quick bites
-Re: Pluto, yeah, I'm a little disappointed it's been downgraded. Every scientific rule/definition has an exception, so Pluto's always been the solar system's in my book. But it makes perfect scientific sense, and it'll serve well in the future to have a specific definition of planet, as we find more and more extrasolar objects. Additionally, it's not like the New Horizons project is going to be any less nifty once it gets there. TNOs and Kuiper Belt objects like Pluto can tell us a TON about solar system development, no matter what those objects are called.
-Much cooler than all this hubbab over planetary definitions is the recent dark matter press conference. Direct Proof of Dark Matter. (This site explains it pretty well in lay terms.) So cool! Still have no clue what dark matter is made of, but it's just a step forward toward solving that mystery. :D
(yeah, back when I was big in astronomy, my two primary interests were planetary formation and cosmology. so i'm uber-geeking out over all this.)
-I'm gonna be an aunt! OK, some of you knew that already. But now I have more details. My older brother emailed me, and his wife is expecting a boy, who'll be born in the first weeks of January. Granted, they live in Las Vegas, so it's not like I'll be a huge influence in the kid's life. But I can be the cool aunt who breezes in and out and lavishes him with gifts, right? ;)
-So I've got this giant fishtank upstairs in my room that came with the house. It's heavy as a mofo, and I want to get rid of it so I can install bookshelves instead. I don't suppose I can bribe any muscular people to help me carry it away?
-Oh, yeah, and seems like nearly everyone I know is getting new jobs -- including moi. I've got a part-time gig doing bookkeeping for a media marketing company. It's only Monday nights, for a few hours, but eh, pocket change for trips and whatnot. Now to find a real new job...
-Much cooler than all this hubbab over planetary definitions is the recent dark matter press conference. Direct Proof of Dark Matter. (This site explains it pretty well in lay terms.) So cool! Still have no clue what dark matter is made of, but it's just a step forward toward solving that mystery. :D
(yeah, back when I was big in astronomy, my two primary interests were planetary formation and cosmology. so i'm uber-geeking out over all this.)
-I'm gonna be an aunt! OK, some of you knew that already. But now I have more details. My older brother emailed me, and his wife is expecting a boy, who'll be born in the first weeks of January. Granted, they live in Las Vegas, so it's not like I'll be a huge influence in the kid's life. But I can be the cool aunt who breezes in and out and lavishes him with gifts, right? ;)
-So I've got this giant fishtank upstairs in my room that came with the house. It's heavy as a mofo, and I want to get rid of it so I can install bookshelves instead. I don't suppose I can bribe any muscular people to help me carry it away?
-Oh, yeah, and seems like nearly everyone I know is getting new jobs -- including moi. I've got a part-time gig doing bookkeeping for a media marketing company. It's only Monday nights, for a few hours, but eh, pocket change for trips and whatnot. Now to find a real new job...