Page 5 of 17
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:52 am
by Magrathea
You like large Lyman Alpha Blobs, they're fresh and invigorating

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:25 pm
by fujee
They are ridiculous! 300 000 light years across? I can't even comprehend that size let alone the 11.4 billion light years to get there.
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:04 pm
by Magrathea
fujee wrote:They are ridiculous! 300 000 light years across? I can't even comprehend that size let alone the 11.4 billion light years to get there.
Well the light has travelled 11.4 billion light years, but the actual object is now much farther because you need to take into account space dilation and all that funky jazz.
I
love cosmology

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:30 pm
by fujee
Of course, my favourite subject
If I had a greater grasp of Maths I would of certainly chosen to study Physics. Though I quite like it being just an interest/hobby.
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:15 am
by Waterbagel
fujee wrote: Though I quite like it being just an interest/hobby.
how i feel about cooking!
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 3:38 pm
by fujee
Living here would be bliss - in the residential quarters of the observatory, it looks like paradise !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Telescope
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:54 pm
by Magrathea
Anyone still keeping tabs on the James Webb Space Telescope? Apparently it's not going to fly until 2018 and the price tag has obesified to around 8.5 BILLION dollars?
This is bad, already the congress wants to axe it but there's never a big of good news coming from that project... I'm starting to lose faith in it, I don't see it bringing back enough science back to justify that monstrous bill.

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:25 pm
by fujee
It's still scheduled to be launched but in a good few years time, probably to lower the profile of the budget crisis.
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:38 pm
by fujee
Supernova has exploded recently nearby !
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:51 pm
by fujee
Want to see a supernova explosion that happend 21 million years ago?
Then look up to the skies tonight
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/ ... le-from-uk
Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:24 pm
by fujee
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14792580
Gorgeous photography competition. The image of the International Space Station over the Sun with the shuttle attached blew me away.
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:44 pm
by fujee
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:12 am
by Lens Larque
Older than old but one of my favorite net talks.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:54 am
by mechanismj
Lens Larque wrote:
Older than old but one of my favorite net talks.
Whenever I see something like this, I get a split second flicker of fear that runs through me. The universe is so fucking huge and chaotic. It's scary sometimes.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:09 am
by saturdayindex
mechanismj wrote:Lens Larque wrote:
Older than old but one of my favorite net talks.
Whenever I see something like this, I get a split second flicker of fear that runs through me. The universe is so fucking huge and chaotic. It's scary sometimes.
That "pattern" of galaxies looks suspiciously like the neural network of a brain--the Mind of God.
Perhaps this entire Universe is actually a brain, a brain in which the neurons are formed by interconnecting cells (galaxy clusters), which are composed of molecules (galaxies), which are composed of star systems (atoms).
Also, scientists say the universe started from something "smaller than an atom" but isn't size relative? Maybe "smaller than the atom" is actually infinitely huge. Maybe space and time just simply don't even exist outside of the universe. Maybe the speed of light is slowing down because we are expanding WITH the universe.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 5:03 am
by Lens Larque
I have many questions about the imagery developed by that team, which is really eye catching computer graphics running on software, they introduced invisible matter for one, and Smoot mentions a basket of artists' tools, "randomness" etc.. I am under the impression that it is not entirely based on actual data?
Smoot appears to hardly believe what he is explaining. Fuck yeah though, its a bit too much isn't it, if that model is near accurate. Webs! I actually was thinking of bone structure, but that's projecting like crazy.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:05 am
by Jonse
Ah, space....
Well, there was a time when I felt that, almost absolutely, if I did not explore what is beyond this big collection of water and dirt holding us here at some point in my lifetime, that eveything would feel utterly insignificant in the end.
Since that that feeling has become less prominent now with my more recent experiences using states of consciousness altering psychedelics and whatnot.
I still have a huge desire to go up there someday. Needless to say, if I won some sort of trip to stay on the space station or something like that for a few weeks, I'd take it immediately.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:21 am
by mechanismj
Oh yeah. I've seen that "neural net" pic of the universe numerous times and thought the same thing. The universe looks like a giant brain. This would certainly explain the idea that the whole thing is consciousness... in a way.
Lens, I believe you're onto something there. Bits of it are computer simulation. I tend to think also that since we're so tiny, and like Smoot says, it's hard to see it when you're in it, maybe a lot of it is still speculation.
I hope this makes sense. I was distracted while writing it.
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:24 am
by Lens Larque
I don't know enough maths to be even posting here.
The whole thing is organizing. What the hell is going on?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:08 pm
by mechanismj
Self organizing.
Also, 10% of the known universe discovered. 10% of our brains being used. Hooah!