JamesSavik

The only sound that I've ever heard an adult fox make is a growl like a dog. They are silent predators as adults but the kits make yipping noises when they play together.

Just gotta be me!

I'm not sure that anyone knows for sure. Gas giants have impressive gravity and all of ours have at least a dozen. Some even have rings. Some of those moons probably are captured objects. There are a number that look quite different from the others in color, composition and density.

I think we can safely conclude that Gas giants don't form volcanoes. They don't have the rocks for it.. or the lava for that matter. We have seen vulcanism in the moons of gas giants. IO, a moon of Juipter was seen having volcanic eruptions by Voyager. It's too close to Jupiter and the giant planets gravity and magnetic field act like a microwave on the little moon heating its core and warping is surface. These aren't really volcanoes but water geysers on Saturn's moon of Enceladus. Like IO, the tiny moon is manhandled by the gas giants gravity and magnetic fields heating the moons interior. Enceladus is a lot better off than IO because it is farther out and the strength of its gravity and magnetic fields are much less than Jupiters.

Fear the Reaper!

Auto-incorrect!

Gas giants exist in very different state of matter than terrestrial planets. We've been watching them very closely with the Galileo (Jupiter) and Cassini (Saturn) probes. Gas giants simply don't form volcanoes because there are no plate tectonics, magma or any of the physical processes associated with vulcanism. Those states of matter are defined by temperature, density and pressure. We've actually dropped a probe into Jupiter and got data until the pressure crushed it. Jupiter is thin gas at the top and it gets denser rapidly as we go deeper. Then it turns into slush which is partially ice/liquid. As you go deeper, the state of the gas turns into a liquid and stays in that state until you get close to the core. At its core the liquid gas is under intense pressure and acts as a metal because the electrons in the outer shell are jammed together. As it is spinning this liquid metal core creates an intense electro-dynamic effect that causes the intense magnetic fields that we see around gas giants. What we know about the gas giants is information gleaned from direct observation of probe data and the modeling of physical processes using equations of physics and chemistry.

it is the biggest simple volcano we know of in the Solar system. It's shorter than Olympus Mons on Mars but it spreads out to a land area about the size of the British Isles. There aren't going to be volcanoes on gas giants. Mercury has been mapped in detail by the Messenger probe. Venus was mapped by radar by the Magellan probe. Both have volcanic features but Mercury's aren't very impressive. Volcanoes on Venus appear to be of the shield variety and were obviously influenced by the dense atmosphere. They aren't in the same league. It is unlike Iceland or other super-volcanoes in that there appears to be only one magma tube/chamber: a simple volcanic system as opposed to a complex one. In a note from the University of Houston researchers that are working on this, they say that other groups are studying whether or not this one is associated with a great extinction.

You're gonna have a really bad day

One of the great extinctions in geological history was supposed to have been caused by volcanic out-gassing. I've been corresponding with this team discussing whether of not this volcano might have been it. At right around ~150 million years ago and one major eruption, it just might be right. Even under the ocean, the chemical changes to the ocean and atmosphere would be devastating for an eruption event that large.

One of the solar system's largest volcanoes discovered in the Pacific Ocean By Jacob Kastrenakes on the Verge September 5, 2013 07:23 pm http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/5/4698836/immense-volcano-discovered-pacific-ocean-among-solar-systems-biggest 1inShare One of the largest single volcanoes in the solar system is right here on Earth. Researchers from the University of Houston have determined that a structure long-hidden beneath the ocean, Tamu Massif, is actually one large volcano — not a series of smaller ones. At just over 400 miles wide, it has an area that's about the size of the British Isles and compares to Mars' massive Olympus Mons, the biggest known volcano in the solar system. But despite Tamu Massif's gigantic size, determining what exactly it is has taken years. "We knew it was a big volcanic 'something.'" "We knew it was a big volcanic something," William Sager, the Houston team's lead researcher, tells The Verge. "The problem is we really don't know what’s out there. We can't see the structure very clearly." As Sager says, marine geologists are in a tough spot when it comes to observing their subjects — they can't exactly walk right up to them. In order to find out what was beneath the ocean, Sager and others took a boat out into the Pacific and over Shatsky Rise, an underwater peninsula on which the volcano sits that lies around 1,000 miles east of Japan. Sound waves were bounced back and forth from the boat and through over a mile of water to the volcano, eventually returning enough information to develop an idea of what it looked like. That alone wouldn't have been enough, however. The researchers also looked at samples drilled out of Tamu Massif's lava flows, which it took them over 15 years to get while waiting for a proposal to be accepted just to start drilling. Together, the seismic data and drilling samples — along with other measurements made throughout the years of work — allowed the team to see that the volcano's lava all flowed out of one central spot. Its shape is so wide and shallow that when walking on it, you might not even notice that you were going up or downhill. "What we saw surprised us." "What we saw surprised us," Sager says. "We would have expected to see different centers." Because Tamu Massif is so large, its magma likely flowed out in large quantities and traveled over long distances, allowing it to cool and build up to such a large size. It appears to have been formed around 145 million years ago, and gone inactive not long thereafter. "Before this we weren't sure that we had single volcanoes that could grow to this size. Now we do." The finding will help researchers understand what's going on inside of the earth. On one hand, Tamu Massif shows what the planet is capable of, but on the other, it sets constraints on what researchers should be looking for. The research team's paper is being published by Nature Geoscience. "It’s a gee-whiz moment," says Sager. "It’s sort of like discovering a new species of whale that we didn't know was out there. It gives us a different perspective."

Mississippi is covered by forests. when Katrina hit, we had trees down EVERYWHERE. It's took days just to open up the main roads and months to clear them all.

8 years ago today we were dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. We had no power, our food and potable water was running out and trees were down blocking roads everywhere. Two groups of relief workers arrived at our darkest hour::Australians and New Zealanders with food, water and gasoline for our chain saws. They provided just what we needed when we needed it. And we won't forget. You learn who your real friends are when it hits the fan.

Network TV or free cable that appears in trailer parks. The lowest rung on the infotainment ladder.

Will the fall TV season be less gay? By Lisa Respers France, CNN updated 11:36 AM EDT, Wed September 4, 2013 http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/04/showbiz/tv/fall-tv-gay-characters/index.html (CNN) -- "Will & Grace" star Sean Hayes is leading the way again. The openly gay Hayes, who played Jack on the NBC series "Will & Grace," is one of the actors credited with helping change perceptions about gay people via that hit show. This fall he is coming back to his former network as the star of "Sean Saves The World" in which he will play a gay single dad of a teen daughter. But Hayes will not be among as big a crowd of gay leading characters on broadcast television as he would have been had his show premiered last year. <Snip> _________________________________________________ My comment on the article... As a gay person, I am looking for a gay character with some gravity, not comic relief. A smart detective, a skilled athlete, a savvy businessman- one that is defined by something other than their sexuality. Not a clown in a rainbow t-shirt. However- it's way better than it was in the seventies when I grew up. The only gay characters were serial killers and their victims. /sarcasm on What a wonderful message that was. /sarcasm off Your thoughts?

Harry Potter and the Valley of Snipers Ron's head exploded, Hermione screamed and Harry crapped his pants...

One might think that there are no limits to sci-fi but that's NOT true. Science-fiction is defined as speculative fiction: a treatment of what if. What if we have jump drive and can go 300 light years at a time and explore? What if we have genetic engineering down to a science and can engineer humans? What if we have nano-tech or implants or a million other techs? Sci-fi differs from related genres like fantasy and horror. Unlike fantasy, sci-fi actually might happen! (If we develop the right tech.) Unlike horror, sci-fi doesn't rely on racial archetypes, myths and legends. Sci-fi may sound unlimited but it does have limits. The limits of sci-fi are defined by three boundaries: The first limit is culture. If you move too far away from the norms that our culture imposes, people simply don't understand. They lose a certain common frame of reference that helps people make sense of what is going on. For instance- suppose that there is race of intelligent aliens that lay eggs and eat some number of their offspring. We see this in nature but how do we cope with the concept in sentient beings? How can we deal with such a race that is so far off our cultural norms? The second limit is education and intellect. A great part of the general audience sees the science in science-fiction and flees. They are stupid and watch the reality-show garbage that is on TV. They rarely read and are barely sentient themselves so f***'em. You won't see them at book stores or signings. Ignore them and write for your audience. Think marketing and the concept of your target market because you won't please everyone and you shouldn't try. The third limit is self imposed. How far can your writing craft take people? That part is up to you.

HIV vaccine aces first human trials First human tests have been declared as a success with patients' antibodies being boosted after treatment 04 September 2013 | By Joe Morgan http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/hiv-vaccine-aces-first-human-trials040913 An HIV prevention vaccine has aced its first clinical trials. A team of Canadian researchers, from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University, have said their first tests have been a complete success. Not only has the vaccine worked, it has boosted the production of antibodies in patients it was tested on. SAV001, one of only a handful of HIV vaccines in the world, is based on a genetically-modified ‘dead’ version of the virus. Team leader Dr Chil-Yong Kang told Ontario Business Report they infected the cells with a genetically modified HIV-1. ‘The infected cells produce lots of virus, which we collect, purify and inactivate so that the vaccine won’t cause AIDS in recipients, but will trigger immune responses.’ Clinical testing in the US began in March 2102, looking at men and women between the ages of 18 and 50. Half the target group were given a placebo, while the others were given SAV001. No adverse effects were found in the group given the vaccine. With the first phase of trials over, the researchers are optimistic about the vaccine’s future. The next trials will show whether SAV001 will provoke the right immune response, and its power to produce the right effect. Sumagen, the South Korean biotech firm sponsoring the vaccine, said manufacturing as well as USFDA requirements could be possible hurdles. But despite this, they were confident they were developing something that could save ‘millions of lives.’ If all goes well, it could be available in 2018. Jung-Gee Cho, the CEO of Sumagen, said: ‘We are opening the gate to pharmaceutical companies, government, and charity organization for collaboration to be one step closer to the first commercialized HIV vaccine.’