JamesSavik

Thank you Kitty. You rock! ps- I miss you in Dixie.

Discovery of Gamma Rays from the Edge of a Black Hole Press Release of the Max Planck Society Oct 26, 2006 Source Link H.E.S.S. discovers drastic variations of very-high-energy gamma rays from the central engine of the giant elliptical galaxy M 87 The astrophysicists of the international H.E.S.S. collaboration report the discovery of fast variability in very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays from the giant elliptical galaxy M 87. The detection of these gamma-ray photons - with energies more than a million million times the energy of visible light - from one of the most famous extragalactic objects on the sky is remarkable, though long-expected given the many potential sites of particle acceleration (and thus gamma-ray production) within M 87. Much more surprising was the discovery of drastic gamma-ray flux variations on time-scales of days. These results, for the first time, exclude all possible options for sites of gamma-ray production, except for the most exciting and extraordinary one: the immediate vicinity of the super-massive black hole which is located in the centre of M 87 (Science Express, October 26, 2006). Fig. 1: Image of radio galaxy M 87 seen in visible light. The central region, from which the VHE gamma rays are seen, is located in the upper left part of the image and the relativistic plasma jet extends to the bottom right.(HST) An international team of astrophysicists from the H.E.S.S. collaboration has announced the discovery of short-term variability in the flux of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays from the radio galaxy M 87. In Namibia, the collaboration has built and operates a detection system, known as Cherenkov telescopes, which permits these gamma rays to be detected from ground level (see notes). Pointing this system at a nearby galaxy, M 87, the team has detected VHE gamma rays over the past four years. The real surprise is, however, that the intensity of the emission can be seen to change drastically within a few days on occasion. The giant radio galaxy M 87 [editor's note: this is a reference image of M87 from my own files.] This galaxy, located 50 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, harbours a super-massive black hole of 3 thousand million solar masses from which a jet of particles and magnetic fields emanates. However, unlike for previously-observed extragalactic sources of VHE gamma rays - known as Blazars - the jet in M 87 is not pointing towards the Earth but is seen at an angle of about 30

I like it Razor. i've read a couple of chapters of Raveboy and will follow it. RE: WW II Japan- what do you need to know? Perhaps I can help.

Wow! Striking Green Comet Suddenly Visible in Evening Sky Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer for Space.com October 26, 2006 Source Link Tony Wilder of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin photographed comet Swan amid city glow this week. A faint meteor was captured streaking across the right side of the image, too. Credit: Tony Wilder What had been a modest comet seen only with binoculars or telescopes flared up this week to become visible to the naked eye. Comet Swan, as it is called, is in the western sky after sunset from the Northern Hemisphere. It remains faint, likely not easy to find under bright city lights but pretty simple to spot from the countryside. It is a "fairly easy naked-eye comet," said Pete Lawrence, who photographed the comet from the UK. "The tail is now showing some interesting features too." Find it The comet, also catalogued as C/2006 M4, is about halfway up in the sky in the direction of the constellation Corona Borealis. As with most comets, this one looks like a fuzzy star. It has an interesting green tint, however, indicating it has a lot of the poisonous gas cyanogen and diatomic carbon, astronomers say. Sam Storch, a long-time sky watcher from Long Island, NY, said the comet appears "quite a bit deeper than any other green I have seen in any sky object, even planetary nebulae." "Comet Swan is very easy to find," said Joe Rao, SPACE.com's Skywatching Columnist. "In good binoculars it appears as a bright, symmetrical and surprisingly green blob." Legendary objects Comets, the stuff of legend and myth, are frozen leftovers of the solar system's formation. Most orbit the Sun out beyond Neptune, but a few wander through the inner solar system now and then. As a comet gets closer to the Sun, solar radiation boils the frozen gases, along with dust, off the comet's surface. Sunlight reflects off this material, creating a head, or coma. Some comets never get very bright. Others brighten dramatically. Some even come unglued as they round the Sun. Some comets, like Swan, also sport a tail or two. Such detail is best seen with binoculars or a small telescope. Comet Swan was discovered last year. It makes its closest approach to Earth today. Eventually it will return to the distant reaches of the solar system.

Don't break out the champaign just yet. In 2004 Karl Rove orchestrated the placement of numerous ballot initiatives which outlawed gay marriage in key states. The theory was that putting something on the ballot that would inflame the conservative base would be useful for Bush who has big problems with that part of the party. I find the timing of this verdict suspect. Coming so soon before the midterms, I have to wonder if this is the rumored "October Surprise". The GOP has played the gay card over and over and over again. The Foley Scandal makes this much more difficult during this election cycle but we're already seeing it. I don't think that it is gaining the same traction that it may have had in past. After all; what is REALLY scarier-- a few thousand gay couples married or more inept and corrupt republican leadership?

Slang crossing the globe at the speed of fiber optics.

Cats behave a lot better if you have them neutered. Maybe that would work with kids?

Joe- I am fairly sure that you could be a webmaster for any number of companies. You could also be a whole lot more. Try not to make any decisions that may limit what you can do tomorrow because you are angry today. Sometimes it pays just to grin and bear it for a while. You've got plenty of time. You're not going to be an old maid for decades yet. JS

I owe it to my fan to let him know what is up. The check is in the mail. ________________________________________________________ Broken- on hiatus. Six to nine more chapters, 2 written, all outlined. This is a pretty emotional story to write and the climax of the story is coming. When it is released, it will be ready. I thought about finishing this story this fall but wasn't satisfied with it. Operation Hammerhead- working There will be much more of this story. Coming Soon the Legacy- in development A World War II veteran leaves his son a dangerous legacy. the Alternative- in development. What happens to a troubled kid that gets in trouble? Blind Spot- in development. When loyalty is a liability.

Theoretically, the most common mechanisms that we know of that might cause a planetary breakup are gravitational shere and a supernova. Gravity Effects: Jupiter: the largest planet in our solar system has the most powerful gravitational field in the solar system with the exception of the Sun.(NASA/JPL) ________________________________________________________________________ This is an image of Shoemaker-Levy after it broke up.(HST/STScI) ________________________________________________________________________ This is Jupiter after getting whacked by Shoemaker-Levy 9.(NASA/JPL) ________________________________________________________________________ In the late eighties, a periodic comet was discovered called Shoemaker-Levy 9. It wasn't very remarkable but it got a little too close to Jupiter's titanic gravity well and broke apart into a number of splinters. In 1994 that comet actually hit Jupiter. The key here is although Jupiter's gravity broke the comet apart and greatly influenced its movement, the pieces maintained their original momentum. The only change was the vector or direction of that force. Shoemaker-Levy at SEDS Shoemaker-Levy at Wiki Jupiter's moon Io is greatly influenced by Jupiter's gravity Io. (NASA/JPL) ________________________________________________________________________ In its encounter with the Jovan system in 1979, Voyager sent back images of Io that astonished scientists because massive volcanic activity was pictured in progress. The only conclusion that could be drawn from Voyager's photos was that either volcanic activity was rare on Io and NASA got very lucky or it was commonplace. Later when the Galileo probe arrived in orbit of Jupiter, it was confirmed. Vulcanism was a common place occurrence on Io- but why? Io is too close to Jupiter's powerful gravitational and magnetic fields for comfort. The action of Jupiter's gravity warps poor little Io out of round by as much as 100 meters at a time. As Io orbits Jupiter, the massive magnetic field rips through the moon like a blender. The action of these two forces combined makes Io the most geologically active body in the solar system. Io Wiki Voyager 1's Wiki Galileo Probe Wiki There are several laws of classical physics that apply: Kepler's 3rd Law shows that gravitational force exerted between to bodies declines with distance: the farther two bodies are apart, the weaker the force of gravity between them. Two of Newton's laws of motion apply: First law (law of inertia) An object will stay at rest or move at a constant speed in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Second law (law of vectors) The rate of change of the momentum of a body is directly proportional to the net force acting on it, and the direction of the change in momentum takes place in the direction of the net force. (1) Destroying the Earth via Gravity The Earth is mostly molten with a spinning nickel-iron core. This gives the Earth a relatively strong magnetic field. The core also acts something like a gyro which helps the Earth maintain its nice, stable orbit. If a very strong gravity field were applied to the Earth, it would warp and deform cracking up along tectonic plates. It would be a bit like an egg cracking up leaking goo- or magma in the case of the Earth. Earth is big and massive enough for its own gravitational field to pull it back into a roughly spherical shape. Different parts of the Earth have very different properties- epically density. A super strong gravitational force applied at right angles to its axis and in opposition to the Sun's gravity would play havoc with the Earth's insides mixing it up like a blender. While this would very effectively wipe out humanity, the Earth will act like ball of thick, viscous molten goo. Any parts, molten or chunky, would still under the influence of the Earth's own gravity which would try to pull it back together. In theory something similar to this may have actually happened during the formation of the solar system during an epoch called the heavy bombardment phase. The theory is that a massive asteroid hit the primordial earth liberating a big blob of magma which eventually became the moon. There is some evidence for this theory. The chemical abundances of the earth and moon are very similar. Proponents of the theory like to point to the geography of the Pacific basin as the impact point. Summary: gravity could change the earth's orbit, rewrite the maps or significantly injure Earth and kill all humans(2) but it is unlikely that the Earth will break up. Think of the Earth as silly putty. _____________________________________________________________________________ This is a deep field image of Supernova 1987A which occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is about 120,000 light years away. This is the closest supernova since the middle ages. (ESO) This is the Crab Nebula which was formed by a supernova in the constellation Taurus in 1731. At its heart is an exotic object called a Neutron Star or the left over core of the old star. It retains the progenitor star's magnetic field and angular momentum. This spinning magnetic dynamo powers the Crab Pulsar. (ESO) Supernova- Most SN occur in stars 20 times as massive as the sun or larger. In fact there are no stars in the size class within many parsecs of earth. A planet around a star that goes supernova could go any one of several ways depending on its distance from its star. Any planets out as far as the orbits of Mars would most likely be vaporized. Distant planets would be exposed to a severe shock wave and would either shatter or be violently ejected from the star system. In theory, a planet destroyed in this manner would blown to highly radioactive bits. Core collapse supernova are the most violent events known. Gamma Ray Bursts from extreme deep space hint at the possibility of even bigger explosions but at this point no one is really sure what GRB's really are. Summary: A Supernova could easily vaporize a planet but the Earth is in no danger of a supernova from our G2V class Sun. _____________________________________________________________________________ Earth's Most Likely Demise In the far future the Sun will exhaust it nuclear fuel. It's core reaction changes from the Proton-proton Chain reaction to the CNO cycle. The Sun will begin to enter its Red Giant Phase. The Sun will dim somewhat and begin to swell until it encompasses all of the inner planets out to Mars. Artist conception of a red giant consuming a planet. (Berkley) The inner planets will be surrounded by hot solar plasma of ~7500K. They will be dissolved into the mass of the red giant. The red giant is a dying star losing its grip on its own mass. Slowly the solar plasma will bleed away into space creating a beautiful tomb called a planetary nebulae surrounding the stellar corpse called a white dwarf. This is the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) which illustrates the way plasma bleeds away from star into space. This is a very important process as it enriches the interstellar medium with elements like Carbon, Nitrogen and, Oxygen. ________________________________________________________ 1- Newton's Laws of Motion from Wikipedia article of the same name. 2- I can die happy having worked this phrase into a conversation.

Matthew Shepherd Foundation I remember when I heard about it. It was an ordinary day at work. I had the radio on. I didn't want to care about it. I had enough to care about. I had been assaulted myself- many times. I'm alive myself because I've got a thick head. In fact all the fuss over a run of the mill gay bashing made me angry. When it had happened to me, the cops were completely disinterested. It didn't really hit me until I saw the picture. He looked like a little kid. It made me sick. It made me ashamed for the way I had felt. There but for the grace of my own thick skull go I. When he died, it pissed me off. It incited me to action. I became one of those obnoxious gay activists that you hear about. I don't know if I've done any good and I have paid a serious price for speaking out. Silence is surrender. Silence in the face of those that would deny us our rights and even our lives is a kind of cowardliness that I can't live with. Silence is an tacit vote of approval for the thousand little indignities that GLBT people are forced to endure. I will be Silent no more.

My characters come from several places. People I know or have known of course but I'm not so rude as to xerox a personality. As someone else up the thread said, I use a lot of composites: a little bit of a, a dash of b and a whole lot of c. Building a character out of thin air is a difficult challenge for me. Sometimes what I do is think of an actor that would be right for "the role". The face may be irrelevant to your story but it helps the imagination. For instance: in a story I'm working on, the lead is a doctor. For some reason, I envisioned him as Peter Weller. Here he is as the pre-borged Robocop. Why Peter Weller? My character needs to be idealistic, earnest, smart but not pretentious and Mr. Weller "does" that fairly well in some of his dramatic roles (Not Robocop or Buckaroo Banzai). This gives me a visual frame of reference to start thinking about the character and then it is up to me to add depth and detail to the "sketch". Another method that I have tried is starting with a character idea and looking for a face that would match that personality. This is reverse of the first process and more difficult. It is not necessary to use an actor, actress or pop star for this process. Go to the mall and look at real people. Study how they move, mannerisms and body language. Get to know their slang, their hobbies, pets and so forth. The more you know about a character, the easier s/he will be to write and be accepted by the reader as a real person. Names: were mentioned earlier in this thread. Coming up with a name is one of the hardest parts of creating a character. In some of the long haired and long winded literature about writing literature suggest that names be symbolic: Luke Skywalker. That works for Lucus but if any of us tried it we would be accused of rolling out cheese by the hoop. Names are names. Very few people chose their own name and sometimes people give you a nickname. Would it be any mystery why a kid would rather be called by his nick name "Redd" than his given name "Eugene"? Names imply background. A person named "McLeod" is marked by Scottish heritage and so on. It is useful to know where Sir names come from but in the US where we are generations removed from the "mother country and culture", it doesn't mean as much. Misha Rochenko, a new immigrant from the Ukraine however would be indelibly marked by his culture. Misha's son "Rocky" Andre Rochenko is Americanized and will have very different speech patterns, attitudes and so on. Writing a character from a different culture is tricky but it can be done. Integrating it into a character and getting it right requires some research. Don't use cultural stereotypes. It's boring and clich

TOS: Kitty porn is strictly prohibited! Mellow Yellow Hi My name is Boo and I live in Mississippi. I'm a 10 year old male yellow tabby. I like cat nip, long naps, music, birdwatching and hissing at other cats that get too close to my dinner dish. I dislike noisy humans, strangers, pedigreed cats that think they are better than everyone else and smart-assed squirrels. My perfect mate likes to sleep as much as I do. I'm really mellow and don't like to fight. Home Kitty I'm Blackie! I am a year old Tom from Mississippi. I like playing with fireflies and my brother, hunting, slapping around other Toms that invade my territory and eating blue-jays. I dislike dogs, cars, possums, mosquitoes and old ladies with brooms. I really like my human. I had to look long and hard for a good one and then convince him that he was my human. I like one night stands. Don't call me in the morning. I'll be sleeping.

If you want to try a Southern breakfast, I'd say start with Sausage and biscuits. Save Grits for the advanced course in Southern cusine. Grits are a bit like redneck Kimche. While grits don't reek like kimchi, unless you grow up on them, when you first encounter grits, your first instinct will probably be to poke them with a stick. Grits are a bit like oatmeal- all squish. They are rather unappealing unless you add something to their nothing flavor. I can tolerate grits but I'm not as crazy about them as some people.

Automated BS. What'll they think of next? It reminds me of the nonsense that you see in the body of spam emails.

This is a deep field image of the Orion nebulea (M42). It's the little glowy patch that you see along Orion's belt on winter nights. If you look closely at the left hand side, you can see the tiny Horse-head nebulea which is a region of dark gas back lite by the bright reflection nebulea. Orion is an area of intense study. This is a stellar nursery that is home to many infant stars- t-tauri variables and ZAMS (Zero-Aged Main Sequence stars). The luminosity of young O and B embedded within the nebulea powers this magnificant light show. This and other spectacular images can be had from Astronomy Picture of the Day. There is a plugin for APOD on goole desktop or google homepage. I think there is one for Firefox as well. If that's not the cool wallpaper, I don't know what would be.

An essay on Yo Mama Are you sitting comfortably? At one stage or another, every man woman or child will be faced with the issue of Yo Mama. While much has been written on its influence on contemporary living, its influence on western cinema has not been given proper recognition. The juxtapositioning of Yo Mama with fundamental economic, social and political strategic conflict draws criticism from the easily lead, who just don't like that sort of thing. In the light of this I will break down the issues in order to give each of them the thought that they fully deserve Social Factors Interweaving social trends form a strong net in which we are all trapped. When Lance Bandaner said 'twelve times I've traversed the ocean of youthful ambition but society still collects my foot prints' [1] he could have been making a reference to Yo Mama, but probably not. Spanning divides such as class, race and uglyness, Yo Mama irons out misconceptions from our consciousness. Special care must be taken when analysing such a delicate subject. On the other hand anyone that disagrees with me is an idiot. Clearly it promotes higher individualism and obeyence of instinct. As soon as a child meets Yo Mama they are changed. Economic Factors Economics has been defined as 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.' To my learned ear that sounds like two people with itchy backs. We shall examine the Custard-Not-Mustard model. For those of you unfamiliar with this model it is derived from the Three-Amigos model but with greater emphasis on the outlying gross national product. When displayed this way it becomes very clear that Yo Mama is of great importance. Seemingly interest, ultimately decided by politicians, will always be heavily influenced by Yo Mama due to its consistently high profile in the portfolio of investors. Perhaps to coin a phrase Yo Mamaeconomics will be the buzz word of the century Political Factors Posturing as concerned patriarchs, many politicians guide the electorate herd to the inevitable cattle shed of 'equal opportunity.' Comparing international relations since the end of the century can be like observing Yo Mama and political feeling. To quote that most brilliant mind Demetrius Shandy 'A man must have his cake and eat it in order to justify his actions.' [2] Amazingly, he knew nothing of Yo Mama until he was well into his thirties. Both spectacular failure and unequaled political accomplishment may be accredited to Yo Mama. While Yo Mama may be a giant amongst men, is it a dwarf amongst policy? I hope not. Conclusion In my opinion Yo Mama has a special place in the heart of mankind. It fills a hole, 'literally' plants seeds for harvest, and it brings the best out in people. As a parting shot here are the words of super-star Arnold Schwollenpecker: 'My Daddy loved Yo Mama and his Daddy loved Yo Mama.' [3] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Lance Bandaner - Adventurous Spirit - 1993 See-Saw Publishing [2] Shandy - Ice Cold - 1994 Pitter Patter Publishing [3] Your guide to Yo Mama - Issue 98 - T36 Publishing

Happy Birthday Nick!

Check it out at Essay Generator. You enter a topic and it does the rest. Here is the essay on the topic of hot, sweaty man-love: An essay on hot, sweaty man-love Think back to the first time you ever heard of hot, sweaty man-love. Underestimate hot, sweaty man-love at your peril. While it is becoming a hot topic for debate, several of todays most brilliant minds seem incapable of recognising its increasing relevance to understanding future generations. It still has the power to shock so called 'babies', trapped by their infamous history. Here begins my indepth analysis of the glourious subject of hot, sweaty man-love. Social Factors Society is a simple word with a very complex definition. When J H Darcy said 'fevour will spread' [1] she must have been referning to hot, sweaty man-love. Spanning divides such as class, race and uglyness, hot, sweaty man-love is quite good. Special care must be taken when analysing such a delicate subject. On the other hand anyone that disagrees with me is an idiot. To put it simply, people like hot, sweaty man-love. When displayed this way it becomes very clear that hot, sweaty man-love is of great importance. Obviously inflation is in financial terms 'holding hands with hot, sweaty man-love.' The financial press seems unable to make up its mind on these issues which unsettles investors. Political Factors Modern politics owes much to the animal kingdom. Comparing international relations since the end of the century can be like observing night and day. Consider this, spoken at the tender age of 14 by the uncompromising Xaviera T. Time 'political change changes politics, but where does it go?' [2] Amazingly, he new nothing of hot, sweaty man-love until he was well into his thirties. If our political system can be seen as a cake, then hot, sweaty man-love makes a good case for being the icing. Since the Renaissance hot, sweaty man-love has become more and more prevalent. May it continue. Conclusion What can we conclude? Well, hot, sweaty man-love plays a large part in the lives of all. It questions, brought up a generation and always chips in. What a great essay. Finally a word from super-star Christina Malkovitch: 'It's been nice educating you.' [3] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] J H Darcy - The Spaniard - 1988 - PPT [2] Time - Yes Indeed - 1987 Indegro Books [3] Hot, sweaty man-love Weekly- Issue 54 - Rhino Media

Jupiter's Little Red Spot Growing Stronger Press Release: 10.10.06 Nasa- Goddard Space Flight Center Source Link These are two views of Jupiter's Little Red Spot taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2006. The left image is a close-up view. In the right image, a box has been added to show the Little Red Spot's location on Jupiter. The larger Great Red Spot, which has been observed for the past 400 years, can be seen to the right. Image Credit: NASA / ESA / Amy Simon-Miller ______________________________________________________ The highest wind speeds in Jupiter's Little Red Spot have increased and are now equal to those in its older and larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, according to observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The Little Red Spot's winds, now raging up to approximately 400 miles per hour, signal that the storm is growing stronger, according to the NASA-led team that made the Hubble observations. The increased intensity of the storm probably caused it to change color from its original white in late 2005, according to the team. "No one has ever seen a storm on Jupiter grow stronger and turn red before," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., lead author of a paper describing the new observations appearing in the journal Icarus. "We hope continued observations of the Little Red Spot will shed light on the many mysteries of the Great Red Spot, including the composition of its clouds and the chemistry that gives it its red color." Although it seems small when viewed against Jupiter's vast scale, the Little Red Spot is actually about the size of Earth, and the Great Red Spot is around three Earth diameters across. Both are giant storms in Jupiter's southern hemisphere powered by warm air rising in their centers. The Little Red Spot is the only survivor among three white-colored storms that merged together. In the 1940s, the three storms were seen forming in a band slightly below the Great Red Spot. In 1998, two of the storms merged into one, which then merged with the third storm in 2000. In 2005, amateur astronomers noticed that this remaining, larger storm was changing color, and it became known as the Little Red Spot after becoming noticeably red in early 2006. The new Hubble observations by the team reveal that winds in the Little Red Spot have grown stronger compared to previous observations. In 1979, Voyager 1 and 2 flew by Jupiter and recorded that top winds were only about 268 miles per hour in one of the "parent" storms that merged to become the Little Red Spot. Nearly 20 years later, the Galileo orbiter revealed that top wind speeds were still the same in the parent storm, but winds in the Great Red Spot blew at up to 400 miles per hour. The team used Hubble's new Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument to discover that top wind speeds in both storms are now the same, because this instrument has enough resolution to track small features in these storms, revealing their wind speeds. Scientists are not sure why the Little Red Spot is growing stronger. One possibility is a change in size. These storms naturally fluctuate in size, and their winds spin around their central core of rising air. If the storm were to become smaller, its spiraling winds would increase the same way spinning ice skaters turn faster by pulling their arms closer to their bodies. Another possibility is that it's the only survivor. "The lack of other large storms in the same latitude on Jupiter leaves more energy to feed the Little Red Spot," said Simon-Miller. According to the team, the increased intensity of the Little Red Spot probably explains why it changed color. It is likely to be behaving like the Great Red Spot for two reasons: it has the same wind speed and the team's color analysis showed that it really is the same color as the Great Red Spot. It's probably pulling up gaseous material from far below that changes color when exposed to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. The question remains whether the storm is pulling up something that it wasn't before, because its increased intensity allows it to reach deeper, or whether it is pulling up the same material but the higher winds allow the storm to hold it aloft longer, increasing the time it is exposed to solar ultraviolet light and turning it red. The team could confirm exactly what the red material is if they are able to use a technique called spectroscopy in future observations of the Little Red Spot. Spectroscopy is an analysis of the light given off by an object. Each element and chemical gives a unique signal - brightness at specific colors or wavelengths. Identifying these signals reveals an object's composition. However, spectroscopy of Jupiter's atmosphere is complicated because it has many chemicals that could turn red if exposed to ultraviolet light. "We need to simulate different possible Jupiter atmospheres in a lab so we can discover what spectrometric signals they give. We will then have something to compare with the actual spectrometric signal," said Simon-Miller. The team includes Simon-Miller, Dr. Nancy J. Chanover and Michael Sussman of New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, N.M.; Dr. Glenn S. Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Irene G. Tsavaris of the University of Maryland, College Park; and Dr. Erich Karkoschka of the University of Arizona, Tucson ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The red spots of Jupiter have been described as a shere between fronts with differential temperatures, a hurricane and a magnetic storm. Truthfully, it has never really been adaquately explained or modeled. The great red spot has been around for at least 400 years. "Red jr" as it is nicknamed has formed in recent years. One of the biggest mysteries of star formation is how and when do proto-stars pass through the barrier and become stars. For large stars, the ignition of the Hydrogen burning fusion process is easily explained by pressure and heat created by gravity. However in very small stars, this trigger-point and how it is reached is not at all obvious. Jupiter is often called a "failed star" because it is mostly hydrogen and helium gas. It is the prototypical "brown dwarf". In fact extra-solar planets are described in terms of Jupiters mass. Since the Pioneer, Voyager and Gallieo probes have visited Jupiter, we've been very surprised by how energetic and active a cold gas giant can be. With the exception of the Sun, it has the most powerful magnetic and gravitational fields in the solar system. In this photo of Jupiters northern polar region taken by the Galieo probe, we see massive aurora activity in which charged solar plasmas interact with Jupiters magnetic field. Any manned mission to Jupiters moons would have to contend with intense radiation. Jupiter shows us tantalizing clues of processes and forces that we are only beginning to understand. What role does magnetism play? How do magnetic and gravitational fields interact and how much of that energy is bound into the system? So how do dwarf main sequence stars fire up? Perhaps Jupiter will show us one day.

How could Friday the anythingth be unlucky? Fridays rock! Any Friday is a Good Friday.

In 1976 Rush released the album 2112. This album cover was immediatly assailed for having Satanic images and contents. A group of fundamentalist began circulating lists of albums claiming that they were supposed to cast spells on listeners. e.g. the Who made you violent, Yes made you gay and Rush made you a Satanist. At the height of this lunacy, they had youth revivals where they asked you to bring your albums and check them against their lists. I took my friends Osmonds and Bay City Rollers albums and threw them into the bonfire and they asked me why because they weren't on the list. I told them that the albums I threw in their fire were lame and I didn't give a rat's ass about their list. I looked at their list and decided that I needed more albums by Yes.

Sorry I missed author chat the other day. I had a 1 gig upload going that zapped my bandwidth. Much luck with the new place. Don't get in too big a hurry. Parents are easier to live with than a bad lease. Read the fine print. Sometimes they are very funky about pets. Some places have "guidelines" in the lease agreement that deal with pets, what is allowed in the apartment, etc. Just pay close attention before you sign.

Kittens usually have blue eyes that change when they enter kitty-adolescence. Very few cats have blue eyes as adults. Most of them are amber or green. The kitten at the very bottom has a very unusual coat. I'm very interested to see how he turns out.

Welcome back!