Fifth Avenue Forum

Did a volcanic cataclysm 40,000 years ago trigger the final demise of the Neanderthals?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 112332.htm

Aliens

Somewhat related... I'm writing my first lead author article. This is exciting

Yea, obhave!

Somewhat related... I'm writing my first lead author article. This is exciting

NICE... I have 2 to write before summer gets here. Kill me now.

Somewhat related... I'm writing my first lead author article. This is exciting

NICE... I have 2 to write before summer gets here. Kill me now.

Good thing you took on part time job too.

Somewhat related... I'm writing my first lead author article. This is exciting

NICE... I have 2 to write before summer gets here. Kill me now.

That sounds stressful.

I never really worried about being scooped, but after all the work I've put into this paper, it is all I can think about.

Ha ha, that's the best thing about my research, we're the only ones in the world (we think...) that can do what we do. We have no worries of ever getting scooped. The 2 papers by summer is from my boss and collaborator. Oh well, at least then we can start talking about graduating.

Did a volcanic cataclysm 40,000 years ago trigger the final demise of the Neanderthals?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 112332.htm

I read this as a volcano causing the demise of the Netherlands. I thought it was the wooden shoes.

Pfft. Everyone knows science is bunk.

A new theory proposes that early in the formation of the solar system Jupiter first spiraled in close to the Sun and then was pulled back to its current orbit by the formation of Saturn:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -life.html

Part of this theory is that Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars formed from the remnants of earlier and much more massive rocky planets that were squashed by Jupiter on its trip. One of the predictions of this theory is that Earth-like planets with modest atmospheres might be very rare because they would only form in solar systems like ours, namely, solar systems where a second major gas giant manages to pull the first gas giant back away from the star.

I'm no astrophysicist (YOU'RE NOT!?!?!?!) but how would the gravitational pull of the formation of Saturn be greater than that of the sun?

Did you hear about Pluto? That's messed up, right?

I'm no astrophysicist (YOU'RE NOT!?!?!?!) but how would the gravitational pull of the formation of Saturn be greater than that of the sun?

It's not that its gravity was greater than the sun's, just that it was substantial enough to prevent proto-Jupiter from being pulled the whole way into the sun.

I could have sworn I read once that if Jupiter was x% bigger (and I think x was only like 5 or something), it would have formed another star and we (wouldn't be here, but...) would have a 2 star solar system.

That's unpossible.

It's not that its gravity was greater than the sun's, just that it was substantial enough to prevent proto-Jupiter from being pulled the whole way into the sun.

It probably wouldn't have gone the whole way in, but it would have ended up much closer to the Sun than it currently is. We have observed so-called "hot Jupiters" orbiting other stars. As the name suggests, they are Jupiter-sized gas giants that are only the same distance from their star as Mercury is from the Sun.

It's not that its gravity was greater than the sun's, just that it was substantial enough to prevent proto-Jupiter from being pulled the whole way into the sun.

It probably wouldn't have gone the whole way in, but it would have ended up much closer to the Sun than it currently is. We have observed so-called "hot Jupiters" orbiting other stars. As the name suggests, they are Jupiter-sized gas giants that are only the same distance from their star as Mercury is from the Sun.

Raining molten glass?

Phil Plait is one of my favorite amateur's in the field; although I don't really think he's an amateur with a Doctorate in Supernova's or whatever he studied. He posted an interesting article a couple of days ago on the Dawn spacecraft.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronom ... _soon.html

I could have sworn I read once that if Jupiter was x% bigger (and I think x was only like 5 or something), it would have formed another star and we (wouldn't be here, but...) would have a 2 star solar system.

About 60 times more massive, but yeah.

We talked about this at work the other day:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/ ... 0L20150312

Good candidate for a warm-water ocean moon. Gonna be a major shift in opinion when these oceans are confirmed in our own solar system.

Phil Plait is one of my favorite amateur's in the field; although I don't really think he's an amateur with a Doctorate in Supernova's or whatever he studied. He posted an interesting article a couple of days ago on the Dawn spacecraft.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronom ... _soon.html

Ion engines are really neat technology. They use magnetic fields to accurate gas atoms, typically xenon atoms. They are wonderfully fuel-efficient. For example, the efficiency of rocket engines is measured by something called specific impulse, which is the impulse delivered per unit of propellant consumed. It's sort of like a miles-per-gallon calculation for a car. Higher numbers are better. A solid socket might have a specific impulse somewhere around 250 or so. Liquid rocket engines are usually around 300 to 450. For example, the Space Shuttle's main engines—which were considered very fuel efficient as rocket engines go—had a specific impulse of 366 at sea level and 452 in vacuum. An ion engine can produce a specific impulse over 3,000. The downside is that they can produce only a tiny amount of thrust, so if you want to get anywhere using them you have to engage in very long engine burns.

Twin Ion Engine

I'm holding out for a Dyson Sphere.