From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V5 #111 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Sunday, May 7 2000 Volume 05 : Number 111 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Alloy: Hey all.. [Paul Baily ] Re: Alloy: Hey all.. [Paul Baily ] Re: Alloy: calendars! ["Trevor James Blagg" ] Re: Alloy: It *is* flat! ["Trevor James Blagg" Subject: Re: Alloy: Hey all.. And on the day of 5/5/2000 11:16 pm, CJMark@aol.com thus did spake... > Thanks for your invite to the down under.. but I don't think my car will > make it quite that distance.. Assisted by a rail gun it probably could though no? Why did an image of MacGyver eyeing off a stretch of railway track just appear in my head? 'Now if I just jack up that end of the track, wrap a couple hundred miles of copper around the rails, cool it with liquid nitrogen from that tanker in the siding, then plug the cables into this nearby substation using some sticky tape as insulation...' Man, I have GOT to stop writing those stories in the wee hours, it's messing with my head. :-) > But I was just wondering.. I understand > the beer thing.. but the marsupials.. do they taste like chicken? Heh! Well, not sure really, chickens usually peck their food whereas your average marsupial grabs whatever food it likes (eucalyptus leaves, grass, tourists etc.) and munches. I'd guess their taste buds would be similar though. Seriously though, apparently kangaroo tastes not unlike venison. It's supposedly held in quite high culinary regard in a few countries. I say apparently earlier there because I can't stomach the thought of eating duck, rabbit, or venison for that matter, let alone a critter called Skippy. It's enough to make me go vegetarian for days. Paul. [Whaddayamean "Lamb Korma is not a vegetarian dish?"] This message powered by MTCBWY (3D) off 12x12/TMDR. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 18:14:03 +1000 From: Paul Baily Subject: Re: Alloy: Hey all.. And on the day of 5/5/2000 8:29 am, RThurF@aol.com thus did spake... > :: Would if I could. Not even in the same meridian. Again. Hey when > are any of you guys going to swing by this corner of TFE!? I mean we've got > beer, a good cricket team (apparently), and some wickedly weird marsupials. > What more could one ask for? ;-) :: > > Paul, we've always dreamt of visiting Australia!! I wish it weren't so > expensive to travel there from NY. One of these days though, we just may > show up on your doorstep so be sure to keep some beer and marsupials on hand > for us. Any old time you & Dave are in the neighbourhood! Just give me a little warning so I can a) get the place remotely presentable (I mean the apartment, can't do a lot about the rest of the country :-), and b) have time to keep the marsupials away from the beer long enough so they're not hungover and grumpy... > I know I'll want to see animals and constellations and a good play > at one of the many excellent theaters I've heard about. Too bad I couldn't > make it down there for swing dancing, eh? :) Yeh! And I had the burgundy zoot suit picked out and everything! :-) [subplot explanation for the audience: Robin let me know that the Royal Crown Revue were touring Continentii Australis and Brisbane was on the list.] I actually got to see RCR do two live songs on a TV programme last Saturday night, you were right, they were a real scream! I don't think I've seen a double bass solo played with drumsticks before. Wish I'd gone to see them now. P. This message powered by Flying North (High Alt. Extended) off 12x12/TMDR. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 12:53:56 +0100 From: "Trevor James Blagg" Subject: Re: Alloy: calendars! Moi aussi, Trev...(when do you want the pictures by?) - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 2:14 PM Subject: Re: Alloy: calendars! > > > Woah,...am I behind on my alloy reading, or what....?! > Yes, please, count me in,...! I'm game for a laugh, and love fiddling with > graphics too,...:-) > > Lissu :-) > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 12:49:59 +0100 From: "Trevor James Blagg" Subject: Re: Alloy: It *is* flat! It's funny Robin, When I read the article this week I was so excited that the Universe was flat that I went round attempting to persuade my friends that due to logic, if the Universe is flat, then of course the earth must be CD shaped too and therefore Dolby and Pike were geniuses way ahead of their time.. Somehow they didn't believe me!!! Trev..... - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 10:45 PM Subject: Alloy: It *is* flat! > > > Mr Dolby has kindly brought my attention to the most amazing article and > asked that I forward it along. The earth may not be flat but the *universe*, > on the other hand... :) !! > > Robin T > > > Scientists say images reveal flat universe > BY MARTIN MERZER > mmerzer@herald.com > > Published Thursday, April 27, 2000, in the Miami Herald > > Colorful images of deep space released Wednesday by an international team of > scientists strongly bolster a theory that challenges the senses and > imagination: The universe -- the unimaginably vast cosmos -- is flat. > > The team of 36 astrophysicists and cosmologists unveiled the first detailed > images of the universe in its infancy. > > The images captured faint glows of microwave radiation produced at the > moment of creation. The discoveries provided experts with persuasive > evidence that the geometry of what they call ``space-time'' is flat -- like > an immensely thick book -- rather than curved like a sphere. > > ``It is really exciting to obtain such strong evidence for a flat > universe,'' said Eric Hivon, a scholar at the California Institute of > Technology in Pasadena. ``This result is in agreement with . . . the > inflationary theory of the universe.'' > > Under that theory, the entire universe developed from a sub-atomic speck > during a violent expansion that erupted a split second after the Big Bang. > The Big Bang is the enormous explosion most experts believe created the > universe 12 billion to 15 billion years ago. > > The sudden, savage event stretched the geometry of space until it was flat > -- incomprehensibly wide and vast, but observing precise, flat borders at > each ``end.'' > > Fear not. A modern Columbus could never fall off the universal edge because > the cosmos is expanding much faster than any other object could possible > travel. > > > DEEP QUESTIONS > > Questions about what exists beyond the borders or what transpired before the > Big Bang or who or what brought about creation are the provinces of theology > and philosophy. > > But scientists said Wednesday they are unraveling many other mind-bending > mysteries. Now, with the images and data released Wednesday, they are on the > brink of consensus concerning the shape of the universe. > > ``The universe is flat,'' astrophysicist Mike Turner said during a news > conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. ``This is the moment we will > remember. It will be marked in the textbooks.'' > > The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is one of 16 organizations > or universities in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Italy > participating in the experiment, called Boomerang (Balloon Observations of > Millimetric Radiation and Geophysics). > > > DISTANT IMAGES > > The group employed a balloon to loft a two-ton telescope 120,000 feet over > the Antarctic. > > Equipped with sophisticated radiation detection devices, the instrument > captured distant images. Through the magic of time-space relationships, > those images show the structure of the universe when it was 50,000 times > younger and 1,000 times smaller and hotter than it is today. > > The images are actually representations of a form of radiation known as > cosmic microwave background, residue of the intense heat that filled the > early universe. > > By mapping incredibly tiny variations in this heat -- typically one > ten-thousandth of a degree Centigrade -- astrophysicists can draw > conclusions about the shape of the universe. > > ``These images represent the ultimate limit of our vision,'' said Andrew > Lange, a physics professor at the California Institute of Technology and > leader of the American members of the team. ``The enormous structures that > they reveal predate the first star or galaxy in the universe.'' > > At issue are three main theories concerning the universe's structure: > > The ``closed'' universe is curved onto itself like a sphere, and it is more > dense than the others would be. Gravity associated with that density > eventually would cause the universe to cease expanding and then contract > into the so-called Big Crunch. > > The ``open'' universe is also curved but in an outward direction that forms > a saddle-type shape. It is less dense than the closed universe, and thus > will expand forever. > > In the ``flat'' universe, parallel lines can never cross. It also is less > dense than the closed universe and also would expand forever, though more > slowly than the open universe. > > Team members said Wednesday that hundreds of patterns and structures they > found in the background radiation strongly support the flat universe theory. > > ``It is an incredible triumph of modern cosmology to have predicted their > basic form so accurately,'' Lange said. > > Said Turner: ``It is truly amazing that our little pencil scratching on > pieces of paper have something to do with what's going on out there. The > theorists have been saying for 20 years that the universe is flat, and it > apparently really is.'' > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 22:47:12 EDT From: CJMark@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Hey all.. Hey Paul.. Yes.. I think eating Skippy should stay in the realm of peanut butter... not hoppy animals.. thanks.. Ciao for now.. Mark ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V5 #111 ***************************