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anti-matter, Asteroids, astronomy, atheists, brain science, conversation, Earth, happiness, Mars, moods, physics, psychology, quarks, science, sub-atomic particles, trust, water
From time to time, it occurs to me that I have been derelict in my duty to you in bringing you the latest in scientific discovery. No doubt, you depend on me for this, and so I’ve been shopping the blogs for the best and most useful bits of mystical magical info found around the Internets. (It’s the tubes you remember, a highway where kazillions of bytes are swirling through a vacuum induced plumbing maze.)
So, get pen and paper ready to jot down these factoid particles so that you can wow them at the next office lunch.
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It’s a case of the more you look the more you find. And I’m not sure this is any longer a good idea. It seems that with newer techniques, more and more asteroids are being found around the Earth.
This cannot be a good thing, for no one wants one of those darned things to run into us. And plenty of that has occurred in the past, and present as well, if you believe all those made for TV movies such as Attack of the Killer Asteroids.
Frankly knowing this is about as comforting as knowing that Yellowstone sits atop one of the hugest volcanic calderas known to man, or alien probably for that matter. One day, that baby is gonna blow, and well, won’t we all wish we lived in Hawaii then? So sweet dreams with this piece of juicy news.
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Once upon a time, we wondered if there was water on Mars. Now it seems we can’t stop finding it. Once thought to be confined to the polar regions, it seems the dang stuff is just everywhere now. Most if not all in icy glacial type configurations.
I recall that just last week, I heard that they were now thinking that there was actually water, again in frozen form, on the moon. I’ve become rather suspicious.
After all, WE have been to both places. In the case of the moon, we have been there quite literally, tramping around on foot and by vehicle (emissions control? did we have any?), and in the case of Mars, via little rover landers.
So, given that we have nearly trashed this planet, no doubt we have induced climate change on both the moon and Mars as well. And that’s a fine how do you do isn’t it? I imagine God might be a tad ticked at us.
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Heads up liars and cheats, another tool in the old arsenal is not working. You thought that getting me in a good mood would make me susceptible to trusting you? WRONG!
So say scientists anyway. It seems that our predisposition to trust or not is only enhanced by being in a good mood. It doesn’t make us more likely to trust the likes of low down scoundrels who are out to take us to the cleaners.
Another plus for the good guys. As to who thought up this wonderfully quirky experiment, I have no clue. But do continue to ply me with free lunches, free booze, and well, anything free in an attempt to woe me to your side. I’ll be happy to accept your largess if I still refuse to give you my life savings.
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Speaking of happiness and all, this just in. It may be time to cancel the cocktail parties and other water cooler type conversations. You know the ones I mean. Hanging over the partition between your cubicle and your office mates. Chatting about the weather, the football pool, and the chances of nuclear fusion as a good energy source. Okay, maybe that last one goes in the other column.
Anyhoo, again the ubiquitous science community has determined for your social pleasure, that people are much happier the more they engage in real deep conversation rather than the polite meaningless drivel we mostly engage in most of the time. Who would guessed? I mean are these folks geniuses or what?
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I suspect I need say little more, since the diagram at left pretty much is self-explanatory.
But in case you are even slightly confused, physicists want you to know that they are busy creating new stuff, most of it of the anti-matter sort. Somehow, it’s not dangerous, or so they say.
What you see here is an anti-nucleus, containing an anti-proton, an anti-neutron, an anti-Lamda particle, as well as what you can clearly guess on your own, an anti-strange quark. Said, anti thingie was present at the Big Bang, when God (okay, maybe not, but maybe) wiggled his finger and thought, “A universe, now that would be nice. Start cooking up while I baste the turkey.”
As you undoubtedly already see, this discovery opens up unprecedented ideas about, well, particles, and asymmetries. You understand, I’m sure. The strangeness value means that non-zero errr, strangeness exists at the core of collapsed stars. Go and check any collapsed stars you have stored in the freezer and see if I’m not right.
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Where do atheists come from? I was pulling for the Isle of Man or the Northern Hebrides, but alas, no actual location was given.
Another of those wonderful question and answer things, wherein conclusions are that the better educated and more IQ’ey among us are more likely to disdain the idea of a God, and opt for idolatry of the human as the highest form of intelligence.
Before all you non-believers start patting each other on the backsides and high fivin’ and all, listen up. I’ve read elsewhere that most “scholars” are not impressed with the self-reporting analysis much. In fact, a close look at the numbers suggest that the highest educated seem a bit more believing than the undergrad types.
What is of perhaps more interest is what constitutes the atheist mind? That answer is not yet forth coming. I’m of the opinion that its a little too much puppy dog tails and horseradish myself, but so far the jury is out. Other contenders are too much fish sticks for lunch during the formative years of six through twelve, or exposure to too many episodes of the Honeymooners.
Happy Weekend to ya!
Existential Ennui 