Life in outerspace

Copy of a discussion in my calculus class. I love this kind of stuff!

Matthew D 20 Sep 10    8:57 AM MST One project that really stands out in my head is the SETI project. Yes, people have a lot of reactions to it (searching for ET). However, the project uses math like crazy, and one of those functions is a fourier transformation. Sifting through three dimensions of signal (time, frequency and amplitude) requires a lot of work using many aspects of math. The fourier series just happens to be one of those that can help find repeating signals (>periodic< repetitions) in a sea of frequencies.     Karena C 20 Sep 10  10:02 AM MST I've never heard of the project, but I'm sure it can be interesting. I don't believe in ET's but I'm sure it has quite a following. Is it still ongoing?     Corey S 20 Sep 10    7:17 PM MST Karena how can you not believe there could be life out there. Of the billions of solar systems out there the odds of there being another planet suitable for life is pretty good really. I guess I like to believe in the possibility but this isn't the place for that conversation lol. I suppose I will be using this (if I can figure it out) in my electronics circuits and freq. generation.     Karena C 21 Sep 10    9:08 AM MST I know they are looking at other planets for life. All I keep thinking about is that movie with John Cusack where only the wealthy could afford the tickets for the boats to stay alive!     Corey S 24 Sep 10    8:49 PM MST Well I guess we all better make our billions then. It doesn't matter though with this kinda math we can just build our own space ships huh (lol)     Matthew D 24 Sep 10    8:58 PM MST You know, I'm reminded of the book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. I believe in it is a part that has something identical to this, only backwards. If I remember correctly (not owning a book to refer back to), at some point, the people of earth take the "nearly useless" people and send them off into space (people like phone sanitizers and a few other examples he illustrates). The reason for this is they think that useless people get in the way of everything and the world would be better off without them. So they put them all into a bunch of spaceships and send them away. The only thing is, shortly afterwards someone contracts a deadly disease off of a phone handset and the entire population dies, leaving the ones in space as the sole survivors of the entire planet. I should also mention that it wasn't earth but some other planet, since earth was blown up to make room for an interstellar highway in the beginning of the book.     William L 21 Sep 10    8:44 PM MST There maybe billions and billions of planet out there but they must be the exact distance from the sun to allow for life. The most memorable line I ever heard was if we we 1 degree closer to the sun we would burn up if we were 1 degree farther we would freeze to death.     Kasey N 21 Sep 10  10:54 PM MST I think the odds are too favorable on the side of life on other planets. Think of this; The conservative estimate for the number of stars in your galaxy are around 200-500 billion. Outside of our galaxy there are 'at least' 100-200 billions galaxies in the universe. Since we can only see a fraction of our universe these are guesstimates at best. The number is probably a lot lot more. Now if the chances of the exact circumstances for our planet to sustain life are a 1 in a billion chance, well those are pretty good odds that their may be repeat circumstances on other planets. Even in our own back yard, mars, they found frozen water 2 inches below the surface by the phoenix mars lander in July '08. Water, the right temperature, and a little biological goo, and you have life. Maybe the life isn't sentient but I'd bet its out there.     Matthew D 22 Sep 10    2:24 PM MST If you're talking odds, here's something else to add to your equations (since this IS a math class). There are more life forms out there than just carbon based life forms. There are silicon based forms, forms that metabolize differently (CO2 vs. O2 for example), bacteria that survive volcanoes and liquid nitrogen... Life exists everywhere. During a trek to the bottom of the ocean to study methane hydrate deposits and phenomena, scientists found worms on the sea floor inside the hydrates (http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=4742). Keep in mind, the temperature for these hydrates to form is below freezing, meaning that regular water (regular life forms) would be frozen. Also, the pressure of water at 1800' below the oceans surface is 795 psi. Not a very pleasant environment. And the sun doesn't penetrate that far either. So, while the chances of life out there identical to ours is very good, the chances of life in general is statistically certain. While we may not discover intelligent life close enough to make contact with, there is definitely a chance of finding traces somewhere. And for those curious, the SETI project (which is illustrated in the movie Contact) is at http://seti.berkeley.edu/, and also has an application run at home which has all the mathematical stuff that can be run on signals.     William L 24 Sep 10    8:33 AM MST It is a nice assumption that because there are billions and billions of planets in the universe that life must be on them. In order for life to be on them the planets must be the same distance from the sun as we are. This reduces the odds dramatically. Again to close we burn up, to far we freeze. Really a little biological goo you have life. Personally I would recommend watching Ben Stein Expelled. Ignore the commentary, he has a portion which illustrate the odds of life forming that is fascinating. Second, If Ben Stein may grate your reasoning. Watch the show Manswer, specifically the episode concerning spacesuits. The key concept to close to the sun you burn up to far and you freeze. You can not escape this fundamental concept.     Matthew D 24 Sep 10    2:54 PM MST True, but only for life IDENTICAL to ours (carbon based human structures...). We have already seen on our planet alone that there is life forming and developing in environmental conditions that we ourselves would have no chance of surviving. There are frogs that can survive conditions below freezing (where cells would normally freeze and burst, thereby destroying the life form). There are worms living in areas that would freeze and crush us, aside from the fact that there is nothing in the area that we can metabolize. Bacteria have been in places we didn't know anything could exist. So, while it's true that conditions need to be just so for our version of life to form, it is not the same for every form. Just like the series equations we're working on this week. If f(x) = a0 + a1 + a2 + a3 +...+ b1..., we're really just something like a2 where f(x) = all life.     Kasey N 24 Sep 10  10:41 PM MST I was watching history channel the other day, a program called 'The Universe' - dark future of the sun. It said somewhere between 1-5billion years in the future(not sure which), due to the normal life cycle of a star of our sun's size, it will approach the red giant phase. During this time it will swell immensely, swallowing mercury and Venus ultimately, and it's heat output will greatly increase. Over time earth will become uninhabitable due to the heat. Maybe as the suns heat increases, mars will become the new earth. Maybe its frozen water will melt and its atmosphere will become habitable with an optimal temperature range reached. point is this cycle most likely repeats itself all over the universe with all the stars. Planets unable to support life now may paint a different picture in a few billion years. The formula for life might not depend necessarily on an exact set of conditions but the time line in which favorable conditions fall. btw Matt, Neat site even though I have never seen 'Contact'     William L 25 Sep 10    1:09 AM MST To follow your example if anything Pluto would become habitable and earth and anything closer to sun will still be uninhabitable.     Verna H 24 Sep 10    7:19 AM MST Corey, I'm with the professor because I don't believe in ET either but that don't stop people like yourself from believing in it.     Corey S 24 Sep 10    8:51 PM MST Lol my wife doesn't even believe in space.     Matthew D 24 Sep 10    9:10 PM MST How is that? Are you talking like doesn't comprehend space? Or are you talking product of the 60's, thinks space is a government conspiracy to control the people space? As for me, I don't know if I would take the ET (movie) standpoint, or others like it. But to think that we are the only planet in this entire universe that has life seems incomprehensible to me. Whether you take a scientific, mathematic or religious standpoint, it's easier to assume there is other life out there, intelligent and not. Mathematics favor the odds. Science favors the methodology (using the odds). And religion is it's own boat that has an entire spectrum devoted to extra terrestrial life ranging from life exists elsewhere to ET will come rescue it's stranded children and take them back to the soaring comet. Personally, I find it harder to explain why and how space (and outer life) doesn't exist than I do thinking about the different varieties that could exist (using Ockham's Razor here).     William L 25 Sep 10    1:17 AM MST I don't want to sound like a broken record but how do you figure mathematics favor the odds. The fact we are here is the probability against our existence. Don't want to sound like a broken record but 1 degree closer we would burn up and 1 degree further away we would freeze. Leaving aside religion and just relying on science. I would recommend Expelled Ben Stein movie just for the probability aspect and MANswer purely for the less than 30 second flash bang concept of our existence.     Matthew D 26 Sep 10    8:11 PM MST And yet, here we are. That's the problem with math. Take Riemann sums for example. Do it on the left side, you can get to high. On the right, you're to low. Even the middle can get you an answer that's just far enough off to cause error. Not to discount any ideals, but I'm not sure how much I rely on Ben Stein (a financial whiz) or MANswer (a male oriented organization) to detail how the math should work for life (a completely abstract piece of concrete ideas). As the saying goes, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.     Kasey N 26 Sep 10  10:30 PM MST The way I look at it is, under the assumption that our sentient existence was a one-in-a-billion chance, you are right in 999,999,999 instances of similar circumstances. In instance one, a planet is a degree to close and the planet is too hot to support life. In instance two, another planet is a degree too far and is too cold. Instance three is way too cold or way too hot. This continues on and on under a myriad of circumstances up until instance number 1 billion. Then, just like our earth, the circumstances are just perfect for life to exist. The point is that the fact that we exist at all, in such a fragile culmination of circumstances, is proof that with trillions upon trillions of other planets and stars in the universe that the circumstances will inevitably repeat and support life elsewhere.     Corey S 26 Sep 10    5:48 PM MST Ok first of all there is no use in getting into my wife's believes. There is no logic behind it and she can't explain it. Half the time I think she is just teasing me but she is so serious. Also I agree with you Matthew I mean look at evolution to start. Things grow and change to their environment. Saying something couldn't evolve because a planet is 1 degree farther or closer than earth is just funny. I guess it just doesn't make since to me that its not possible for life to start somewhere else.     William L 25 Sep 10    1:10 AM MST Now that is funny.

Advice from a old hand at drifting.

This is a post to a fellow member of floridadrift.com asking what he should do being new to drifting.

The best way to start drifting is to do just that, start.  Ignore some of the retards on here.  I started drifting about 6-7 years ago.  All I had at the time was a honda crx. It wasn't drifting per-say but I e-braked it around the corners all the same.  After i totaled that crx I got a bone stock 95 240sx se.  What helped me in learning drifting the most was a few buddies and I went to construction sites late at night and practiced in the dirt.  Also when it rained we stormed the streets in force.  Not only does the dirt, grass, or rain slick pavement compensate for lack of power but it forces you to be more precise with your counter steering and throttle pressure.  It is much easier to lose control under those conditions so you learn to be more sensitive and precise with your movements. Not only that but it saves on tires immensely. A year or so after that I stepped up to a red-top sr20det motor and then it unlocked the real potential of the car.  Our crew would hit Ocala every Saturday night burning rubber and just plain showing off.  If it wasn't for that initial practice on softer surfaces I wouldn't be near the drifter I am today. Granted now I reverted back to where i only drift when its raining and that is if it happens to be on the way to work, I still enjoy it all the same.  Plus it is really satisfying doing it with traffic behind you knowing their mouths must be on the floor thinking I almost wrecked.
So in summation, just get the car and work more on your technique than your car. My buddy, for example, drifted for years in his 92 Toyota pickup truck. No lie. -Kasey

The best steak I've ever had. Ever!

I went to my local butcher in the neighboring town of Wildwood, FL. Its a a store call Best Meats.  I have never been to a butcher. I would always go to the local grocery store to get my meats. Even then I would only get a top sirloin at best.  I was extremely impressed with the meat I received, and the service they provided.  I got two cuts of porterhouse from them.  They did not have any filets in the case which is what I had to get. (because that's what the wifey likes.  I like new york strips myself so it was a natural fit to go with the porterhouse. Half ny strip and half filet separated by a T-bone.  They cut them fresh for me at about 1.5"s. Using a guide I found at steamykitchen.com I did the following...

I took the steaks and liberaly coated them on both sides with Morton's Sea Salt.(see below)
When I say liberally I mean a lot. The guide said you almost want to white out the red of the meat. Also only use sea salt, it taste better than table and it has bigger crystals that absorb more moisture.

After 20 minutes I flipped them over, adding a little more salt to each side and then let them sit another 20.

Next I washed all the salt off of the steaks under the sink faucet. Once the salt was all gone I patted them completely dry with a paper towel and peppered them on both sides.

Then all that was left was grill time.

About ten minutes on each side at medium heat and viola! A juicy, med-well, no need for A1(which says a lot), and barely a need for a fork and knife worlds best porterhouse.

These steaks were some of the best I have ever had. Even the wifey who is by no means a steak lover said she would have just eaten steak and been happy without the crab legs we had too. She raved multiple times about it, which is very uncommon.  Even our son pictured above, who does not eat meat of any kind except chicken, liked it.

I've only had two other steaks that rivaled mine. One was prepared by a retired Perdue Meat Company employee. The other was from a private, very expensive restaurant in The Villages, FL that resides above the restaurant that I work at. (President Bush ate at that restaurant on one of his tours) I happened to get a bite of one of their steaks in a food trade.

This was still better that those. It was like a party in my mouth and everybody came. I know I did. It was food-porn at it finest. Tastebudgasmic. 

Sorry there are no picures of the final product ecept for the left over ny strip. It didn't last very long once we tried a bite.

A bientôt!

Captain Morgan's faggoty red-headed cousin.

Admiral Nelson!  I'm not sure why I write a lot about alcohol since I really don't drink that much but nether-the=less. Next time you are at the liquor store pick up a bottle of Admiral Nelson.  You will see exactly why the title of this post is named such.  I did learn something from the butt pirate though, I like rum on the rocks.  Why not, I drink almost every other liquor on the rocks. I had poured a shot to  Maybe I'll spring for a bottle of Captain private stock or a good Mount Gay. {which the Admiral has visited a few times ;) } And if my gay jokes offend you...Piss Off.