Nerd Symposium

Search begins for a giant new planet.

2011-03-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

Astronomers are on the hunt for a massive undiscovered planet lurking in our own solar system.

The new planet could be four times the size of Jupiter and is thought to be situated 375 times further away from the sun than Pluto. Some scientists believe NASA's Wise telescope has already picked up evidence that its there and that it will be confirmed within the next two years.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/up-telescope-search-begins-for-giant-new-planet-2213119.html

Thoughts on the alleged planet? The idea that a gas giant, or brown dwarf has remained undetected (or unverified) until now is fascinating. Many people have heard of the proposed brown dwarf companion to the Sun, Nemesis, while even more people have heard of Planet X which is considered to be "Nibiru" for some. (Though I won't get into that here.)

We've learned over the years that it's not uncommon for stars to have a companion, and some have multiple. (But those systems so far have been seen as not being conducive for life to have enough time to evolve to become as advanced as humanity. Though we have a lot to learn.)

Any thoughts about the proposed gas giant being sought by scientists? Do you believe there's a body out there bigger than Earth in our system? Possibly even a brown dwarf?

Visitors to Earth Will Likely Be Robots

2011-03-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

"If an extraterrestrial spaceship ever lands on Earth, I bet you that it is 99.9999999 percent likely that what exits that ship will be synthetic in nature," said Michael Dyer, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles (appropriately enough).

If Aliens Attack: Visitors to Earth Will Likely Be Robots (so says Space.com)

I've always thought any life that visits us would need to be synthetic as well, at least partially. As we've not yet encountered another civilization openly, there's no way to know for sure, but any other life form, whether they're carbon-based like us, or silicon, chlorine, arsenic, or boron, would most likely encounter the problems we have with longevity, mortality, illnesses and more. (Can't recall if phosphorous was ruled out or is still possible.)

It's just as possible certain aliens are naturally long-lived, strong or immune to illness. If not, it stands to reckon that if they were sufficiently more advanced than us they hopefully found ways to cure any ailments and possibly mortality. And unless they figured out how to manipulate "worm holes", even at the speed of light, travel between stars with habitable systems and galaxies themselves would still take thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years or more.

Two planets found sharing one orbit.

2011-03-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

Not the latest of news, but pretty recent. Might just be my ignorance but I'd never even heard of two planets sharing one orbit being possible. (Not saying that it was thought of as impossible, just that I had never even heard anyone mention such a thing.)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20160-two-planets-found-sharing-one-orbit.html

What are your thoughts? The article suggests their orbits are far enough apart that they probably won't ever collide, less the Roche Limit should take place (is that possible for planet-sized objects? I'm a fan of planets with rings. The more debris the better.)

Imagine Earth-sized planets sharing an orbit, even Super-Earth's. Life forming on both worlds would be fascinating, but it'd take the right events on both worlds for that to happen.

Commence the Nerd Symposium

2011-03-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

I hope to dedicate my blog to my (and your own) views on the latest news in any branch of science, even the unrelated paranormal/metaphysical news. (Nothing wrong with being curious.)