581 c

A major #1 in the history of the world.

Scientists have found the first planet that is earth-like enough to sustain life. It’s called 581 c. The planet circles something called a red dwarf star, which they previously didn’t believe could host habitable planets. It’s only 120 trillion miles away. Surprisingly, that puts it within 100 of the closest stars to our sun.

581 c rotates around it’s sun every 13 days, but they aren’t sure it turns, meaning one side might always be in darkness. However, on the other side, the sun hanging in the sky would appear 20x larger than our moon does.

Now, it’s possible that the planet could still be deemed inhabitable. But thus far, it has shunned the “Goldilocks problem.” That is, it’s not too hot, nor too cold, but appears just right. Temperatures would be between 32 and 104 degrees. Gravity would be 1.6 times stronger. They don’t know yet if it is rocky like earth or has a frozen center like many other planets. Most importantly, they don’t know yet that there is liquid water on the planet.

I’d like to know how they know anything at all from 20.5 light years away. Currently, we have no way to get someone there in a human lifetime anyway.

But it’s an important discovery, nonetheless. Because they didn’t realize before that red dwarf stars could host such planets, they have a lot more close looking to do. But this is a HUGE step in answering the one big question. Are we alone in the universe?

40 Nights, 40 Movies

Have you heard about this? Someone was talking about it at a party this weekend, and I had to look it up.  Very  very cool.

 40 NIGHTS, 40 MOVIES.

“Ten neighborhoods across St. Louis will host 4 films throughout the summer based on 1 genre.

People will move around the city to see films they haven’t seen on the big screen in years or never at all.

They will see different neighborhoods that are safe, community oriented and prospering. Many of the visitors will be coming to these neighborhoods for the first time, but it won’t be an area they will forget.”

Check out the schedule!

Word for the Day

Screed

I get the e-mailed RFT every Thursday and was perusing the column “Ask a Mexican: Why do Mexicans love leaf blowers? (Is it just a macho thing to piss off gringos?)” While answering another titillating question, author Gustavo Arellano said, “The essay became an Internet sensation despite its run-on sentences, and anti-immigrant activists have forwarded and re-posted Daniels’ screed ever since.”

“Screed? Oooo!” I immediately looked it up and was thrilled with the primary applications. I’ve bolded the numbers of my favorites. Gotta love the Scottish!

screed /skrid/ [skreed]
–noun
1. a long discourse or essay, esp. a diatribe.
2. an informal letter, account, or other piece of writing.
3. Building Trades.
a. a strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to be plastered to serve as a guide for making a true surface.
b. a wooden strip serving as a guide for making a true level surface on a concrete pavement or the like.
c. a board or metal strip dragged across a freshly poured concrete slab to give it its proper level.
4. British Dialect. a fragment or shred, as of cloth.
5. Scot.
a. a tear or rip, esp. in cloth.
b. a drinking bout.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
6. Scot. to tear, rip, or shred, as cloth.
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[Origin: 1275–1325; ME screde torn fragment, irreg. (with sc- for sh-) repr. OE scréade shred]

Bristish Royal House: 2 things I didn’t know

#1 They call themselves “The Firm.” (It’s mentioned at the end of this article.)

#2 This law is still true and on the books. (See here.)

The 1701 Act of Settlement made it illegal for a Roman Catholic, or anyone married to a Roman Catholic, to inherit the throne.

And oh yeah, Kate and William split under an amicable agreement. A little part of me hopes they’re faking it in order to keep the paparazzi away from Kate. However, if I were Kate, I’d totally understand.

I have to admit that I’m more interested in things like this than Hollywood drama. (aka, Tom and Kate splitting) There’s so much history to the Royal House (and I’ve read my share.) And admittedly, I do find the Princes dashing.

Yes, yes, I know. My friends will remember this infamous story of mine. When I was once approached by an extremely attractive man who turned out to be an English Lord of some sort, I casually said to him, “You know, historically, the English are really evil people.” Needless to say, I was not invited back to his place for the after-party. I’m still kicking myself in the ass, despite the truth of it. I’m such a dope that I’d hoped for an intelligent conversation, not the reality of completely offending someone. Unfortunately, I’d overestimated his insecurity. He must not have known and been comfortable enough with his country’s history to admit it and move on. As I do, knowing the Catholic church did some evil things in its day. But we’re talking the Middle Ages. Come on. Let’s appreciate history and discuss it. The Brits and Americans are pretty tight these last couple hundred years. Anyway, I was a fool, and I’m done with my rant.

Let’s look at some of my favorite Prince pictures.

Anyway, now that this entry has digressed to looking at pictures of boys… I didn’t mean for that. Nor do I condone objectifying people based on their position in life. But the Royal family is steeped, steeped, I say, in history. And I do think these boys would make Diana proud. For all the media and the pressure they are under, I think they’re doing a pretty good job.

Babel

I can’t stop yawning this morning.

Babel was interesting. The acting was good. The cinematography was good. The individual stories were intriguing. The look into the Asian deaf-mute world was fascinating. What happened on the trip to Mexico sucked. There was a beautiful moment between Pitt and Blanchett. The childhood whims of the Moroccan boys were tragic. The Moroccan investigator was one bad mf.

However, the movie fell short of an overall point. At least, it wasn’t easy to find. Of course, I wanted to tie it to the Biblical story. Different languages and cultures tying to one root. And yes, the stories connected, but it was too loose. Especially the Japanese segment. I walked away feeling I had seen the start of something good, something with potential, but that which ultimately didn’t say much. It did make me think a lot though, and I like thinkers.

I’m not quite sure how the film won best picture for the Golden Globes. Please tell me what I am missing. And although she didn’t win, I’m glad that Adriana Barraza was nominated for best supporting actress by the Academy. And oh yeah, even though he played a complete a-hole, I really like Gael García Bernal from the Motorcyle Diaries.  He was scuzzy in this movie, but really is a cutie.

Another Lame Entry

As always, I have a lot on my mind, but haven’t taken the time to blog. It’s certainly that the time is more scarce. I’ve just been working a lot lately. Certainly no extra time to blog while at work. And when I get home at night, I don’t want to sit in front of the computer.

I’ve seen some movies, done some things, plan to do some things, but I’m too damn tired to write about it now.