Science is Cool: Why Everyone is Looking at Uranus

Image from source, Huffington Post

C'mon. Could I pass up that headline, really?

[Excerpt]

Uranus Bright Spot Intrigues Scientists, Leads Astronomers To Ignored Region

Uranus rarely gets any love. The typically ignored planet, recently highlighted for orbiting the sun on its side, has just gained itself some atypical attention, according to Universe Today. It seems astronomers have detected that an enormous bright spot may be an unprecedented eruption of methane ice high in the atmosphere. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Attention Star Wars Fans: Tatooine Might Exist!

Exist, it might! Two suns it has! Image from Space.com

Okay, not literally, you goofballs. But a planet circling two stars might! How cool is that? I just hope in real life that someone warns Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru before they get smoked by the Empire.

[Excerpt]

Planet Like 'Star Wars' Tatooine Discovered Orbiting 2 Suns

It's a real-life Tatooine. A spectacle made popular by the "Star Wars" saga — a planet with two suns — has now been confirmed in space for the first time, astronomers revealed. . .

Read more (with video) at: Space.com

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Science is Cool: Hundreds of "Earth Like" Planets Found

I've found it very difficult to get back into the blogging swing after a lazy weekend. Politics just isn't doing it for me today.  So, how about a little sciencey stuff to get our week going? It's not polarizing, it's not controversial. . .unless you start to wonder about any religious implications should one of those planets have life on it.  Don't worry though, I'm sure our current religions would adapt to it, or a whole new one would spring up, right?

[Excerpt]

Hundreds of Possible Alien Planets Discovered By NASA Spacecraft

NASA's Kepler spacecraft hunting for Earth-like planets around other stars has found 706 candidates for potential alien worlds while gazing at more than 156,000 stars packed into a single patch of the sky.



If all 706 of these objects pass the stringent follow-up tests to determine if they are actually planets, and not false alarms, they could nearly triple the current number of known extrasolar planets. They were announced as part of a huge release of data from the mission's first 43 days by NASA's Kepler science team this week. . .

Read more at: Yahoo News

Science Is Cool: We Are Insignificant

Don't believe me? Check this out:



Found at: Voenix Rising, who says:

"And you expect me to believe that some old guy with a long white beard sitting on a golden throne somewhere really gives a rat’s ass about what I—or for that matter, anyone else—do with our genitals?"