Meteor Shower watching

 This week is one of the best shows for meteors for the entire year.  We went out last night and caught at least 20 within 20 minutes. It was breathtaking!

Silas shows me something he learned from..

Bill Nye the Science Guy. Si LOVES his shows and likes conducting his own experiments afterwards.

Jiffy popcorn and science

Newfound Alien Planet a Top Contender to Host Life

By Nola Taylor Redd | SPACE.com – 10 hrs ago

Related Content

• Enlarge PhotoArtist's rendition of the "super …
• Enlarge PhotoFour of the Planetary Habitability …

A newly discovered alien planet may be one of the top contenders to support life beyond Earth, researchers say.

The newfound world, a "super Earth" called Gliese 163c, lies at the edge of its star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist.
"There are a wide range of structures and compositions that allow Gliese 163c to be a habitable planet," Xavier Bonfils, of France's Joseph Fourier University-Grenoble, told SPACE.com by email.
He went on to caution that several possible uninhabitable combinations exist as well. [The Top 5 Potentially Habitable Alien Planets]
A newfound super Earth
Bonfils and an international team of astronomers studied nearly 400 red dwarf stars with the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), a spectograph on the 3.6-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile.
Gliese 163c was one of two alien planets found orbiting the star Gliese 163, which lies about 50 light-years from Earth in the Dorado constellation. The team found indications of a third planet as well but cannot confirm it at this time.
Weighing in at about seven times the mass of Earth, Gliese 163c could be a rocky planet, or it could be a dwarfed gas giant, researchers said.
"We do not know for sure that it is a terrestrial planet," Bonfils said. "Planets of that mass regime can be terrestrial, ocean, or Neptune-like planets."

Orbiting at the inner edge of the habitable zone, Gliese 163c takes 26 days to zip around its parent star, which is considerably dimmer than our sun. The second planet, Gliese 163b, has an orbital period of only nine days, while the third unconfirmed planet circles from a distance.

Bonfils pointed out that there is about a 2 percent chance that Gliese 163c might pass between its star and the sun from Earth's perspective. If so, scientists may be able to glean more information about the distant planet by watching it cross the face of its host star.
The research has been submitted for review and publication.

A good candidate for life

The Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL) at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo keeps a catalog of the alien worlds it considers good candidates to host life. The newly discovered Gliese 163c ranks fifth on the list.

"We are finding more potentially habitable planets now than before," PHL's Abel Mendez, who was not part of the Gliese 163c discovery team, told SPACE.com by email..

Out of the six planets on PHL's list, four have been found in the last year alone — Kepler-22b, Gliese 667Cc, HD 85512b, and, of course, Gliese 163c.

"Most of these are relatively close, so we can expect to find better and closer ones as our technological sensitivity to Earth-size planets improves," Mendez said.


To rank habitable planets, Mendez and his colleagues at PHL compare them with the only planet known to host life. They rank the worlds according to how similarly their masses, diameters and temperatures match up with those of Earth.

Temperatures of alien planets are tough for researchers to estimate. Temperature is heavily influenced by atmospheric characteristics, and scientists don't know much about most exoplanets' atmospheres.

Mendez suggested that one scenario for Gliese 163c might include a balmy ocean with an atmosphere 10 times as dense as Earth's. The global ocean might slosh beneath a pink, cloud-covered sky. At around 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), the temperature would be too hot for prolonged human exposure or complex plants or animals, but some microbes could tolerate it.

But it's also possible that Gliese 163c is too hot for even those hardy lifeforms to exist.
In the meantime, Bonfils and his team intend to use HARPS to continue their search for planets that could be ripe for life, hoping to find one that may allow astronomers to study it today rather than tomorrow.

"Although it is nice to build the sample of possibly habitable planets that will be observed with the next generation of telescopes, it would be even better if we could find a planet one could characterize with today's observatories," Bonfils said.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

• A Galaxy Full of Alien Planets (Infographic)
• 6 Most Likely Places for Alien Life in the Solar System
• Gallery: The Smallest Alien Planets

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

 http://news.yahoo.com/newfound-alien-planet-top-contender-host-life-134126368.html

Si and I took a field trip

Si and I were studying pond algae today and I wanted him to have a visual so we drove 10 miles away to check out this pond-scum covered pond. A cop stopped me to ask what I was doing.. lol. I told him it was for school and he laughed and said for us to be careful.

By seeing and feeling all this, Silas has a much better idea as to what we were studying today in science class.

Silas and his FAVORITE school subject - science experiments!!

It's no wonder that one of his all-time favorite shows is Mythbuster.

Where Is the Milky Way?

---

#657: Where Is the Milky Way?

Posted: 21 Jul 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Join us in Wonderopolis today to find out exactly where in the world you are!

Have you ever wondered…

• Where is the Milky Way?
• How big is the Milky Way?
• How many stars are in the Milky Way?

Did you know?
Where do you live? If asked that question, you might respond with the name of the street you live on. Or you might tell someone what town you’re from. If you’re on vacation, you might even respond with your state or country.

But what if aliens asked you? If you told them Earth, they might have no idea what or where Earth is. You might have to tell them what galaxy you live in. Have you ever thought of yourself as the resident of a galaxy? Well, you are! And it’s called the Milky Way.

A galaxy is a huge group of stars that are bound together by gravity. How huge? Consider this: our star — the Sun — is just one of approximately 200 billion stars in the Milky Way! Just about everything we can see in the sky is part of the Milky Way.

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy. This means it is like a thin disk with arms that radiate outward in a spiral shape. Our solar system can be found on the outer edge of the Milky Way on one of the spiral arms.

The Sun is about 25,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way. Overall, the Milky Way is between 80,000-120,000 light years wide, but only about 7,000 light years thick.

It’s hard to understand these measurements, so you can think of the size of the Milky Way in this way: if you reduced it to the size of a football field, our solar system would be about the size of a grain of sand and located at one of the outer edges.

Our solar system orbits around the Milky Way at the rate of about 155 miles per second. That’s fast! But the Milky Way is so huge that it still takes our solar system about 200-250 million years to orbit once around the Milky Way!

You may see pictures of the Milky Way from time to time. These are not actual photographs, because we’ve never sent a spaceship outside of the Milky Way. However, special telescopes allow astronomers to know a lot about our galaxy. Its hazy, “milky” appearance gave rise to its name.

As big as the Milky Way is, it’s only one of several galaxies in a group of galaxies that astronomers call the Local Group. To make you feel even smaller, astronomer Edwin Hubble showed in the 1920s that the Milky Way is only one of about 200 billion galaxies in the universe!

And, as galaxies go, the Milky Way isn’t nearly the largest. Astronomers believe the nearby Andromeda Galaxy contains as many as one trillion stars!

Try it out!

Ready to take a tour of the Milky Way? No, you won’t need a spacesuit. Just grab a friend or family member and a computer and jump online to check out the 3D Milky Way Tour.

If you want to see more images of the Milky Way taken by NASA, check out these cool online photo galleries. Isn’t it cool how telescopes help scientists take pictures of things so far away?

We think it’s neat how the pictures of the Milky Way look like art. If you want to make your own version of the Milky Way, follow the directions to make your own Milky Way Night Light!


Wonder words to know and use:

• Milky Way
• galaxy
• barred
• spiral
• radiate
• solar
• orbit
• astronomer

Still wondering?

Science NetLinks’ Looking at the Night Sky interactive helps children understand that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same and different stars can be seen in different seasons.

Wonder what’s next?

Tomorrow’s all-new Wonder of the Day will have you swinging between the trees!

Today in History!!

1922 - 1st duck-billed platypus publicly exhibited in US, at NY zoo


 

Platypus

The Platypus (Ormithorhynchus anatinus) is a warm-blooded, egg-laying mammal. They have no visible ears and webbed feet. On land the platypus walks on its knuckles with webbing tucked back. Platypus fur is fine and dense and is in two layers to keep them dry and warm. Besides being a stabilizer when swimming, the platpus tail is used for fat storage—up to 50% of the animal's body fat is in the tail.

They live in and near freshwater streams and lakes. Platypus burrows can be up to 100 feet in length and often have two entrances/exits. Their burrows are above water level with entrances in river or lake banks or under tree roots. There are two types of burrows: nesting and camping—the latter having shorter tunnels of 3 to 13 feet. Platypuses spend about 17 hours a day resting inside their burrows.

The platypus diet consists of freshwater invertebrates (shrimp, worms, pea-shell mussels) and aquatic insects. They also may eat frogs and fish eggs. The platypus mainly hunts at night. They use their bills to locate prey. Their bills have hundreds of receptors which respond to touch and tiny electric currents.

Platypus predators include: large cod, hawks, eagles, owls, and foxes. Carpet pythons, goannas and Australian water-rats attack young platypus in the burrow. Platypus prefer their burrows to be overhung by vegetation which helps hide it from predators. Adults usually have a number of burrows.

Platypus weigh 2.2 to 3.3 pounds and are 1.3 and 1.6 feet long. A platypus can temporarily store food in its cheek pouches. They don’t have teeth when grown but grind their food between pads in their bills.

Fun Platypus Facts
- The platypus bill is rubbery and flexible.
- Males have a sharp hollow spur on their hind ankles. These are venomous. The venom can kill a small animal or incapacitate a human.
- The female platypus lays a clutch of 1 to 3 leathery eggs. She does not have nipples, but instead secretes milk from two round patches of skin midway along her belly.
- In the early 1900's platypuses were hunted for their fur.
- They swim with their eyes, ears and nose shut.
- Platypus belong to the monotreme group, mammals who lay eggs.

 http://www.thejunglestore.com/Platypuses

http://listverse.com/2009/01/05/top-10-signs-of-evolution-in-modern-man/

Through history, as natural selection played its part in the development of modern man, many of the useful functions and parts of the human body become unnecessary. What is most fascinating is that many of these parts of the body still remain in some form so we can see the progress of evolution. This list covers the ten most significant evolutionary changes that have taken place – leaving signs behind them.

10

Goose Bumps

Cutis Anserina

Humans get goose bumps when they are cold, frightened, angry, or in awe. Many other creatures get goose bumps for the same reason, for example this is why a cat or dog’s hair stands on end and the cause behind a porcupine’s quills raising. In cold situations, the rising hair traps air between the hairs and skin, creating insulation and warmth. In response to fear, goose bumps make an animal appear larger – hopefully scaring away the enemy. Humans no longer benefit from goose bumps and they are simply left over from our past when we were not clothed and needed to scare our own natural enemies. Natural selection removed the thick hair but left behind the mechanism for controlling it.

9

Jacobson’s Organ

Vomeronasal organ

Jacobson’s organ is a fascinating part of animal anatomy and it tells us a lot about our own sexual history. The organ is in the nose and it is a special “smell” organ which detects pheromones (the chemical that triggers sexual desire, alarm, or information about food trails). It is this organ that allows some animals to track others for sex and to know of potential dangers. Humans are born with the Jacobson’s organ, but in early development its abilities dwindle to a point that it is useless. Once upon a time, humans would have used this organ to locate mates when communication was not possible. Single’s evenings, chat rooms, and bars have now taken its place in the process of human mate-seeking.

8

Junk DNA

L-gulonolactone oxidase

While many of the hangovers from our “devolved” past are visible or physical, this is not true for all. Humans have structures in their genetic make-up that were once used to produces enzymes to process vitamin C (it is called L-gulonolactone oxidase). Most other animals have this functioning DNA but at some point in our history, a mutation disbled the gene – whilst leaving behind its remnants as junk DNA. This particular junk DNA indicates a common ancestry with other species on earth, so it is particularly interesting.

7

Extra Ear Muscles

Auriculares muscles

Also known as the extrinsic ear muscles, the auriculares muscles are used by animals to swivel and manipulate their ears (independently of their head) in order to focus their hearing on particular sounds. Humans still have the muscles that we would once have used for the very same reason – but our muscles are now so feeble that all they can do is give our ears a little wiggle. The use of these muscles in cats is very visible (as they can nearly turn their ears completely backwards) – particularly when they are stalking a bird and need to make the smallest movements possible so as to not frighten its future meal.

6

Plantaris Muscle

The plantaris muscle is used by animals in gripping and manipulating objects with their feet – something you see with apes who seem to be able to use their feet as well as their hands. Humans have this muscle as well, but it is now so underdeveloped that it is often taken out by doctors when they need tissue for reconstruction in other parts of the body. The muscle is so unimportant to the human body that 9% of humans are now born without it.

5

Wisdom Teeth

Early humans ate a lot of plants – and they needed to eat them quickly enough that they could eat a sufficient amount in one day to get all of the nutrients they needed. For this reason, we had an extra set of molars to make the larger mouth more productive. This was particularly essential as the body lacked the ability to sufficiently digest cellulose. As evolution made its selections, our diets changed, our jaws grew appropriately smaller, and our third molars became unnecessary. Some human populations have now all but completely stopped growing wisdom teeth, while others have almost 100% likelihood of developing them.

4

Third Eyelid

If you watch a cat blink, you will see a white membrane cross its eye – that is called its third eyelid. It is quite a rare thing in mammals, but common in birds, reptiles, and fish. Humans have a remnant (but non-working) third eyelid (you can see it in the picture above). It has become quite small in humans, but some populations have more visible portions than others. There is only one known species of primate that still has a functioning third eyelid, and that is the Calabar angwantibo (closely related to lorises) which lives in West Africa.

3

Darwin’s Point

plica semilunaris

Darwin’s point is found in the majority of mammals, and humans are no exception. It is most likely used to help focus sounds in animals, but it no longer has a function in humans. Only 10.4% of the human population still has this visible left-over mark of our past, but it is possible that a much larger number of people carry the gene that produces it as it does not always cause the ear tubercle to appear. The point (shown in the picture above) is a small thick nodule at the junction of the upper and middle sections of the ear.

2

Coccyx

The coccyx is the remnant of what was once a human tail. Over time we lost the need for a tail (as tree swinging was replaced by hanging out at the local water hole grunting neanderthal gossip), but we did not lose the need for the coccyx: it now functions as a support structure for various muscles and a support for a person when he sits down and leans back. The coccyx also supports the position of the anus.

1

Appendix

The appendix has no known use in modern humans and is often removed when it becomes infected. While its original use is still speculated on, most scientists agree with Darwin’s suggestion that it once helped to process the cellulose found in the leaf-rich diet that we once had. Over the course of evolution, as our diet has changed, the appendix became less useful. What is particularly interesting is that many evolutionary theorists believe that natural selection (while removing all of the abilities of the appendix) selects larger appendices because they are less likely to become inflamed and diseased. So unlike the little toe, which may eventually vanish and is equally useless, the appendix is likely to stay with us for a long time – just hanging around doing nothing.

 

Contributor: JFrater