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SteveZilla

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  6. More space news!

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: More space news!

     

    Stars sometimes do bad things for life, so living near them increases the risk. Increased size also makes it more likely for bad things to happen, and happen sooner. Living near one is pretty much mandatory. But living near many large, older stars is just asking for it. And as oen approaches the galactic center, age and size increase.

     

    I've also heard that the metallicity of the star & it's planets impacts the chance of life.

  7. More space news!

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: More space news!

     

    Well, if he does mean a Magnetar, then Phil Plait has some good articles on the burst in question - http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/06/18/ok-so-maybe-we-can-be-a-little-frightened/#.UP6UxPI5t8E and http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2012/12/27/cosmic_blast_magnetar_explosion_rocked_earth_on_december_27_2004.html

     

    "... See, the magnetic field is coupled to the crust of the neutron star. The crust is extremely rigid and under vast pressure from the gravity of the star. If the crust cracks — a starquake, if you will — the energy released makes the strongest earthquake ever recorded on our planet look like a friendly pat on the back. I once calculated the strength of such a starquake, and it would register as magnitude 32 on the Richter scale. This ultraviolent blast shakes the magnetic field of the star, which in turn reacts by slamming around subatomic particles… the bottom line is that such an event can trigger a phenomenal release of X-ray energy from the star. And by "phenomenal" I mean "pants-wetting terrifying".

     

     

    In December 2004, the magnetar SGR 1806-20 underwent such a starquake. In one-tenth of a second the subsequent blast released something like 2 times 1046 ergs of energy — equal to about 50 trillion times the Sun’s output during that same period."

     

    I wonder if there were any life-sustaining planets near enough to it to have been damaged / sterilized. Also, there is a typo in one of the articles:

     

    it would register as magnitude 32 on the Richter scale

     

    The quake itself would have registered as 23 on the Richter scale

  9. Longest Running Thread EVER

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

     

    Sounds like that ad was: "Ad Council "Boss of Prison Gang" Commercial"

     

    "She's talking about one of those v-chip commercials. A lady is sitting outside talking to a bunch of "prisoners" from some fake TV show, saying that she loves the show but it's too violent - are you going to stop shivving each other in the prison yard, so she has to block them. One of the prisoners corrects her and says "Shanking, it's a verb, to shank". Then they are offered lemonade. "

     

    Found the description, but not the actual video.

     

    That's the one! Thanks a bunch, Lemming!

  10. "Neat" Pictures

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: "Neat" Pictures

     

    For me' date=' the eyes started bugging out (the ones on the photos).[/quote']

     

    For me, the shape of the faces were getting distorted like in a fun-house mirror reflection. At first I thought there were a couple of caricatures slipped into the mix so I watched each side all the way though (a couple of times) to make sure. No caricatures, but some of the images might have been 'shopped slightly.

  11. "Neat" Pictures

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: "Neat" Pictures

     

    The alacrity with which the cubs climb out ... The first one is up before the pickup is out of the frame ... Suggests this is a rather common occurrence. I am reminded of the stories from tuna-boat divers. When they first had divers go into the nets to help the dolphins out' date=' the dolphins were panicked. Now when the dolphins find themselves in a net, it's like they stand around waiting for the #£%*!! diver to get his lazy *** over here and do his job.[/quote']

     

  19. Longest Running Thread EVER

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

     

    I need some help remembering a TV commercial from 1, maybe 2 (or more) years ago. There was a series of these commercials where a parent was talking to the character(s) of a show they used to watch, but were stopping due to having kids around now. The one in question I am looking for was this lady talking to about 5-6 guys who were the characters in some prison show. She said something to them about not letting the child see them shiving (iirc) each other, and one of the characters corrected her on her prison slang usage. At the end after she has explained why she won't be watching any more she asks soemthing like "Now, who wants lemonaid?" and one of the prisoners raises his hand and one behind him smacks him on the head.

     

    Please help, only half-remembering this is driving me batty.

  21. More space news!

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: More space news!

     

    Interesting that they've had successful tests in the rain. I thought for certain that that would be the biggest problem for laser weapons.

     

    Strange that they only mentioned sunlight and snow earlier:

    The test was conducted at Rheinmetall’s Ochsenboden Proving Groud (EZO) in Switzerland, in snowy conditions and blinding sunlight...

     

    I wonder if the bit about rain was just thrown in as "well, if it can do snow, and both snow and rain are water, it can do rain also!" marketing bravado.

     

    Also, they misspelled "Ground".

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