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ELI5: until we flew next to Pluto this month all we had is blurry 16-pixel images. How can we get such precise data on something millions of times further?
This page contains the measurements of the planet which might be the subject of the announcement; it gives you an idea of what kinds of metrics drive such an analysis:
http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayOver...
ELI5: until we flew next to Pluto this month all we had is blurry 16-pixel images. How can we get such precise data on something millions of times further?
We've had a pair of binoculars up in space for a while, but it was designed to see way further than Pluto. That is why we have always had blurry images.
ELI5: until we flew next to Pluto this month all we had is blurry 16-pixel images. How can we get such precise data on something millions of times further?
The similarity index measures things that can be worked out without needing a precise image of the planet. These are things like radius, density and surface temperature, which can be measured by examining its orbit and how much light from the star is blocked as it passes.
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He says it in a few different ways in his lectures, but he believed that the psychedelic experience is so strange and full of content that, even if aliens landed on the White House lawn and it made the biggest story in the history of news, it's still not as astonishing as human neurochemistry. I'm not sure I agree, but I think it's good to keep this perspective in mind any time we find ourselves tempted to think of s…
Reality is really weird though. I really keep trying to think whether aliens existing would actually radically change my life, individually. On one hand, maybe, but on the other, probably not (and this is more likely). I feel like I already experience my existence like I am alien to everything that is not me, whether it is talking to a cat or a person or a tree, the whole thing is like 'reality blob' that I am not re…
If there is life on that planet, I wonder if it would be similar enough to host infectious diseases. I know the Apollo team was quarantined when they got back from the moon. As someone living on a continent that has undergone one apocalypse, I hope we have a similar procedure to prevent the spread of spacepox.
2) Some types of molecules involved with life have chirality so the chances are small that our biological components as a whole would be compatible. (Think of it as several different kinds of "endianess." There would be a coin-flip for each molecule type with chirality.) So at worst, if we ate each other, we'd give each other molecular "indigestion."
More complicated operations, like that of viruses hijacking our cells to replicate themselves are probably right out. Invading foreign cells couldn't get very far in our bodies if all of their enzymes malfunction and they find our material "indigestible."
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Could you elaborate on what is so weird on that molecule?
It's a psychedelic type substance similar to LSD. What he meant is that the weirdest things you can ever experience is you on acid.
For something to be REAL and weird automatically puts it on another level.
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Question: why is 'escape velocity' part of the Earth Similarity Index when, presumably, it's just a function of radius and density (which are also in the index)? I feel like I'm missing something.
It's a reasonable measure of surface gravity, which, along with an idea about the distance from the star it's orbiting, gives us a good idea about what kind of atmosphere we can expect (i.e. the lighter and the hotter a gas is, the easier it can escape a planet with a particular escape velocity), at least a basic idea about what kind of surface features we might expect and so on. It's also a parameter that is quick t…
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Similarity_Index#Formula...
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Crap, I was wrong. "S" doesn't stand for "Savings," it stands for "Standard." We really are in EDT. All the more reason to never specify it! :)
Welcome the world of pain that is timezones and DST... As someone who has had to write an extensive amount of deal with these two concepts they are the worst things ever. We should just abolish timezones, DST, and move to the International Fixed Calendar. Time sucks. I'm even in favor of moving to a seconds-based time unit like kiloseconds, miliseconds, etc instead of minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years/etc. "Metri…
You may find these links interesting:
- "So you want to abolish time zones" (http://qntm.org/abolish)
- "You advocate a ________ approach to calendar reform" (http://qntm.org/calendar)
ELI5: until we flew next to Pluto this month all we had is blurry 16-pixel images. How can we get such precise data on something millions of times further?
Here's a great explanation of the physics involved: http://www.askamathematician.com/2013/04/q-what-kind-of-tele....