Posted on 02/19/2006 12:10:25 PM PST by KevinDavis
ST. LOUIS - An astronomer involved in a NASA mission to look for Earthlike planets beyond our solar system has winnowed through thousands of stars to come up with a top-10 list that includes some of the favorite haunts for science-fiction aliens.
Actually, the lineup from Margaret Turnbull at the Carnegie Institute of Washington is broken down into two top-five lists: one for the radio-based search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, and the other for the NASA mission, known as the Terrestrial Planet Finder.
The SETI stars will be on the list of targets for the privately funded Allen Telescope Array in California, which is due to begin limited operation with 42 linked radio dishes this spring. But the top prospects for the Terrestrial Planet Finder are currently in limbo, because NASA has put the mission on indefinite hold.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Well, it is a perfectly good (if homonymic) description of the location of Algore's thought process. It suits him.
[text from source (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html)]:
As with the COBE temperature measurement, the agreement between the predicted shape of the CMBR power spectrum and the actual observations is staggering. The balloon-borne experiments (particularly BOOMERang, MAXIMA, and DASI) were able to provide convincing detections of the first and second acoustic peaks before WMAP, but none of those experiments were able to map a large enough area of the sky to match with the COBE DMR data. WMAP bridged that gap and provided much tighter measurement of the positions of the first and second peaks. This was a major confirmation of not only the Lambda CDM version of BBT, but also the basic picture of how the cosmos transitioned from an early radiation-dominated, plasma-filled universe to the matter-dominated universe where most of the large scale structure we see today began to form.
Another stunning example of actual empirical data confirming the theoretical predictions of the cosmological models currently in use by scientists.
Some people seem to be bent on celebrating their ignorance; I prefer to celebrate the light that science has been able to shed on the workings of the Universe. One point of view is negative, and one positive. As our knowledge increases, the negative view will have less and less and less to celebrate, while the positive view, which I hold, will have more an more and more to celebrate.
If our knowledge of the Universe is so paltry, how is that the angular power spectrum predictions Lamda-CDM model fit the actual measured data so well? Again, I'm not holding my breath for answers from the "it's a mystery" crowd. I DO predict another round of whining and hysterical obfuscation from the usual suspects.
The measurements of the early universe are real science.
Trouble is that many the "Gods of Science" seem unable to distinguish the difference.
"...And Science is happy, even eager, to accommodate! After all, the goal of science is to progress from less knowledge to more knowledge, from less understanding to more understanding. We already know that we don't know everything -- unlike certain people who (on religious grounds) think they have all knowledge and wisdom and power and might."In short, you're arguing with the same defensiveness I would expect from a creationist. It's not even clear to me what set you off.
Geez, all the guy said was that for all our knowledge we still don't know a damn thing about the universe. I'd say thats an extremely safe statement so I'd give it a rest if I was you.
Sheesh.
from #62:
"If our knowledge of the Universe is so paltry, how is that the angular power spectrum predictions [of the] Lamda-CDM model fit the actual measured data so well?"
LOL bttt
Only a first step. Might as well take notes on footprints on a crowded beach and make a science of the geometrical arrangement without getting around to what the footprints mean.
I have more New York Slimes Editions on my FR Homepage and my Archives Page
MAP Data Released!
11 Feb 2003 - The results from the first year of observing by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe were announced today at a Space Science Update in the auditorium of NASA HQ. Important results include:
- The satellite has been renamed in honor of the late David T. Wilkinson of Princeton University, a key member of the project from its conception.
- The polarization of the microwave background anisotropy coming from scattering by electrons 200 million years after the Big Bang has been detected. This is evidence for an early generation of stars existing 4 to 5 times earlier than any object yet observed.
- The WMAP data agree with previous work showing the Universe is flat and in an accelerating expansion.
- The WMAP data give the most precise values for the density of ordinary [baryonic] matter made of protons and neutrons: 0.4 yoctograms per cubic meter, and for the total of dark and baryonic matter: 2.5 yoctograms per cubic meter. These correspond to omega_b = 0.0224 +/- 0.0009 and omega_m = 0.135 +/- 0.009.
- The WMAP data give the most precise value for the age of the Universe: 13.7 +/- 0.2 Gyr. The Hubble constant is Ho = 71 +/- 4 km/sec/Mpc, and the vacuum energy density corresponds to lambda = 0.73 +/- 0.04.
source:
People are not obligated to learn. In fact, I don't think the point of a forum such as this is to educate so much as it is to: (1) be an alternative source of news, and (2) function as a place to discuss and debate news, the broad culture, and public policy.
As for your assertion that "the experts here on these threads ought to be revered," I totally disagree. Appreciated, sure, assuming their expertise is genuine. Respected, perhaps, assuming each individual earns respect. But revered? Heck no!
Unless the universe has something else going on we are doomed to the heat death. It will be a while, but it seems certain.
That's what the data are indicating...
;-)
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