[sunnykerr]

I wonder if he'll be able to commercialize it.

[Barstool Prophet]

I would think so. Someone would want a piece of that profit so funding might not be an issue.

[sunnykerr]

But then there's always the balance of costs versus revenues and what people are willing to spend versus what you can afford to charge for something...

I can certainly see how this is very promising. I just think there are a lot of unknowns.

[Barstool Prophet]

Sure, but I think he is on to something great.

[sunnykerr]

Skywatchers enjoy lunar eclipse Skywatchers in parts of Europe, Africa, Central Asia and Australia have been watching the first total lunar eclipse of 2011 and the longest in nearly 11 years. This type of eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow over the Moon. But indirect sunlight can still illuminate the Moon turning it a dramatic shade of red. The shadow started to fall at 1724 GMT and ended at 2300 GMT. "Totality" - when the lunar face is completely covered - lasts from 1922 GMT until 2102 GMT. The 100-minute period of totality is the longest since July 2000 Observers throughout Europe missed the early stages of the eclipse because they occurred before moonrise. However, totality could be observed throughout the continent except for northern Scotland and northern Scandinavia. In the UK, observers were able to view the eclipse from 2100 BST (2000 GMT). In the Americas, the totality was be visible from eastern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. But none of the eclipse was visible from North America. Eastern Asia, eastern Australia and New Zealand missed the last stages of the eclipse because they occurred after moonset.

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No lunar eclipse for us. Mind you, that's alright. By the time we'd be able to see it, it'll apparently be something like 4 to 5 in the morning.

[quaist]

I wanted to see the eclipse, but it was too cloudy

[Barstool Prophet]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/06/13/science-yukon-fossil-biomineralization.html

Yukon fossils reveal oldest armoured organism

Yukon fossils reveal oldest armoured organism Phoebe Cohen was awestruck when she first looked through a high-powered electron microscope at a rock sample hammered out of the wilderness of the Yukon. What she saw was 800 million-year-old fossilized evidence that organisms were trying to protect themselves by forming their own shield-like plates. It is the oldest evidence ever of biomineralization, the use of minerals by a living thing to form a hard shell, similar to the way clams or lobsters form their own protection. The tiny fossils date back between 717 and 812 million years. "It's just amazing to think about the fact that I'm the first person to ever see this specimen in the whole history of humanity," Cohen said with a laugh in a telephone interview. "It makes all of the other hard work and drudgery definitely worth it." The drudgery started in June 2007 when she and fellow Harvard University PhD student, Francis Macdonald, travelled to Eagle, Alaska, a remote community on the Yukon River along the U.S.-Canada border. The pair took a helicopter across the border into the Canadian territory and camped while they gathered ancient carbonate rock samples in an area of that had once been the floor of a shallow ocean. A persistent grizzly bear forced them to cut their search short by about 10 days. "There were two of us and only one gun," she recalled. "I was holding a can of bear spray." But by then the pair had gathered enough samples for their research. Cohen, Macdonald and their co-authors report their findings in this month's edition of the journal Geology. Breaks record by 250 million years Until now the oldest evidence from similar organisms biomineralizing was found in Africa and dates back to about 550 million years ago, Cohen said. The fossil was found among ancient carbonate rock samples in an area of the Yukon that had once been the floor of a shallow ocean.Courtesy of Phoebe Cohen and Francis Macdonald/MIT Living things started biomineralizing for protection from being eaten and the creation of the shield-like plates from these single-celled organism may be no different. "In the case of these little fossils from the Yukon, we're not quite sure what they were being used for," she said. "But it was probably a combination of protection and also enabling the organisms to stay up in the water column." The fossil isn't visible with the naked eye, at just 10 to 40 microns in size it's about one-fifth the circumference of a human hair. After using a mild acid on the soft rock to etch away the carbonate from the fossils, Cohen saw hundreds of the tiny creatures with the honeycomb-like plates of armour. "It was the most amazing thing in the world," she recalled. The discovery is what she and her partners believe to be the first "slam dunk" evidence ever for active biomineralization. And while the fossils have never been found anywhere else in the world, Cohen theorizes that it's because researchers didn't know they should be looking for something so small. She predicted it won't be long before more of such fossils are discovered. "That's one of the exciting things about publishing this article. We all build on previous knowledge." Cohen used part of the research for her Harvard thesis and is now the education and outreach lead at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's NASA Astrobiology Team in Cambridge, Mass. Macdonald also used some of the research in his thesis and is now an assistant professor of geology at Harvard. "It ended up being a really rich and fruitful area for us to research on this time period in our history," she said. "(Canadians) have great fossils," she added with a laugh.

This is fascinating. 800 million year old fossils? Ground breaking, I can’t imagine what else they could find. Hilarious that a bear was following them around, I would be terrified.

[sunnykerr]

I am flabbergasted. If it wasn't visible to the naked eye, how did they even know to put it under a microscope? Or is that standard procedure for every rock they come across?

Because, if it is, talk about an exhaustive process.

And can an organism still be called single-cell if it has formed a distinct "shell"?

[Barstool Prophet]

I would assume the shell is the fossilized version of it. I could be wrong it's just what I got out of it. But yes it looks like a totally analytical process.

[Barstool Prophet]

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...ndly=this-page

Making Star Trek Reality: NASA Wants Ideas Defense Department and the space agency want sci-fi fans, scientists, and space junkies of all types to help brainstorm ways to to fly humans to the outer reaches of the solar system by 2111. By Elizabeth Montalbano, InformationWeek June 17, 2011 Slideshow: NASA, Microsoft Reveal Mars In Pictures The Department of Defense (DOD) and NASA are soliciting ideas from the public for technology and other considerations for how to send people on long-distance manned spaceflights in 100 years. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the space agency collaboratively this fall will hold a symposium on their 100-Year-Starship study, which aims, a century from now, to fly humans to the outer reaches of the solar system in ways so far only possible in sci-fi movies. The agencies are seeking abstracts for ideas to be presented at the meeting. Learn the security essentials of mobility Business-Ready Mobile Infrastructure People will be invited to speak on a variety of research angles through different topic tracks, including technology as well as various sociological, economic, legal, and philosophical considerations for the type of travel the agencies are proposing. Other tracks will focus on the biological and medical needs that must be considered; destinations for travel; and ways to communicate to the public about their vision for the program. On the technology side of things, NASA and DARPA are looking specifically for abstracts on time-distance solutions, such as propulsion, time/space manipulation and or dilation, near speed-of-light navigation, faster-than-light navigation, and ways to observe and sense at near speed of light or faster than light, according to DARPA. Technology also will be a consideration in setting up the habitat that will allow people to survive on long-duration space journeys, including providing sustainable energy and advanced medical capabilities, the agency said. Because of the innovative and outer-worldly nature of their research, the agencies are hoping for a response from a different cast of characters than are usually found in the scientific and technology industry. "This won't just be another space technology conference--we're hoping that ethicists, lawyers, science fiction writers, technologists, and others, will participate in the dialog to make sure we're thinking about all the aspects of interstellar flight," said David Neyland, director of DARPA's tactical technology office, in a statement. "This is a great opportunity for people with interesting ideas to be heard, which we believe will spur further thought, dreaming, and innovation." Ideas shared at the symposium not only may be applied to the 100-Year-Starship study, but also may be used in the future by the private and commercial sector, according to DARPA. The agencies introduced the year-long study at the end of October. They hope by the end of their research to create a self-sustaining organization that can solve the challenges of long-distance, long-duration interstellar space flight.

Makes sense that we are looking into this seeing as how we are ruining our planet. We need somewhere else to go. It's exciting to think a major discovery could come out of this.

[sunnykerr]

This could make for some really creative thinking.

[Barstool Prophet]

I think so too. I would love to be able to get outside this solar system.

[sunnykerr]

Well, find a way to still be alive (and eligible) for space travel in 100 years and you might get your wish.

[Barstool Prophet]

Maybe we should perfect cryonics first ,

[sunnykerr]

That'd certainly be a priority.

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