catdynamics | April 17, 2008The 2008 Astrobiology Science Conference is over.
There were six plenary sessions and six parallel topical sessions with typically 8-9 sessions each. Plus townhall meetings, public events and receptions.
I made it to only five topical sessions, including the two I was co-chair of and the one my ex-student co-chaired. I missed the icy moons session this morning, I hear the Enceladus talks were awesome.
This morning's plenary session featured talks by Bains on Weird Life and Benner on experimental biogenesis.
Bains gave a very nice presentation on non-carbon/water based options, over the…
catdynamics | April 17, 2008It is, I gather National Poetry month...
This one is a little over a thousand years old:
Það mælti mín móðir
að mér skyldi kaupa
fley og fagrar árar
fara á brott með víkingum
standa upp í stafni
stýra dýrum knerri
halda svo til hafnar
höggva mann og annann
I learned it when I was eight
I still remember it, the back story and the illustration
and the error
Egill was seven when he wrote it
catdynamics | April 17, 2008The Astrobiology Science Conference sponsors a student poster competition,
this year the top four posters got cash prizes, thanks to a generous donation.
Fourth prize was $250...
third prize was $750 and second prize was $1250, if I caught the numbers rattled off correctly. There were more and larger prizes than previously announced, thanks to donation.
The first prize, the Frank Drake Prize, was a couple of thousand dollars, and was won by Penn State grad student Tsubasa Otake for his poster "Theoretical Investigation of Equilibrium and Surface Adsorption Effects on Mass-dependent…
catdynamics | April 17, 2008GLAST was due to be launched next month.
Apparently the launch is on hold, they hope to have the issues resolved soon and a new launch date scheduled.
catdynamics | April 17, 2008The "Super-Earth" topical session at the Astrobiology Science Conference wasn't quite the "Woodstock" of astrobio, but it was pretty good.
There were many a famous pundit sitting on the floor between rows of seats or crammed standing up against the wall when came in to the room thinking they could do the usual trick of catching a talk here and there in different sessions, casually wandering in-and-out.
The Super-Earth session was scheduled in one of the small meeting rooms, with seats for about 50, but closer to 100 people turned up.
The science is still wide open, but there is some…
catdynamics | April 16, 2008the Earth is oxidized, not just because there is free oxygen in the atmosphere, but also because the rocks are predominantly silicon oxides
there has been some speculation about "carbon planets", but not much detailed modeling
now we're getting there.
There were several presentations on carbon chemistry and formation of rocky planets with reduced surface chemistry.
Results suggest for C/O > 0.8 reduced carbon can dominate the chemistry of the terrestrial planets with some interesting implications.
It is possible to have autocatalytic chemistry on micro grains, with carbon chemistry on the…
catdynamics | April 16, 2008Weather forecasting is a tricky business.
It is a lot better than it used to be, but most of the time, for most places, you can't put much faith in forecasts much beyond 3-5 days.
Which is a big improvement on how it used to be, but one could still hope for better.
So... I was chatting to a met grad student, as one does, and he told me that the current forecasts are running into fine grain limits of initial condition data - the weather stations are too sparse and not always well located for the initial data needed to do medium term forecasts, the 5-10 day forecasts. Locations tend to be…
catdynamics | April 15, 2008I love going to meetings where I can learn totally new stuff.
One of the joys of astrobiology is that I can wander into a session on some research way outside my specialty and learn something new and interesting.
It is like being a student again.
I also like disciplinary workshops, and big in-field meetings, don't get me wrong.
In an ideal world my conference trips would be roughly 1/3 workshops on something I am personally actively working on, preferably small workshops; another 1/3 would be to big meetings in astrophysics, giving overview and context, getting caught up on news and what is…
catdynamics | April 15, 2008Here is an astronomy ranking for the US
CA 46
MD 20
AZ 14
MA 11
NY 7
PA 7
TX 6
WA 6
DC 5
HI 5
MI 5
NJ 5
FL 4
TN 4
IL 3
OH 3
CO 2
GA 2
IN 2
MN 2
NM 2
VA 2
CT 1
MO 1
NV 1
SC 1
WI 1
0 for everyone else
success rates, excluding the zeros, were from 50% for GA to less than 10% for CO.
Anyone who tried 8 or more got some.
About a quarter goes to CA, about twice the mean per capita.
catdynamics | April 15, 2008The number of the CAN is 38
38 is the number of the CAN.
Second largest. Not as many as I feared.
Good luck everyone.
catdynamics | April 15, 2008It is April 15th, and today the fate of many will be known.
Sean exposes the inner dialogue.
Don't worry, though, whichever choice you make, you can't really go wrong.
Eh?
catdynamics | April 15, 2008After a brief hiatus last year, the annual Astrobiology Science Conference is back, and 650+ assorted scientists of various flavours are gathered in sunny Santa Clara where the SETI Institute is hosting.
The meeting just started, and I'll liveblog random snippets and news, as and when I get the chance.
The opening plenary talk was given by Sir Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, Astronomer Royal, and a very good talk it was too, covering pretty much everything, cheerfully and provocatively.
I will leave you, for now, with a quote from him:
"It is better to read first rate science fiction…
catdynamics | April 14, 2008Holz at Cosmic Variance comments
I only met Wheeler once that I recall.
Interesting man.
Many years ago, I was in Japan and needed some assistance from the US embassy.
The INS officer looked at my papers, looked up and said: "you're a physicist? Do you know John Wheeler?"
Fortunately, I had then met him, that one time...
We had an interesting chat about black holes, bits and careers in relativistic astrophysics, and he then cleared my paperwork and gave me some lasting advice.
Small world.
catdynamics | April 11, 2008"Why should we spend money on space exploration where there are so many problems here on Earth?"
asks Fraser at Universe Today
Because: we look out, and wonder, and explore;
and we do what little we can on the margin of our busy lives to explore the bigger universe, today;
and that is one of the things that makes life worth living,
and gives us hope that the future can be better, for us and for future generations.
catdynamics | April 11, 2008Friday again, and it is not raining, here, yet.
So we skip over to the Omniscient iPod One, and ask, most humbly: Whence The Frontier, of Physics, natch?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: If Not Now... - Tracy Chapman
The Crossing: I Allegro: Eine Kleine Nachtmusic - Mozart
The Crown: The Price I Pay - Billy Bragg
The Root: Sidewalking - Jesus & Mary Chain
The Past: Mother of the Bride - Billy Bragg
The Future: Mýrdalssandur - GCD
The Questioner: II. Concert No. 3 - Autumn - Vivaldi
The House: The Saturday Boy - Billy Bragg
The Inside: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy…
catdynamics | April 10, 2008deep insight into the human condition
sometimes we just link because linking is good
catdynamics | April 9, 2008Krugman blogs crazy conspiracy stuff...
Original FT story here
Did I mention that you really do not want to piss my cousins off?
If it comes to my cousins vs my ex-classmates - no contest.
Sorry guys.
On a more serious note, this is not a game for Flamers from NY to be playing. Sovereign nations have laws, and extradition treaties, and seriously pissed off people who do not think they exist to salvage the year-end bonuses of drunk New Yorkers.
PS: Bear Stern went under. Iceland did not.
Were it not for the rather dubious federal intervention in Bear Stern, they'd have gone under completely…
catdynamics | April 8, 2008The high tech of the modern financial quant never ceases to amaze me...
"These internet originators have been a problem too...it's unbelievable to me they are back already. When I go on my AOL account over the weekend I'm seeing no-doc, low-doc, 'bankruptcy okay,' a $200,000 loan for $800 a month. They are back. It is just amazing to me." - says Federal Deposit Insurance Chair, Sheila Bair.
AOL?
AOL?!!!
AOL!!!!!
It is good to know the head of the federal agency supervising and insuring bank operations is keeping her finger on the pulse of America. Noting financial trends and sharp…
catdynamics | April 7, 2008one of the "fun" things about academia is that no matter what one actually plans on doing with the precious few spare hours that may appear, reality will cheerfully ignore such plans and provide a surprise
I am so overdue for some karmic restitution
1 1 1 1
catdynamics | April 4, 2008B-2 ready to fly, says Air Force Link, despite safety pause....
Huh?
Oh. Dear.
Spirit of Kansas crashes at Andersen AFB Guam back in Feb '08.
Right after take-off. Crew ejected. Missed that one, what was I doing late Feb...? Ah.
Apparently still do not know what caused the crash.
Apparently a B-1 had a runway crash on Guam shortly after, what is interesting about that is why B-2s and B-1s were there at the same time, they usually alternate forward staging, as I understand it. Maybe overlap during rotation.