western Hudson Bay prior to its population drop

* Baffin Bay population, shared by Greenland and Canada: at risk from both significant sea ice loss and substantial over-harvesting

* Chukchi Sea population, shared by Russia and the United States: declining due to illegal harvest in Russia and one of the highest rates of sea ice loss in the Arctic

Current Trends of the World’s 19 Subpopulations in 2009

[ I can't get the table to line up here, so have a look at the linked page for the details ]
[ it shows... 8 declining, 3 stable, 1 increasing ]

This compares with five declining, five stable, and two increasing subpopulations in 2005 (plus seven data deficient), so there's clearly a downward trend.

BMAONE23 wrote:
According to This Map of the polar bear habitat, most of their current range is still within reach by swimming. There are many loose bergs floating in the water between coastal areas and the hard ice pack hunting grounds. Bears can easily cover the water areas from the coastal land to the ice pack even if it is 200 miles away. The loose icebergs are utilized as resting rafts in the 2 to 3 day trip. For a Polar bear this is a fairly easy trip.

[size=150]Sea Surface Temperature anomalies [b][color=#FF0000]TODAY[/color][/b][/size].

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rstevenson wrote:Or, from a source I would think is more reliable than wattsupwiththat...

BMAONE23 wrote:
Images of Polar Bears perching on bergs is a gut renching site for us and plays on our sensibilities WRT their treatment but keep in mind, It is what they do best. They will swim for 80 to 100 miles then perch themselves on any piece of floating ice to rest before swimming another 100.

BMAONE23 wrote:These types of images are often used to pull at our heart strings, "the Poor Bears" but what they really display is the beauty of these creatures in their natural habitat and how they interact with it.