Richard Saunders, on his many jaunts around Sydney, sends me this news broadcast:
“This one is God’s” – yes, that’s what it says about that planet, thanks to the billboard outside All Saints church in Petersham.
Huh. Just when the BBC reports that Astronomers have discovered what could be ‘the youngest planet’:
An embryonic planet detected outside our Solar System could be less than 2,000 years old, astronomers say…. Details were presented at the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast.
The ball of dust and gas, which is in the process of turning into a Jupiter-like giant, was detected around the star HL Tau, by a UK team.
Research leader Dr Jane Greaves said the planet’s growth may have been kickstarted when another young star passed the system 1,600 years ago.
So – no one loves baby planet? Maybe it’s because it hasn’t produced pervert monkeys who dig the sound of sexy-time yet:
There’s something kinky going on in the world of Barbary macaques. Researchers have found the males eavesdrop on their mates having sex in order to make sure they don’t miss out on the fun – and to give their sperm a chance to compete in the great fertilisation race.
Female Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) cry out during sex. When they are fertile, the call stimulates ejaculation in the male. When the females are infertile, they slightly modify the structure of the call, making the male less likely to ejaculate. Fertile females sometimes make non-ejaculatory calls as well.
… Hearing an ejaculatory call is a signal to other males that “sperm competition” for fertilisation has commenced. Keen to get in on the race, other males will approach the female.
Well, never mind. You can check out the wonders of the supposed favored planet at the ‘capital city of science – New York’, planned for later this year:
Vowing to make New York City the center of the scientific universe [yes, Tim Minchin has a comedy routine about NY as the centre of the universe... you should go see it before it closes on the 12th April!!] — as it is for commerce, art and expensive dining — a panel of university presidents, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein of New York, the actor Alan Alda, the Columbia physicist Brian Greene and a Muppet announced plans on Wednesday for a World Science Festival to be held here at the end of May…
From May 28 through June 1, festival organizers say, the canyons of the city will be alive with the sound of science. Biologists will discuss the perils and promises of humans’ knowing their own genetic codes. Quantum physicists will debate the nature of reality. Neuroscientists will ponder the mysteries of creativity. The Abyssinian Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir will serenade scientists to demonstrate the effects of music on the brain.
Best of all, it has some magic planned!
As the presence of the Muppet, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, on the program suggests, another large segment of the festival includes programs featuring magicians, robots, a “mathemagician” and the Disney Imagineers, who will explain how science and engineering are used to create illusions.
Popping up from behind the lectern, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, who described himself as being from Muppet Labs, extolled the family-oriented programs. The most important thing they could show, he said, was “that science can be as explosive and violent as any TV program.”
Then he sprayed Dr. Greene with a can of silly string.
Planet Earth also has God’s greatest gift – silly string. Stands to reason. Sheesh.
Speaking of great gifts without silly strings attached – don’t forget to check out the Scientiae Carnival: Fools and Foolishness and the latest Tangled Bank #102!
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