- Are there more Earths out there? If researcher Lars Buchhave
of the University of Copenhagen is correct, the answer just might be yes.
Previous studies showed that large, Jupiter-like exoplanets tend to be found
around stars with high concentrations of so-called "metals" —
elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Buchhave’s study went against those
findings, suggesting small, rocky planets can coalesce around a wide variety of
stars. These smaller, terrestrial alien planets show no such loyalty to
metal-rich stars, the study found. The findings suggest that Earth-like alien
worlds may have formed early and often throughout our Milky Way galaxy's
history. “Small planets could be widespread in our galaxy, because they do not
require a high content of heavy elements to form,” Buchhave said. He and his
colleagues analyzed data from NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope,
which has been continuously observing more than 150,000 stars since its launch
in March 2009. Kepler monitors those stars for tiny brightness dips, often caused
by alien planets that cross the stars' faces from the telescope's perspective. In
its three-plus years of observation, Kepler has flagged more than 2,300
exoplanet candidates. Most have not yet been confirmed, but Kepler scientists
estimate that at least 80 percent will end up being legitimate. Buchhave’s team
examined 226 planet candidates circling 152 different stars. Three-fourths of these
potential planets are smaller than Neptune, which has a diameter our times less
than that of Earth. In studying the stars' spectra, Buchhave and his crew found
that small, rocky worlds circle stars with a much broader range of metal
content than do giant planets. "Naively, one might think that the more
material you have in the (protoplanetary) disk, the more likely you are to form
(small) planets," Buchhave said. "What we see, though, is that small
planets form around stars with a wide range in heavy element content, while the
close-in Jupiter -type planets seem to predominantly form around stars with a
higher metal content." Their work proves that terrestrial planets can form
around stars nearly four times more metal-poor than our own sun, meaning
Earth-size worlds may be common throughout the Milky Way. So yes, there just
might be a long list of places for life to exist………..
- Bend, Oregon’s “Balloon Man” is at it again. Kent Couch, along with
his pal Iraqi daredevil Capt. Fareed Lafta, announced plans Thursday to attempt
a new world record for the longest two-man cluster balloon flight next month in
the skies over the Northwest. The two men plan to take off from Bend on the
morning of July 14 and if all goes well, land the following day. “We are going
to set another world record. You have to know, it is so peaceful, it doesn’t take
much to get me back up there,” Couch said. Those who don’t value the chance to
sleep in on a Saturday can show up to see the final flight preparations at 7
a.m. the day of the launch, which will take place at a very prestigious
location: Couch's Stop and Go Mini Mart in Bend, around 10 a.m. The flight will
continue overnight and land somewhere in southern Montana or even further east.
“If the winds are strong and endurance is up, we could end up in Fargo, North
Dakota, but that is unlikely.” Couch said. The unlikely partnership between Lafta
and Couch originated as the latter began planning a special balloon flight over
Baghdad. That journey is still in the planning stages, but in the meantime,
drifting across the northwest United States is a good way to pass the time.
Couch owns the world record for the longest cluster balloon flight at 235 miles,
flying a little over nine hours, with about 250 balloons, in 2008. This time,
he and Lafta will use over 350 helium balloons and drift across two or three
states. Lafta is a pilot, ship captain, skydiver, diplomat and adventurer from
Iraq who currently lives in Dubai and has made over 1,000 skydives. His flight
buddy has gravy trained his glorified hobby into appearances on late-night talk
shows and a feature story in Ripley’s Believe it or not! Together Lafta and
Couch will waste enough helium to bring hours of joy to dozens of children’s
birthday parties, all in the name of adventure………
- The Lord works in mysterious ways, but since when has God
been in the business of speaking to stoners and instructing them to commit
arson? According to former USC standout defensive back Kevin Ellison, since at least
early Thursday morning. Ellison, who was one of the top defensive backs in the
nation for the Trojans before being sidelined by a knee injury as a senior, has
seen his football career go off the rails in the past few years. Now, his life
off the field is in the same condition. Ellison jumped from the third-story
unit of his apartment early Thursday morning in Liberty Lake, Wash., near
Spokane, but sustained only smoke inhalation. He initially told authorities he
had been smoking in bed and accidentally set the fire, but later admitted he
set his bed ablaze with a joint because "God" told him to. Police
questioned him a second time while he was still in the hospital and Ellison
revealed that the Almighty instructed him to set the fire. He told another
investigator "that he just wanted to get out of it and for it all to go away,"
according to federal court documents. He was then arrested on federal arson
charges. Ellison has been playing linebacker for the Spokane Shock of the Arena
Football League after an unsuccessful NFL career, but it doesn’t sound like
he’ll be balling in Spokane much longer. "If he truly did this, he's never
coming back," said Shock owner Brady Nelson. According to Spokane Valley
Fire Marshal Kevin Miller, federal arson charges were standard for arson cases
involving large apartment complexes. Ellison's roommate and Shock teammate
Chris Tucker escaped the fire after smoke detectors woke him up. The arson was
the latest in a string of bizarre behavior for Ellision, who reportedly sent
text messages to people Thursday night in which he claimed he was Jesus and was
part of the Second Coming. During his time with the San Diego Chargers after he
was selected as a sixth-round draft pick in 2009, he was arrested for suspected
possession of a controlled substance after police found more than 100 Vicodin
pills in his vehicle. He was eventually released and drifted into football no
man’s land, where apparently the Lord had business for him to take care of……….
- Cuba, you’re about to find out what you’ve been missing.
For decades, Communist rule has meant there was no such thing as a commercial radio or TV spot in the island nation.
That meant no billboards, website banner ads or newspaper classifieds. In an
odd way, a repressive and impoverished nation has been a nice refuge from the
global marketing onslaught. However, the lack of traditional advertising
opportunities is a problem for entrepreneurs now that President Raul Castro is
pushing for limited free-market reform. A new business doesn’t work if one
can’t let the world know the business exists. Small business owners have relied
heavily on guerrilla marketing, including businesses like Bollywood, the
Island's only Indian restaurant, which opened in December. Owners are forced to
turn their own vehicles and property into de facto billboards and go with the
always-annoying tactic of placing fliers and coupons on car windshields. Marketing
gimmicks like promotional pens and knick-knacks have also become popular and
bumper stickers are catching on as well. One burger chain in Havana staged a
mini-marketing coup last month when more than 30 employees, customers and
friends wearing its T-shirts marched in Havana's May Day parade carrying a
banner supporting the Cuban Revolution. The Internet, even in a nation where access
is far from reliable, offers another alternative and business owners are
spamming cell phones and sending out blast emails. Castro, who theoretically
took over for his despotic brother Fidel in 2008, opened the door for more
small businesses in the fall of 2010. An estimated 371,000 licensed
entrepreneurs have taken advantage, but with limited experience with capitalism
after 50 years in a Marxist economy, progress has been slow and lurching. While
marketing is not illegal, the state controls all newspapers, broadcast airwaves
and commercial buildings and still will not accept ads. However, state
telephone company Etecsa recently allowed small business owners to list and buy
ad space in the yellow pages for the first time and Communist Party newspaper
Granma ran guidelines encouraging entrepreneurs to create business signs,
provided they don't block sidewalks or exceed 5 feet in length. It’s quite a change from the
collectivist society operating along the lines of thought be revolutionary icon
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who once called capitalism "a contest
among wolves." Sorry, Che, but the times, they are a-changin’…………
- Maroon 5 sucks. They are a glorified man band with
instruments and their preening, girly-voiced lead singer Adam Levine and his
reality karaoke show-judging ways are ridiculous to the core. However, the
masses love crappy, overproduced pop music and as such, the man band’s new
track “Payphone” is generating plenty of buzz in Top 40 land ahead of its
official release next week. What makes the situation incredibly ironic is that
the track itself may reach the top of the singles charts before Maroon 5 has a
chance to release it. The tacky cover band Precision Tunes has cranked out their own
cover of the song and their take on the track is at No. 5 on the iTunes singles
chart. The original version of the song features Wiz Khalifa singing alongside
the ass-hatted Levine. Unofficial cover versions of songs are actually fairly
common when an upcoming song has received a significant amount of airplay and
there is high demand for the track, but is yet to be released. Record companies
are clearly looking to build hype for a song and album with the tactic, but
with more audio editing programs and easier access to technology making it
simpler for would-be musicians to record and get their work out, rip-off covers
of these songs pop up quickly. Labels often respond by rushing the release of
the original, but Maroon 5’s version of “Payphone” has not veered from its
scheduled release date. The cover version is the latest copycat effort from
Precision Tunes, who have covered a range of crappy pop artists, including
Drake, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and Usher…………
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