Why is There Air?: Huygens on Titan

Yeah, we all like the pretty pictures, but we'd also like to get some real news. On the ESA site there is a press kit (outdated) and a bunch of "gosh-wow" articles, but there is no science data.

I wanted to know what the observed temperature ranges have been recorded: not there.
Why did I want to know this? At -170 to -180 with the right pressure, Methane would exist at its triple point (the point at which it can freely convert into the three main states). [Methane (11.696 Pa).] I have yet to see what the pressure at Huygens location has been measured at.

There was an article on the 21st that mentioned this, almost. The heat generated by the decent was residually held by Huygens when it landed. It was warm enough to steam the methane.

In the same article, they say they've interpreted the data to allow for methane-based evaporation cycles. This brings me to the beginning of my real quest for information: If the probe is sitting on what appears to be a shoreline, in what appears to be a gully-wash, what happens the next time it rains? This thing may be 349 kilos, but that is a lot less than a car and cars get carried away in floods all the time. Are we going to see another successful failure in the near future?

Magic Smoke: The 5 GHz Project

For those that believe that cool isn't just a way of life, but a way to live, here's an article about an experiment to radically overclock a computer processor - using liquid nitrogen!

Reminds me of an experiment that a man named George Goble conducted many years ago in which he succeeded in melting a grill using LOX (Liquid Oxygen). (There is an excellent article on this at Ambrosia)

The 5GHz Project is also definitely a "don't do this at home" kind of thing. Then again, a true propeller head is not likely to listen to that advise. Anyone wanting to seriously do this needs to know exactly what they are about, know how to modify a motherboard, the consequences if things go bad, and an up-to-date will might be in order.

The whole article is full of good pictures that show, step by step, how they went about this little do. Some of the English is sometimes less than perfect, but much better than some college grads in America. On the bottom of page 6 it mentions "loss", but fails to mention what the loss is. In making guesses I'd say they are talking about loss of heat transference.

They have an excellent grasp of what they need to know in order to carry this out, and make plans accordingly. They give real world examples of power output (although in America we use 110 volts at 60 amps, but then we're weird).

In short: these guys have way too much fun.

First post. What's this all about?

At the request of my wife, I have embarked on a new and scary adventure: the Blog.

A Blog can be an intimidating thing. What must I write about? What if no one ever reads it? What if my grammar and punctuation are all hinky?

I will endeavor to provide my insights into anything I find interesting. That doesn't mean you'll find it interesting, but then, this is my Blog. Updates happen whenever I remember to post. I cannot vouch for the coherence of my thoughts, but at least I'll use bigger words.

Some of the things I find interesting are:

1. Planetary astronomy (Why is there air?)
2. Psycholinguistics (Say what?)
3. Computer hardware (Magic Smoke)
4. Software (10 Kinds of People)
5. What to do with an English degree (Freakin' Liberals)
6. Things I'd like to see studied (Reasearch in the Real World)
7. Rampant stupidity (Crap! You Have a Job?)

More things than this interest me, but at this late hour my brain begins to malfunction. Look for more from me on these and other subjects.