Today I was hanging out with my buddy: “Cranbourne Meteorite 7”. He was recovered from a paddock in 1923 , weighs 153kg, is approximately 4 billion years old (about the same age as the earth itself). He’s a really cool dude, and is currently suspended in some kind of preservation fluid.
Geneva 17 November 2010, Large Hadron Collider, CERN: “Antihydrogen atoms are produced in a vacuum at CERN, but are nevertheless surrounded by normal matter. Because matter and antimatter annihilate when they meet, the antihydrogen atoms have a very short life expectancy. This can be extended, however, by using strong and complex magnetic fields to trap them and thus prevent them from coming into contact with matter. The ALPHA experiment has shown that it is possible to hold on to atoms of antihydrogen in this way for about a tenth of a second: easily long enough to study them. Of the many thousands of antiatoms the experiment has created, ALPHA’s latest paper reports that 38 have been trapped for long enough to study.” This is extraordinary news. If we have been able not only to produce but also capture antimatter using magnetic fields, we may indeed have come one step closer to interstellar space flight. Production and storage of antimatter could potentially lead to using antimatter to fuel a craft: if such could be achieved it would be potentially the most efficient form of space travel possible (aside from wormhole technology). This is pretty cool, especially considering the recent discovery of many extrasolar earth-like planets by the Kepler space telescope. Read more here: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2010/PR22.10E.html
Ancient astronaut depicted on Pacal’s sarcophagus lid One of the most startling pieces of ancient Mayan art is this sarcophagus lid, at least 1500 years old, which appears to depict a man sitting inside a capsule manipulating some controls, with his feet on pedals. He also appears to have a breathing apparatus attached to his nose and other technology/rear exhaust moving him through a landscape of religious and astronomical symbology.
space fuel depot
Further development of Einstein’s general relativity has shown that space may not straight or “flat” as he originally predicted. Some theorists have argued that the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) results indicate a universe that is curved: and one of the likely shapes of a curved space is a donut. The shape of our universe might well be a donut. Honestly, given the absurdity of the human experience, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“The Big European Bubble Chamber” - an old disused piece of equipment that was used by CERN to detect particles who would leave trails in the liquid hydrogen contained within.
welcome home
In quantum field theory, penguin diagrams are a class of Feynman diagrams which are important for understanding CP violating processes in the standard model. [Feynman diagrams illustrate particle/energy exchanges on a quantum level. “CP violating processes” are quantum exchanges that appear to violate the traditional laws of physics. Quantum theory has done this quite a bit over the years]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_diagram
Some potential ‘fresh ideas’ for the boring old moon: 1. Whittle it down to a more modern shape, such as the classic cube. 2. What a waste of advertising space! We can etch that nasty blotchy surface with some sweet corporate logos!
I know a thing or two about the galactic trade of umbrellas and oggle sand.