Archive for April 21st, 2009
Kepler Scooped! (sort of…)
Posted by Rational Dreamer in science on April 21st, 2009
Just a couple of days ago I posted on this blog saying that the Kepler space telescope may already have the first Earth-like planet to be discovered—one capable of supporting life—in its sights. Well, now a team of European astronomers has made me look at little foolish by announcing that they have confirmation of the very first Earth-like planet to be located within a star’s habitable zone, before Kepler’s mission is even fully underway.
The team announced the discovery of a new exoplanet (a planet outside our own solar system), Gliese 581e, which is the lightest exoplanet ever discovered at less than twice the mass of Earth, but it takes just 3.15 days to orbit its star, and even though the star (Gliese 581) is a relatively cool red dwarf star, it is way too close and hot to have a chance of supporting life.
The Problem With Salvation #2:
The Deal Of A Lifetime?
Posted by Rational Dreamer in religion on April 21st, 2009
One day, you find yourself walking past a large curtain draped along the side of the street—a curtain like those they use in game shows to hide the grand prize from the audience and contestants. Suddenly, a salesman jumps out from behind the curtain to inform you that he is about to make you an offer that you cannot possibly refuse. He tells you that for a mere $100,000, he will sell you the brand new, top-of-the-range Mercedes-Benz luxury sports car (worth a cool half-million dollars) parked on the other side of the curtain. Your interest is piqued and you tell him to go ahead and show you the car, but the salesman says no, he can’t do that, and that you will just have to take his word for it that the offer is genuine.
Naturally you are very suspicious, believing that the salesman may be trying to scam you. When he notices your skepticism, the salesman pulls out a thick brochure and hands it to you, saying that it contains the answers to any questions you might have, and that it will explain how he is able to offer you such a fantastic deal. You take the brochure, expecting to see glossy photographs of the car and a fancy sales pitch, but all you find are pages and pages of dense technical information about the car and even more pages of barely decipherable legalese describing the terms of the deal. Undeterred, you decide it’s worth investigating further since it does sound like a great deal, so you take a deep breath and turn to page one of the brochure.
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