Ten random Wikipedia pages

Here is another installment in the randomization function of Wikipedia.



1. The Sun Don't Lie

The Sun Don't Lie is an album by Marcus Miller, released in 1993, belonging to the jazz rock genre.

2. Bomb Jack Twin

Bomb Jack Twin is a platforming arcade game that was released in 1993 by NMK.

3. Keith Richburg

Keith Richburg is a journalist and the author of Out of America, which detailed his experiences as a correspondent in Africa, during which he witnessed the Rwandan Genocide, a civil war in Somalia, and a cholera epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo.

4. Noreen Young

Noreen Isabel Young, C.M. (born September 11, 1952) is a Canadian producer and puppeteer, and is still actively involved in the puppeteering business through her corporation, Noreen Young Productions.

5. Millennium Tower (London)

The London Millennium Tower was one of several ideas for the site of the former Baltic Exchange at 30 St Mary Axe, City of London that had been destroyed beyond repair by a Provisional IRA bomb blast.

6. Tales from the Public Domain

“Tales from the Public Domain” is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons’ thirteenth season.

7. Schneier's Law

The term "Schneier's Law" was coined by Cory Doctorow in his speech about Digital Rights Management for Microsoft Research.

8. National Black Writers Conference

The National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) is a biennial symposium dedicated to an exploration of "emerging themes, trends and issues in black literature."

9. Cosmic gravitational wave background

The cosmic gravitational wave background is a relic of the Cosmic inflation, which can be measured directly, or indirectly by examining the polarization of the Cosmic microwave background radiation.

10. Bunion

A bunion (hallux valgus) is a structural deformity of the bones and the joint between the foot and big toe, and may be painful.

"NASA drops plan to fly new spaceships by 2013"

Too bad.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla - NASA has abandoned plans to get its replacement for the retiring U.S. space shuttles into service by 2013 because of a lack of additional funds and technical issues, officials said on Monday.

The U.S. space agency had hoped to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new spaceship called Orion as early as September 2013, well before its formal deadline or goal of March 2015.

The faster the better. It's good they're shooting to get this project done early, though they seem to have suffered a setback.

"The window of opportunity for us to accelerate Orion has closed," program manager Jeff Hanley at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston told reporters during a conference call.

The United States will be without a means to transport people to and from space after the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010 until the new ships are ready to fly. It intends to rely on Russia to ferry crews to the space station and on private companies to deliver cargo during the gap.

I would hate to rely on Russia for anything, but if we had to rely on them for something, I suppose help in the field of space exploration might be our safest bet.

NASA had hoped to minimize the gap, but additional funding to do so has not been approved by the U.S. Congress.

The agency now hopes to be able to fly an Orion crew to the International Space Station by September 2014.

Let's hope so.

Sunset

Just the sun setting over The University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

Jetty evening

Just a picture of a jetty scene on a summer evening.

Ha ha ha!

"Paris’ mom takes offense at McCain’s humor"

In other news ... who cares?!

"NASA confirms water on Mars"

It's official.

LOS ANGELES - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time, scientists reported Thursday.

By melting icy soil in one of its lab instruments, the robot confirmed the presence of frozen water lurking below the Martian permafrost. Until now, evidence of ice in Mars' north pole region has been largely circumstantial.

Now, let's get up there!

Finding lakes on Titan

It's not much for water-skiiing, but it's still a lake on another world, and we have pictures of it.

A giant, glassy lake larger than North America's Lake Ontario graces the south pole of Saturn's largest moon Titan, new research confirms.

"This is the first observation that really pins down that Titan has a surface lake filled with liquid," said lead researcher Robert Brown of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson.

Called Ontario Lacus, the lake extends 150 miles (235 kilometers) and covers an area of about 7,800 square miles (20,000 square kilometers). The lake structure is filled mostly with methane and ethane, hydrocarbons that are gases on Earth but liquid on the bone-chilling surface of Titan.

Ten random Wikipedia pages

For no particular reason, let's play the randomization game again using Wikipedia's "random article" feature.

1. Xenobatrachus fuscigula

Xenobatrachus fuscigula is a species of frog in the Microhylidae family.

2. Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission

The Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission (PBRPC) is a voluntary association of cities, counties and special districts in the Permian Basin region of West Texas.

3. Keter Betts

Keter Betts (July 25, 1928–August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist.

4. Otoya Kawano

Otoya Kawano (かわの をとや Kawano Otoya, born August 18, 1965) is a seiyū who was born in Taketa, Ōita.

5. Canal de Berdún

Canal de Berdún is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain.

6. Tinselfish

Grammicolepididae is a small family of deep-sea fishes, called tinselfishes due to their silvery color.

7. Tor-grass

Tor-grass (Brachypodium pinnatum) is a plant in the grass family, with a widespread distribution in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

8. Marine Wing Communications Squadron 28

Marine Wing Communications Squadron 28 (MWCS-28) is a United States Marine Corps communications squadron.

9. Blepharis mitrata

Blepharis mitrata is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae.

10. 12310 Londontario

12310 Londontario (1992 DE4) is a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on February 29, 1992 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.

Strange headline of the day

"Apparent conjoined barn swallows found in Arkansas"

And in other news, a seemingly twin toolshed has consumed something in Missouri.

Getting a new perspective on our world

An absolutely cool MSNBC video of Earth rotating in space and getting eclipsed by the moon, as seen by Deep Impact.



I never quite realized how big our moon is compared to our planet. I had read that this ratio was unusual when compared with other moons and planets, but this video illustrates the size relationship from a new point of view.

Ten random Wikipedia pages

For no particular reason, I logged onto Wikipedia and hit the "Random aritcle" function ten times in a row. Here's what came up, in click order, with the first line of each article reproduced.

1. Carlo Boscarato

Carlo Boscarato (May 9, 1926–June 12, 1987) was an Italian cartoonist and comics artist.

2. Friedrich Kuhlau

Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (September 11, 1786 – March 12, 1832) was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods.

3. Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment

The UK Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment (ILGRA) is "an informal committee of officials responsible for policy development and practical applications of risk assessment in all major Departments."

4. Suomenlinna Church

The Suomenlinna Church was built originally as a Greek Orthodox garrison church for the Russian troops of Suomenlinna sea fortress in 1854 and originally had five onion domes.

5. March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Sunday of Forgiveness (see Paschal cycle)

6. Tank (arcade game)

Tank is a 2 player arcade game by Atari Inc. subsidiary Kee Games, originally released on November 5, 1974 and designed by Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains.

7. Adonibezek

In the Book of Judges (1:4 - 7), Adonibezek, (simply "lord of Bezek"), was a Canaanite king who, having subdued seventy of the chiefs that were around him, was attacked by the armies of Judah and Simeon.

8. Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself

Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself was the Bee Gees second single from their 1971 album Trafalgar.

9. The Keeping Place

The Keeping Place is a science fiction novel by Isobelle Carmody, set in a post apocalyptic world.

10. List of regions in India

This is a list of unofficial, or quasi-official regions of India.

The power of words ...

... as conceded by Utahraptor. To T-Rex's dismay.

"Belgium government collapses, country next?"

Languages split a nation.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgium's government collapsed Tuesday, unable to resolve an enduring divide over more self-rule for the country's Dutch and French-speakers. The gap was so wide the premier suggested the end of Belgium as a country was looming.

King Albert II immediately began political discussions with lawmakers to try to resolve the situation, talks expected to take several days. He did not formally accept the resignation of government offered by Premier Yves Leterme late Monday, so Leterme's government stays on in a caretaker capacity for now.

In an unusual declaration, the premier said Belgium's constitutional crisis stems from the fact that "consensus politics" across Belgium's widening linguistic divide no longer works.

Language matters. Belgium is home to the executive branch of the European Union, and now it's existence is threatened by differences in tongues. Let's hope other nations don't suffer the same fate.

More ice!

The lander has exposed more ice on the Red Planet.

From Andrea Thompson at Space.com:

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander used its robotic arm to expose more of the hard icy layer just below the Martian surface so that it can more easily gather a sample of the material for analysis.

The trench, informally called "Snow White," was about 8 by 12 inches (20 by 30 centimeters) after digging by the arm Saturday. Mission controllers sent commands to the spacecraft Monday to further extend the length of the trench by about 6 inches (15 centimeters).

Scientists said tests in a lab on Earth suggested more area must be exposed in order to collect a proper sample.

"Right now, there is not enough real estate of dark icy soil in the trench to do a sample acquisition test and later a full-up acquisition" for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), said Ray Arvidson, Phoenix's "dig czar," from Washington University in St. Louis. The TEGA instrument bakes samples of the Martian dirt in tiny ovens and analyzes the vapors given off to determine the composition of the regolith.

Keep trenching, Phoenix! You've got a dig czar on your side.

The power of words ...

... does not kick in until they are in writing. At least, as explained by dinosaurs. And God.

Taking our words

Race-baiters want to take our usage of certain words, and The Volokh Conspiracy calls it an "unintentioal self-parody". I call it more. I call it intimidation at its most mean-spirited.

The original story is at the Dallas Morning News. Here's the gist:

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre Tuesday afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term.

As I assert in the comments section of the Volokh post, people this country seem to want to have a conversation about race. But how can we do that when white people don't know what words they can and can't say? It seems any word can offend (and you won't know it causes offense until it does, and then it's too late to do anything about it), so the white side of the aisle will eventually stop talking altogether and the "conversation" will be one-sided. And how does that help?

Window morning

Nothing but a picture of some windows to add texture to your downtown experience.

Explaining strange asteroid shapes

It may not occur to most people, but asteroids are shaped funny, and they can also change shape. Now astronomers think they know why, as reported by Lee Pullen at Space.com.

But what changes the asteroids' shape? Gyula [Szabó from the University of Szeged in Hungary] and his team have shown that asteroids change shape from elongated to roughly spherical due to being impacted during their lifetimes. They are like pebbles on the beach that become worn smooth over many years -- only in space, erosion is caused by small impacts as rocks knock into each other and chip pieces off.

Impact specialist Jonti Horner from the UK's Open University agrees with Gyula. "The results make sense," he says. "Catastrophic impacts create a huge slew of fragment shapes, like the shards of a broken bottle. The debris then are weathered over time and smoothed towards sphericality by small impacts."

Space pebbles. Cool stuff.

Singing of the bun engines

Absolutely cool phonetic rendering of an Indian song.



[via Althouse, via Andrew Sullivan]

Swirling Saturn

Reminding you that some parts of space -- though small parts -- are still vast.





















From the Photojournal:

Sinuous clouds and hurricane-sized vortices mingle in Saturn's northern skies.

This view looks toward a region located at 70 degrees north latitude on Saturn.

Despite the level of detail visible here, the region shown is wide enough to contain the planet Mars comfortably.

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

God knows what you're saying

Dinosaur Comics demonstrates:

Well, isn't that the old paradox? Can God create a sentence with grammar so bad, even HE can't correct it?

I CREATED THE SENTENCE. IT'S FINE.

Don't try to get one past the Big Guy.

Ice on Mars!

The first direct evidence of water ice existing on the Red Planet has been discovered by the Phoenix lander, as reported by Clara Moskowitz on Space.com:

When the probe took photos of a ditch it had dug four days before, scientists noticed that about eight small crumbs of a bright material had disappeared. They concluded those crumbs had been water ice buried under a thin layer of dirt that vaporized when Phoenix exposed them to the air.

"It's with great pride and a lot of joy I announce today we have found proof that this hard material really is water ice and not some other substance," Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson said at a briefing Friday.

Let's hope there are giant aquifers of the stuff deep underground.

Smelling space exploration

Who knew that moon dust smelled like gunpowder?

During the Apollo missions, the astronauts donned their space suits inside the Apollo Lunar Module cabin, which was then depressurized to allow them to exit the vehicle. Upon the end of EVA, the astronauts would re-enter the cabin in their suits, bringing with them a great deal of dust which had adhered to the suits. Several astronauts reported a "gunpowder" smell and respiratory or eye irritation upon opening their helmets and being exposed to the dust.

[referenced article at Space.com, "Lunar Explorers Face Moon Dust Dilemma" by Leonard David]

I learn something new every day.

If you're not a shooter or firework afficianado, then you might not know what gunpowder smells like, but it's actually a very distinctive smell. I never thought I would hear that something smells like gunpowder other than actual gunpowder.

Platform afternoon

Nothing but a picture of an off-shore platform on a hot summer day.

Picking up the sword

In Leon Valley, a suburb of San Antonio, the City Council voted to develop a system of trails in one of the few undeveloped portions of town, but "not before getting an earful from neighborhood residents who don’t want a welcome mat to the public in their backyards." [from the Northwest Weekly]

The citizens are concerned about criminal elements having easy access to their properties, but two of the councilmen assured the residents that they would protect them. And they used a phrase you might not expect in a modern confrontation between citizens and elected officials.

Councilmen Art Reyna and Jack Dean vowed to “pick up the sword” on the trail should residents’ fears become realized.

Actually, I kind of like that imagery. I only wish it were literal. Who can resist the thought of councilmen girding for battle and patroling the trails with medieval weaponry to keep the ruffians at bay?

Just another day on the job

Be careful out there.

Photo of astronaut Mike Fossum, mission STS-124 courtesy of NASA/JSC.

Doing nothing at all, and doing it in a big way

Out near Seguin, it seems some kids were getting into trouble by smashing up a bunch of mailboxes. That's not very unusual out in rural Texas, but I did get a kick out how one resident described the offenders' actions.

From KSAT-12:

More than 50 mailboxes across the county and about 15 inside Seguin were smashed or run over, much to the chagrin of the mailbox owners, and some residents believe teenagers with nothing to do are the culprits.

"I think the kids need to be structured out here, resident Bruce Trahan said. "When they get out of school, it just seems like they have nothing to do and they do it."

Mr. Trahan has a way with words.

[Cross posted from Strange in San Antonio.]

Feminists challenge Islamic terrorists

But, it's not what you think. They want equal rights, sure enough, but to blow themselves up just as much as the men. [emphases added]

In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters.

His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fundamentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have also created some confusion, because in fact suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of al-Qaida.

...

Al-Zawahri's remarks show the fine line al-Qaida walks in terms of public relations. In a modern Arab world where women work even in some conservative countries, al-Qaida's attitude could hurt its efforts to win over the public at large. On the other hand, noted SITE director Katz, al-Zawahri has to consider that many al-Qaida supporters, such as the Taliban, do not believe women should play a military role in jihad.

Al-Zawahri's comments came in a two-hour audio recording posted on an Islamic militant Web site, where he answered hundreds of questions sent in by al-Qaida sympathizers. He praised the wives of mujahedeen, or holy warriors. He also said a Muslim woman should "be ready for any service the mujahedeen need from her," but advised against traveling to a war front like Afghanistan without a male guardian.

How bizarre to these Western ears.

"NASA spacecraft successfully lands near Mars pole"

This is good news.

PASADENA, Calif. - A NASA spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of Mars and successfully landed in the Red Planet's northern polar region on Sunday, where it will begin 90 days of digging in the permafrost to look for evidence of the building blocks of life.

Less than two hours later, the Phoenix Mars Lander beamed back four dozen black-and-white images including one of its foot sitting on Martian soil amid tiny rocks. Others included the horizon of the arctic plain and ground with polygon patterns similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions.

"Absolutely beautiful," said Dan McCleese, a chief scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It looks like a good place to start digging."

I'm sure they will get started in no time. Let's hope the Phoenix mission goes very well.

"Ice-sampling probe set for Sunday landing on Mars"

Let's hope this mission is a success.

PASADENA, California (Reuters) - A new chapter in Mars exploration opens on Sunday when a small robotic probe jets down to the planet's arctic circle to learn if ice beneath its surface ever had the right chemistry to support life, mission managers said on Thursday.

NASA approved the mission, known as Phoenix, after the Mars orbiter Odyssey found ice surrounding the polar caps in 2002. Five probes landed near Mars' equatorial zones, including the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which discovered signs of past surface water. Odyssey found no sign of buried ice around Mars' equator.

"We're going way to the north," said Peter Smith, a planetary geologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who heads the Phoenix science team.

Good luck to the team running Phoenix.

"Robotic suit could usher in super soldier era"

Absolutely cool.

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds — that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

...

Jameson — who works for robotics firm Sarcos Inc. in Salt Lake City, which is under contract with the U.S. Army — is helping assess the 150-pound suit's viability for the soldiers of tomorrow. The suit works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it.

The Army believes soldiers may someday wear the suits in combat, but it's focusing for now on applications such as loading cargo or repairing heavy equipment. Sarcos is developing the technology under a two-year contract worth up to $10 million, and the Army plans initial field tests next year.

And the best line in the story:

"It takes no special training, beyond learning to relax and trust the robot," he said.

When can I get one?

Fighting panda extinction

Sometimes PETA is just all over the map.

TOKYO (AFP) - Animal rights activists on Wednesday urged Japan to reject visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao's offer of two pandas, saying the crowd-pleasing animals would be miserable in a zoo.

Hu, trying to reconcile with Japan on the first visit by a Chinese president to Tokyo in a decade, offered to lend a male and a female panda to replace Ling Ling, who died last week at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent a letter to Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura urging Japan to halt the deal.

The US-based rights group noted that the pandas were being leased, not gifted, and estimated the zoo would pay China around one million dollars a year for each animal.

"Pandas are an endangered species, not a commodity to be traded for human amusement," [Not even for gushing journalists?] PETA campaigner Rie Ichikawa said in the letter.

"In honour of the late Ling Ling -- the panda who spent his entire life in a zoo, where he was denied his freedom, the right to choose his own mate, and everything that was natural and important to him -- we urge Minister Komura to declare that no more pandas will be taken from their homes and sentenced to a life at the Ueno Zoo."

So, PETA's problem is the fact that money is exchanging hands? Or is it that the pandas will be miserable in a zoo? Or is it that the pandas are in captivitiy at all? If that's it, then why stop the deal, since the pandas would still be in captivity in China?

Sometimes, I really don't understand PETA or its motivations.

Odd headline of the day

"Peace protesters deflate NZ spy base dome "

And the story is kind of kooky, too.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Peace activists attacked and deflated a large inflatable globe housing a satellite dish at a top secret New Zealand spy base on Wednesday in protest at United States military actions.

The group, calling itself ANZAC Ploughshares, said it cut through fences and razor wire and avoided electronic sensors to slash one of two 30-metre (98-ft) white globes with a sickle at the Waihopai base near Blenheim at the top of the South Island.

The base is described as a satellite communications monitoring facility, but peace campaigners have said it is part of a global signals interception network called Echelon.

"The Echelon spy network including Waihopai, is an important part of the U.S. government's global spy network and we have come in the name of the Prince of Peace to close it down," said Ploughshares in a statement.

I didn't know Jesus advocated sickle work. And I didn't know satellite communications domes in New Zealand were appropriate targets for anti-American sentiment. But I do know that the first three words of the article have got to be the funniest words I've read today.

"Primitive Alien Life May Exist, Stephen Hawking Says"

I'm not much of a scientist, but I think Stephen Hawking is right on track here when he talks about the possibility of alien life forms.

Alien life may well exist in a primitive form somewhere in our corner of the galaxy, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Monday.

Given the size of the universe, it is unlikely that Earth is the only planet to develop some sort of life, Hawking told an audience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He added that humanity must embrace space exploration, if only to ensure its long-term survival. [Complete agreement here.]

"While there may be primitive life in our region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings," said Hawking during a lecture as part of a series commemorating NASA's 50th anniversary this year.

...

The probability of primitive life developing on a suitable planet may be extremely low, or it may be high, but aliens intelligent enough to beam signals into space may also be smart enough to build civilization-destroying weapons like nuclear bombs, he said. More likely, he added, is that primitive life is likely to develop, but intelligent life as we know it is exceedingly rare.

"We don't appear to have been visited by aliens," Hawking said, adding that he discounts reports of UFOs. "Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?"

'Nuff said.

Shutter afternoon

Nothing but a photo of shutters making an interesting texture.

"NASA extends Saturn mission for another 2 years"

This is excellent news.

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA says it is extending the international Cassini mission that is touring Saturn and its moons for another two years.

The space agency announced the extension Tuesday. Since 2004, the unmanned probe has beamed back about 140,000 images. Its prime mission is slated to end in July.

The agency says the $160 million extension will allow Cassini to make 60 more revolutions around the ringed planet and fly by its largest moon, Titan, and four other satellites.

The Cassini mission has yielded precious information about Saturn and its moons that have astoundingly advanced our knowledge of the solar system. I'm glad it is being extended. The success of this mission and the gains obtained by the Mars rovers should be sources of pride for NASA, the United States of American, and all of humanity.

Stating the obvious

Who knew California was in danger of earthquakes?

"Forecast: Big quake likely in Calif."

LOS ANGELES - California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037, scientists said Monday in the first statewide temblor forecast.

New calculations reveal there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike in the next 30 years. The odds of such an event are higher in Southern California than Northern California, 97 percent versus 93 percent.

"It basically guarantees it's going to happen," said Ned Field, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena and lead author of the report.

No kidding. Really, with a difference of 97 and 93 percent, does it really matter where you live in California? Just enjoy the weather and get ready for the shaking.

Computing the old way

Just a photo to remind you that humans didn't always need electricity or software to run their computers.

Denigrating husbands

I call B.S. on this Reuters report on another stupid study.

A new study from the University of Michigan shows that having a husband creates an extra seven hours of extra housework a week for women. But a wife saves her husband from an hour of chores around the house each week.

"It's a well-known pattern. There's still a significant reallocation of labor that occurs at marriage -- men tend to work more outside the home, while women take on more of the household labor," said Frank Stafford, of the university's Institute for Social Research (ISR), who directed the study.

...

The researchers studied diaries to assess how people spent their time and questioned men and women about how much time they spend cooking, cleaning and doing basic work around the house.

They found that young single women did the least amount of housework, at about 12 hours a week. Married women in their 60 and 70s did nearly twice that amount, while women with more than three children spent 28 hours a week cleaning, cooking and washing. [emphases added]

I haven't seen the original study, but I wonder if it measured time spent mowing, cutting limbs, working on the car, building shelves, and other work around the house that might be left up to the husband more often than not.

"Shock absorbers may fix rocket shaking"

Well, it makes sense.

For nearly half a year, NASA's No. 1 technical problem in designing its Ares I rocket, which will eventually propel astronauts back to the moon, has been a sound wave vibration problem from its solid rocket motors.

If the vibrations hit the right frequency, they could potentially shake the astronauts to death — or at the least make it impossible for them to work. The astronauts would be in the Orion crew capsule launched on top of the Ares.

The leading solution is to put weight on springs in parts of the bottom end of the rocket and underneath astronauts' seats to dampen the vibrations. Think MacPherson struts, said Garry Lyles, who heads a NASA team working on the problem.

"These are actually absorbers that are used in vehicles today, especially one-ton and 1 1/2-ton pickup trucks," Lyles said in a Thursday telephone news conference.

[Insert obligatory joke about it not being rocket science here.]

"NASA cut means no roving for Mars rover"

Too bad.

LOS ANGELES - Scientists plan to put one of the twin Mars rovers to sleep and limit the activities of the other robot to fulfill a NASA order to cut $4 million from the program's budget, mission team members said Monday.

...

Both rovers were originally planned for three-month missions at a cost of $820 million, but are now in their fourth year of exploration. It costs NASA about $20 million annually to keep the rovers running.

I hate to see them limited or shut down now, especially since they've performed well beyond expectations. They are truly one of NASA's triumphs.

UPDATE: NASA has changed its mind.

LOS ANGELES - NASA has no plans to turn off either of the healthy twin Mars rovers to make up for cost overruns faced by a big new rover slated to fly to the Red Planet next year, the space agency said Tuesday.

In a rare move, NASA said it rescinded a letter sent last week to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena that directed budget cuts to the Mars exploration program, including a $4 million reduction from the rovers project.

Good move.

Evening moon

Nothing but a picture of the moon rising over a verdant ridge.

R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke

The famed author of 2001: A Space Odyssey has died.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications satellite."

Not only do we have him to thank for some great science fiction, but we also have him to thank for modern communications.

Requiescat in pace, old visionary.

"South Korea changes first astronaut"

Well, gee, how old is she? Five months?

Seriously, though, it seems that the first South Korean astronaut was disqualified by the Russians for--

--reading.

The wrong stuff.

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea said Monday a female engineer would become the country's first person in space by going aboard a Russian spacecraft, after Moscow rejected Seoul's first choice because he violated reading rules during training.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said at a news conference that Yi So-yeon will replace Ko San as the country's choice to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station in early April.

...

The Russian authorities said Ko took a book out of the [space training] center without permission and sent it to his home in South Korea in September, Lee [Sang-mok, a senior ministry official] said. Ko later returned the book, explaining he accidently sent it home together with other personal belongings, Lee added.

In February, Ko again violated a regulation by getting a book from the center through a Russian colleague — material he was not supposed to read, Lee said. Officials did not give details about the book's contents, but South Korean officials portrayed both of his infractions as minor. [emphasis added]

I wonder what that book was about.

Looking back at home

Have you ever wondered what the Earth looks like from Mars?

Wonder no more.




















Image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera and courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona. Find out more about it here.

Passing away

A guitarist has died.

TORONTO - Blind rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey has died after a lifelong battle against cancer. He was 41.

Healey died Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital, said bandmate Colin Bray, who was in the room with Healey's family when the guitarist died.

The Grammy-nominated Healey rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that gained international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light." The album included the hit single "Angel Eyes."

Healey had battled cancer since age 1, when a rare form of retinal cancer known as Retinoblastoma claimed his eyesight.

Too bad. He was a good guitarist.

Baffling the rocket scientists

There's always something new and incredible to learn about space, which is why we need to do a lot more exploring.

From Charles Q. Choi of Space.com:

Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions.

These newfound enigmas join the so-called "Pioneer anomaly" as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft.

A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun.

A host of explanations have been bandied about for the Pioneer anomaly. At times these are rooted in conventional science — perhaps leaks from the spacecraft have affected their trajectories. At times these are rooted in more speculative physics — maybe the law of gravity itself needs to be modified.

Now Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer John Anderson and his colleagues — who originally helped uncover the Pioneer anomaly — have discovered that five spacecraft each raced either a tiny bit faster or slower than expected when they flew past the Earth en route to other parts of the solar system.

...

"I am feeling both humble and perplexed by this," said Anderson, who is now working as a retiree. "There is something very strange going on with spacecraft motions. We have no convincing explanation for either the Pioneer anomaly or the flyby anomaly."

There's a lot more to discover out there.

Disparaging a fruit

I couldn't agree more with XKCD's assessment of grapefruit.

P.S.: Hover over the comic for an equally appropriate view of coconuts.

No preaching to the choir

If you have more than a passing interest in the English language and its development, then you will probably enjoy reading this post from Geoffrey K. Pullum at Langauge Log. It's pretty much his thoughts on one man's review of a language book, but, if that sounds particularly dry to you, I tell you it's not. There's a lot there to think about in the post, and it's well worth the read.

Stellar Wednesday

A lot of space stuff is happening Wednesday, February 20, 2008.

"Atlantis aims for Wednesday landing"

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After nearly two weeks in orbit, Atlantis and its crew aimed for a Wednesday landing on either coast to clear the way for the military to shoot down a dying spy satellite.

"US may shoot down satellite Wednesday"

WASHINGTON - An attempt to blast a crippled U.S. spy satellite out of the sky using a Navy heat-seeking missile — possibly on Wednesday night — would be the first real-world use of this piece of the Pentagon's missile defense network.

"Lunar eclipse to occur Wednesday night"

LOS ANGELES - The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurs Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.

Enough to keep a lot of people busy.

Sunday sonnet: William Shakespeare

Here's a sonnet from Shakespeare, published in 1609 and telling of the permanence of poetry.


55

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wears this world out to the ending doom.
- So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
- You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.


Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg

"British Moon probe wins UK-NASA backing"

This sounds promising. I like the idea of space collaboration.

LONDON (Reuters) - A plan for the first British-led mission to the Moon won the backing of an Anglo-American space committee on Friday.

The Joint Working Group on lunar exploration named the proposed unmanned MoonLITE launch as its primary mission for collaboration.

The 100 million pound launch would fire three or four darts carrying measuring instruments into the surface of the moon from an orbiting satellite.

Scientific data recorded by the darts would be transmitted up to the satellite and relayed back to Earth.

The working group brings together experts from America's NASA and Britain's space authority, the British National Space Centre (BNSC).

But the piece contains this bit of journalistic error.

Potential targets for the MoonLITE probes include the Moon's permanently dark far side and its two shadowed polar regions. [emphasis added]

Please, Tim Castle of Reuters, take some time to do a few seconds of research.

Sunday sonnet: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Valentine's Day is this week. Perhaps it would be fitting to present the forty-third sonnet from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese, published 1850.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd

Sunday sonnet: John Milton

Here's a sonnet from the master, John Milton, written in 1658. It tells of a dream in which he saw his wife, who had died in childbirth, and his sadness upon wakening.

Methought I saw my late espousèd saint
- Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,
- Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave,
- Rescued from death by force though pale and faint.
Mine, as whom washed from spot of childbed taint,
- Purification in the old law did save,
- And such, as yet once more I trust to have
- Full sight of her in heaven without resraint,
Came vested all in white, pure as her mind.
- Her face was veiled, yet to my fancied sight
- Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined
So clear, as in no face with more delight.
- But O, as to embrace me she inclined,
- I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd

All the news that's fit to make up

The New York Times now openly admits to just making stuff up.

From Bill Poser at Language Log:

The New York Times contains a brief article entitled One Pot describing the Spanish dish known variously as cocido or olla podrida literally "rotten pot" According to the dictionary of the Real Academia Española, podrida may have an admiring connotation, similar to the use of "filthy rich" in English. Curiously, instead of the correct olla podrida, the article gives the name of the dish as olla poderida, which it explains as a derivative of poder "strength", because it gives you strength.

Reader Jim Gordon wondered about this and emailed the author of the article. Her response: she and her consultants and editors were aware of the correct name and etymology but thought that some readers might be put off by the notion of rotten food, so they changed the name a little and made up a fake etymology. It seems clear that they were not trying to deceive anyone with evil intent, but I am still taken aback that a respectable newspaper would make up a fake name and etymology.

I am taken aback, too. But I guess I won't be surprised by anything that's printed in the "Gray Lady" anymore.

Shrinking Mercury!

Our solar system's ordinally first planet is getting smaller! Apparently.

WASHINGTON - The first pictures from the unseen side of Mercury reveal the wrinkles of a shrinking, aging planet with scars from volcanic eruptions and a birthmark shaped like a spider.

Some of the 1,213 photos taken by NASA's Messenger probe and unveiled Wednesday help support the case that ancient volcanoes dot Mercury and that it is shrinking as it gets older, forming wrinkle-like ridges. But other images are surprising and puzzling.

Check out a lot more images at Messenger's Web site.

"Disabled spy satellite threatens Earth"

Everyone, keep your heads up and your eyes and ears open. The sky may be falling.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or early March, government officials said Saturday.

The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. It was not clear how long ago the satellite lost power, or under what circumstances.

I like how the "officials" told this story only if their names were kept secret because the information itself is supposed to be secret. Chickens. If they were truly concerned more for the safety of their fellow man than for their jobs, they would have let their names be used. Besides, it's not as if their sharing of the information does a fat lot of good. They don't know a lot about the satellite other than it will come back to earth sometime somewhere. That helps nobody very much except to say, Watch out! The sky may be falling.

The extinction of languages

Sally Thomason posts at Language Log about the death of an obscure language.

I just heard on NPR that Marie Smith Jones, the last speaker of the indigenous Alaskan language Eyak, has died at 89. There's an AP article about her here: she was the last full-blooded Eyak; none of her numerous children learned Eyak because, as one of her daughters put it, they "grew up at a time when it was considered wrong to speak anything but English." Michael Krauss, a professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the world's most prominent expert on Native Alaskan languages, worked some years ago with her and two of her relatives to compile a dictionary and grammar of her language, as well as a collection of Eyak stories. But for the past fifteen years, the AP quotes Krauss as saying, Jones was "the last of her kind...With her death, the Eyak language becomes extinct."

Is the dying out of a language automatically a bad thing, especially if only one or two people actually speak the tongue? What made Eyak so special that its loss should be mourned?

I'm not trying to be an English language snob here (though I'm fully aware that I may come across that way), but I truly am intrigued by the notion that a language's preciousness could be measured by the declining number of people who speak it natively. The fewer people, the more precious the language, apparently. But that can't be all of it. If that were so, then any number of extinct languages could be hailed and mourned.

The reason for the regretful tone of Thomason's post must be that Eyak was supplanted by English, in which case I see no real reason for mourning the loss outside of the tired denouncements of colonialism. This comes from a man of Irish descent. I know not a word of the Irish language, yet I do not feel any particular personal loss for not knowing the tongue, and I doubt I would be very sad if Irish actually disappeared from the Earth. I am fluent in English, which is actually my native tongue, and I have studied the language extenstively and have a healthy respect for its complexities. And this is the language of the people who historically oppressed my people. Is this a particular bias? Does anyone think I'm wrong because I like English and I don't hold affinities for little-known languages?

Cruise: "I think about those people out there who are depending on us."

Because he knows better.

Scientology -- the cult of ego.

"Satellite launched from ocean platform"

Absolutely cool.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - A Boeing-built satellite for mobile voice and data services was placed in orbit Tuesday by a rocket launched from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean.

...

The launch by Long Beach-based Sea Launch Co. was "perfect," said Sea Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn. Boeing, which built the satellite in El Segundo, Calif., said it was "healthy and operating as designed."

...

The Sea Launch system takes advantage of a principle of physics that allows a rocket launched at the equator to carry a heavier payload into orbit than it could from elsewhere on the Earth's surface.

The mission was the first for the Sea Launch international partnership since an explosion moments after ignition in January 2007 destroyed a satellite intended for Netherlands-based SES New Skies.

Here's hoping for a lot more successful launches.

"Asteroid impact on Mars said less likely"

Aw, too bad. This would have been cool, especially since we have so many eyes on the Red Planet right now.

PASADENA, Calif. - Scientists tracking an asteroid approaching Mars say that an impact with the Red Planet has become less likely. Refined estimates of the asteroid's orbit were made using new observations from a telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain, according to the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The impact probability fell to 2.5 percent, the NEO office said in Jan. 8 update posted on the NEO Web site. The miss distance was holding steady at about 30,000 kilometers, or 18,600 miles.

Oh well, maybe next time. But this was definitely cool.

Edit, edit, edit

I know content providers for Web sites -- especially news sites -- are often under tight deadlines, but that's no excuse for the story from WOAI below, which is just an example of sloppy writing.

Three masked men kick down the door of a home on the east side. The family inside was held at gunpoint, robbed of their money, identification and even their car.

The woman who was asleep inside that home shared her story with News 4.

The woman, who wished to remain unidentified, said she was scared for her life. The mother of four said she was sound asleep Friday night when three men, all dressed in all black, kicked in her door.

"They put us on the floor with blankets on top," said the woman. "They took my babies in the back and [told] {These brackets in original. --ed.} them to lay down on the floor too,'" she continued.

The woman said the masked [men] {These brackets mine. --ed.} demanded money and drugs. But the woman told the buglers she didn't have any drugs.

"They said you're lying you're lying and I said no, the only money I have is in my purse," explained the woman.

The buglers took her purse along with her IDs, Social Security card and her truck. [Emphases added]

Once is a mistake. Twice is sloppy. Unless, of course, the burglars were tooting their own horns.

"Mars rovers continue to amaze after four years"

NASA has had its successes and failures, but the organization should always hold up the Spirit and Oppurtunity rovers as one of their greatest accomplishments.

From Dave Mosher of Space.com:

Two robots the size of golf carts were given 90 days to squeeze as much science as possible from the barren, dust-swept terrain of Mars. After that, scientists expected nothing more from them than death.

Nearly four years after their warranties expired, however, the Mars Explorations Rovers (MERs) "Spirit" and "Opportunity" continue to play productively in the red dirt.

Spirit celebrates its fourth anniversary of Martian work on Jan. 4, the day it landed in 2004, followed by Opportunity on Jan. 25. Those four Earth years since landing convert to 2.25 Martian years, or 1,422 Martian days called "sols."

"We never thought we'd still be driving these robots all over Mars," said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University and member of the rover science team. "We joked about driving Opportunity into Victoria Crater, but now we're there, and we're looking at doing even more science. Each day they still work is an amazing one."

Our conception of Mars will never be the same.

Gravitational ripples

The small moon Prometheus pulls and deforms one of Saturn's rings with its gravitational influence.

Astounding.

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. Read more about it here.

Merry Christmas

And to all a good night.

Sunday sonnet: William Blake

I include this sonnet from William Blake, written in 1783, because it haunts me a little with its divine and pastoral imagery. And because it is in blank verse, which is a bit unusual for a sonnet.


"To the Evening Star"

Thou fair-hair'd angel of the evening,
Now, while the sun rests on the mountains, light
Thy bright torch of love; they radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves; and, while thou drawest the
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon,
Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And the lion glares thro' the dun forest:
The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence.

Rhyme scheme: blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter.

"NASA Names Next Generation Moon Lander 'Altair'"

The name lacks pizzazz and prestige, but I suppose it will do.

From Robert Z. Pearlman at Space.com:

Move over Eagle, the Altair has landed.

NASA today introduced a new name and logo for its next generation lunar lander, which was previously referred to as the Lunar Surface Access Module, or LSAM for short.

...

"Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky," wrote Lauri Hansen, NASA's Altair project manager, in an e-mail sent to Hanley this morning, a copy of which was obtained by collectSPACE.com. "The word 'Altair' finds its origins in Arabic and is derived from a phrase that means 'the flying one'," she continued.

"In Latin, 'Aquila' means Eagle, tying our new lander to the historic Apollo 11 Eagle," concluded Hansen, referring to the vehicle that brought mankind's first two men to the lunar surface in July 1969.

The Altair project logo emphasizes that connection, using the major design element from the Apollo 11 patch as its own. Both emblems depict a bald eagle clasping an olive branch in its talons, an image chosen by Michael Collins, Apollo 11's command module pilot, based on a photo in a 1965 book published by National Geographic.

Just get those landers up there, whatever you call them.

Oh, and here's the logo. I suppose it will have to do, too.

Sunday Sonnet: Gerard Manley Hopkins

And now, a dense sonnet written by Gerard Manley Hopkins in 1877, a poem marvelous in its compact complexity.

"The Windhover"
TO CHRIST OUR LORD

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
- dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
- Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
- As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
- Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,---the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
- Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

- No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
- Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdc dcd
It looks at first as if the rhyme scheme should be aaaa aaaa bcb cbc, but a closer examination reveals the a rhymes to be words that end in "-ing" and the b rhymes to be words that end in "-iding."

"Scientists cure mice with sickle cell"

Wow, this sounds like incredibly good news.

WASHINGTON - Scientists have the first evidence that those "reprogrammed stem cells" that made headlines last month really have the potential to treat disease: They used skin from the tails of sick mice to cure the rodents of sickle cell anemia.

Let's hope this pans out and leads to much more.

Sunday sonnet: John Keats

Today, I offer a fantastic expression of the awe a poet feels when reading an exceptional work of literature (in this case, a translation of Homer's works done by George Chapman). Keats's experience was written down in sonnet form in 1816, and I include this poem because I like it, and because it contains a well-known goof on the author's part.

"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"

Much have I traveled in the realms of gold,
- And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
- Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
- That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;
- Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
- When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
- He stared at the Pacific--and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise--
- Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd

"Private Spaceflight Firm Takes Aims at NASA Cargo Flights"

Go, private sector!

A private spaceflight firm is developing a new unmanned spacecraft in hopes of delivering cargo for NASA missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Chicago-based company PlanetSpace, Inc. is working with veteran aerospace firms to build the Modular Cargo Carrier, an automated supply ship vying for funding under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

"We're very comfortable and confident that NASA is going to have a low-cost, very reliable cargo and crew transport to the space station," PlanetSpace chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria told SPACE.com.

Let's hope so.

Fighting panda extinction

This is good news for panda lovers.

Since 2003, Bai Yun and her consort, Gao Gao, have produced three cubs, making them one of the most reproductively successful panda couples ever in captivity. Their youngest offspring, a chubby female, will be named Monday when she reaches 100 days old, following Chinese tradition.

Their secret? Separation.

For all but two days of the year, Bai Yun (White Cloud) and Gao Gao (Big Big) lead separate lives, gnawing on bamboo and taking long naps in pens far apart, much as wild pandas — naturally solitary creatures — would hide from each other in mountain forests.

But when Bai Yun enters her brief fertile periods, zookeepers make sure Gao Gao is there, sniffing her through a perforated gate zookeepers call the "howdy door" until her chirps and bleats indicate she's ready to get down to business.

Hee hee. "Howdy door."

Trivializing death

When journalists write or deliver news stories, they try to hook you in with the first paragraph. Sometimes their efforts work, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they are just pitiful. The opening of this story from Kim Fischer at WOAI-TV is an example of the third.

Freezing temperatures can be dangerous for the homeless, the elderly, your pets, and even your yard. Flower beds will need some extra attention with the dropping temperatures.

Here are some tips to protect your gardens' most beautiful blooms from the frost.

What follows is a story about how to keep plants alive during a freeze, but the opening sentence hooks you with freezing humans and animals. Jeez, what's wrong with just leading the whole thing off with the second paragraph? If I'm concerned about my plants, that's all I need to get me to read the story. Don't play on my emotions and concern for things with a pulse just to remind me to cover my flowerbed.

Sunday sonnet: Dante Gabriel Rossetti

For today's sonnet, we turn to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a painter as well as a poet, and his collection called The House of Life. This sonnet was written in 1847 and published in 1870.

A Sonnet is a moment's monument,--
- Memorial from the Soul's eternity
- To one dead deathless hour. Look that it be,
Whether for lustral rite or dire portent,
Of its own arduous fullness reverent:
- Carve it in ivory or in ebony,
- As Day or Night may rule; and let Time see
Its flowering crest impearled and orient.

A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals
- The soul--its converse, to what Power 'tis due:
Whether for tribute to the august appeals
- Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue,
It serve; or, 'mid the dark wharf's cavernous breath,
In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death.


Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdee

Greening everything

The use of the word green to indicate something that's good for the environment is starting to grow tired. Now, we have "green" Christmas trees.

Now a handful of growers in the top Christmas tree producing state of Oregon want people to consider another factor — how "green" a tree is. They've created a system to help consumers identify trees grown under certain environmental standards.

...

To pass muster, a farm must be inspected to ensure that it meets certain standards for managing wetlands, nutrients and pests. Water and soil conservation measures are reviewed, and biodiversity and worker safety are also considered.

The trees are not organically grown, but the coalition says the measures help mitigate some of the environmental dangers of Christmas tree farming, such as excessive use of pesticides and contribution to erosion.

Of course, fake is greenest. You reuse the same tree year after year, and it helps you save the traditional green as well as the environment.

Sunday sonnet: William Wordsworth

Why the sonnet? Because it is a classic structure, and even the likes of William Wordsworth -- who made a name for himself shunning traditional meter -- still found refuge in the sonnet from time to time.

But, don't take my word for it. Here's "Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room," published in 1807:

Nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, into which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods, 'twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find brief solace there, as I have found.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cddccd

Straining an acronym

OK, I'm going to rant just a bit, but I will keep it short. Here it is:

Acronyms are annoying, especially when they try too hard to make a common word. Take this story from the AP:

After addressing a gathering of sheet metal, air, rail and transportation workers for the soon-to-be-merged SMART union, [Hillary] Clinton spoke at a rally at a high school in a largely Hispanic district of North Las Vegas, with the support of the first Hispanic immigrant elected to the Nevada legislature, Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen. [emphases added]

I get the feeling the sheet metal guys were included just so they could make that "clever" acronym. Kind of reminds me of the Pakleds.

"NASA probes smoky smell in spacesuit"

Uh oh. This can't be good.

HOUSTON - NASA is investigating a smoky smell in a spacesuit worn during a test on the ground, and officials said Tuesday they won't hold any spacewalks until engineers can pinpoint the source of the odor.

The scent was apparent Friday during a test of a spacesuit assigned for use on a future mission. Early examinations have not found evidence of burning in the test suit.

I don't guess any NASA astronauts actually smoke, do they?

Sunday sonnet: John Donne

For no other reason than I read it and I liked it, here is a sonnet written by John Donne. It is number four of a series of six sonnets called Holy Sonnets: Divine Meditations (ca. 1609):

At the round earths imagin'd corners, blow
Your trumpets, Angells, and arise, arise
From death, you numberlesse infinities
Of soules, and to your scattred bodies goe,
All whom the flood did, and fire shall o'erthrow,
All whom warre, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,
Despaire, law, chance, hath slaine, and you whose eyes
Shall behold God, and never tast deaths woe.
But let them sleepe, Lord, and mee mourne a space,
For, if above all these, my sinnes abound,
'Tis late to aske abundance of thy grace,
When wee are there; here on this lowly ground,
Teach mee how to repent; for that's as good
As if thou'hadst seal'd my pardon, with thy blood.

Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdee

"Comet draws scientific, amateur interest"

What could be cooler than an exploding comet?

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A comet that has unexpectedly brightened in the past couple of weeks and now is visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest.

...

The comet is exploding and its coma, a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun, has grown to be bigger than the planet Jupiter. The comet lacks the tail usually associated with such celestial bodies but can be seen in the northern sky, in the constellation Perseus, as a fuzzy spot of light about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper.

Let's just hope it doesn't turn out to be another hammer.