Skylog: The SkyGuide

AFM*Radio Special! NASA's WISE Mission

September 22 2009 04:26 UTC | Views: 720 | Comments: 0
Posted by: Michael SkyGuide in AFM*Radio

AFM*Radio Special! NASA's Night Sky Network presents...

KEPLER: ARE THERE ANY GOOD WORLDS OUT THERE?
with Dr. Jon Jenkins of the SETI Institute

(A NASA + Astronomical Society of the Pacific Event)
Thursday night, November 19th @ 9pm US Eastern
(02:00 UT Wednesday morning). Encore 2 hours later.

The telescope that is the centerpiece of the Kepler mission was flung into orbit, and began a landmark work. Its efforts promise to revolutionize our knowledge of how common (or otherwise) Earth-size worlds are. Participate in the Telecon and find out what's new with Kepler.

This is a nationwide live astronomy event, and participants in AFM's Chat Room will be able to forward questions to Dr. Mendez.

Join us in DimDim (the link will be on the Astronomy.FM home page later this evening) for the full presentation, including graphics, or listen in on AFM*Radio.

*************** May you have clear skies & a star to steer by! **************

* Michael Foerster / The SkyGuide *
Radio <at> Astronomy <dot> FM

The SkyGuide! on AFM*Radio
every Wednesday night at 9pm US Eastern (0100 UTC)

FirstLight! on WNMC FM/TV (WNMC.org)
Every Friday morning at 7:15am US Eastern (1115 UTC)

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>SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW ELEMENT: ADMINISTRATIUM<
ANN ARBOR, MI - The heaviest element known to Science has been discovered by physicists at the University of Michigan.

The element, tentatively named administratium (Ad) has no protons or electrons, which means that it has atomic number 0 and falls outside the natural patterns exhibited by all other known elements. However, it does have 1 neutron, 125 assistants to the neutron, 75 vice neutrons, and 111 assistants to the vice neutrons. This gives it an atomic mass of 312. The 312 particles are held together by a force involving the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called "memos".

Because it has no protons or electrons, administratium is inert. Nonetheless, it can be detected chemically, in that it seems to impede every reaction in which it is present. According to one of the discoverers, even a small amount of administratium made one reaction which normally lasts less than one second take more than four days.

Administratium has a half-life of approximately three years. It does not actually decay; instead, it undergoes a reorganization in which a vice neutron, assistants to the vice neutron, and certain assistants to the neutron exchange places. Some studies have indicated that its mass actually increases after each reorganization, although this has yet to be explained. Another phenomenon which has been observed (as expected from the mechanics of minute particles) is that the more one tries to pin down the positions of the vice neutrons within the structure of administratium, the more uncertain those positions become.

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