It's a Brand New Day!

It's Monday, again, and though for most people today isn't their favorite day, I still love it as it symbolizes a new beginning each week--a new start to being better, learning more, and being able to share that knowledge and wonder with the rest of you.  So for me, Mondays are probably my favorite day of all as I get a chance to impart some of the fun things I've seen while I was away over the weekend.

More Evidence That Dark Matter May Be at the Heart of Our Galaxy

At left is a map of gamma rays with energies between 1 and 3.16 GeV detected in the galactic center by Fermi's LAT; red indicates the greatest number. Prominent pulsars are labeled. Removing all known gamma-ray sources (right) reveals excess emission that may arise from dark matter annihilations.  -- Credit: T. Linden, Univ. of Chicago

This latest report from NASA gives some compelling new evidence for the existence of dark matter at the center of our galaxy as it takes the emissions of particle collisions through gamma rays and uses them to more or less rule out most other theories that can't explain their presence there.  In short, the amount of gamma ray emissions are most easily explained by how we believe that dark matter particles interact.  That said, there is still a lot of work to be done, and while this may be the first evidence we have for dark matter emissions, it still needs to be corroborated by more studies from other labs and telescopes.

It's pretty exciting to believe that this might be proving a theory regarding the building blocks of our universe, but as always, as we learn more and more about how things work, we may find that there are other explanations, too.  Still, this is an amazing new possibility for astrophysicists to study and consider!

Cassini Discovers the Possibility of Liquid Water on Saturn's Moon, Enceladus

Recent findings published in the journal, Science, indicate that there may be liquid water beneath the icy surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.  What this means is that we may find the first extra-planetary life in our solar system--and universe--there.  Scientists believe that the building blocks of life are all there, and in spite of relatively recent developments in the moon's history that are conducive to such life, we may be able to find evidence of it there all ready--especially if we can get a mission sent there to collect ice crystals that explode from geysers at the moon's south pole.

While there are plenty of other possibilities for life within our own solar system on other moons and Mars, I'm actually just as thrilled at the idea that there is another object near us that has water.  After all, if water is important to life here, ensuring that there are other sources of it nearby just in case we use up all of what we have is a pretty good thing.  And that doesn't even begin to touch the tip of the iceberg--so to speak--when it comes to resupplying for manned space missions to explore our universe.  And while that may seem light-years away from our current capabilities, I definitely think it's worth considering.

That said, it also makes me wonder about the ethics of mining and using other planets, asteroids, and moons for their natural resources--especially if we do find evidence of life on them.  It's possible that we all ready have laws for that sort of thing drawn up, but if we don't, ...maybe it's time we start considering them.

To find out more about the recent discovery, you can check out this article on MSN or this article from The New York Times.

(The picture above shows Enceladus as viewed from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Gravity measurements taken by the craft align with the presence of a sea 20 to 25 miles below the moon’s surface, scientists say. Credit NASA)

Isaac Asimov -- Just Because

 

I found this article which cites an interview from Bill Moyers: A World of Ideas with Isaac Asimov.  If you're a fan of Asimov's books or are interested in learning more about him, I think you should consider reading this.  One of his more famous works, "I, Robot", recently had a movie made based on the story.  His three Laws of Robotics are fairly well known, and many of our ideas on how robots should act with regard to humans are based on his writings.

He is very outspoken against fundamentalism with regard to religion and believes that part of the beauty of life is that there is change--that nothing needs to be static, and that as our understanding of the world and the universe grows, we can change with that knowledge.

The excerpts from the interview show that Asimov was both insightful, but also understood something fundamental about human nature: given the opportunity, most of us would choose to learn more about the things that interest us.  He mentions ideas that, at the time, were just hopes fostered by the creation of the internet, and he laments the way our current education system is structured--that because we all learn differently, trying to teach everyone the same way seems foolish.  Given that we have technology, now, that can augment our teaching strategies, maybe it's even time to reconsider our current education system and look toward building something for the future instead of staying mired in the past.  Although what that new education system might be like, I really couldn't say.  Still, Asimov seems to suggest that perhaps we can find clues of that in our science fiction writings, television shows, and movies.  And maybe he's not so far off the mark at that.

Techno-Babble

Two fun updates on the internet front today:

First is that Warlords of Draenor has gone into the alpha stage.  For those not in the know, this is World of Warcraft's fifth expansion to date, and they're changing a lot of things.  So those of you who are still playing the game and wondering why there hasn't been new content coming out for a while--this is why.  Get ready for some changes and some fun data-mining in the next few months, and take a look at this article for more news on the coming expansion.

And last, but not least, I bring to you Hatsune Miku--a character created to help promote digital music software that is currently sweeping the music charts of Japan.  The vocaloid program utilized by the software is basically a collaboration of several singers' voices melded together to form a digitally synthesized version of a female singer.  The fact that this isn't a real person, and that her songs are created not by producers and bands, but by people sitting behind a computer screen like you and I, is pretty fascinating--at least to me.

It's an amazing new trend for self-expression, and it allows lovers of anime and gaming alike to create songs that resonate with them instead of just having to make due with whatever the producers of the show and the games can find or create.  To me, it's like handing someone the ability to be a concert pianist without them having to spend years and years working to build up their chops.  And sure--while not everyone who gets the ability is going to do something amazing with it, those one in a hundred that do who wouldn't have before?  That, to me, is the amazing part.

Technology is breaking down the barriers to self expression for everyone, and I think that is a good thing--for all of us.

(The above picture is an illustration by KEI © Crypton Future Media, INC. www.piapro.net )