The tenth planet...

[Xavier]

Quoted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3511678.stm

Astronomers discover 'new planet'

Astronomers have discovered a new world circling the Sun farther away than other planets.

Found in an outer Solar System survey by the recently launched Spitzer Space Telescope, it has been called Sedna after the Inuit goddess of the ocean.

Observations show it is about 2,000 km across, and it may even be larger than Pluto which is 2,250 km across.

The Hubble Space Telescope has also seen it. Details will be announced by the US space agency Nasa on Monday.

i'm not one to glen, but I thought it was worth posting because its a pretty good demonstration of how far mankind has to go... We don't even know whats inhabiting our local solar system, let alone understand 0.01% the physics and phenomena - in fact those findings last week show how little we understand and know of our own planet... Fingers crossed Dubya and co don't blow us all to kingdom come and we get a chance to learn a little more.

 

[Frizz]

Preliminary calculations suggest that it is 10bn kilometres from Earth in a region of space known as the Kuiper Belt (KB).

The importance of Sedna is that it is the first such world discovered in its normal orbit. Other similar though smaller worlds, like Quaoar and Varuna, originated in the KB but have since been perturbed into different orbits.

It wouldn't suprise me, if this new "planet" was also actually part of the Kuiper belt. I also read somewhere, that Pluto may just be a large asteroid, which drifted slightly from the KB.

Edit:// Like this:

One group of astronomers believe that Pluto is not a true planet but merely one of the largest of a vast number of minor objects in the outer Solar System.

 

[babs]

There are so many large objects near the edge now, it seems like they are finding what could strictly be classed as new planets quite often. In fact, I believe many astronomers don't count Pluto as a 9th planet at all because of its size. Many people don't even realise that strictly speaking Earth has two moons.

 

[Whipped]

Or even 3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2251386.stm

 

[Wij]

There are so many large objects near the edge now, it seems like they are finding what could strictly be classed as new planets quite often. In fact, I believe many astronomers don't count Pluto as a 9th planet at all because of its size. Many people don't even realise that strictly speaking Earth has two moons.

Spot the QI viewer

 

[babs]

Heh, yeah it was on there. Spot the astronomy enthusiast would've been closer to the mark We had a big debate about in work a year or so back, there's quite a bit about it on the net if you look.

 

[Chilly]

Well, whats the difference between an asteroid in a regular(ish) orbit and a planet? Perhaps size..who makes these things up?

 

[xane]

Fingers crossed Dubya and co don't blow us all to kingdom come and we get a chance to learn a little more.

I find it interesting you say this as was demonstrated last week it's the terrorists who are blowing us all up. In fact being religionists they'd probably have a bit of explaining to do if we found evidence of life on another plant, they still haven't got over the whole "earth goes round sun" bit yet.

I'm all for discovery, but we have far more to do on earth getting people to understand that the days when we knew very little are over and we should put our trust in science.

I mean, if a Muslim was on the ISS which way does he face to pray ?

 

[Chilly]

I find it interesting you say this as was demonstrated last week it's the terrorists who are blowing us all up. In fact being religionists they'd probably have a bit of explaining to do if we found evidence of life on another plant, they still haven't got over the whole "earth goes round sun" bit yet.

I'm all for discovery, but we have far more to do on earth getting people to understand that the days when we knew very little are over and we should put our trust in science.

I mean, if a Muslim was on the ISS which way does he face to pray ?

youd have to make some funky rotating gyroscopic thingamiebob whassitcalled gismo to let him kneel on so hes always lookin at that place that iv forgotten where it is, probably somewhere in Asia....

1minute silence. shhhh!!

 

[Doh_boy]

I mean, if a Muslim was on the ISS which way does he face to pray ?

Towards earth you'd imagine. They face mecca don't they?

 

[xane]

Towards earth you'd imagine. They face mecca don't they?

So downwards ? Standing on his head ? Or doesn't it matter what direction ? What if he was on a Moon Base ?

Edit: not really "standing on his head", after all he'll be floating around.

 

[Xavier]

Well, he wouldn't be standing on anything, what with being weightless and all.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Isn't this like 5 years old news?

I've heard about the little rock behind pluto ages ago.

 

[Athan]

Isn't this like 5 years old news?

I've heard about the little rock behind pluto ages ago.

Going on what another poster said, you're probably thinking of one of the previous discoveries. Come to think of it, I probably was too when sayin "ffs, old news".

Still, it's gotten to the stage of not being exciting in a 'woo, new planet' sense. Sure, it's cool we've got the tech. to spot these things now, but ....

-Ath

 

[caLLous]

If a new planet the size of Jupiter or something suddenly appeared then it would be exciting in a 'woo, new planet' sense. But this is like 'meh, new planet' exciting.

 

[xane]

What about a planet the size of Uranus ? ...

 

[Shovel]

What about a planet the size of Uranus ? ...

A gaseous planet, variable in size based on the proximity of its many satellites, namely the lumpy one called "Wijlet".

 

[tRoG]

How do you decide if it's an asteroid or a planet?

I mean, this thing is pretty darn small.

 

[~Yuckfou~]

How do you decide if it's an asteroid or a planet?

I mean, this thing is pretty darn small.

Patrick Moore decides, because he is God.

 

[Paradroid]

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I find it interesting you say this as was demonstrated last week it's the terrorists who are blowing us all up. In fact being religionists they'd probably have a bit of explaining to do if we found evidence of life on another plant, they still haven't got over the whole "earth goes round sun" bit yet.

I'm all for discovery, but we have far more to do on earth getting people to understand that the days when we knew very little are over and we should put our trust in science.

I mean, if a Muslim was on the ISS which way does he face to pray ?

Ok, ok, before I start here, I just have to point out a coupla things. Xane, wtf are you talking about "they still haven't got over the whole earth goes around sun bit yet"??!!?? You're really showing yourself up here mate...go read a book or two, just go read something other than these forums... check out the links (and extracts) below...have a think about it...

And (before the links/extracts) who the hell is bombing who here? I think you've failed to notice the blindingly obvious - that the USA spend 50% of their tax dollars in the BIGGEST FEKIN WAR-MACHINE THIS PLANET HAS EVER SEEN. Their entire "being" is integral with war - it's economy couldn't "live" without war. You disagree? Prove me otherwise. You show me evidence to the contrary, and, for every shred of eveidence you produce, I'll fill your back-garden with skip loads that prove you're wrong. Ask yourself this, who is profitting from these terrorists attacks? Who stands to gain, in any way? The terrorists? In what way are they profitting or gaining anything? What about the USA and their war-machine? Are they profitting or gaining in any way? If there is no financial incentive then, for what cause are these bombings being carried-out? Because they don't like freedom? Our freedom? ... tsss, if this is middle-eastern terrorists then surely they're fighting against our "apparent/self-given" freedom to do whatever the hell we want to them - including bombing the shit out of them - yes, it's we, who do the real bombing...

Ahem...

Book


Read This You Ignorant F*cks ... no offence, I mean it literally.

What is Taught: The difficult cubic equations (x to the third power) remained unsolved until the 16th century when Niccolo Tartaglia, an Italian mathematician, solved them.

What Should be Taught: Cubic equations as well as numerous equations of even higher degrees were solved with ease by Muslim mathematicians as early as the 10th century.


What is Taught: In 1614, John Napier invented logarithms and logarithmic tables.

What Should be Taught: Muslim mathematicians invented logarithms and produced logarithmic tables several centuries prior. Such tables were common in the Islamic world as early as the 13th century.


What is Taught: The English scholar Roger Bacon (d. 1292) first mentioned glass lenses for improving vision. At nearly the same time, eyeglasses could be found in use both in China and Europe.

What Should be Taught: Ibn Firnas of Islamic Spain invented eyeglasses during the 9th century, and they were manufactured and sold throughout Spain for over two centuries. Any mention of eyeglasses by Roger Bacon was simply a regurgitation of the work of al-Haytham (d. 1039), whose research Bacon frequently referred to.


What is Taught: Leonardo da Vinci (16th century) fathered the science of geology when he noted that fossils found on mountains indicated a watery origin of the earth.

What Should be Taught: Al-Biruni (1lth century) made precisely this observation and added much to it, including a huge book on geology, hundreds of years before Da Vinci was born. Ibn Sina noted this as well (see pages 100-101). it is probable that Da Vinci first learned of this concept from Latin translations of Islamic books. He added nothing original to their findings.

...where do you think the word Algebra comes from? ... Al-gebra ... it's arabic ffs!!!!

I'm all for discovery, but we have far more to do on earth getting people to understand that the days when we knew very little are over and we should put our trust in science.

LoL, those days are over, eh?



heh (enjoyed that...)

SHEEP !!!!



PS, the far-off planet...I nominate "Belend" as its name!

 

[tRoG]

Oh, bloody hell. Not the religion thing again

I mean, what the hell does religion have to do with discovering new things?

 

[dysfunction]

Nothing

 

[tRoG]

Winner.

 

[xane]

LoL, those days are over, eh?

Apparently you've been living in a cave as those days are indeed over, whilst it is true the Arab world lived in a golden age long ago and certainly experienced a renaissance before the western world did, it has unfortunately regressed back into its dark age of religious intolerance where it remains today.

Your sentiments prove my point, that the Arabs are perfectly capable of great and good science, yet they currently persue much more mundane objectives like blowing up non-Muslims under some God given pretext.

Arab science was boosted by military conquest of Greater Greece and Persia, where all the scientific thinking of the past 1000 years was absorbed into Arab culture, it is wrong to think it was entirely dreamed up by Arab scholdars themselves, many scientific theories existed even before the dawn of Islam, just as you show how western scientists "discovered" things, many Arab scientists did the same.

Science is a measure of "standing on the shoulders of giants", not of a "who got there first", the climate of religious oppression deters those who wish to discover more, unless it can develop a better bomb.

Interesting how you remonstrate the military prowess of the USA, yet fail to see how the Arab world originally acquired it's knowledge in the same way, the birth of Islam and its spread around the world was by no means bloodless and in many cases was unwanton in its destruction of previous cultures. This doesn't let Christianity off the hook by the way, they were just as barbaric.

Whilst the religionists (of either side) remain in power we shall see a repression of free thinking and a desire to engage in eternal conflict, and discoveries such as this will never come about.

 

[Xtro]

Religion isn't ALL bad...nuns give me the fucking horn tbh.

 

[tRoG]

 

[Wij]

A gaseous planet, variable in size based on the proximity of its many satellites, namely the lumpy one called "Wijlet".

Hey - is it open season on Wij-abuse tonight ???

 

[xane]

The honeymoon is over mate

 

[fatbusinessman]

Hey - is it open season on Wij-abuse tonight ???

Isn't it open season on Wij-abuse every night?

 

[Mazling]

Right.

First off, ON-topic for the slightest of tiny moments which you shall probably forget: who the hell cares if it gets classed as a planet or not? You can't take a hoiday there anyway ... you'd have to launch off either in stasis or think that sending yours kid off to live on a gasless dead rock one SQUILLION MILES AWAY IS SOME KINF OF GOOD IDEA. Not like you are going to mistake a tiny bit of space rock for anything useful are you ?

Next up: Religion vs Science. Stop worrying the fuck about WHY you are going to be nice to everyone around you and HOW FUCKING BRILLIANT it is all going to be when you are a nought but a rotting corpse and a wisp of fart floating about the person of god, in heaven, who is all smiley and stuff because he's a pratt for inventing the universe in the first place so probably doesn't know what is going on. JUST GET THE FUCK ON WITH BEING NICE. Religions that I've read about all seem to say the same thing anyway: things are going to happen ONE SINGLE WAY - ONE OR THE OTHER - and that the best you can do is to try for good intent and clear conscience.

Another thing: IMHO, christianity is one of the worst things to have happened to this planet since the big one hit and you humans started infesting the place. It has wiped out so much european and world culture that yes, we are still feeling the shockwaves from that in our own (post-?) modern culture. Some people should read up and acquire a useful opinion before you start to post. Those are not seperate things.

AND LASTLY: YES, nuns are hot ... but what I want to know is do you have the balls to ???

x 9 million