Friday, April 27, 2007

Yeti Tracks : The Drake Equation

Well, here is my first yeti tracks, a type of post where I intend to add detail or discussion about something I've already mentioned, a sort of follow-up post.

I realized I mentioned the Drake equation in my post about Gliese 581 C without really saying what it was, for those who don't know. Basically the equation was created by Dr. Frank Drake as a method for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations it might be possible to come in contact with. The variables in this equation are almost all subject to debate, but the one that this discovery specifically relates to is ne which is the number of planets per star that would be capable of developing life. The discovery is also very relevant to the Rare Earth hypothesis, which basically states that the conditions required to support life in the universe are very rare, and the Mediocrity principle, which states the opposite by saying there is nothing particularly unusual or special about the conditions required to support life in a universal context.

If you are really interested, you can read more about the Drake Equation, the Rare Earth hypothesis and the Mediocrity principle at Wikipedia. See you out there!

Black hole or worm hole?


A new study suggests that black holes and worm holes may be virtually indistinguishable from each other observationally. The sole observable difference is something called Hawking radiation, which should be found in the case of black holes but not with worm holes. The trouble is that Hawking radiation should be very hard to detect in the presence of many other energy sources. There is a very interesting article on the study and on black holes and worm holes in general at New Scientist.

An interesting thought is put foward that Hawking radiation may aid in future particle accelerator experiments where microscopic black holes might be produced, specifically to help identify whether what is created in the experiment is a black hole or a worm hole.

I've heard a little about these proposed experiments before, and really have to read more about them. What effect would a microscopic black hole have on its surroundings? Would it last a few nanoseconds and then vanish/collapse, or could it sustain itself? A worm hole would be preferable I think, since it does not have an event horizon like a black hole does! Which means something that goes in might be able to come back out.

I remember reading an alternate theory on black hole formation, function and form recently that I'm going to look around for and put up as yeti tracks if I can find it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

New Earthlike planet!


Wow, this is a great story to get this blog off the ground with! Gliese 581 C is the name of the planet, the smallest and most Earthlike exoplanet discovered so far. It is in the habitable zone of its star, with an estimated surface temperature between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius. This of course means water could exist as a liquid on the surface. Also, its relatively small size as exoplanets go means the gravity would not be crushing. This makes it a great candidate for extraterrestrial life. And at a distance of 20.5 light years, it is right in our galactic backyard.

The proximity of this discovery does indicate that similar planets may be plentiful. If you look at something like the Drake equation when you have values that you can back up with evidence, the debate around SETI becomes really interesting.

Thanks for reading my first entry! I didn't want to get too deep or detailed until I am more comfortable with doing this. Please bear with me while I figure out how to go beyond the basics and start getting photos, user-friendly formatting and so on incorporated. See you out there!


Welcome to Not Yet (dot) Net!!

Well, it seems I have finally gotten this project off the ground! A blog format seems to be the right way to go for something I can manage. With any luck, I will have the Url www.notyet.net pointing here in a day or so. And that Url is of course
the source of my screen name, Naughty Yeti (Not-ty Yet-i -- get it?). Feel free to groan, the Naughty Yeti loves puns...

So what is going to be here? Stuff that is "Not Yet". I love following frontiers in science and technology, so I'll be posting interesting news and hints I find on these subjects, along with my own musings on where that might take us, what might be coming next, why somethings don't seem to be getting any closer, and implications of all the above. With any luck, it will be interesting to someone other than me. See you out there!