Philae on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Kudos!

(From European Space Agency, used w/o permission.)
(ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, as Philae lander touched down on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (November 12, 2014))

Those humans had good reason for being cheerful. They were at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany — and were getting 'I'm here' signals from their Philea lander.

Kudos, humanity: one of your robots landed on a comet. Granted — Philae bounced a few times, fetched up, maybe on its on its side, and definitely not where it should be — but it's working, sending back data, and may have enough power in its battery to last until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe longer.

It could have been a lot worse: and is pretty good for a first try.

"...The Key Issue Vexing Controllers..."

(From European Space Agency, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Some radio data suggests the probe may be about 1km from the intended landing site"
(BBC News))

"Rosetta: Battery will limit life of Philae comet lander"
Jonathan Amos, BBC News (November 13, 2014)

"After a historic but awkward comet landing, the robot probe Philae is now stable and sending pictures - but there are concerns about its battery life.

"The lander bounced twice, initially about 1km back out into space, before settling in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its intended target site.

"It may now be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its battery systems....

"...Telemetry indicates it is on a slope or perhaps even on its side.

"Certainly, one of its three feet is not in contact with the surface.

"The key issue vexing controllers right now is the lighting conditions.

"Philae is receiving about 1.5 hours of illumination during every 12-hour rotation of the comet.

"This will be insufficient to top up its battery system once the primary charge it had on leaving Rosetta runs out. That was some 60-plus hours...."

The Lemming appreciates that phrase: "...the key issue vexing controllers...."

To "vex" is "to annoy, as with petty importunities."

Sure, Philae may not last as long as mission planners hoped: but it landed, is in one piece, and still on speaking terms with its orbiter. This is pretty much good news.

From what the Lemming's read, nine of 10 experiment packages Philae carries are in good shape: and scientists may even get a chance to use the lander's drill.

Besides, what is it you humans say? "Any landing you walk away from is a good one." Philae has "legs," but couldn't walk anyway: the point is that this robot landed.

Philae didn't crash. It's still got power, and mission planners have most of a day before the batteries run out. Maybe engineers will get the robot right-side-up and in full sunlight before then. Even if they don't, right now it looks like the Rosetta lander will get some serious science done before it's done.

Optimists, Pessimists, and the Lemming

Someone said that an optimist sees a glass that's half-full, a pessimist sees one that's half-empty, and an engineer sees one that's twice as big as it needs to be.

From the Lemming's viewpoint, some news about Philae's landing was written by pessimists who see the glass as half-empty and leaking. Not that BBC piece. Jonathan Amos did okay.

And of course there's the usual kvetching about how many resources were 'wasted' on the Rosetta mission, instead of being spent on the reporter's — or, more likely, editor's — pet peeve.

The Lemming thinks you humans deserve a Lemming's 'thumbs up' for a job well-done, on the Rosetta mission so far. There's more to life than landing on comets, of course: but you've got brains, and in this case you used them.

Slightly-related posts:

• "Robird: False Falcons, Ersatz Eagles, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (September 5, 2014)
• " 'Tampering With Things Man Was Not Supposed to Know:' the Angst Continues"
  (August 1, 2014)
• "The Alchemist Trap"
  (March 14, 2014)
• "Voyager 1: Outward Bound"
  (January 10, 2014)
• " 'Young' Martian Mudstone: Only 80,000,000 Years Old"
  (December 12, 2013)

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370: Missing For Two Weeks

I gave the Lemming some time off. He should be back in time for next week's post, provided he doesn't go wandering off to haunts of coot and hern, or wherever he's been going lately.

This week, I've got a very serious topic: Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared from radar between Kuala Lumpur and the Andaman Sea.

That was two weeks ago.

Here's what we know:

• Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on shortly after takeoff.
• The 239 folks on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are still missing.
• The flight left Kuala Lumpur at 16:41 GMT, March 7; and was expected in Beijing at 22:30 GMT.
• No trace of the airliner, or the people on board, has been confirmed.
• Folks on MH370 included artists, children, and at least one engineer.
• Their homes were in China, Malaysia, and other countries.
• Their family, friends, and associates are understandably concerned.

Yesterday I read that satellites spotted two objects in the Indian Ocean, between Australia and Antarctica. More about that:

• "Search resumes for possible debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370"
  Chelsea J. Carter, Kyung Lah and Mike Pearson, CNN (March 20, 2014)

One of the objects is vaguely rectangular and roughly 24 meters long. It might be part of the Malisian Airlines Boeing 777-200ER.

Or it might be a nearly-submerged cargo container lost from some freighter; debris washed downriver and into the ocean from a construction project; or something else unrelated to the airliner.

Here's what the BBC had to say about Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370:

1,460 Miles, 2,350 Kilometers, West by Southwest of Perth

(From Australian government, US National Transportation Savety Board, Malaysian government, via BBC News; used w/o permission.)

"Missing MH370: World's most difficult recovery"
Rebecca Morelle, BBC News (March 20, 2014)

"The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is now focussed on the south Indian Ocean.

"Ships and planes are hunting for two large objects spotted in satellite images that could be floating debris.

"But if these are located and confirmed as wreckage from flight MH370 - and that is still a big if - one of the most complex recovery operations ever undertaken could lie ahead...."

I wasn't surprised to see that it's now a recovery, not a rescue, operation. It is still, I think, very remotely possible that the 239 people who disappeared may still be alive. But that seems increasingly unlikely.

Some folks deal with uncertainty by distracting themselves with unrelated activities: a job; household chores; exercise; whatever. Others apparently drag a trawl net into their mind's abyssal zone in search of explanations.

I've seen some colorful conspiracy theories hatching: including the usual 'it was space aliens.' Someone even spent time debunking a rumor that MH370 had reappeared in — what else? — the Bermuda Triangle.

Sometimes that sort of nonsense can be amusing. In a situation where more than 200 people are either dead or stranded without supplies: not so much.

"Possible Object"

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
"If the objects in the satellite images do belong to the plane, they could help scientists to find the crash site"

---

"...The first stage would be to carefully examine any fragments of the craft found. Their condition, for example whether they show any signs of an explosion, could begin to shed light on what happened to the plane.

"Importantly, they could also help to narrow down the location of the crash, and the possible site of the plane's 'black box' flight recorders.

"But David Mearns, director of Blue Water Recoveries Ltd, says because of the amount of time that has passed since the flight vanished on 8 March, this would not be easy.

" 'If the debris is confirmed, the positions and times that any pieces are found will be clues that will have to be used to determine where the plane actually impacted,' he explains.

" 'But in this instance, we are talking many days after the plane would have crashed - that debris will have floated for a very large distance - and potentially an uncertain distance. If we don't know what the winds and currents were doing at that time, it makes the search box enormous.'..."
(Rebecca Morelle, BBC News)

Searchers may find one or more of MH370's flight recorders by tracking the acoustic pingers: if they're still working, and searchers get close enough before the devices run out of their 30-day lifespan.

The good news is that, MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, and if searchers find the wreckage - - - that's a lot of "ifs."

That part of the Indian ocean has some of the roughest seas in the world: but the ocean floor, some 4,000 meters down, it's smoother than the submerged mountains and ravines that held Air France 447's wreckage.

I think it's prudent to remember that it took searchers about two years to locate the Air France 447 wreckage and start piecing together what went wrong.

Friday Morning, March 21

(From Lai Seng Sin/AP, via Bloomberg, used w/o permission.)
"A woman leaves a message for passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia."

"Missing Plane Maintained Steady Speed Over Indian Ocean"
Alan Levin, Bloomberg (March 21, 2014)

"The missing Malaysian airliner may have cruised steadily across the Indian Ocean after diverting from its route, according to an analysis of satellite pings, the clearest idea yet on how investigators pinpointed a search zone.

"Engineers at Inmarsat Plc (ISAT), whose satellite picked up the pings, plotted seven positions for the Boeing Co. (BA) 777-200ER on March 8, Chris McLaughlin, a company spokesman, said in an interview. The plane flew steadily away from the satellite over the equator while pinging, McLaughlin said....

"...When officials estimated the plane was flying at or near its cruising speed of more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) an hour, it produced a probable path the engineers were 'very confident' about, McLaughlin said. The engineers don't know the plane's track for certain because the satellite pings can only be used to estimate an arc along the earth's surface where it would have been, he said....

I decided to add this Bloomberg article to today's post, since it's among the most detailed I've seen. The bottom line is still the same, though: there's been no verified sighting of wreckage from Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, and all 239 people are still missing.

There's also some analysis here, and a detail that I don't remember seeing elsewhere.

Flight MH370 Landed? Unlikely

"...If the Inmarsat estimates are accurate, it would have been impossible for the plane to have landed before its satellite transmitter sent the final ping at 8:11 a.m., almost seven hours after its last known position as it left Malaysian airspace, according to McLaughlin's account. Because the 777 burns more fuel at lower altitude, it also suggests the plane remained at cruising altitude.

"The plane was flying at 542 miles an hour at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) at 1:21 a.m. when its transponder stopped functioning and it disappeared from Malaysian's civilian radar system, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking company.

"The engineers at Inmarsat were able to validate their estimates of the plane's position by matching its position at 1:07 a.m., when it sent a burst of data through its Aircraft Communications and Reporting System, McLaughlin said. That final transmission on Acars included a GPS position that was used to calibrate the other estimates, he said...."

Much as I would like to believe that the Boeing 777 landed safely, and that everyone on board survived: it seems very, very unlikely:

"Andrew Herdman, director-general of the Kuala Lumpur-based Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, talks about Malaysian Airline System Bhd.'s missing Flight 370. He speaks Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's 'On the Move.' "
(Description of Bloomberg video: "Landing, Hiding MH370 'Extremely Unlikely': Herdman" (March 17, 2014))

Although the evil mastermind and his henchmen might successfully hide an airliner in a spy story (remember "Thunderball"?), real life doesn't necessarily work that way.

A Boeing 777 is more than 200 feet long, with a wingspan to match. That's a lot of metal to hide: particularly in these days, with robot satellites keeping digital eyes peeled.

Flight MH370: A Long Wait

If you get the impression that this is an unusually long wait for some trace of the missing flight to turn up: you're right.

"...The longest period in modern passenger-airline history between a disappearance and initial findings of debris was seven years ago, when Adam Air Flight 574 went missing off the coast of Indonesia's South Sulawesi. The Boeing 737-400, operated by PT Adam Skyconnection Airlines, lost contact with air traffic control Jan. 1, 2007. Wreckage wasn't found until 10 days later....

"...In the search for Air France 447 wreckage, authorities were able to narrow down a 5,000 nautical-mile area after finding floating objects five days following the crash. They also had a last known position plus four minutes of signals from the plane's so-called Acars system, which was turned off on Flight 370.

"Even with those clues, the pings from Flight 447's recorders weren't picked up. It took two voyages over almost a two-year period to find the debris field with unmanned underwater vehicles that searched the ocean floor with sonar equipment...."
(David Fickling, Alan Levin, Thomas Black, Bloomberg (March 17, 2014))

Patience isn't easy, particularly when so many folks desperately want to know what happened to their family, friends, and fellow-workers. But I think cultivating patience is better than the alternatives.

Finally, and no pressure at all: this is just a suggestion. Prayer couldn't hurt: for the folks on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, and everyone connected with them.

Related posts:

• "Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Questions; Speculation; and a Few Facts"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (March 16, 2014)
• "Air France 447: How Not to Handle a Stall"
  (May 27, 2011)
• "Black Boxes are Fine: Glass Boxes Might be Better"
  (August 23, 2010)
• "Air France 447: Weather, Technology, and Questions"
  (June 13, 2009)
• "Air France Flight 447: What's Known, What's Not Known"
  (June 12, 2009)

Redefining Habitable Zones

" 'Habitable Zone' for Alien Planets, and Possibly Life, Redefined"
Clara Moskowitz, Space.com (January 29, 2013)

" One of the most important characteristics of an alien planet is whether or not it falls into what's called the habitable zone ­- a Goldilocks-like range of not-too-close, not-too-far distances from the parent star that might allow the planet to host life.

"Now scientists have redefined the boundaries of the habitable zone for alien planets, potentially kicking out some exoplanaets that were thought to fall within it, and maybe allowing a few that had been excluded to squeeze in...."

This isn't the final word in how far a planet needs to be from its star, for it to have an atmosphere, liquid water, and - maybe - life. It's probably a better estimate than the last one, since at that time scientists had solid information on exactly no planets outside the Solar system. Today, the count is in the hundreds. Make that thousands.

Scientists have a big enough sample now, to make a pretty good estimate for how many planets in this galaxy are about about the same size as Earth, and rocky. Unless Earth just happens to be in a very crowded corner of this galaxy, there are about 17,000,000,000 planets that are sort of like the inner four here: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Statistics, Earth, and Neighbors

If only one in four of those 17,000,000,000 planets have life, which is the local percentage: that's a whole lot of worlds with life. That's a big "if," though: and that brings the Lemming back to the revised guesstimate on where habitable zones are.

Good news, by the way: Earth is, according to the new estimate, still inside Sol's habitable zone. If it wasn't, the Lemming would wonder about how reliable this new-and-improved definition was. After all, we know there's life here on Earth.

If life got started somewhere besides Earth, and if it's close enough to 'life as we know it' for humans to recognize it as "life," and if this extraterrestrial life is close enough for humans to find in the near future: that's a lot of "ifs."

The Lemming would be excited if the Curiosity Mars rover found a wrecked spaceship that hadn't come from Earth: or a bit of plastic that couldn't have come from the rover. Even if the extraterrestrial wreck didn't have a speck of life on it, its presence would be proof that humanity had company: at one time.

But the first evidence of extraterrestrial life might be a little ecosystem supporting one-celled critters. That would be exciting, too.

The Lemming Philosophizes

The Lemming is fairly sure that the familiar 'science fiction' universe isn't what we're really living in. There's nothing wrong with telling a story about a galaxy teeming with non-human people - who all just happen to be almost exactly as smart as humans; with almost exactly the same interests, needs, and goals; and using almost exactly the same technology.

The universe could be like that, but probably isn't. If humanity was one of a few billion almost-exactly-like-human civilizations; all of which were within a few thousand years of each other in terms of technology - humanity would probably be selling souvenirs to space alien tourists.

It seems hard to remember how old the universe is. A million years ago, humans were learning how to use fire without killing themselves. But a million years is only a tiny fraction of the time that stars and planets have been spinning around this galaxy's core.

In the Lemming's opinion, when or if humanity meets other people - they won't be very much like humans. And that, again in the Lemming's opinion, is a good thing. Humans do a pretty good job of being human, there may be many other ways of being people, and we all could learn by comparing notes.

Even if there aren't any other people in this vast universe, just finding life elsewhere would let humanity learn a great deal. And this, again in the Lemming's opinion, is a good thing.

Related posts:

• In this blog
  • "Time, the Universe, and Space Aliens"
    (April 20, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Space Aliens and the Universe
  • "GJ 667Cc: Heavier than Earth, Maybe About as Warm"
    (February 6, 2012)
  • "The 'Christmas Planet:' Kepler-22b"
    (December 12, 2011)
  • "Beware Warmonger Imperialist Space Aliens!?"
    (January 11, 2011)
  • "Earth May Not Be a 'Class M' Planet"
    (December 5, 2009)
• In the Lemming's other blogs
  • "News, Good and Otherwise: and Billions of Worlds"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (January 11, 2013)
    Particularly
    • Planets Like Earth: Billions of Them
  • "Alpha Centauri, Freedom, and Me"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (October 19, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Science, Religion, and a Hairball
    • Alpha Centauri, Planets, and Life
  • "Science isn't a Four-Letter Word"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (January 29, 2012)
    Particularly
    • 1277 and All That
  • "Alien Life will Most Likely be - Alien"
    Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (April 12, 2010)
    Particularly
    • 'Life as We Know It,' Class M Planets and All That
  • "Gods, Demons, and Used Spaceship Dealers"
    Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (February 13, 2010)

Christmas Eve With the Lemming

It's Christmas Eve, December 24, 2012. I'm pretty sure that we'll be seeing less about the Mayan calendar's long cycle now. Discussion, sensible and otherwise, of the recent mass murder in Newtown, Connecticut, will probably linger for a bit longer: but I'm fairly certain that it will fade after a few more weeks.

I discussed the latest 'end of the world' story, and the tragedy in Connecticut, in another blog:

• "Oh, Maya: Calendars, Chicken Little, and Getting a Grip"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (December 21, 2012)
• "Connecticut School: Mass Murder and Prayer"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (December 14, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Good Judgment isn't Crazy
  • Why?!

The Lemming usually has something weirdly funny to show during the Christmas season. This year, the Lemming's heart wasn't in that project.



Check back in a few hours, though. The Lemming may have something 'seasonal' ready by then. Then again, maybe not.

Related posts:

• In the Lemming's blog
  • "Lemming Tracks: That's Not Santa"
    (December 25, 2011)
  • "Gingerbread, Fruitcake, and Eggnog Nightmare #2"
    (December 23, 2011)
  • "Lemming Tracks: Christmas With the Lemming"
    (December 16, 2011)
  • "Holiday Santa: 'How Much for Just the Head?' "
    (December 25, 2010)
  • "Lemming Tracks: Christmas Cookies, Fruitcake, and Eggnog Nightmare #1"
    (December 24, 2010)
• In another blog
  • "Freedom, Joy, and Tau Ceti's Planets"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (December 21, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Suffering and Joy During Advent
  • "Christmas in Cuba; The Pope's @Pontifex Twitter Account; News from Mars"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (December 7, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Christmas in Cuba
  • "Advent, Seasonal Strangeness, and Me"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (December 2, 2012)
  • " '...A Savior has been Born for You Who is Messiah and Lord...' "
    A Catholic Citizen in America (December 25, 2011)
  • "Christmas: Mything the Point"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (December 18, 2011)

Lemming Tracks: No Pictures, Please! The Lemming is Busy

The Lemming frantically assures visitors that there will be a post ready, later today: if the Lemming isn't interrupted. Again.

This time, the Lemming says that an unexpectedly hectic schedule pushed today's post aside: and that's the story the Lemming is sticking with.

And, seriously: no pictures of the Lemming, or today's post may not show up until next week!

Related post:

• "Lemming Tracks: It's Friday?!"
  (August 10, 2012)

Friday the Lemming Slept Late

Oops. It's Friday, and the Lemming hasn't posted anything yet.



It's been one of those weeks: maybe later, after the Lemming has his coffee.

Allegedly-related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: A Change in Schedule"
  (May 14, 2012)
• "The Lemming's Got a Feed (big whoop)"
  (March 10, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: Triskaidekaphobia and a Rambling Lemming"
  (January 13, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: "password" As a Password?!"
  (November 21, 2011)
• "'Cancer Causes Cell Phones!' - or, not"
  (July 18, 2011)

Lemming Tracks: 'And We're All Gonna Die!' or, not

The Lemming explained the sort of 'apathy' you'll find in this blog. It's not that the Lemming doesn't care about stuff. The Lemming just doesn't care about the 'right' stuff. Like how hopelessly awful everything always is.

Remember how the oceans would be dead by 1980? But it didn't matter, because the coming ice age would wipe out civilization?

Then there was the horrible death by starvation of all humanity that happened last year. Or would have, if the Lemming's deliberately screwball logic had been valid.

That particular doomsday prediction showed up in another blog by the Lemming:

Homo Sapiens, Statistics, and Silly Assumptions

"7,000,000,000 People, More or Less: Why I'm Not Alarmed"
A Catholic Citizen in America (October 31, 2011)

"Depending on who you listen to, the 7,000,000,000th member of humanity was born at two minutes past midnight today. Or, not. Since we don't have absolutely accurate, up-to-date, and verifiable statistics for everyone, that 'seven billionth' person is an educated guess.¹

"Still, 7,000,000,000 is a whole lot more folks than live here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Or in Minnesota's Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, for that matter.

"I did a little checking, and found out that everybody's going to die horribly in maybe a month or so: If I make a few assumptions. Here's the data I started with. To the best of my knowledge, it's accurate:²..."

The data is accurate enough. What the Lemming did with the data in that post was anything-but.

Next time you read about 'sustainable' something: think about assumptions that may have been made.

Here's what the Lemming came up with, in October of last year:

"'Absolute maximum sustainable human population' for Earth, under ideal conditions, using:"

• All land, including Antarctica
  • 8,364,000
• All land, and water
  • 28,135,000
• Current world population (estimate)
  • 7,000,000,000

" 'Obviously,' we're doomed!"
(A Catholic Citizen in America)

That's because today, humanity's population is somewhere between a few hundred and a thousand times over Earth's 'sustainable' 'carrying capacity' for our species.

And has been for some time now.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What the Lemming did was take quite real data about how much land it takes to support one human being. Assuming that the human being:

• Is a large omnivore
  • True, as far as that goes
• Has decided to stick with hunting and gathering
  • True, for a miniscule fraction of humanity
  • Nearly all human beings use agriculture
    • Directly or indirectly
    • And have, for the last 10,000 years

The problem today isn't producing enough food: it's getting the food to folks who need it.

Real Problems, Weird Solutions

This isn't a perfect world. Not even close. One of the problems is that some folks are living in really terrible conditions - because other folks aren't behaving like good neighbors. That's an enormous oversimplification, but the Lemming's already got a long post here.

The solutions - in the Lemming's considered opinion - involve short-term and long-term goals. In the short term, getting food and medical supplies to folks who need them is important: even if their 'betters' don't want to cooperate. In the long term, there isn't a social or economic system on the planet that couldn't use improvement.

And, in some cases, radical change.

None of the solutions, again in the Lemming's considered opinion, should involve making sure that people with darker-than-European skin stop having 'too many' babies. And that's another topic, for another blog. (A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2010))

Related posts:

• Homo sapiens (and otherwise)
  • "Shirley Booth Didn't Kill Lincoln at a Ford Dealership?"
    (January 3, 2011)
  • "Lemming Tracks: Ice Age, Global Warming, Climate Change, and Living Scared"
    (November 19, 2010)
  • "Neanderthals, Teeth, Us, and an Ongoing Puzzle"
    (June 25, 2010)
  • "Tanning Beds, Addiction, and Pale Mutants"
    (April 21, 2010)
  • "Homo Erectus, Kitchens, and Human (Pre)History"
    (December 21, 2009)
• Getting a grip
  • " The Catholic Church, a Changing World, and New Forms of Political Participation "
    A Catholic Citizen in America (March 12, 2012)
  • "Upset Applecarts: A Hopeful Sign"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (March 5, 2012)
  • "Horses, Gothic Cathedrals, and a Faith That Matters"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (July 9, 2011)
    Particularly
    • "Horses and the End of Civilization, ca. 1900
  • "Minnesota Bishops, Immigrants, Papers and Justice"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (June 30, 2010)
  • "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2010)

We interrupt for a special bulletin: STEVE JOBS IS STILL DEAD! This blog will resume normal posts on Wednesday

As 'celebrity news' goes, this isn't at all bad:

"Silicon Valley elite honor Steve Jobs"
AFP (October 16, 2011)

"Silicon Valley nobility arrived at Stanford University on Sunday to pay tribute to revered Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

"Security teams from Apple and Stanford along with local police officers cordoned off the main quad on campus, only letting pass those with invitations to the private event....

"...Responses to invitations were directed to Emerson Collective, a philanthropy founded by the Apple co-founder's wife, Laurene Powell Jobs.

"Amid global mourning for the death of the man behind iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Macintosh computers, California Governor Jerry Brown declared Sunday as 'Steve Jobs Day' in the western US state...."

The Lemming doesn't mind this follow-up on a celebrity's death: partly because Steve Jobs became a celebrity for what he contributed to the world's cultures.

That's a welcome change from the usual news about:

• Some media star's latest incarceration for
  • Shoplifting
  • Public intoxication
  • Reckless driving
  • All of the above
• A sports 'great' beating up someone
  • Again

Celebrities, News, and Silliness

Not that everyone who's on the 'grin until your lips hurt' side of the camera is a chronically inebriated kleptomaniac with relationship issues. And I'm sure that quite a few professional athletes get through an entire season without forcing their managers to deal with the courts. The quiet ones don't seem to get much publicity.

There's something about celebrities that seems to bring out the 'silly' in people.

Like the 'Princess Di is Still Dead!!' items that littered journalism a few years back; or seemingly endless 'royal wedding' coverage, more recently.

Or news that '[celebrity] is dead:' given national coverage after some caffeinated journalist read something online. Maybe news editors have gotten more savvy these days.

Steve Jobs, Humanity, the Big Picture, and the Lemming

For what it's worth, the Lemming's sorry to see Steve Jobs gone. He made a real contribution, by helping change the way most folks relate to information technology. That's a big deal.

On the other hand, the Lemming thinks that, just as humanity somehow struggled on after whoever learned to use fire died: humanity will endure the death of Steve Jobs. Maybe the next-generation iPod or digital nose hair trimmer won't be quite the huge splash it would have been with Jobs' colorful personality pushing it.

But the Lemming strongly suspects that somehow, somewhere, someone is going to get a new idea or two. And others will realize that the idea's a good one.

Then, quite likely, it'll just be a matter of time before we see editorials warning about how the new idea will

• Bring about the end of civilization
• Kill some cute animal
• Generally spread chaos and destruction

Sorry: It's Monday, and it's hit the Lemming with unusual severity this week.

Related posts:

• "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011: Computers and Hyperbole"
  (October 7, 2011)
• "Copyright Infringement Case: Over a Tattoo?!"
  (June 11, 2011)
• "'The Report of My Death' - Bill Cosby, This Time"
  (August 3, 2010)
• "Rebuilding Japan, Living in a Big World"
  (April 18, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Japan, the Aflac Duck, and the Lemming
• "Dolly Parton Dead? Another Reason I'm Not a Journalist"
  (August 25, 2008)

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011: Computers and Hyperbole

For once, the rumors were right. A celebrity really is dead. Steve Jobs' life and death were major news yesterday

World Leaders and Steve Jobs: Not Bad for a Kid From the Apricot Orchards

"World tributes pour in for Steve Jobs"
Laura Smith-Spark, CNN (October 6, 2011)

"International leaders in politics and business are paying tribute Thursday to Apple visionary Steve Jobs, whose death at age 56 has saddened many around the world.

" 'Steve Jobs transformed the way we work and play; a creative genius who will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his family,' British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted.

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote on his Facebook page that Jobs was a great entrepreneur, innovator and major player in the world's technological revolution.

" 'As inspired as he was inspiring, Steve Jobs will remain one of the great figures of our time,' Sarkozy said, as he paid tribute to the American's courage in both his work and personal life.

"Ireland's Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, Enda Kenny also gave his condolences in a statement paying tribute to the man who brought the world the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet...."

There's more of the same as the article goes on. Steve Jobs, once Apple CEO and Chairman, made a difference. A big difference. Around the world. A whole lot of national leaders have said so: occasionally online.

Not bad for some kid from California's apricot orchards.

---

End of an Era? Yes - End of the Innovators? Not Likely

"Apple's Steve Jobs Dies at 56"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (October 6, 2011)

"Steve Jobs saw the future and led the world to it. He moved technology from garages to pockets, took entertainment from discs to bytes and turned gadgets into extensions of the people who use them.

"Jobs, who founded and ran Apple, told us what we needed before we wanted it.

" 'To some people, this is like Elvis Presley or John Lennon. It's a change in our times. It's the end of an era,' said Scott Robbins, 34, a barber and an Apple fan. 'It's like the end of the innovators.'..."

"End of the innovators?" "THE innovators??" What, we've seen the last of folks like Αρχιμήδης, 諸葛亮, Benjamin Franklin, or Nikolas Tesla? Somehow, the steel industry endured the passing of Bessemer, movies survived the death of Disney, and the Lemming thinks we haven't seen the end of innovation. Not even close.

Remember the story about the fellow who said the United States Patent Office should close, because everything that could be invented: had been invented? In 1900 or so? It may not be true: but that's not the point.

Over-the-top hyperbole and Elvis aside, Steve Jobs has been one of the big innovators, and - in the Lemming's opinion - an even better publicist for information technology. He will be missed.

Back to that Associated Press piece:

"...President Barack Obama said in a statement that Jobs 'exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity.'

" 'Steve was among the greatest of American innovators -- brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it,' he said.

"Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January -- his third since his health problems began -- and resigned in August. Jobs became Apple's chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook....

"...The news Apple fans and shareholders had been dreading came the day after Apple unveiled its latest iPhone, a device that got a lukewarm reception. Perhaps, there would have been more excitement had Jobs been well enough to show it off with his trademark theatrics.

"Jobs started Apple with a high school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and returned in 1997 to rescue the company. During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world with a market value of $351 billion. Almost all that wealth has been created since Jobs' return....

"...He helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries.

"For transformation of American industry, he has few rivals. He has long been linked to his personal computer-age contemporary, Bill Gates, and has drawn comparisons to other creative geniuses such as Walt Disney. Jobs died as Walt Disney Co.'s largest shareholder, a by-product of his decision to sell computer animation studio Pixar in 2006...."

One more thing before moving on. The Lemming learned a lot from doing time in American academia, but let's get real. Some outfits insist on seeing on that piece of paper colleges and universities swap for time served need a college education. Folks who want to work for a bureaucracy need a diploma.

Others can pick up the experience they want long before graduation. Steve Jobs is one of them.

Here's how Mr. Jobs explained the advantages of being a college dropout:

"...'All of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it,' he said at a Stanford University commencement address in 2005. 'I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.'

"When he returned to California in 1974, Jobs worked for video game maker Atari and attended meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club -- a group of computer hobbyists -- with Steve Wozniak, a high school friend who was a few years older.

"Wozniak's homemade computer drew attention from other enthusiasts, but Jobs saw its potential far beyond the geeky hobbyists of the time. The pair started Apple Computer Inc. in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976. According to Wozniak, Jobs suggested the name after visiting an "apple orchard" that Wozniak said was actually a commune.

"Their first creation was the Apple I -- essentially, the guts of a computer without a case, keyboard or monitor......."
(Associated Press, via Foxnews.com)

That's when the world changed.

---

World Leaders, Nerds, and Steve Jobs

"Tributes for Apple 'visionary' Steve Jobs"
BBC News US & Canada (October 6, 2011)

"World and business leaders have been paying tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who has died at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer.

"US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said Mr Jobs had changed the world.

"Microsoft's Bill Gates said it had been 'an insanely great honour' to work with him. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg remembered his 'mentor and friend'.

"The Twitter microblog site struggled to cope with the traffic of tributes...."

After quite a great deal more of that, BBC gets to what the Lemming thinks is a really major contribution Steve Jobs gave the world:

"...Mr Jobs built a reputation as a forthright and demanding leader who could take niche technologies - such as the mouse and graphical user interface, using onscreen icons rather than text - and make them popular with the general public. ..."
(BBC News US & Canada)

Nerds who read this? Please don't be offended by what's coming: the Lemming's something of a nerd. More than 'something,' according to #3 daughter.

Nerds are great people: some are also geeks. But the most brilliantly innovative nerdy geek could develop a world-changing technology: and live in obscurity until the nerdy geek's socially ept (why not?? 'the opposite of inept') sibling showed the world why they wanted - and needed - wind-powered automatic ear wax removers. ("It'll blow your mind!")

---

"Steve Jobs is the Chairman of the Board...."?!

"Steve Jobs"
Apple.com (still online, as of noon (Central) October 7, 2011)

"Steve Jobs is the Chairman of the Board of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976. Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

"Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which created some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time including Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company in 2006 and Steve now serves on Disney's board of directors.

"Steve grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley, and still lives there with his family."

"Steve Jobs is the Chairman of the Board of Apple...." "Is?" Present tense?? The Lemming can think of several explanations, some more plausible than others. Steve Jobs:

1. Isn't dead, he's
   1. Secretly running Apple from a bunker in northern Minnesota
   2. One of the shape shifting, space alien, lizard men who run the world
      • And is
        • Boston Corbett
        • Victor Grayson
        • Elvis Presley
          • Or did Elvis really die as the Montauk monster?
   3. Been forced out of Apple and is hiding in
      • A bunker in northern Minnesota
      • A secret basement under Apple headquarters
      • A Bangkok warehouse
2. Is dead
   1. Apple will
      • Learn to cope without Mr Jobs
      • Become a Dilbertesque American corporation
        • With clueless management
        • Hoping for a federal bailout
          • Remember the Big Three automakers?
   2. He's
      • Secretly running Apple from a bunker in northern Minnesota
        • Communicating with Tim Cook through a magic iPod of his own design
        • Telepathically influencing the operations of Apple
          • Which he's done since his death in 1985
            • In a freak lab accident
      • The victim of a conspiracy involving
        • The CIA
        • Microsoft
        • The shape shifting, space alien, lizard men who run the world

Maybe the Lemming shouldn't make jokes about this. Apart from the matter of poor taste, there's the possibility that someone's going to believe one or more of those crazy conspiracy theories.

Seriously, apple.com Has a very nice, tasteful, splash screen up, with a monochrome portrait of Steve Jobs, his name, and 1955-2011. Folks working there probably have better things to do at the moment, than updating Mr. Jobs' bio page.

And, for the record, the Lemming figures that #2A is what's really going on. Seriously: Elvis?

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Steve Jobs, iPad 2, Marketing, and 'Just Spell My Name Right?' "
  (March 5, 2011)
• "Top Tech Nifties, 2010"
  (January 1, 2011)
• " 'iTunes account hacked' - Widespread and Under-Reported?"
  (April 29, 2010)
• "Extinction of the Desktop Mouse? No, It's About Apple's Magic Mouse"
  (February 11, 2010)
• "iPhone 3G - Incredible! Amazing! Stupendous! (WHY?)"
  (July 10, 2008)

Thought for the Day: Astonish the Rest

A thought for the day:

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
Mark Twain, via The Quotations Page

This Post is Not About Mutant Bananas

"War, Genocide, Refugees, and a Somali-American Helping Rwandan Refugees"
A Catholic Citizen in America (June 18, 2011)

"For two days now, I've been writing about World Refugee Day. Also Minnesota, the United Nations, turkeys, Antarctica, jobs, and getting along with neighbors:...

"...'Getting along with neighbors' can mean anything from dealing with a neighborhood association led by a control freak with an aversion to inflatable Santas, to deciding not to kill the family next door - even though they don't have the 'right' ancestors.

"Rwanda - It Could be Worse

"My guess is that there are several places on Earth that are in worse shape today, than Rwanda. Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan come to mind. Even so, there are reasons why quite a few folks decided that it was time to move...."

The Lemming wrote that post, so this micro-review is pretty much a blatant example of full-bore self-promotion.

On the other hand, you might be interested in knowing what happened to a man who hid in a cattle truck, bribed a pilot, and eventually wound up in Utah. And why he was in the truck to begin with.

Or, not.

Almost-related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Sudan, Africa, Independence, Unity, and Getting a Grip"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "Fetching Water With a Q Drum: Looks Simple"
  (November 20, 2010)
• "Mutant Bananas: A Pretty Good Idea, Actually"
  (August 24, 2010)
• "Ghana, Intellectual Property Rights, and the Information Age"
  (July 8, 2010)
• "African Art, Photos, and a Whacking Great Generalization"
  (June 21, 2010)

Ancient Dodecahedrons, and Crocodile Clocks

"History Mystery: Ancient Dodecahedron's Purpose Remains Secret"
Alexandria Hein, Archaeology, FoxNews.com (June 10, 2011)


(Portable Antiquities Scheme / British Museum, via FoxNews.com, used w/o permission)

"Can you do what the world's archaeologists can't? Can you explain this -- thing?

"It's been called a war weapon, a candlestick, a child's toy, a weather gauge, an astronomical instrument, and a religious symbol -- just to name a few. But what IS this mystery object, really?

"There are books and websites dedicated to properly identifying it, dissertations dedicated to unveiling the truth, textbooks and class curriculums spent arguing over what its function is. Fans can even 'Like' it on Facebook.

"Yet the only thing historians will agree on is a name for the odd object: a Roman dodecahedron....

"...It's dated from somewhere around the second and third century AD, and has been popping up everywhere in Europe. Archeologists have found the majority of them in France, Switzerland and parts of Germany where the Romans once ruled.

"But its use remains a mystery, mostly because the Romans who usually kept meticulous accounts make no mention of it in records. And with sizes varying from 4 to 11 cm, and some bearing decorative knobs, it only gets harder to pinpoint a function.

"Speculation among historians has resulted in many different hypotheses, which is as close as we may get to an accurate answer. Few archeologists will even comment on it, because the dodecahedron isn't defined to a specific cultural area and therefore not their area of expertise. Even the theories that do exist are highly debated among historians.

"Plutarch, the famous Greek historian reportedly identified the dodecahedron as a vital instrument for zodiac signs. The twelve sides represent the twelve animals in the circle of the Zodiac, but even this theory comes under contest when the argument of the knobs as decoration is presented.

" 'My take is that it is yet another piece the use of which we shall never completely sort out even though we are fortunate to have Plutarch's testimony,' said Andrea Galdy, who holds a Ph.D from the School of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Manchester and is currently teaching Art History in Florence, Italy. Galdy has not come across it in her own work, and does not regard herself as a specialist, but she does have plenty of experience in labeling artifacts...."

The Lemming doesn't know, either: but thinks that Dr. Galdy is on the right track. Over a dozen centuries after the things were made, just exactly what they were used for will probably remain a matter for more-or-less-informed guesswork.

That won't stop the Lemming from speculating, though.

Let's start with what we've got - smallish things that are fairly easy to make, and that look cool. That were so common and/or unimportant that even compulsive record-keepers didn't keep track of them.

That sounds like the sort of nicknack folks pick up in the 'home decor' section of a hardware store.

If that doesn't sound 'scientific,' or 'scholarly,' that's because the Lemming's studied enough history to know that, for several thousand years of recorded history, people have acted pretty much like people - no matter where they are.

That, with a few exceptions, generally includes having a few things around that don't do much of anything except look cool.

Yes, we've got your standard-issue native idols and totems and stuff. But - let's take a hypothetical case.

It's about 1,700 years from now - between the years 3700 and 3800 in the calendar quite a few of us use these days.

Archeologists have been puzzling over dozens of objects, the purpose of which baffles them. A few centimeters across, these sculptures portray a mechanical elapsed-time display, embedded in - or held by - a creature.

Although a few experts maintain that the creature is a dragon - or a personification of the ancient deity Elvis John - many identify it as a crocodile or alligator. The crocodile camp point to those rare specimens in which the creature is an actual reptile, into which a display device was mounted.



Scholars are nearly all in agreement, however, that these devices were part of an ancient Cult of Entropy: as evidenced by the time-display being captured by - or consumed within - the Great Lizard Of Entropic Progression.

Far-fetched? Maybe.

About the Roman-era dodecahedrons, the Lemming suspects that they may have been the 2nd-century equivalent of garden gnomes.

Related posts:

• "Egypt: The Lost Capital of Ramses II, Pi-Ramses"
  (February 4, 2011)
• "Winery in Armenia: Earliest Found So Far"
  (January 11, 2011)
• "Stone Spheres of Costa Rica"
  (January 10, 2011)
• "Mammoth Ivory, Movie Star, Big Assumption"
  (August 7, 2010)
• "Anubis at Denver Airport: 'Have a Nice Flight' "
  (June 4, 2010)

Here Comes Another Martian Conspiracy Theory

Move over, face on Mars, there's a new conspiracy theory coming - maybe.

"Armchair Astronomer Finds 'Evidence' of Life on Mars"
FoxNews.com (June 6, 2011)



"NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab is investigating a California armchair astronomer's claim that a white, fuzzy image on the red planet's surface might be evidence of life.

"David Martines' YouTube video is heading for viral status after he uploaded a flyby of Google Earth's Mars explorer zooming in on a white, cylindrical object.

"The object, according to Martines, is 'about 700 feet long and 150 feet wide.' He's calling it 'Bio Station Alpha, because I'm just assuming that something lives in it or has lived in it.'

"His video was uploaded May 28, and has already been watched nearly 750,000 times.

"A spokesman for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab told FoxNews.com it was investigating the wild claims, speculating that 'Bio Station Alpha' would most likely be determined to be a glitch in the digital imaging or an unusual feature on the surface of the planet -- and not a Martian base....

"...But who's responsible? Martines says it's unlikely to be NASA.

" 'I don't know if they could pull off such a project without all the people seeing all the material going up there,' he said. 'I sort of doubt NASA has anything to do with this. I don't know if NASA even knows about this.'

"Google's imagery comes from many different locations, a company spokeswoman said, and glitches and errors can be introduced in many ways...."

The FoxNews.com article mentions the old "face on Mars" thing - which can be taken as proof they FoxNews.com is part of the conspiracy. The Lemming doesn't think there's a conspiracy to be part of - so the Lemming's in on it, too: using the same (logic? reasoning?).

NASA and the Amateur Astronomers

NASA is taking a look at the 'bio station' claim - which the Lemming thinks makes good sense. If the fuzzy white streak isn't an image processing glitch, something isn't the same color as the surrounding terrain.

The area that's getting attention is near one of the Martian poles - where carbon dioxide is part of the polar ice cap. The odds are pretty good that if there really is a feature on Mars where that image shows a streak, it's probably at least partly dry ice. In the Lemming's opinion.

Whatever that whitish mark is, the Lemming doesn't think it's something artificial on Mars. At least, that's among the much-less-likely explanations, in the Lemming's opinion.

This wouldn't be the first time folks were convinced they saw engineering projects on the red planet. By the way, one of the more likely explanations for the enduring canals of Mars is that they're the result of intelligent life - on our end of the telescope. (March 14, 2009)

The Lemming isn't cautious about assuming that the mark on Mars isn't artificial because an "armchair astronomer" noticed it. Amateur astronomers are just as serious as their paid counterparts - the difference is that they observe even when they're not getting grant money. That's a little unfair - but the Lemming thinks "armchair astronomer" may not be the best choice of words. The skyandtelescope.com magazine is a pretty good place to start looking at what astronomers, amateur and otherwise, are doing.

NASA has taken note of what amateurs noticed in the wealth of data sent back by probes before: like the Martian cave discovered by a seventh grade class. (June 22, 2010)

Space Aliens On Mars? That'd be Great, But - - -

The Lemming would love for "Bio Station Alpha" to really be something built by space aliens - or Martians. It's supposed to be at 71 49'19.73"N 29 33'06.53"W on Mars, by the way.

Assuming that it's space alien technology requires quite a few assumptions - including that there are space aliens to put it there. Other explanations require not quite so many assumptions, so the Lemming's not expecting this to be a "First Encounters" situation.

If the Lemming were writing a story, that bright streak wouldn't be any of the possibilities that Mr. Martines mentioned:

"...'It could be a powerstation or it could be a biological containment or it could be a glorified garage -- hope it's not a weapon.'

" 'Whoever put it up there had a purpose I'm sure. I couldn't imagine what the purpose was. I couldn't imagine why anybody would want to live on Mars.'..."

An (extremely unlikely) explanation is that it's a spaceship. One whose pilot almost managed to land safely on Mars. Recently. Within the last year or so. It was a hard landing, which explains why the fuselage is bent and even broken in a few places. Since there don't seem to be signs of activity around it, there probably weren't survivors. Although that short feature coming out from the fuselage, on the viewer's right, about a quarter of the way from the lower end, might be a deployed exit chute.

Does the Lemming think this is possible? Yes, barely.

Does the Lemming think it's likely that there's a crashed spaceship on Mars, that it's not one of ours, and that the pilot might have gotten a distress call out before going down? In the Lemming's considered opinion, that's a great deal less likely than the Lemming winning the lottery.

Still, it could make a dandy story.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Beware Warmonger Imperialist Space Aliens!?"
  (January 11, 2011)
• "Gliese 581g, Alien Angst, and the Lemming"
  (October 4, 2010)
• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• " 'All We Want is Peace and Quiet' - Another Look at the Mind of the Alien"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (December 9, 2009)
• "DNA - A Universal Pattern? Could Be"
  (April 8, 2009)

---

Other posts, about

• "Mars, Mostly"

Related posts, at

• "A Serious Search for Other Worlds, Life, and - Maybe - Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence"

Crab Nebula Superflare: It's Not Supposed to Do That

"The more we know, the more we know that we don't know."
- the Lemming (and lots of other folks)

The Lemming said that, so it's a "Lemming" quote. But the Lemming isn't the first person to make that observation. See what you get when you 'Google' that sentence.

It's the Lemming's guess that whoever 'originally' said it was repeating what someone else said: someone whose words didn't get written down - and that person had heard it before, in a chain going back to the day when someone realized that the new wonder-technology, fire, wasn't an unmixed blessing.

And yet, we're still using fire. And making fire extinguishers, which is another topic.

Let's see, the Lemming had something in mind for this post. It's on the desktop - - - AHA! Found it!

---

"Superflare from Crab Nebula Has Astronomers Mystified"
(May 11, 2011)

"The Crab Nebula, the dusty remains of an exploded star, has unleashed a surprisingly massive flare that is five times more powerful than any eruption previously seen from the celestial object, leaving scientists struggling to explain the event, NASA says.

"The so-called 'superflare' was detected on April 12 by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which is continuously mapping the sky in gamma ray wavelengths in search of gamma-ray bursts, the brightest explosions in the universe. [Video: Supernova Spits New Gamma-Ray Fire]

"The Crab Nebula's strong outburst lasted six days, and its exact cause has scientists scratching their heads, especially since the superflare followed an earlier gamma-ray flare from the nebula in January...."

The Crab Nebula superflare may not get a Hollywood treatment, even though it's got a moderately cool name. This may be just as well, given the movie industry's track record:

• "The Neutrinos are Coming! 2012 and Hollywood Science"
  (November 16, 2009)
• "Science Fiction in the Movies: 'The Satan Bug' to 'The Matrix' "
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (January 26, 2010)

Back to the article:

Change Happens

"...The spectacular and colorful Crab Nebula is the wreckage of a dying star that emitted an explosion of light that reached Earth in the year 1054. The former star was located 6,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Taurus when it erupted in a brilliant supernova explosion. [Supernovas: Photos of Star Explosions]

"At the heart of an expanding gas cloud lies what is left of the original star's core, a super-dense neutron star that spins 30 times a second. With each rotation, the star swings intense beams of radiation toward Earth, creating the pulsed emission characteristic of spinning neutron stars, which are also known as pulsars.

"Apart from these pulses, astrophysicists thought the Crab Nebula was a virtually constant source of high-energy radiation. But, in January, scientists representing a variety of space-based observatories, including NASA's Fermi, Swift and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, reported long-term changes in brightness at X-ray energies...."
(Space.com)

The not-so-constant Crab Nebula has joined the ranks of things we thought never changed, but do:

• "Looks Like a Cosmic Constant - Isn't"
  (September 16, 2010)

Now, about these superflares:

"Extremely Puzzling Events," Science, and the Lemming

"...'These superflares are the most intense outbursts we've seen to date, and they are all extremely puzzling events,' said Alice Harding at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in a statement. 'We think they are caused by sudden rearrangements of the magnetic field not far from the neutron star, but exactly where that's happening remains a mystery....'
(Space.com)

As the Lemming's said before, it's nice when observation and experiment confirm some scientific theory. When observation and experiment don't match what's expected: that's exciting! Inexplicable phenomena mean that there's something new, previously-unknown, to learn about this universe.

That, in the Lemming's opinion, is exciting.

It's not 'proof' that science is a fake or some kind of conspiracy. Although hoaxes have been known among the scientific community - and surrounding wannabes. Like the well-publicized Piltdown Man. (1911-1953) ("Piltdown Man Hoax Is Exposed:," John Hillary, The New York Times (November 22, 1953), via Clark University, Worcester, MA)

What does the Piltdown Man have to do with astrophysics? Not much, actually. What a hoax that lasted four decades and fascinating new data from the depths of space have in common is that both get discussed by people.

Now Available: One Universe, As-Is

Some folks probably still think that the Piltdown Man hoax 'proves' that science is a big fake - and possibly a commie plot. Others may see folks in the first group: and assume that they're typical of 'those religious nuts.'

The rest of us, the Lemming hopes, are more interested in what's being discovered. Science, in the Lemming's opinion is "a patient yet passionate search for the truth about the cosmos, about nature and about the constitution of the human being."¹ Sure: now and then somebody cobbles together primate parts and passes them off as Piltdown Man, or comes up with a new crisis du jure - but that, in the Lemming's opinion, is more human nature and marketing than science.

The Lemming prefers to take this universe 'as is', not the way some ideology insists it 'should' be. And that's another topic.

As for scientists finding out that an explanation that seemed to make sense - doesn't fit new data? That's what science is about: working out a theory that says why something happens, and then testing the theory to see how accurate it is.

For example, phlogiston was a pretty good way to explain combustion. Until new data just wouldn't fit the 'phlogiston' theory. And that's yet another topic.

Somewhat-related posts:

• Stars and all that
  • "Orion: Stars Under Construction and Otherwise"
    (January 9, 2011)
  • "Our Sun's Sunspot Cycle Isn't All That Predictable"
    (June 16, 2010)
  • "Exploding Star: Not, I Think, a Jor El Moment, But Interesting"
    (January 5, 2010)
  • "Gamma Ray Flare in Pegasus"
    (December 13, 2009)
  • "Exploding Stars, Theory Confirmed; Old Stars, Not So Much"
    (December 9, 2009)
• Evolution, phlogiston, and getting a grip
  • "Science, Faith, and Auto Mechanics"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (August 19, 2010)
  • "Dark Matter Either Exists, or It Doesn't"
    (June 14, 2010)
  • "Astrobiology, the Vatican, and the Meaning of Our Existence"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (November 12, 2009)
  • "Dark Matter, the Gruber Foundation's Cosmology Prize, and Cephid Variables"
    (June 8, 2009)
  • "Catholic Church, Creationism, Evolution, Facts and Faith"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (March 5, 2009)

---

¹ From:

• "Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Participants in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences"
  Benedict XVI, Clementine Hall, via Libreria Editrice Vaticana (October 28, 2010)

Rikuzentakata's 'Tree of Hope:' and a Philosophizing Lemming

"Lone pine tree symbol of hope in Japan tsunami city"
Shingo Ito, AFP (April 2, 2011)


"The forest of black and red pine trees is gone, scattered like matchsticks"
(from AFP, used w/o permission)

"A lone pine tree stands on the shore of a tsunami-wrecked Japanese city, a symbol of hope and defiance for people who have lost everything.

"The tree was one of 70,000 in a forest that had protected the city of Rikuzentakata from ocean winds for more than 300 years.

"Large parts of the city now lie in ruins, with only the shells of a few concrete buildings left standing. Ten percent of the city's population is dead or missing

"The forest of black and red pine trees is also gone, scattered like matchsticks across this once-pretty resort by the enormous power of the March 11 tsunami -- except for this single tree, whose survival is counted as a 'miracle' by those whose homes have now vanished.

" 'Since it was the only tree left intact, it will become a symbol of restoration,' said 23-year-old Eri Kamaishi, as she stood in the shadow of the tree now known locally as the 'pine of hope'.

"The tree is one of the few landmarks left to show where Rikuzentakata once stood, said Kamaishi.

" 'I can't even remember exactly what the city looked like because it has so completely gone,' she said.

"Resin oozes from a scar on the trunk of the tree, where the lower branches were ripped off by the power of the waves, but a thick spray of green pine needles at the top of the 10-metre (33-foot) tree shows it is very much still alive....

"...The history of the pine forest can be traced back to the 17th century, when a wealthy merchant began planting trees as a windbreaker to protect residents from storms.

"The beach, which sits at the mouth of a bay, drew around 200,000 visitors a year and was listed in guide books as one of the 100 most scenic places in Japan.

" 'For us, the pine trees are very special' because of the protection they offered to local people, said Yasuo Murakami, 69.

"He said he hoped the tree would encourage survivors and heal the broken hearts of those who have lost their loved ones. Murakami's wife and sister were found dead and his six-year-old grandchild is still missing....

"...Around 1,000 people [in Rikuzentakata] are known to have died, with 1,300 still missing. Many thousands are living in evacuation centres. Heaps of debris across a vast area of the city remain almost untouched...."

It's taken about two weeks, but news of the Rikuzentakata 'tree of hope' has reached an American news outlet. The Lemming will be back after this excerpt from CNN, with an opinion or two.

---

"Single pine tree a sign of hope amid devastation in Japanese city"
Brian Walker, CNN World (April 16, 2011)

"More than a month after Japan's killer tsunami struck, there's not much standing in Rikuzentakata, and even fewer things still alive.

"But across a shattered bridge and among the scattered concrete shells and piles of debris, there's a surprising sight along the tsunami-battered coast -- a single towering pine tree.

"It's the last surviving one in what was once a sprawling grove of more than 70,000 that towered above the white sandy shore and made it a popular tourist destination....

"...But they were no protection from the March 11 tsunami waves, which reached more than 10-meters high and washed several kilometers inland.

"At least 10% of the 23,000 people who once called the town home are dead or missing, says the town's mayor, Futoshi Toba.

"There are huge logs now piled up along the shore, while tree trunks litter the coast, many snapped in half by the waves.

"Those trees that once protected the city instead added to the destruction.

"Residents in a crowded local shelter recall seeing the giant trees cracking off and sweeping like battering rams through the town.

"Now the people of the town see the last pine as a symbol of hope and renewal.

"But first they have to save it.

"Salt water, oil and chemicals have soaked into the earth all around its roots.

"Its lower branches have all been torn off, and it is oozing sap but still holding on to the pine needles and cones some 40 feet up.

"The town leaders have begun to plan for keeping it alive. They are monitoring its health and even considering digging up the soil surrounding it and replacing it with fresh dirt...."

Apart from a few celebrities saying daft things (March 15, 2011), there's been - in the Lemming's opinion - remarkably little public comment about how the March 11, 2011, earthquake was Japan's fault.

The Lemming has, however, seen quite a bit written about how nuclear power is a bad thing. And that's almost another topic.

About that pine tree, the folks in Rikuzentakata, and getting a grip, the Lemming opines:

• Was the earthquake Japan's fault?
  • No
• Should TEPCO's Fukushima power plant be rebuilt?
  • Probably not
    • But that's not the Lemming's decision to make
• Is nuclear power safe?
  • Of course not
• Is any technology safe?
  • No
  • People have been killed by
    • Fire
    • Sharp sticks
• Should nuclear power be banned?
  • In the short term, no
  • In the long term, it's likely to be replaced by other technologies
    • Which will have their own problems
• Are we all doomed? DOOMED? DOOMED?!!!!
  • The Lemming doesn't think that's likely

Rikuzentakata's Tree, and Hope

The Lemming realizes that bad things happened in Japan last month. Many people died, and many things were broken. That was not good.

But many more folks did not die - and survivors can, in the Lemming's opinion, use symbols like that pine tree as a sort of focusing point. There's a huge amount of work to be done in the northeastern part of Japan - and the Lemming thinks that folks find reconstruction easier when there's some physical thing they can point to as a symbol of what they're trying to achieve.

Maybe keeping that tree alive isn't the most practical thing that folks in Rikuzentakata could do - but the Lemming thinks it's important, anyway.

Related posts:

• "Japan, Cherry Blossoms, and 'a Limit to Extreme Self-Restraint' "
  (April 9, 2011)
• "Japan: Sort-of-Good News, the Emperor, and a Dog Story"
  (April 2, 2011)
• "Japan, Good Taste, Common Sense, and a Duck"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 15, 2011)

In the news:

• "Single pine tree a sign of hope amid devastation in Japanese city"
  Brian Walker, CNN World (April 16, 2011)
• "Lone pine tree symbol of hope in Japan tsunami city"
  Shingo Ito, AFP (April 2, 2011)

More:

• "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Posts"

Lemming Tracks: A Geek is Not a Nerd

A few days ago, the Lemming asked #3 daughter if, in her opinion, the Lemming was a geek - or a nerd. The question made sense, in context - but what's important for this post was her reply.

She told the Lemming that, if he had to ask - he was a nerd.

She's probably right.

And now, an educational cartoon from 909sickle.com/s:


(from 909sickle.com/s, used w/o permission)












The 'geeks and nerds' cartoon was previously micro-reviewed:

• "Geeks and Nerds: There's a Difference "
  (March 13, 2009)

A not-entirely-unrelated post:

• "Visit Japan's "Robot Mecha" - Redundant Title, Fun Article"
  (December 16, 2009)

Lemming Tracks: Silence of the Poets

Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of kumquats.

The poets taught in literature courses, anyway.

In the Lemming's experience.

A tip of the hat to G. K. Chesterton, whose observation the Lemming paraphrased. (May 31, 2009)

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

• "Faces in the Street - a Chesterton Quote"
  (May 22, 2010)
• "Lemming Tracks: Chesterton Quotes on Bigotry and Lunatic Asylums"
  (January 16, 2010)
• "Kumquats Revealed!"
  (September 20, 2009)
• "No Such Thing as an Uninteresting Subject: a Thought for the Day"
  (August 22, 2009)
• "A Thought for the Day"
  (May 31, 2009)

Lemming Tracks: Sad News From Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant

"Japan Nuclear Plant Owner Confirms First Deaths as Workers Fail to Contain Leak"
FoxNews.com (April 3, 2011)

"The owner of Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant confirmed the first deaths at the facility Sunday -- two workers who went missing after the March 11 tsunami, whose bodies were found earlier this week.

"A Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman said the bodies were found Wednesday. The announcement was delayed out of consideration for the families, he said.

" 'It pains me that these two young workers were trying to protect the power plant while being hit by the earthquake and tsunami,' Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.

"The two workers, aged 21 and 24, sustained multiple external injuries and were believed to have died from blood loss, TEPCO said. Their bodies were decontaminated as radiation has been spewing from the plant for three weeks...."

The Lemming may be 'apathetic,' particularly when it comes to a 1.15-parts-per-64,500,000,000,000 contamination of the Pacific Ocean. (April 4, 2011)

What's happening in northeastern Japan? The Lemming takes that very seriously.

More:

• "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Posts"