Strange Supernovae Prompt Rethink
The astronomers suggest that a new class of supernovae may exist — a supernova that evolves in the style of the Type 1a, but lives and dies much more swiftly, driven by the creation of an exceptionally massive white dwarf.
“We know that the more massive a star is, the shorter its lifetime,” ESA quoted Kazimierz Borkowski of North Carolina State University as saying.
“If such a star could also begin to pull matter from its companion at an early stage, then this star would have a much shorter fuse and explode in only about 100 million years, much less than other Type 1a supernovas.”
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As you might know, before I got into Cognitive Science I was an Astrophysics major. When I left, I had nearly enough credits to get away with a minor in physics, so I decided to take two last courses and get the minor.
I’m taking my last physics course in the last semester: PHYS 239, electromagnetism. Today, I finally verified that because COGS is a specialization instead of a major, I can’t officially get the minor, so I’m reconsidering taking this course. Here are the pros and cons of taking the course:
PROS:
- I can tell future employers that I technically have a minor in physics, even if it wasn’t awarded.
- I can feel like my time spent in the physics department wasn’t entirely wasted.
- If I don’t take the course, it’s like I abandoned physics.
CONS:
- It’ll mean time taken away from my thesis
- I have to pay $500 for it
- I essentially have the minor anyway, I’m just half a course short and that looks just as good for an NSERC grant or whatever
- It’s just a minor
- Cutting your losses is something I’m not good at, so I’ll feel like I’ve made some sort of breakthrough.
So now it’s up to you: do I take the course?
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When I was your age, Pluto was a planet.
Due to the fantastic feed back I have been getting from this group I would like to put forward an idea. If any of you members want to help out, please feel free to invite anyone and everyone to join. I believe that this group has the potential to be one of the biggest Pluto fan groups on facebook!
Also, I am looking for a new photo to put in place of the main one. So upload any pictures that you feel are oldschool (like Pluto)
Here we go; we gonna send this one out to Pluto
All these motherfuckers in the Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud, and scattered disc
Heliosphere, and all the motherfuckers that laid it down, the foundation
yaknowhatI’msayin? Nuttin but love for Pluto
That’s who we gonna do this one for, ya feel me?
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*sniff* they should have sent… a poet.
Found in a meandering sort of way via Mind Hacks.
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From Cosmic Variance, on Glenn Reynolds reaching a new state of wrongness:
So in fact, Reynolds has managed to fit five units of wrongness into only four declarative statements! This is the hackular equivalent of crossing the Chandrasekhar Limit, at which point your blog cannot help but collapse in on itself.
Although I disagree with the methodology (introducing a new clause and attaching wrongness to it without including it with the original statements), it is top notch physics humour.
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Some of the stars are a bit smeared or shifted because our telescope wanders. It hates tracking.
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I just got back from Stirling Hall, where I was finally handing in my 38-page Astrophysics Report. I am of course mentioning this because it makes me appear an astrophysical genius, whereas in troth, 17 of those pages are raw data, equations and pretty pictures. Still, I could barely fit the bastard into a standard report cover, which I see as an academic badge of honour.
Back to my story. I was in Stirling Hall handing in this report, and I chanced across the message boards in the main entryway. There was an advertisement up, asking for people who didn’t like exercising and sat at least 4 hours every day. I haven’t seen this ad up in any other buildings, which leads me to believe that they specifically put up the ad in Stirling Hall, and also possibly Jeffery. Oh dear nerds, why don’t you pick up a treadmill every once in a while?
On a side note, has anyone noticed the particular consistency of the snowfall this morning? I know I have an exam at 1pm this afternoon, but I want to make a snowman.
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