Cosmology Round-up

"We have water [on Mars]," confirms one of the scientists leading the Phoenix robot lander mission to the Red Planet. The Martian soil is not quite like what we expected. One of the critical questions under investigation by the Phoenix team now is whether the water is or was ever liquid long enough to support life. This is exciting stuff.

Liquid hydrocarbon lake detected on Titan. The lake, likely composed of methane and/or ethane, was found by the Cassini probe. Scientists think that Titan, largest moon of Saturn, has an environment and climate somewhat similar to that of Earth, albeit not water-based.


















Only 10 more space shuttle missions left. While the shuttles are marvels of technology, they are getting old fast. Remember that they were introduced in the late '70s. Personally, I can't wait to see the next generation of space vehicles. Unfortunately, I don't think we are quite at this point, yet.

Evil Villain: the Musical!

What? A 3 part mini-play from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series) starring Doogie Howser and the captain from Firefly. Why? Because the writers had some time to kill during that strike awhile back. When? Now until the 20th. Then you have to pay. You'll all pay. Mwhahahahaha!


I had to watch the Bad Horse number several times. It's just so delightfully evil.

Hey Ya!

It's Monday, so enjoy a dancing otter.




Is there anything cooler than an otter?

Mind Games

Here's a puzzle for you:

Suppose you are a secret agent and you have been captured by your crazy arch-villain nemesis. Your arch-rival, being overly dramatic and not quite thinking his plan through, locks you in room. There is only one way in or out of this room and it is sealed by a vault door. Your nemesis informs you that the only escape is to turn the door latch in exactly 9 minutes. Turning the latch any time before or after 9 minutes will result in poison gas being pumped into the room, killing you. The only items in the room are two old-fashioned hourglass type timers, with the larger one counting down 7 minutes, the smaller counting out 4 minutes.

How do you know when to turn the latch?





Adapted from Vincent Janoski's post on the Geekdad blog.