[Melanie68]

I had a choice tonight between watching a Frontline documentary about methamphetamine ( ) or watching a documentary on PBS about gamma ray bursts in space, their origins and how they contribute to the birth of new stars(Death Star).

I picked the space program.



It was originally on the BBC and then shown on Nova on PBS.

This is the PBS companion website.

Very cool stuff!

[jjacob]

Ooooh gamma rays, the signs of collapsed stars amongst other things Mmmmmmm... gamma rays...


Seriously though, I love space stuff, I got gigs and gigs of documentaries and I'm still reading A Brief History of Time, oooooo teh geekness..

[SoccerDude28]

And there I was thinking this was a star wars discussion

[Lucien21]

Real Space is so much cooler

[Melanie68]

One of the things mentioned in that program that just blew me away (also their depictions of hypernovae and star nurseries and black holes were awesome) was the concept that the elements in us (such as the iron in our blood) came originally from the star dust of a star that had exploded. Basically we are made from stars. Wow!

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

One of the things mentioned in that program that just blew me away (also their depictions of hypernovae and star nurseries and black holes were awesome) was the concept that the elements in us (such as the iron in our blood) came originally from the star dust of a star that had exploded. Basically we are made from stars. Wow!

Well duh! Actually it goes deeper than that, the iron in our blood was at one time hydrogen, deuterium and helium but due to the star's death (implosion>neutron star or implosion>supernova etc.) gradually became heavier elements such as on earth. Also a lot of scientists believe many of the more unique elements found on earth were unlikely to have originated here, but instead must have come from other planets such as mars, where their formation was a lot more likely, so perhaps there's a little of Mars in me and a little of Venus in you God I love space

[Lucien21]

What about Uranus?


Guffaw (tm)

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by jjacob

Well duh! Actually it goes deeper than that, the iron in our blood was at one time hydrogen, deuterium and

Cool, that would mean if it were like that today we would be able to jump high and stuff! and if we got a cut in our mouth then we would have squeeky voices!

I wish I were in the good ol days

[Tobbe]

I saw a rather interesting documentary yesterday, it was about new telescopes, space shuttles they´re making to find other planets, where the conditions are like the one we have on earth, and where there COULD be life on..

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Cool, that would mean if it were like that today we would be able to jump high and stuff! and if we got a cut in our mouth then we would have squeeky voices!

I wish I were in the good ol days

Or... we simply wouldn't exist, or something

Originally Posted by t_manelius

I saw a rather interesting documentary yesterday, it was about new telescopes, space shuttles they´re making to find other planets, where the conditions are like the one we have on earth, and where there COULD be life on..

Hyper drive

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by jjacob

Or... we simply wouldn't exist, or something

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Take comfort in the fact our solar system still has about 5 billion years of life Besides, hey, we *do* exist, don't we?

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Guffaw (tm)

First, I have the exclusive rights to the "*Guffaw*" trademark. Second, note the asterisks. Third, the "â„¢" is achieved by holding down the Alt key and tapping 0153 on the Numpad.

*leaves*

*comes back*

Aah, Space... so much stuff we still don't know. The mystery of it all makes the discoveries themselves all the more exciting .

[Spiwak]

I want to see a black hole...but I guess the point is that it's impossible.

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by jjacob

Take comfort in the fact our solar system still has about 5 billion years of life Besides, hey, we *do* exist, don't we?

*Groaan* It was supposed to happen this year according to the bible

Originally Posted by Spiwak

I want to see a black hole...but I guess the point is that it's impossible.

It not impossible...youll just get sucked in it thats all but atleast you still get to see it

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Aah, Space... so much stuff we still don't know. The mystery of it all makes the discoveries themselves all the more exciting .

I sometimes ponder how lucky I am (/we are) to be living in this era

Originally Posted by Spiwak

I want to see a black hole...but I guess the point is that it's impossible.

Well you could, against the backdrop of a nebula or in the case of a Binary solar system where one sun is collapsed and sucking up the gasses eminating from the other star Also, if the black hole is "large" enough you'll see all kinds of stuff being shot out of it at light-speed.

Originally Posted by Karmillo

*Groaan* It was supposed to happen this year according to the bible

LMAO Yeah well, according to the bible our planet is approximately 5600 years old

Originally Posted by Karmillo

It not impossible...youll just get sucked in it thats all but atleast you still get to see it

If you want to see it from the inside, then you have a problem, but you can easily see it at a relative safe distance, as long as you manage to keep away from the event horizon (and then some) and make sure you're in a spacecraft that can approach light speed Interestingly you'll live longer in the proximity of a giant black hole than in the proximity of a small black hole (where gravity can increase like crazy even on a milimeter-scale).

Space, the final geek frontier

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by jjacob

LMAO Yeah well, according to the bible our planet is approximately 5600 years old

Nonsense, its only...umm 18 years old...atleas as far as ive be counting

[Dangerzone]

i do not think we will ever precisely know how old our plannet is

on a side note, there is a website where you can name a star
http://www.starregistry.com/

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by Dangerzone

i do not think we will ever precisely know how old our plannet is

on a side note, there is a website where you can name a star
http://www.starregistry.com/

We already do. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-age-of-earth.html

The generally accepted age for the Earth and the rest of the solar system is about 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%). This value is derived from several different lines of evidence.

[Dangerzone]

i ment precisely how old..............we have it down to a few billion years

and even those numbers are guesses..............educated guesses, but guesses none the less