HERE COMES PART 2 OF THE APOLLO LUNAR PACK TO CELEBRATE NEIL ARMSTRONGS FIRST STEPS ON THE MOON

AS PART 1 WAS DEDICATED TO THE NASA SPACE SUIT, PART 2 FOCUSSES ON THE MOON’S SURFACE:

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For some time I’ve been wondering how the longer term cyclicities of the moon might affect the Earth’s climate.

I just came across this very interesting 2008 paper:

Lunar nodal tide effects on variability of sea level, temperature, and salinity in the Faroe-Shetland Channel and the Barents Sea
Yndestad Harald; Turrell, William R and Ozhigin, Vladimir:
Link to full paper (paywalled)

Abstract:

The Faroe-Shetland Channel and the Kola Section hydrographic time-series cover a time period of more than 100 years and represent two of the longest oceanographic time-series in the world. Relationships between the temperature and salinity of Atlantic water from these two areas are examined in this paper, which also presents for the first time comparisons between them and annual mean sea levels in the region. The investigation was based on a wavelet spectrum analysis used to identify the dominant cycle periods and cycle phases in all time-series. The water-property time-series show mean variability correlated to a sub-harmonic cycle of the nodal tide of about 74 years, with an advective delay between the Faroe-Shetland Channel and the Barents Sea of about 2 years. In addition, correlations better than R=0.7 were found between dominant Atlantic water temperature cycles and the 18.6-year lunar nodal tide, and better than R=0.4 for the 18.6/2=9.3-year lunar nodal phase tide. The correlation between the lunar nodal tides and the ocean temperature variability suggests that deterministic lunar nodal tides are important regional climate indicators that should be included when future regional climate variability is considered. The present analysis suggests that Atlantic water temperature and salinity fluctuations in the Nordic Seas are influenced by forced tidal mixing modulated by harmonics of the nodal tide and influencing the water mass characteristics at some point “down stream” from the Faroe-Shetland Channel. The effects of the modulated oceanic mixing are subsequently distributed as complex coupled lunar nodal sub-harmonic spectra in the thermohaline circulation.

Lunar nodal tides against Atlantic temperature 1900-2005 Harald Yndestad

Harald has a page on climate here: http://ansatte.hials.no/hy/climate/defaultEng.htm

He says:

“In this analysis we may understand the forced gravitation oscillation between the earth, sun and the moon as a forced coupled oscillation system to the earth. The tide and the earth rotation responds as a non-linear coupled oscillation to the forced gravity periods from the moon and the sun. This is a complex oscillation in periods between hours and thousands of years. The forced gravitation introduces a tidal mixing in the Atlantic Ocean. This tidal mixing introduces temperature and salinity fluctuations that influences climate and the eco system.”

It looks to me like the coincidence of these lunar cycles with the planetary cycles in my previous post may go some way to explaining the peak temperatures Earth experienced recently. These longer term cycles cause tidal mixing and overturning in the ocean which will affect the absorption and release of oceanic heat energy. This will be the subject of my next post.

1. All werewolves can communicate through a form of telepathy which enables them to hunt and perform more efficiently.

2. In Germany it was believed that after death, honored ancestors became wolves. Their descendants were sometimes given names such as Wolfhard, Wolfbrand, and Wolfgang on the theory that thereby wolf spirits would enter them and afford them strength and courage.

3. Werewolves in a pack have a psychic link that bonds them together, if one werewolf in the pack dies the other werewolves can sense his death.

4. Werewolves do not only turn on a full moon, neither do they have to. A werewolf can change his form and shape shift at will whenever he wants to, at day or night. Although newly turned werewolves are sometimes forced to change by certain aspects of the lunar cycles or certain sounds such as the howling of another werewolf.

5. Some interesting signs from folklore and popular film and literature include: uncontrollable rage; insomnia; a hairline that forms a widow’s peak; hair or magical marks on the palms of the hands; eyebrows that meet in the middle; an unnatural fear of water; excessive body hair; unusually compelling eyes; longer-than-average third fingers on each hand; and difficulty pronouncing words that start with the letter ‘W’.

6. Most modern fiction describes werewolves as vulnerable to silver weapons and highly resistant to other attacks.

7. Lycanthropy is the supernatural condition whereby a human transforms into a wolf. If an afflicted person transforms into another type of animal, the correct term for their condition is therianthropy.

8. Werewolf legends exist in most of the world’s cultures. Some of the tales date back to the beginning of written history. One of the earliest examples is the story of King Lycaon of
Greece.

9. The first known use of the word in print goes back to the eleventh century, but a werewolf story survives from the first-century Satyricon. Beyond that, lycanthropy figures in Greek mythology, where Zeus, furious when he learns that Lykaon has served him and other gods human flesh, turns Lykaon into a wolf. Inspired by this myth, a cult took root in Arcadia. An initiate committed human sacrifice, an act that made him a “wolf” for nine years.

10. A person can become a werewolf by being born a werewolf, bitten by a werewolf, cursed by someone you have wronged in some way, and being given the power threw sorcery.

You can’t give this stuff away – everyone around me is bloated, gassy, and tired of leftovers. How lucky we are when we think of those around us so less fortunate. Tomorrow, on to new food!
The day before Thanksgiving was still a subtle gray, the front went through and all the rain promised was a farce. We got very little over here.   Thanksgiving morning looked like a black and white photograph, the color drained from the landscape and sky, the lake the mirror reflecting the void of color  
Finally the sun broke through and we went away to eat our dinner.
Came back late and went to bed with a belly full! Our host and hostess, my nephew and niece did an outstanding job of keeping us loaded. Plus we all enjoy seeing Irving the tortoise.
He’s so full of contrasting lines and testure. He also follows you like a dog and his favorite food is hibiscus flowers. He weighs about 175lbs now.  He has many birthdays to go. He’s still just passing puberty and is a horny little devil, he has a flower pot he loves to hump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrW59oLXmY0&feature=player_embedded  (cut and paste to see yourself)    Irving is in love with this hardshell!
Black Friday came and went, I did not shop, nor did I go anywhere Saturday, it was relaxing not to be spending money. That will go by the wayside soon enough. My daughter said to wait for black Monday, great buys on the internet.
Nature itself goes on, and these are shots I took today. The weather is very cold, low 60’s today, in 40’s the past nights, that is so cold Ringo slept next to me! In fact, he usually will ring the bell attached to the inside front door handle around 4:30am to go out, when I opened the door to let him out, he felt the cold and turned and went back to bed.  Also, the herons, male and female have both been coming to the lake as I fish, tonight, they were touching beaks and making noises that seems like the mating rituals are taking place.  They are nesting nearby, I suppose maybe babies will be coming near New Years????
The band of brothers were the first thing I saw outside this morning, they are still actively patrolling the lake. But an hour later, a pair of mallards came to relax.  An anhinga was next door getting ready to fly off and when he saw me, that was exactly what he did.
the spider lily was blooming.  
A baby moorhen was running away from me too.
but not the wren, he was calm.
The lily pad looked interesting, like a non conformist among the conservatives.  The day flew by and it was too cold for me to fish, but I took a few pictures before the sun went down.  The moon was soft and muted.

Have a wonderful night…

Nunca esquecemos onde tudo começou, ganhei de natal, do Papai Noel hehe a febre do momento, tinha 6 anos quando ganhei o Atari e até hoje, passando por vários consoles, não largo essa paixão que tenho pelos jogos. Podem falar mau, dizer que é bobagem, besteria, não ajuda uma pessoa socialmente etc.. não ligo para essas coisas até por que os fatos justificam os meios e os jogos, hoje em dia, estão quase chegando ao patamar do cinema e até ajudando as pessoas da terceira idade.

Mas, deixando a história de lado, trago hoje uma notícia muito maneira, a Atari colocou a disposição 6 jogos clássicos da época, são eles:

• Adventure
• Asteroids
• Battlezone
• Crystal Castles
• Lunar Lander
• Yar’s Revenge

E pode ser jogado Online, pelo Flash..

Matem a saudade desses clássico, que eu jogo até hoje. Acreditem, eu ainda jogo “Keystone Kappers” o famoso “Pega Ladrão”.

Site: Atari

Ein weiterer Arcade-Klassiker ist im Anmarsch: Missile Command (oder ursprünglich auch Armageddon) von Atari. Bereits 1980 erschien das Spiel und wurde sogar noch bis 2005 weiterhin auf insgesamt 24 Plattformen veröffentlicht, zuletzt auf dem Nintendo DS in einer Atari-Klassiker-Sammlung. Es erschien in der sogenannten goldenen Ära der Computer- bzw. genauer gesagt, Arcade-Spiele und gilt selbst darin als eines der erfolgreichsten überhaupt. Indiz dafür ist beispielsweise das Auftauchen im Action-Film Terminator 2 und in der Nerdserie Chuck wurde dem Spiel sogar eine ganze Folge gewidmet.

Ziel ist es Städte bzw. Raumbasen, welche am unteren Bildschirmrand auf einer Art Mond oder Planet stationiert sind, zu beschützen. Dafür stehen einem drei Abwehrraketensysteme zur Verfügung, die jedoch auf jeweils 10 Schuss begrenzt sind. Man muss pro Level also mit insgesamt 30 Raketen auskommen, um die von oben herabfallenden feindlichen Geschosse zu zerstören. Als weitere Schwierigkeit fliegen ab und zu Bomber und Satelliten über die Basis hinweg, welche ebenfalls mit Raketen ausgerüstet sind und die Stützpunkte dementsprechend angreifen. Diese Raketen gilt es mithilfe eines Fadenkreuzes anzuvisieren und zu beschießen, um die Städte bzw. die Abwehrbatterien zu beschützen. Aufgrund der Bewegung der Geschosse gestaltet sich das natürlich schwieriger, als man zuerst denken mag, aber mit etwas Übung hat man die Winkel schnell raus. Schafft man es allerdings nicht rechtzeitig einer der Raketen abzuschießen, muss man sich leider von einer Stadt bzw. Raketenbasis verabschieden und somit geht einem, zumindest bei letzterem, wertvolle Munition verloren. Am Ende eines Levels kommt der Beschuss zum Erliegen und die übrig gebliebenen Städte und Raketen werde zum Punktekonto addiert – bleibt nichts stehen, ist das Spiel vorbei. Beim Erreichen von 10.000 Punkte erhält man eine neue Stadt und dadurch auch ein Leben mehr. Jedoch bleibt auch der Schwierigkeitsgrad nicht unverändert: Die Geschosse fallen schneller herab und auch für andere Gemeinheiten ist im weiteren Verlauf gesorgt.

Im Gegensatz zur Urversion braucht man im Flashspiel nur noch mit der Maus über den Bildschirm fahren und klicken, wenn eine Abwehrrakete gezündet werden soll. Damals musste man sogar noch für die drei verschiedenen Abwehrbatterien den jeweils richtigen Knopf drücken und gesteuert wurde mit einem Trackball. Eine moderne Fassung namens Lunar Command findet ihr hier. Und zu guter Letzt natürlich noch das Video:

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination
Date: Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: W(aL)D [Fan Mail?]
To: Tommy Horner tommyboy489

Dear Mr. Horner (a.k.a. The Moon),

I have it on good authority that you are indeed made of green cheese… and that you are most definitely not the moon. I will reserve any comments on your equatorial radius and lack of testicles. While I am indeed old, science progresses at a rate where age may be rendered irrelevant in the near future… thus ensuring more time for me to complete my total World (and Lunar) Domination.

If you keep up this behavior, you will most certainly not be allowed on the moon.

Although, I’m guessing from my blog stats that you have been one of the people exploring my old W(aL)D files. Too bad the beginnings were wiped out in one of the great PittsburghBeat.com crashes. For this studious devotion, your feeble attempts at threatening me will be forgiven. Perhaps one day, you can work up to a position of merit in the W(aL)D army.

Perhaps I need to ramp up the efforts to my World (and Lunar) Domination campaign? Maybe I will need to enlist some generals once again to help in the effort.

I also appreciate your taking the time to write to me, and encourage you to comment on the blogs that you find amusing. There’s no need to login. Just pop in our name, email address, and a URL if so inclined. Use Gravatar or a WordPress account if you want your photo to show up.

Your future Emperor of the Earth (and Moon),
-ERiC AiXeLsyD
W(aL)D

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 10:59 AM, Tommy Horner tommyboy489 wrote:

The Moon
238,855 Miles away, and rising in the East
Earth, Milky Way Galaxy 27743

Dear Mr. AiXeLsyD,

I, For one, am highly offended by your eventual plans to dominate both myself, and the Earth. First of all, may I remind you that my Equatorial radius alone is 1,738.14 km. Roughly 0.273 Earths. Dominating me is out of the question, for I am bigger than you and wars on the Moon are settled by spirited rounds of Roshambo, South Park style (The Moon receives comcast cable). I have no balls, therefore defeating me is virtually impossible. I also often refer to myself in the third person, which makes the Moon awesome by default. In Conclusion, give up your silly dreams. You are too old for a human, and in your attempt I shall crush you!

Sincerely,

The Moon (Ya Dig?!?)

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]]> http://astrologybites.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/coming-soon-2/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:44:44 +0000 astrologybites http://astrologybites.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/coming-soon-2/ http://lushwine.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/mo-vee-ahhhh/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:26:27 +0000 Jane http://lushwine.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/mo-vee-ahhhh/

Most of the world tends to think of boundaries in terms of nationality. I’m Portuguese. It’s from Germany. The fox is French. The wine world thinks in this way as well. Restaurant lists, wine stores, and importer’s portfolios are organized and separated by country.

Sometimes, though, these distinctions can be useless.

Take, for example, Movia. The winery is officially nestled in the hills of Slovenia. If you want to send Movia a piece of mail (say, a love note), you would jot down a Slovenian address. But, if you ask Ales Kristancic (pronounced alesh chris-stan-zick), the gregarious and charming proprietor of the estate, Movia’s identity, terroir, and juice is not tied to a particular nation. Instead, it’s tied to an appellation.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Collio? An appellation that straddles the border between Italy and Slovenia, Collio is famous for its crisp, lush, and mineral-driven whites: Tocai Friulano, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc, Ribolla Giallo.

Ever heard of Brda? Probably not. It is the Slovenian name for Collio. Among the sommelier set, the name has emerged as one of the most promising wine producing regions in the world right now, due in large part to the wines (and the personality) of Ales Kristancic. An outspoken champion of indigenous grape varieties, terroir-driven winemaking, and nothing but the most natural, organic, and biodynamic processes, Kristancic could be called a traditionalist.

He could also, perhaps just as justifiably, be called a radical. He leaves his white wine to age on its lees for up to two years (a looooong time) in 600 liter Slavonian oak casks. He performs his filtering by hand and in a limited manner, as dictated by the atmospheric pressure associated with moon cycles. And — get this — Kristancic bottles one of his sparkling wines undisgorged. This means the bottle arrives in the hands of the consumer with a ball of yeast in its neck. The longer a wine spends with said yeast, the more complexity it is thought to attain; Ales is maximizing this time by releasing bottles that have yet to be disgorged. The consumer must submerge the bottle in water, pop off the cork, and quickly bring the bottle upright. The yeast is released under the water, and the bottle emerges freshly disgorged and ready to be drunk. Oh yeah, you have to store the bottle upside down (try a large mixing glass or something similar) for two days before opening it to condense the yeast.

Crazy? Perhaps. Brilliant? Probably. Effective? Absolutely. The Movia ‘Puro’ (100% Pinot Noir bubbly) is one of the coolest wines the Lushes have tried this year. Yeasty, bready, yet fresh, with piercing minerality, and a mint/ginger spice on the palate. This bottle has not hit the LUSH shelves yet, but look out for ‘Puro’ (and a demo of it being opened!) at our West Town launch party on December 4th.

The Movia wines we have in stock right now include the Quattro Mani ‘Toh-Kai’ 07, a project involving four winemakers making wine from indigenous grapes around the world. I once read this wine described as ‘bizarrely delicious’ and I think nothing could be more apropos. Mint, white chocolate, apricot, menthol, green tea, and lemon peel all intermingle in an odd yet entirely satisfying progression of aromas and flavors. For $13, there may not be a better deal this year.

We also currently have the 04 Veliko Bianco (“Big White”) and the 04 Lunar. Both wines are made with the Ribolla Giallo grape, a native varietal that tends to produce creamy, rich, dry wines with great acidity. In the hands of the right person (ahem, Mr. Kristancic), these wines can be remarkably ageable. The Veliko Bianco is also blended with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, and vinified according to the methods I mentioned above. The nose suggests a certain sweetness: honey, after-dinner mints, tangerine. The palate is dry and fierce, yet not without serious richness. This wine is lifted in a way that’s hard to describe: it’s almost like there is a layer of white flowers and menthol that sits between the wine and your tongue. It’s a pretty incredible sensory experience. Weird, yet utterly delicious and drinkable.

The Lunar is a different beast. 100% Ribolla Giallo. As an experiment, Kristancic wanted to make a wine that had no human intervention except at harvest and at bottling. The grapes were hand selected and then left to their own devices until spring in specially designed barrels. No pressing. No added yeasts. At bottling time, the juice is drawn off its skins using a vacuum and bottled with no sulfur dioxide. What emerges is nothing short of glorious (and nothing short of extreme): a wine that pours a rusty orange color, more reminiscent of beer than it is of wine. A bizarre confluence of tannin (from the extended skin contact), slightly oxidized flavors, rich, ripe fruit, piercing acidity, and residual carbon dioxide, this wine is mind-boggling. Cerebral yet still accessible, this wine will undoubtedly evolve for decades to come.

Join us in exploring this frontier of winemaking. We are very excited to offer these wines at LUSH, and hope that you enjoy them as much as we do .

Cheers!

Jane

part of an ongoing series of columns I’ve written, reprinted from the TU Rambler.

May, 2009.

(This conclusion to “The Green Man Says”, Vol I comes hot on the heels of The Swine Flu and associated Chicken Little-esque pandemic paranoia.)

When I went home for Mayterm break last month, my librarian mom was reading a book called Life As We Knew It, which deals with the chaos that ensues when the moon’s orbit changes; narrated by a 16-year old girl, it’s basically Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging meets “The Day After Tomorrow”.  As someone interested in end-of-the-world scenarios, survival, and the estranged relationship between modern civilization and the natural world, this book seemed right up my alley, and I flew through it in about four long sittings.
While I’m sure it’s fine reading for the target audience of middle school girls, readers looking for an insight on survival strategies or the future of the human race would be sorely disappointed.  Up until the lunar cataclysm, the main character’s family makes absolutely no preparations; they spend the book living off a supply of canned goods bought in a panic after the disaster; and while the mother does try to grow a food garden, she only starts after the proverbial shit has hit the fan.
However, the author—whether or not she meant to—does show the reader the extent to which most people are painfully dependent on the infrastructure of our ‘civilization’ and disconnected from the natural world.  As a species, we Homo sapiens lived in kinship with nature for 100,000 years; now, as a consequence of shortsightedness and poor decisions stemming from our separation from nature (which only really began in the last 200 years or so) we might not survive another hundred years.
My main complaint with Life As We Knew It is this: the character and her family spend most of their time huddled inside their house waiting to be saved, believing that their world will eventually be getting back to normal, and they are completely unable to imagine a different, better world; they are content to live by the rules and norms of the ‘old’ one.  The late Michael Crichton once wrote that the only difference between a bear and a human is imagination; at this critical point in our species’ history, it is imperative now that we work to imagine a new future for ourselves, one that is actually sustainable*, because the present system—rooted in petroleum, consumption, and convenience—certainly isn’t.
“Get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, the times they are a-changing”.

*(For the inquisitive reader, looking for specifics, I point to the concept of Permaculture, which is probably the best middle ground between the two extremes of Primitivism (the Project Mayhem-style, all-out destruction of civilization) and the dead-end that, unless we make some big changes, is where we’re headed now).

A picture of Apollo 11’s landing site taken by the LRO from an altitude of 50 km.

[via]

A GREAT DAY TO SAY SORRY TO A FORGOTTEN GENERATION

Wollumbin, Australia’s most easterly point, first light Horoscope, November 16, 2009, 05.49 am (Australian Eastern Summer Time, –11 hours).

This is the precious day before the New Moon in Scorpio (on November 17, 05.13 am, local clock time).

Ideal time to reflect upon the ending cycle, which began on October 18, with the New Moon in Libra, and reached its climax on November 3, with the Full Moon in Taurus.

The Balsamic Moon phase is when we can heal our souls and bodies from the energetic disturbances which always occur in our lives, and thus unravel the essence and wisdom of the cycle that has just been. Time also to rest from our labours, at least psychologically (most of us have still to work and it is Monday, after all!).

In this atmosphere of healing past hurts and just as Saturn forms its first right angle to Pluto, the Australian Government is saying its second big Sorry to another stolen generation. This time are the hundreds of thousand of orphaned and abandoned children, of all racial backgrounds, who were moved from their countries with the promise of a better life, often to become virtual slave labourers in Australia, and, sometimes, even victim of physical and psychological abuse by those who were supposed to take care of them.

The Moon, the Sun, Venus and Mercury are all in Scorpio today, a Sign that searches deep to uncover the truth of things, while Mars is at right angle to both Moon and Venus which are conjunct. As I observed yesterday (click here), the transit of Mars-Venus-Moon will make this day a specially emotional and highly charged one.

At the same time the historical square Saturn-Pluto is also exact today, a hard reality check for all of us, taking stock of events we would prefer to forget, because they are so hard to face. Through Saturn we are always made to face facts and take responsibility, and through Pluto we become aware of the deepest implications of any event, and their transformative potential.  United by this rather hard angle, Pluto, planet of inner resources and survival, and Saturn, planet of hard lessons and karma, describe well the abuse, pain and suffering of these forgotten people, as well as their resilience and survival skills; and make this an ideal day to address past issues and redress past injustice.

Today it is just the first pass of this important transit. It will be exact again in February (second pass in retro motion) and August 2010, last pass. For more information about the Saturn-Pluto square please check this article.

Today the Sun is also forming a perfect right angle (90 degrees) to Neptune, planet of compassion and universal sympathy, another apt signature for this event. And, even more striking than all that, a Grand Trine is also exact today, between the Sun (consciousness), the South Node of the Moon (the collective past and what of it needs to be redeemed) and Uranus (planet of innovations, new deals, unconventional and reforming spirit). The Grand Trine (a cosmic equilateral triangle) is considered the most harmonious and well promising of all astrological configurations. Great!

Wollumbin, Australia’s most easterly point, first light Horoscope, November 15, 2009, 05.49 am (Australian Eastern Summer Time, –11 hours).

On this sunrise, the Moon in late Libra is less than a Sign away from the Scorpio Sun and the Scorpio New Moon phase (exact on November 17, 05.13 am).

The Moon will enter Scorpio at 08.24 am today.

At 01.41 am, on November 16, early tomorrow, the Moon will conjunct Venus in Scorpio, deepening our feelings and increasing our desire for real intimacy. This encounter will not be visible however, due to the proximity of Moon and Venus to the Sun. What we may experience  or discover about love and relationships will be an intimate thing, not easily expressed outwardly and shared with many others. Something very precious and perhaps secret between two lovers, a parent and child, two close friends. This is a significant transit, in the short term,  for Scorpio born between November 1 and 3. And also anyone born with the Sun, Moon or a personal Planet (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) or Angle (Ascendant, Descendant, MidHeaven, Lower Heaven) around the 8, 9 and 10 degree of Scorpio.  And the corresponding degrees in the other Fixed Signs (Taurus, Leo, Aquarius). The conjunction will form a right angle (90 degrees) to Mars in Leo (early hours of the 16th), enhancing the dynamic interaction between male and female energies, for either intense attraction or discord tomorrow. Tempers may flare up, especially for Leos and Scorpios, a very creative energy, a touch too intense though, therefore bit dangerous.

The Solar aspect of today is the 120 degrees angle (harmonious) between the Sun and Uranus, making this a day to accept more easily within our conscious experience what is normally considered too unusual or outlandish. Great energy to be inventive and dare to be different. I

In the big picture the major transit of the day is the first pass of the 90 degrees angle between Saturn in early Libra and Pluto in early Capricorn. For more information about this very important collective aspect please click here.

H2O, yes water! In the past few months, two moons in our solar system have been found to have the “life as we know it” essential necessity. The big (and not to mention expensive!) Moon Crash Test. Provided all the evidence that our own moon contains water. This combined with the news last month that Saturn’s Moon Enceladus has a salt water geyser at is south poll (data provided by the Cassini spacecraft). These discoveries could lead to lunar outposts or better yet positive evidence of life outside of earth.

See more here @

Elitehusky: World Opinion

High-Tech Hogwash

A new chapter in space exploration has been opened up after Nasa confirmed that their mission to bomb the Moon had found “significant quantities” of frozen water

An artists’s impression of the LCROSS rocket that NASA intentionally crashed into the Cabeus crater near the Moon’s south pole Photo: AP/NASA

Scientists said the “exciting” findings had gone “beyond expectations” as fully formed ice was found in a crater on the planet.

They said that the ice – thought to be in granules mixed with grains of Moon dust – heralded a major leap forward in space exploration and boosted hopes of a permanent lunar base.

 

The water was found in one mile high plume of debris that was kicked up by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) last month when it crashed into the Cabeus crater near the Moon’s south pole.

“We are ecstatic,” said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the £49 million space mission.

“Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit, we found a significant amount.”

He said in a “eureka moment” analysis of the plume of debris sprayed up by a 30 ft crater showed the equivalent of “a dozen two-gallon buckets” of water was thrown up by the impact.

“This is a great day for science and exploration,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of LCROSS. “The remarkable results have gone beyond our expectations. It is incredibly exciting.”

The identification of water-ice in the impact plume is important for purely scientific reasons, but also because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration.

The findings, which completely contradict previous beliefs that the Moon was a dry arid place, justify the controversial mission.

It also reignites mankind’s dreams of colonising Earth’s only satellite.

“We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbour and, by extension, the Solar System,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at Nasa’s headquarters in Washington DC.

The mission took place on 9th October and was watched by millions across the globe live on the internet.

One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometres) per hour.

The impact sent a plume of material billowing up from the bottom of the crater, which has not seen sunlight for billions of years.

The rocket was followed four minutes later by a spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the impact. At the time the crash seemed to be disappointing as the “plume of debris” was not visible to Earth based satellites.

However analysis of the huge amount of data the spacecraft collected and from satellite’s spectrometers provided definitive evidence about the presence of water.

A spectrometer examines light reflected from a substance and is able to identify their composition.

Over the last decade, scientists have found some hints of underground ice on the moon’s poles, mainly in the form of compounds of hydrogen but this is the best evidence yet.

The discovery is expected to have major implications for the future of lunar exploration, and a ready supply of water could help set up lunar bases or launch missions to Mars.

Mr Colaprete said that it should be possible to purify the water for drinking even though it appeared to mixed with poisonous methanol.

Only 12 men, all Americans, have ever walked on the Moon, and the last to set foot there were in 1972, at the end of the Apollo missions.

But Nasa’s ambitious plans to put US astronauts back on the moon by 2020 to establish manned lunar bases for further exploration to Mars under the Constellation project are increasingly in doubt.

Nasa’s budget is currently too small to pay for Constellation’s Orion capsule, a more advanced and spacious version of the Apollo lunar module, as well as the Ares I and Ares V launchers needed to put the craft in orbit.

A key review panel appointed by President Barack Obama said existing budgets are not large enough to fund a return mission before 2020.

As well as a possible site for a base, the permanently shadowed regions could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system, much as an ice core sample taken on Earth reveals ancient data. In addition, water, and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration.

from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091115-236337/Thrilling-discovery-Lots-of-water-on-moon:

LOS ANGELES—SUDDENLY, THE moon looks exciting again. It has lots of water, scientists said Friday (Saturday in Manila)—a thrilling discovery that sent a ripple of hope for a future astronaut outpost in a place that has always seemed barren and inhospitable.

Experts have long suspected there was water on the moon. Confirmation came from data churned up by two Nasa spacecraft that intentionally slammed into a lunar crater last month.

“

Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit. We found a significant amount,” said Anthony Colaprete, the principal investigator for Nasa’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, holding up a white water bucket for emphasis.

The lunar crash kicked up at least 95 liters (25 gallons) and that’s only what scientists could see from the plumes of the impact, Colaprete said.

At a press conference today, researchers revealed preliminary data from NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicating that water exists in a permanently shadowed lunar crater. The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the Moon.

The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact. Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution.

Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer. The red curve shows how the spectra would look for a "grey" or "colorless" warm (230 C) dust cloud. The yellow areas indicate the water absorption bands. Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution.

Data from the ultraviolet/visible spectrometer taken shortly after impact showing emission lines (indicated by arrows). These emission lines are diagnostic of compounds in the vapor/debris cloud. Credit: NASA Click image for full resolution.

Source: LCROSS Project Site

Read More: Here

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“I thought this was a blog about art?”

Shut up.  Nobody likes a know-it-all.  But here’s something we can all agree on:  Stevie Wonder + Sesame Street = More cool than you can shake a stick at!  I may have posted this vid here before. If so, oh well. It’s good enough to warrant a rerun.

Happy Friday the 13th!

-Steph

Splash! NASA moon crash struck lots of water

By ALICIA CHANG (AP) – 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES — Suddenly, the moon looks exciting again. It has lots of water, scientists said Friday — a thrilling discovery that sent a ripple of hope for a future astronaut outpost in a place that has always seemed barren and inhospitable.

Experts have long suspected there was water on the moon. Confirmation came from data churned up by two NASA spacecraft that intentionally slammed into a lunar crater last month.

“Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit. We found a significant amount,” said Anthony Colaprete, lead scientist for the mission, holding up a white water bucket for emphasis.

The lunar crash kicked up at least 25 gallons and that’s only what scientists could see from the plumes of the impact, Colaprete said.

Some space policy experts say that makes the moon attractive for exploration again. Having an abundance of water would make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts, supplying drinking water and a key ingredient for rocket fuel.

“Having definitive evidence that there is substantial water is a significant step forward in making the moon an interesting place to go,” said George Washington University space policy scholar John Logsdon.

Even so, members of the blue-ribbon panel reviewing NASA’s future plans said it doesn’t change their conclusion that the program needs more money to get beyond near-Earth orbit. The panel wants NASA to look at other potential destinations like asteroids and Mars.

“This new and terrific result reassures us about lunar resources, but … the challenges currently facing the human spaceflight program remain,” Chris Chyba, a Princeton astrophysicist who is on the panel, said in an e-mail.

President George W. Bush had proposed a more than $100 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon, then go on to Mars; a test flight of an early version of a new rocket was a success last month. President Barack Obama appointed the special panel to look at the entire moon exploration program. The decision is now up to the White House, and NASA’s lunar plans are somewhat on hold until then.

As for unmanned exploration, previous missions had detected the presence of hydrogen in lunar craters near the moon’s poles, possible evidence of ice. In September, scientists reported finding tiny amounts of water in the lunar soil all over the moon’s surface.

But it was NASA’s Oct. 9 mission involving the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, LCROSS, that provided the stunning confirmation announced Friday — water, in the forms of ice and vapor.

“Rather than a dead and unchanging world, it could in fact be a very dynamic and interesting one,” said Greg Delory of the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the mission, led by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif.

The LCROSS spacecraft only hit one spot on the moon and it’s unclear how much water there is across the entire moon.

The October mission involved two strikes into a permanently shadowed crater near the south pole. First, an empty rocket hull slammed into the Cabeus crater. Then, a trailing spacecraft recorded the drama live before it also crashed into the same spot four minutes later.

Though scientists were overjoyed with the plethora of data beamed back to Earth, the mission was a public relations dud. Space enthusiasts who stayed up all night to watch the spectacle did not see the promised giant plume of debris.

NASA scientists had predicted the twin impacts would spew six miles of dust into the sunlight. Instead, images revealed only a mile-high plume, and it was not visible to many amateur astronomers peering through telescopes.

Scientists spent a month analyzing data from the spacecraft’s spectrometers, instruments that can detect strong signals of water molecules in the plume.

“We’ve had hints that there is water. This was almost like tasting it,” said Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator on the LCROSS mission.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who in 1969 made his historic Apollo 11 moonwalk with Neil Armstrong, was pleased to hear the latest discovery, but still believes the U.S. should focus on colonizing Mars.

“People will overreact to this news and say, `Let’s have a water rush to the moon,’” Aldrin said. “It doesn’t justify that.”

Mission scientists said it would take more time to tease out what else was kicked up in the moon dust.

Finally they’ve confirmed it: the Moon has water. NASA has crashed 2 spacecraft into one of the lunar craters on the Moon and found a pretty sizeable amount of water – approximately 25 gallons. For those on the metric system, that’s 95 litres. Now that we have water on the Moon, chances of having extended stays on the Moon have increased. There is even the possibility of a astronaut outpost.

With this new discovery, there’s a chance that there’s even more water elsewhere on the Moon just waiting to be discovered. Even so, it’s still going to be some time before our dreams of living on another planet come true…

The First Progressed New Moon, 1967

Studying the American President’s Progressed Horoscope I have found many meaningful correspondences to his personal and public career. The following is an attempt to follow Obama’s Secondary Progressions throughout his life. I think it could help those Astrology students who, amazed by the powerful signature of the Transits in our lives, have still some doubt on the efficacy of considering Progressions as well.

To me Secondary Progressions (one day equal one year type) represent really a living backdrop to the Transits, showing the inner development of the individual and the way this is reflected in the events and encounters of his/her life.

Having used Secondary Progressions since I began reading Charts (thanks mainly to the Alan Leo’s series that started me on my path), I couldn’t do without them now. The Horoscope would not feel complete, because some of the underlying meaning of our experiences will be irremediably lost.

Barack, who was called Barry by his family, was born only six months before his parents’ marriage (February 2, 1961), meaning that he was conceived out of wedlock. This fact, together with the interracial marriages of his mother, first to a black Kenyan man, then to an Indonesian (in the fifties and sixties still surrounded by serious social taboos) would have certainly contributed to his psychological makeup and desire to help those who, like himself, don’t fit into the average social and racial mould. In his Birth Chart this is signified by the very prominent Aquarius: Ascendant, South Node of the Moon and Jupiter, ruler of his Ninth and Tenth House, respectively his connection with the wider world, his principles and his career; plus Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, conjunct his North Node of the Moon and at right angle to his Midheaven, so exerting a powerful influence on his choice of career and his potential for public success (Seventh House-Tenth House).

Obama’s Birth Moon in Gemini, conjunct the cusp of his Fourth House, or Midnight point, exemplifies the fact that he moved home many times in his life and that these frequent changes have helped him to become more flexible and adaptable, being an unsettling but also mentally stimulating position. One of the most interesting Progressed phenomena is the cycle of the Progressed Moon and Sun. We are all born at one stage or other of the Lunation cycle, with the Moon increasing or decreasing in light, waxing or waning. Progressions show us however that we are not stuck to the particular dynamic of that moment in the Lunation cycle for the rest of our lives. Moon and Sun advance in progression at their own appointed speed, on the average one degree a month for the Moon and one degree a year for the Sun. The Moon waxes and wanes accordingly, thus indicating periods of heightened and ebbing energy, times for successful outward actions, and times for introversion and self reflection, time for beginning and time for climax and endings, all necessary stages of psychological and emotional progress.

The Moon in Gemini (usually a social and light hearted if not emotionally superficial Moon) was just past the Last Quarter phase, ideal time for the birth of self reflecting individuals, more inclined to wrestle with their own inner demons rather than given to outward battle with the external world. This is considered a psychologically mature phase, that, covering the person’s childhood years, will help to make the child more thoughtful and adult like.

Obama was six years old (October 1967) when the Progressed Moon finally caught up with the Progressed Sun (Progressed New Moon in Leo), indicating the beginning of a brand new phase in his life.

And so it was, because, that year, his mother, now separated from his father and remarried, moved the family to Jakarta, Indonesia, where Barack’s half sister Maya was born.

That year not only the Progressed New Moon took place, but also the progressed Venus reached an exact distance of 120 degrees from the birth Neptune in the IX House. This aspect was already forming when Obama was born in 1961 (progressed aspects from planets are slow moving, somehow like the long lasting transits of the slow moving planets, those beyond the boundaries of Saturn). The Ninth House is often populated in the chart of people who form important connections with foreign people and countries. Neptune there at birth shows the great spiritual potential that could be triggered in Obama’s life, if he was to move to foreign lands or interact with foreign people and culture. The fact that the harmonious connection Venus-Neptune became exact just in 1967 shows how the family’s move to Indonesia had profound spiritual implications for young Barack, enhancing some of the best aspects of his Birth Chart, in particular his innate spirituality and compassion. The Seventh House cusp also progressed to the birth position of Uranus that year, signifying a profound change of attitude in Barack’s relationships and the beginning of a more individualized path. He started becoming more his own person.

To emphasize that, later that year, also transiting Jupiter reached Obama’s natal Descendant (another name for the Seventh House cusp), further proof that his relationships expanded and he began seeing and understanding more of the world. Transiting Uranus on his natal Mars on the cusp of the VIII House shows perhaps the darker side of this move to Jakarta that must have felt also as a painful uprooting from all he knew and loved in Hawaii, his birth place. Saturn in transit was however in harmonious aspect (trine) to his birth Sun, showing the positive influence and sense of security he derived from the relationship with his Indonesian step father. Usually the positive aspects of Saturn correspond to periods during which it is easier to settle down and to build secure foundations for the future.

So much for Obama’s first New Moon.

More about Obama’s Progressions and Transits’ timeline in my next post.

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The Mega-CD version of Lunar Silver Star debuted over 17 years ago in 1992 and the game eventually made it to the Sega Saturn in two versions. The first conversion was in 1996 and a Video-CD Card compatible version with nicer cinemas was released a year later. Lunar SS also made its way to the Playstation in 1988 and a 20 year hiatus followed. This year, Gung Ho grabs hold of the Lunar SS property and remakes it for the Playstation Portable.

Remakes are all the rage nowadays because the IP is already out there and audience awareness is built-into the marketplace. The PSP remake includes a new scenario, updated graphics, and re-mastered cinemas and music/sound effects.

In the game, players take control of a lad named Alex who idolizes a legendary hero named Dragonmaster Dyne who saved the world from disaster. Alex dreams of becoming a hero one day and gets his chance with a little quest that takes his little band of adventurers into the Dragon’s Cave in search of a gem. They meet a wyrm named Quark who senses the greatness in Alex and gifts him with the Dragon Diamond. From there, Alex and friends find themselves going on a true quest that takes them around the world of Lunar. All preorders will include a bonus soundtrack courtesy of the publisher in 1:1 ratio. While supplies last, we’ll also include the soundtrack with new orders placed today and over the next few days.