Thee Star Chamber

The UnMuseum Newsletter for September 2006

Science Over the Edge
A Roundup of Strange Science for the Month
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In the News:

*The Eight Planets - Last month the International Astronomical Union created
a definition of a planet that has excluded Pluto, one of the traditional
nine, from the list. Up to this point there had been no official definition
for planet, but the discovery of several objects, including one nicknamed
"Xena" that is larger than Pluto, forced the Union to create a set of
criteria. Until the last minute is seemed likely that the group would vote
to include the smaller bodies and increase the number of planets to twelve,
with more likely to be found in the near future. Instead the definition was
changed to include spherical bodies large enough to "sweep" their orbits
clean of small objects like asteroids. Scientists are now calling objects
like Pluto, and "Xena," "dwarf" planets.

*The Umoonasaurus and Opallionectes - Scientists have discovered two new
species of prehistoric marine reptiles belonging to the group of animals
call plesiosaurs. Umoonasaurus was the "killer whale equivalent of the
Jurassic" period with a relatively small length of 8 feet and distinguished
by three crest-like ridges on its skull. "Imagine a compact body with four
flippers, a reasonably long neck, small head and short tail much like a
reptilian seal," said paleontologist Benjamin Kear, a member of the team
that identified the creatures. The other, Opallionectes was about 20 feet
long and had many fine, needle-like teeth for trapping small fish and squid.
Both lived in the freezing polar waters that covered Australia 115 million
years ago, when the continent was located closer to Antarctica. The team
published their finding in the journal Paleontology and also the online
edition of Biology Letters, a periodical from the prestigious Royal Society
of London.

*"One Space Step" Tapes Missing - The U.S. government has misplaced the
original historic recordings of man's first walk on the moon along with
other data tapes from the Apollo space missions. Approximately seven hundred
boxes of the material, mostly data tapes, have disappeared. The data tapes
were held by the National Archives but returned to NASA sometime in the late
1970s and it is not known what has become of them. A NASA spokesman assured
reporters that all the data that is missing is still available to the space
agency in a different form, though the quality of some of the material, such
as the television pictures, may not be of as high a quality as the
originals.

*Too Much Deuterium Around - Scientists have been surprised to find a lot
more deuterium lurking around in the universe than expected, according to a
study published in the Astrophysical Journal last month. Deuterium is form
of hydrogen with a neutron in its nucleus that was created just moments
after the "big bang." According to current theories much of it should have
turned into regular hydrogen since then as it was recycled through stars.
Results from the NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE,
satellite, show that the amount of deuterium around, however, has only
declined 15% from the big bang, less then half of what was expected. "This
implies that either significantly less material has been converted to helium
and heavier elements in stars or that much more primordial gas has rained
down onto the galaxy over its lifetime than had been thought," said Jeffrey
Linsky of the University of Colorado, who led the study. "In either case,
our models of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way will have to be
revised significantly to explain this important new result."

*Scientists Take a Closer Look at Dangerous Comets and Asteroids -
International Astronomical Union, last month, established a special task
force charged with taking a close look at the threat of collision with
"near-Earth objects" like asteroids that might cause a global cataclysm.
"The goal is to discover these killer asteroids before they discover us,"
said Nick Kaiser of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.
There are an estimated 1,100 comets and asteroids in the inner solar system
at least a half-mile across and could cause planet wide destruction should
they hit Earth. Scientists hope to chart the paths of possibly dangerous
objects. If given a decade of warning it is possible that a specially
designed spacecraft could be used to "nudge" the object out of the way and
into a different orbit.

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What's New at the Museum:

*The Lost City of Petra - An ancient city of stone hides deep in the
mountains of Jordan. What mysteries are hidden there?
(http://www.unmuseum.org/petra.htm)

*The Kraken - Our popular page on this legendary creature updated.
(http://www.unmuseum.org/kraken.htm)

*From The Curator's Office: The B9 Builders Club - What more could you want
than a plastic pal that's fun to be with?
(http://www.unmuseum.org/notescurator/b9builders.htm)

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Ask the Curator:

*Moving Target in Space - I understand that the Universe is constantly
expanding, which means that we, on Earth, including our solar system, are in
a new area of space at any time, constantly moving away. Why is that we
never see or encounter anything in the new spaces we pass through? What is
the speed of this expansion? Thank you, Victor B.

The expansion of the universe is thought to have started with the "Big Bang"
some 11.2 billion to 20 billion years ago. Since all matter and energy in
the universe were at one time together in one location, the expansion, or
some use the term "inflation," of the universe has the effect of spreading
things out so it actually reduces the density of material in the universe
overall making things farther apart the longer time goes on. Imagine putting
three dots on a balloon with a marker, then blowing air into the balloon.
The inflation of the balloon causes the dots move apart.

The rate of expansion looks different based on how far away an object is
from you. A galaxy that is a megaparsec (3.2 million light years) away from
us moves at a speed of approximately 72 kilometers per second (Kps). A
galaxy two megaparsecs away moves at a speed of 144 Kps and so on (If this
doesn't make sense, put three dots on a balloon in a row and label them A, B
and C, then blow it up. The distance from A to C will increase about twice
as fast as that from A to B).

Now on a smaller scale, gravity in the universe does cause material to clump
together to form things like stars, solar systems and galaxies. Because of
the effects of gravity they stay relatively the same distance from each
other in respect to the expansion of the universe. Even so, they are also
moving. Our sun, along with billions of other stars in our Milky Way galaxy,
rotate around a central point (probably a massive black hole). The speed of
rotation varies, with the stars closer to the center going slower and those
farther out going faster. The Sun is about 2/3s of the way out from the
center and moves at a speed of 250 Kps.

Since the sun is moving along with most of the stars in this area of the
galaxy in the same general direction, our distance in respect to these stars
doesn't change much. However scientists have recently found evidence of
"rebel" stars that seem to be moving either out from the galactic center or
in toward it. Our next encounter with such a star will occur in about 1.4
million years from now when Gliese 710 will pass within a light year of us.

To sum it all up, we are always moving, but the distances in space are so
vast things only go by us rarely and when they do they are still very far
away.

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In History:
*The Last Tasmanian Tiger - On September 7, 1936, the last thylacine, also
known as the "Tasmanian tiger," died in captivity in the Hobart Domain Zoo
in Tasmania. The thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, had been eradicated in
the wild by the Australian government six years before as they saw them as a
pest that endangered livestock. Occasionally reports that the "tiger" is
still alive somewhere in the deep forests of Tasmania have been heard, but
so far no convincing evidence has come to light.

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In the Sky:
*Month of the Moon - Check out the full moon on September 7th as it rises
just after sunset. When the moon is low in the sky like that you can observe
the "Moon Illusion:" The moon appears to be much bigger than normal, though
an actual measurements shows that it is really a tiny bit bigger when
directly overhead. For a more detailed explanation of this illusion goto
http://www.unmuseum.org/exmoon.htm. The moon also comes to our attention on
September 21st. While the lunar orbital path is almost circular, there are
times when it is slightly farther from Earth than others. This point is
called the apogee. On that day the moon reaches its furthest apogee of the
year, at a distance of 252,587 miles.

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Observed:
*The Mystery Beast of Maine - Residents of Maine are scratching their heads
about a strange animal that appeared out of nowhere on a secluded highway
and was hit fatally by a car. The bizarre looking creature was thought to be
living in the forest in the area possibly attacking animals. Since the
incident several residents of the neighborhood have come forward to speak of
a mystery monster that roams the woods. "It was evil, evil looking. And it
had a horrible stench I will never forget," recounted Michelle O'Donnell to
the Sun Journal of Lewiston. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it
took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything
like it." Some have suggested the creature is a goat-sheep hybrid or even a
Tasmanian devil or dingo. Others have wondered if it had extraterrestrial
origins. Author and cryptozoologist Loren Coleman examined the body and
suspects it was a feral dog. Samples have been taken from the body by the
Sun Journal newspaper to be sent to a lab so the species can be identified
though DNA testing.

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On the Tube:

Currently we are only able to give accurate times and dates for these
programs in the United States. Check local listings in other locations.

*T-Rex: Warrior or Wimp? - Since the discovery of the first T-Rex skeleton
in 1905, this famous dinosaur has been billed a supreme predator, a six-ton
Tyrant Lizard King. The dinosaur’s mouth, filled with huge spiky teeth, led
scientists to conclude it must have been a killer. On the Science Channel:
SEP 03 2006 @ 10:00 PM, SEP 04 2006 @ 01:00 AM, SEP 04 2006 @ 05:00 AM;
ET/PT

*Exploring Einstein: Life of a Genius - Albert Einstein's physics theories
led to the creation of the nuclear bomb, space travel, and an understanding
of our universe. In the later part of his life Einstein tried to disprove
his theories as they clashed with his personal beliefs. On the Science
Channel: SEP 10 2006 @ 10:00 PM, SEP 11 2006 @ 01:00 AM, SEP 11 2006 @ 05:00
AM, SEP 11 2006 @ 11:00 AM, SEP 11 2006 @ 03:00 PM, SEP 17 2006 @ 09:00 AM;
ET/PT

*When Yellowstone Erupts - A super volcano lies beneath the beauty of
Yellowstone Park. Scientists are challenged with predicting when the next
super-eruption might take place and describing what will happen if this
cataclysmic event occurs. On The Science Channel: SEP 17 2006 @ 09:00 PM,
SEP 18 2006 @ 12:00 AM, SEP 18 2006 @ 04:00 AM, SEP 18 2006 @ 10:00 AM, SEP
18 2006 @ 02:00 PM, SEP 23 2006 @ 09:00 AM; ET/PT.

*Big Science: What Really Killed the Dinosaurs - Until recently, most
scientists thought they knew what killed off the dinosaurs - a giant
meteorite crashing into Earth. But a small and vociferous group of
scientists believes there is increasing evidence that the 'impact' theory
could be wrong. On The Discovery Channel: SEP 02 2006 @ 08:00 PM, SEP 03
2006 @ 12:00 AM ; ET/PT.

*Comet Collision! - NASA's brilliant but risky mission is designed to
collide with a comet and in the process, reveal what lies in the heart of
those blazing voyagers of the solar system. Filmmakers use state-of-the-art
spacecraft animation and stunning location photography. On The Discovery
Channel: SEP 30 2006 @ 08:00 PM, OCT 01 2006 @ 12:00 AM; ET/PT.

*Tsunami 2004: Waves of Death - The 2004 Tsunami, centered in the Indian
Ocean, was caused by a 9.3 earthquake--the second strongest quake on record.
Join us for a minute-by-minute look at nature's fury at its worst, when the
tsunami kills more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. In this special, we
examine the tsunami as it moves from coast to coast through the eyes of
people who lived through it and scientists now studying its path of
devastation. Drawing on the extraordinary volume of amateur video that
recorded the disaster, we take viewers inside the world's deadliest tsunami.
On History Channel: August 28 @ 8pm ET/PT.

*Lost Worlds Knights Templar - They defended the Holy Land through bloodshed
and prayer. Founded in the 12th century, these Christian warrior monks
reigned supreme for nearly 200 years before suffering a spectacular fall
from grace. Tried for heresy, they were disbanded and their Grand Master
burned at the stake. We'll search behind the legend for their lost world. We
recreate the city they knew as Tortosa--now hidden among modern homes in the
Syrian city of Tartus. We reveal secrets of their headquarters at Temple
Mount in Jerusalem, with magnificent underground vaults that could stable
1,000 horses. And we visit the circular church in London built to resemble
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the site of the Templar's
mysterious initiation rites. We bring to life the hilltop fortress that
Lawrence of Arabia called "the finest castle in the world", and return to
the Mediterranean island where the Knights Templars made their last stand
against Moslem enemies. On History Channel: September 3 @ 8pm ET/PT.

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