In the new sci-fi film Sunshine, an astronaut named Mace must leave his spacecraft without a protective suit. He makes it through his exposure with only a case of frostbite. Could you really survive outer space without a suit?
Yes, for a very short time. The principle functions of a spacesuit are to create a pressurized, oxygenated atmosphere for astronauts, and to protect them from ultraviolet rays and extreme temperatures. Without it, a spacewalker would asphyxiate from the lack of breathable air and suffer from ebullism, in which a reduction in pressure causes the boiling point of bodily fluids to decrease below the body's normal temperature. Since it takes a bit of time for these things to kill you, it's possible to make it through a very quick stint in outer space.
At most, an astronaut without a suit would last about 15 seconds before losing conciousness from lack of oxygen. (That's how long it would take the body to use up the oxygen left in the blood.) Of course, on Earth, you could hold your breath for several minutes without passing out. But that's not going to help in a vacuum. In fact, attempting to hold your breath is a sure way to a quick death. To make it for even a few seconds, Sunshine's Mace must have expelled the air from his lungs before he ventured into the starry void. If he hadn't, the vacuum would have caused that oxygen to expand and rupture his lung tissue, forcing fatal air bubbles into his blood vessels, and ultimately his heart and brain. Scuba divers are also at risk for air embolism; they're instructed not to hold their breath as they ascend from the deep sea.
An astronaut who fell unconscious from lack of oxygen would last for a few minutes more before dying from asphyxiation or the effects of the pressure reduction. Ebullism would result in the formation of bubbles in the moisture found in the eyes, mouth, and skin tissue. One NASA test subject who survived a 1965 accident in which he was exposed to near-vacuum conditions felt the saliva on his tongue begin to boil before he lost consciousness after 14 seconds.
In the movie, Mace takes the precaution of wrapping himself in insulation torn from the walls of the spacecraft he's leaving. This might provide some protection against temperatures in space that can run from minus-200 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. It might also ward off ultraviolet-related skin damage during a short jump through space.
What about the frostbite? That's actually the least plausible result of Sunshine's suitless spacewalk. The cold wouldn't cause Mace too much harm in just 15 seconds, even if he encountered the very lowest temperatures in space. That's because heat leaves the body very slowly in a vacuum. The more likely damage would be a "space hickey"—caused from the swelling and bursting of the skin's small blood vessels—which would look more like the effects of freeze-drying a wart than a case of frostbite.
----------------Helpful to have a spare in case you lose one or happen to travel to "problem" nations:
How to quickly get a second US passport for travel :
I'm staying in Istanbul for awhile and decided on a spur of the moment trip to Israel and Jordan. As I know I want to visit other Arab countries in the next year or two (that is, before my 2013 passport expiration date), I didn't want to get the stamp(s) in my 10 year passport. I went the US consulate in Istanbul and explained my situation - that I would be leaving in a week, that I just booked this flight, and that I didn't want to have to pay for another 10 year passport...or have to deal with the debacle of getting passports in the states right now. If I had a few more days before leaving, I could've gotten the 2 year passport they normally issue to those traveling to Israel....but they take 7-10 days to get there from the US. That would've been preferable, as it can be renewed (if I wanted to come back to Israel).So the woman says she'll check on something for me - what's the answer?Emergency passport for 68 USD!Yes, they issued me one those passports that they issue for travelers who have lost their passports! However, in this case, they don't cancel your old one. Sure, it expires in a year, but I know I won't be back to Israel for awhile and will likely visit other Arab countries before that. Best of all, they made it that evening and I got it in two days, shipped via UPS (if I had needed it sooner, they could've made it that day).So, if you're in a foreign country, definitely try to use a consulate or embassy to get a second passport - and if you have very little time, have them make you an emergency passport.
After allegations that astronauts flew drunk, NASA's rules on alcohol are under scrutiny. The agency currently doesn't allow its astronauts to imbibe in orbit, but over the years of crewed space travel, many astronauts have enjoyed a tipple.
more
The Sun UK says that Scarlett Johansson will take the role of Jenna Jameson in the film version of Jamesons book, "How To Make Love Like A Porn Star". The Sun says:
SCARLETT JOHANSSON has landed her most explicit role yet - that of the world's biggest porn star. The 22-year-old will take the lead role in the forthcoming, x-rated biopic of JENNA JAMESON. And legendary adult entertainer Jameson chose Scarlett specifically for the role. She explained, "I tapped up Scarlett for the part and I'm very excited about the film. It was my decision not to play the role because I've lived that tale already and anyone can play themselves."
I don't know how to break this to Hollywood but porn stars are only interesting when they're having stuff shoved inside of them. What am I, a social worker, what the hell do I care how they got there. If this was such a compelling subject, the Academy Award nominees for best picture would just be Bowlin In Her Colon 4, 5, 6 and 7, and then Ratatouille.
UPDATE - or maybe she isn't playing Jenna, according to People.
This is a photograph showing a flower-splashed hillside near Tehachapi, California. This is not photoshoped
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found an easy way to make a complex nanostructure that consists of tiny rods studded with nanocrystals. The new self-assembly synthesis method could lead to intricate nanomaterials for more-efficient solar cells and less expensive devices for directly converting heat into electricity.
In the structures, the quantum dots are all about the same size and are spaced evenly along the rods--a feat that in the past required special conditions such as a vacuum, with researchers carefully controlling the size and spacing of different materials, says Paul Alivisatos, the professor of chemistry and materials science at Berkeley who led the work. In contrast, Alivisatos simply mixes together the appropriate starting materials in a solution; these materials then arrange themselves into the orderly structure.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/19108/
Researchers at the University of Sheffield, in the UK, have made an adhesive that can be turned on and off with an external switch. The switch is the acidity of the solution surrounding the glue: two different kinds of polymers in the glue attract each other based on the solution's acidity. By repeatedly making the solution less or more acidic, Mark Geoghegan and his colleagues can switch the adhesive's stickiness, making two surfaces bond together and then come apart up to five times
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/19120/
F15 Eagle- never been shot down in almost 30 years of service 104-0
Microsoft released a beta of Visual Studio 2008 last week and to go along with it the company has unveiled a new downloading scheme that sounds a lot like bittorrent. The Microsoft Secure Content Downloader (MSCD) as the new protocol is known, is what Microsoft describes as “a peer-assisted download manager.”
Further details make the setup sound even more like bittorrent. From the MSCD site:
Each client downloads content by exchanging parts of the file they’re interested in with other clients, in addition to downloading parts from the server.
No matter how great the internet’s demand for the file, you will always be able to make progress downloading.
MSCD lets you download content quicker than is possible without peer assistance.
Unlike bittorrent though, these files are secured through an unspecified mechanism, but otherwise the system sounds like Microsoft has reinvented bittorrent as a means of downloading software updates. Or at least is testing the system.
http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/07/microsoft-embra.html
Here’s where it gets interesting though:
Some MSCD clients may be connected to each other via peer connections, forming a ‘cloud’ of clients. Pieces of the file you are downloading are sent through these peer connections between clients, as well as through connections with the file server. As a member of the cloud, your computer both serves as a client and server to other members of the cloud. Data destined for the cloud may be routed through your computer and sent to other cloud members. The other cloud members connected to you will be able to access only pieces of the file you are downloading via MSCD – they have no access to any other data on your computer
119 bucks at Buy.com
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204420531&adid=17070&dcaid=17070
My friends actually made this, they were supposed to be on David Letterman last week, but due to problems with Milwaukee's Best they have to wait. But until it is on tv there is youtube:
Beer Cannon Montage
Beer Cannon 101
New DeLorean
The iconic gull-winged sports car is once again hot, and there are plans afoot to place it back in production.
ATHENS, Greece - Researchers in northern Greece have uncovered two massive tusks of a prehistoric mastodon that roamed Europe more than 2 million years ago — tusks that could be the largest of their kind ever found.
The remains of the mastodon, which was similar to the woolly mammoth but had straighter tusks as well as different teeth and eating habits, were found in an area about 250 miles north of Athens where excavations have uncovered several prehistoric animals over the past decade.
One of the tusks measured 16-feet-4-inches long and the other was more than 15 feet long, the research team said. They were found with the animal's upper and lower jaws — still bearing teeth — and leg bones, said Evangelia Tsoukala, an assistant professor of geology at the University of Thessaloniki, who led the team that excavated the site.
"To find a tusk 5 meters (more than 16 feet) long, that was a big surprise," Tsoukala told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site late Wednesday.
"It's a very significant find because with these sections of the skeleton we can draw conclusions about this animal and its development," she added. "We are also looking for clues about its extinction."
Mastodons, an ancestor of the elephant, roamed Europe, Asia and North America, but how they became extinct remains a mystery. They are thought to have disappeared in Europe and Asia some 2 million years ago, but survived in North America until 10,000 years ago.
Tsoukala said the male animal discovered in Greece lived about 2.5 million years ago.
"This animal was in its prime. It was 25 to 30 years old; they lived until about 55. It was about 3.5 meters (11 1/2 feet) tall at the shoulder, and weighed around six tons," Tsoukala said.
Dutch researcher Dick Mol, who assisted with the excavation, said plant material found near the tusks would be analyzed to try to determine the environment the animal lived in.
He said the skeleton could also provide information.
"It's really a gold mine," said Mol, a research associate at the Museum of Natural History in Rotterdam. "These are the best preserved skeletons in the world of this species."
Dave Martill, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth in England, said scientists can analyze the growth rings in the tusks to learn more about the world's climate at the time the mastodon lived.
"These animals, in their bones, hold a whole load of information about the environment at the time — not just the animal," said Martill, an independent expert not connected with the excavation.
The bones will also be scoured for the remote chance of finding DNA material.
Researchers from Germany and the United States recently analyzed genetic material from an American mastodon recovered from fossils up to 130,000 years old found in Alaska, providing clearer insight into the evolution of elephants.
If DNA is recovered from the animal found in Greece — which Mol acknowledges is "very doubtful" — it could allow researchers to compare it to other European and American mastodon fossils at an unprecedented level of detail.
The tusks were discovered in October by an excavation machine operator working at a sand quarry, but it took months for the scientific investigation to be organized.
Tsoukala, who has been conducting excavations in the region since 1990, found a mastodon tusk measuring more than 14 feet long in the same area 10 years ago. She said the latest discovery is more significant because the skeletal remains are more complete.
How does it work?In the Medieval period, artists and scribes often used a metal stylus in order to draw on a specially prepared paper surface. Generally known as Metalpoint, or Silverpoint when the stylus was made of silver, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and Rembrandt all used this technique. http://www.silverpointweb.com/index.html AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — In what it described as an "unprecedented announcement," Chrysler Group said on Thursday that it is offering a lifetime powertrain warranty on all of its 2007 and 2008 models starting today. The new powertrain warranty covers everything from the 4.7-liter V8 in the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee to the 600-hp 8.4-liter V10 in the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10.
"We just finished a call with all of our dealers across the country," said Steven Landry, executive vice president of Chrysler Group North American sales and marketing, service and parts. " 'Turning point,' 'jump start' were some of the words the dealers were using." The warranty is nontransferable to subsequent owners. Landry said it will be limited to the first owner or holder of the first retail lease. Subsequent owners will get the three-year/36,000-mile coverage. Landry said the new warranty covers the "most expensive" parts on a vehicle and also covers front- and rear-wheel-drive components. Consumers are required to have a mandatory powertrain inspection at the dealership once every five years to maintain the warranty. Landry also said the new powertrain deal could bring the company's incentive spending down, although "we are not going to count on that." The Chrysler Group had one of the most paltry warranties in the auto industry prior to today, at three years/36,000 miles. The Korean manufacturers pioneered warranty coverage with a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, which was quickly emulated by automakers from Suzuki to General Motors. Suzuki currently offers a seven-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty. GM offers a five-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty that is fully transferable to other owners of the vehicle. What this means to you: Chrysler demonstrates enormous confidence in its new powertrains with this industry-first warranty coverage. And that's good news for buyer
Who doesn't love the Coen Brothers? (Fargo, Raising Arizona, and so on)
This latest flick looks extremely dark and possibly disturbing - two elements of a great movie!
Greek salad and Feta with steak tips hoagie is the cat's ass according to Yeoman's
460 Centre St Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Tel: 617-524-2004
Hours: Store Hours: Monday-Saturday: 11:00 Am-10:00 Pm,Sunday: 12:00 Noon-9:00 Pm
Burgers, Burgers & Sandwiches, Calzones, Calzones, Dinner Plates, French Fries, Fresh Deluxe Salads, Garlic Bread, Home Style Pizzas, Pasta Dinners, Pizza, Pasta Dinners, Salads, Subs & Wraps, Seasoned Fries
Wil Wheaton, best known as the star of Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation (and who these days is part pro poker player and part writer) dishes on some of the greatest (and at the same time, the worst) SciFi guilty pleasures of the 80's. (bonus: this link is on the Suicide Girls website - one of my personal guilty pleasures) (bonus 2: he provides a drinking game suggestion to go along with each flick)
It's no secret — The Simpsons
Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth (a spacewalk). As of September 13, 2006, 158 astronauts had made spacewalks (out of 448 astronauts ever in space). These are some of the most interesting moments in spacewalks history:
Link
Every Monday through Friday from 5-6:30pm and 9:30 to 11pm, Morton serves its five signature bar bites for $4 each. You can get chicken goujonettes(fried chicken strips); three mini cheeseburgers; jumbo lump crab, spinach and artichoke dip. Also four petit filet mignon sandwiches and french fries- which would usually sell from $6.50 to $11 each sandwich anyway.
699 Boylston St
617-266-5858
www.mortons.com
The sakku solar bag is available in 2 variants:
sakku akku: Comes with an integrated rechargeable battery which stores the solar energy continously. The stored energy can be used by devices anywhere and anytime - also at night. sakku direct: Charges a device as soon as there is sunlight.
How and where can i use the sakku solar bag?
Everytime and everywhere: Charging your cell phone or PDA without a power socket.
At the beach: Listening music from your iPod the whole day - without changing the batteries.
Outdoor: Charge your GPS or your digital camera.
The most important tokens of the sakku solar bag are:
Usage of flexible and weatherproof solar cells
Usage of used sails from sail boats
Easy removal of the electronic components to wash the sakku solar bag
http://www.sakku.ch/en/produkte.html
I'm not usually a sappy guy, so please excuse the "cute" post - especially for my first, but this is just friggin' amazing. Especially when you consider that Hippos are generally regarded as one of the most aggressive and deadly animals on the planet.
With Google in its mid-toddler years as a public company - it turns three on Aug. 19 - it has achieved something truly historic: It has created more investor wealth in less time than any company in history. So investors, repeat after me: All hail, Google! But don't put it in the wealth-creation pantheon quite yet. And please don't buy it at today's price.
The company's Wall Street rise has been breathtaking, especially when you look at wealth creation in the most fundamental and revealing way: total dollars that investors could take out today (the market value of all equity and debt) minus total dollars that they put in (equity investments, loans and retained earnings).
Google's figure is $149 billion and rising fast, pushing the company past most of America's biggest, most successful, most respected corporations. With Google (Charts, Fortune 500) at its recent record stock price of well over $500, only three companies have created more wealth: General Electric (Charts, Fortune 500), Exxon Mobil (Charts, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500).
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/08/06/100141308/index.htm?postversion=2007072403
All passports issued by the US State Department after January 1 will have always-on radio frequency identification chips, making it easy for officials – and hackers – to grab your personal stats. Getting paranoid about strangers slurping up your identity? Here’s what you can do about it. But be careful – tampering with a passport is punishable by 25 years in prison. Not to mention the “special” customs search, with rubber gloves. Bon voyage!
1) RFID-tagged passports have a distinctive logo on the front cover; the chip is embedded in the back.
2) Sorry, “accidentally” leaving your passport in the jeans you just put in the washer won’t work. You’re more likely to ruin the passport itself than the chip.
3) Forget about nuking it in the microwave – the chip could burst into flames, leaving telltale scorch marks. Besides, have you ever smelled burnt passport?
4) The best approach? Hammer time. Hitting the chip with a blunt, hard object should disable it. A nonworking RFID doesn’t invalidate the passport, so you can still use it.
– Jenna Wortham
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