Spectre’s Sayings

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UCLA and the Gemini Observatory issued a press release on Wednesday announcing that evidence has been found for planet formation around the star HD 23514 in the Pleiades star cluster. Using an infrared-sensitive instrument, they were able to pick up heat emissions in the dust cloud circling the star. This heat is the result of planetary “embryos” colliding in space. One current theory is that the formation of the moon resulted from a collision of the early Earth and another Mars-sized proto-planet.

From the article:

Using an infrared sensitive camera (MICHELLE) on the Gemini North Telescope, Joseph Rhee of UCLA and his collaborators have measured heat from hot dust surrounding a 100 million year old star in the bright star cluster. The star has properties very much like our Sun except that it is 45 times younger and is orbited by hundreds of thousands of times more dust than our Sun. The star is also one of the very few solar-type stars known to be orbited by warm dust particles.

These warm emissions betray catastrophic collisions in an evolving young planetary system around an adolescent-age solar type star. The emission appears to originate from dust located in the terrestrial planet zone between about 1/4 to two astronomical units (AUs) from the parent star HD 23514, a region corresponding to the orbits of Mercury and Mars in our solar system.

This is really cool. Hopefully, other scientists will confirm these findings.

Why does this get any notice? Ahmadinejad has no power. His only role is to distract attention from the real rulers of Iran - the 12-member Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iran, led by the Ayatollah Khatami. And the press knows this. Why is the press aiding the Iranian deception?

It may come as a surprise to some, but I’m not particularly fond of writing. At least, of many of the traditional types of writing. Let me explain.

I’ve written many, many essays and research papers. They are what’s known as hard work. And, in fact, I write them rather slowly. While many of my classmates back in graduate school could whip out a page in 15 minutes, I took about an hour per page. I agonized over every turn of phrase, too. So, the typical 10-page research paper took 10 hours at the computer keyboard. (This didn’t include minutiae such as the actual research that took place before the commencement of writing.)

With regard to fiction, however, I haven’t ever really done it. Seems kind of odd for someone who reads as much fiction as I do, who hangs out at author’s websites, and reads what advice they have to offer on the subject. But as much as I like to learn about writing fiction, I’ve never felt motivated to do it for myself. In fact, I’ve never gotten the hang of combining ideas into an actual plot. I’ve only written one piece of fiction (long lost) in my life, and that was when, as a young kid I transcribed the events of a dream I had.

Where I find I do like to compose is in a conversational format which is facilitated by the internet. Although I hated writing traditional letters, making forum or newsgroup posts and authoring this blog are very nice outlets for me.

So, what does this say about me?

Haven’t the faintest.

This evening, I revisited Boulder Beer’s Sundance Amber Ale. I guess I didn’t write about it before. This beer pours a red-tinted amber color with a small head. While the hops feature prominently, this beer is so well-balanced that all I can do is give it a hearty stamp of approval. Yum.

Update: See the Beer Genius’ Review.

Now this is a cool device. A keychain, a USB flash drive, and a beer bottle opener all in one. Appeals to the geek in me as well as the beer drinker. What’s not to like?

Nice picture.

Today happens to be my parents’ 39th wedding anniversary. So what did their first-born son give them? A bottle of wine, a gift card to a restaurant, and a humorous card. My mother said the card was “hysterical.”

I ran across an article by George Wiegel in which he warns that ecumenism depends on honestly acknowledging the differences that exist amongst the various Christian communities. It’s a good read. Here’s the link to Don’t Play Down Differences in Name of Religious Unity.