Delicious Mian

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Costumes on parade

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Microsoft Settlement Refund...umm, wow Part 2

I received the remainder of my Microsoft Anti-trust Settlement the other day.  It was roughly $5.  I received the bulk of my settlement funds a decade ago.  I'm not really sure why I was owed an additional $5, though for some reason this amount didn't surprise me.  The amazing thing is that yet again, Microsoft knew my current address; this time my personal address.  It is literally 10 years later from my previous refund check, 13 years since I sent in my voucher request, and 14 years since this odd saga began in 2002 after the settlement of the lawsuit.  But, the saga actually extends back to 1990 (backup link).

Previous Post, August 14, 2006

I finally received my Microsoft voucher

Previous Post, September 30, 2003

Microsoft Settlement Refund...umm, wow [Part 1].

Daenerys Targaryen decision matrix (only spoilers if you know nothing, John Snow)

Enjoy this Game of Thrones humor

Limited lifespan of Habitable Zones around other stars [and a loosely held secret finally revealed about me]

Habitable Zone around a Red Dwarf star

I've been fascinated by the idea of planets around other stars since I was young.  In fact, I developed several fictional solar systems, one of which became the basis for an online gaming and science fiction club.  That solar system is called Greeop System,^[001]  which inspired the development of many more solar systems and formed the basis of many gaming and fictional story plots.^[002]

At some point, I stumbled across the book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon In The Universe (2000), which is one of the earliest sources that discusses the idea of Habitable Zones around stars.  

What's a Habitable Zone?  If a terrestrial planet orbits its sun at just the right distance, that sun provides the right amount of light and other energy to make life more likely, given several other factors.  If a planet is too close to its sun, it is likely too hot.  If a planet is too far from its sun, it is likely too cold.  This is why Habitable Zones are sometimes called Goldilocks Zones, in reference to the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears and finding options that are "just right" between two extremes.

In the past decade, the concept of Habitable Zone has been refined.  From the study Habitable Zone Lifetimes of Exoplanets around Main Sequence Stars, it is now often defined similar to,

...the circumstellar distance at which surface temperatures allow liquid water to be present on the planet’s surface, assuming variable H2O/CO2/CH4 greenhouse forcings.  The Habitable Zone has a minimum and maximum extent, forming inner (closer to the star) and outer boundaries that are set in part by biogeochemical climate feedback mechanisms and stellar luminosity.^[003]

Yeah, Goldilocks metaphor seems to get the point across easier.  The question is, what's "just right" for life?  Star size and age appear to play the substantial roles in setting the limits of a Habitable Zone.  Not only is the Habitable Zone different between large and small stars, it can move over the life-cycle of a star. For example, main sequence stars gradually output more energy over billions of years.  A planet that initially forms within the Habitable Zone of a young star might not remain in the Habitable Zone later in the star's life-span. It is predicted that our Sun will be so hot in 1.75B years, surface water will no longer be possible on Earth, presumably making life on Earth no longer sustainable.^[003]

If a planet has the right conditions and resides within the Habitable Zone, life still has to appear and evolve in some sort of sequence.  Taking Earth as the only example we have,

... this stepwise progression began with the origin of life, continued through the transition from replicating molecules to RNA and then DNA [1B years after Earth formation], from prokaryotes to eukaryotes [1.5 to 2.5B yrs after Earth formation] and cell differentiation [3.5 to 4B yrs after Earth formation], and concluded with the final step from primate to human societies [4.54B years after Earth formation].^[003]

However, if just one of these steps takes a lot longer, there is a drastically lessened chance of having enough time to develop intelligent life similar to humans; assuming the march toward more intelligent creatures is inherent to the process of evolution on different planets.  Different stars may also extend or reduce the time-frame within which life may appear and develop.  Larger stars will have short Habitable Zone lifespans.  Smaller stars, such as Red Dwarfs may have very long and stable Habitable Zone lifespans.

Of course, a lot of this is based on assumptions that life on other planets will resemble life that formed on Earth.  Maybe life of different kinds exist in the Universe.^[004]  The rules may be different for different kinds of life.  Maybe Earth is extremely unusual. Worse, maybe we will not be able to immediately recognize other forms of life simply because it is so different from our experience.  As more information is gathered, these issues will hopefully be addressed.

Pirmary reference:
Andrew J. Rushby, Mark W. Claire, Hugh Osborn, and Andrew J. Watson. Astrobiology. September 2013, 13(9): 833-849. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0938, Habitable Zone Lifetimes of Exoplanets around Main Sequence Stars.

Response:
Voat.co

Article Series:

• Limited lifespan of Habitable Zones around other stars [and a loosely held secret finally revealed about me]
• Small stars may have stable Habitable Zones, but habitable planets might not be common there
• Habitable Planets around White Dwarfs
• Habitable Worlds Around Binary Star Systems might not match Sci-fi
• How many Earth-like planets are orbiting Sun-like stars?
• First round of life in the Universe might have been possible extremely early
• Factors a planet needs for suitability of life; perhaps
• "Goldilocks zone of metallicity" on a galactic scale
• Maybe we are the first

Wind what?

What do you call that giant tower with spinning blades that produces electricity from wind?  Windmill?  Well, kinda, but not really.  The word "mill" that forms the latter portion of the word "windmill" is just that, a mill.  In this context, a mill is a machine that grinds and crushes something, such as grain.^MD There isn't a whole lot of grinding and crushing of anything when using a rotor to produce electricity.  It's really the opposite of a mill.

The definition of "turbine" is a bit more broad.  A turbine is a machine that converts the movement of a fluid into rotary motion.^TD  With that definition, a mill is a type of turbine.  However, a turbine is not necessarily a mill.

There is no specific word that provides a special name for an electricity producing turbine, so the word turbine itself is used.  Turbine is also used to name machines that make electricity from flowing water, such as those found at Hoover Dam.^HD   So, that giant tower with spinning blades that produces electricity is more correctly called a wind turbine.  A collection of wind turbines at one location are frequently referred to as "wind farms".

Another wind powered machine is the windpump, which is used to pump water.  Windpumps and windmills have been in use for about 1500 years, being first developed in the Persian region between A.D. 500 and 900.^WP  Wind turbines owe their existence to our long history of windmills and windpumps.  It's somewhat understandable that there is some confusion of terms.

Interesting modern examples of wind power in use

There's even a wind-powered record player!  Well, that's mostly art, but apparently it works well.  Then, there's this guy, William Kamkwamba, who built wind turbines and pumps for his village in Malawi at a time of famine and when such luxaries were only experienced by 2% of their population.

#Target store #pokemongo red ball #cosplay

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We've been wasting #WineBottle #corks for years. Who knew we can turn them into a tasty treat!

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Skeleton looking excited about something @ #LaSandia

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Live (or at least it was earlier today) Maine #Lobster

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Sometimes Toebzilla is just a blur.

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A day among trees of the world in Jamica Plain.

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Forming #thunderhead

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Getting lost on the elevator

Near the end of Toebzilla's walk this evening, I approached the ground level of the elevator to go back to my apartment.  This particular elevator is particularly slow.  While I'm waiting for the car to reach the bottom floor, a lady and her teenage son approached with their dog.  Toebzilla was well-behaved.  The other dog was a little excited.

As the elevator doors open, two tween girls exit and run off.  I walk into the car with Towbzilla.  The lady, her son and dog follow.  We both choose the same floor near the top.  As the elevator doors began to close, the two tweens re-enter the elevator.  They announce they got off on the wrong floor, for some obnoxious reason.  The lady and I don't say anything as the elevator doors are finally allowed to shut.  Now, for some reason, this elevator is rigged so that if the doors are held open for too long, when the doors are finally allowed to shut, they give off one long buzz while the doors shut at an extra slow speed.  So, let me just buzz to simulate that annoyance: "buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"  OK, the doors finally shut and the elevator starts to move upward.

The elevator stops at the 2nd floor.  The doors open.  No one enters and no one exits.  The tweens giggle while one of them explains how they keep getting out on the wrong floor.  As the doors shut again, I lean over and point to the buttons, saying "Ya'no, you generally use these buttons to choose floors on which you actually wish to exit."  The lady, who was bent over tending to her excited dog looks up at me with a big grin and chuckling.  As funny as that was, this comment unfortunately triggers the girls to go into several excuses about why they kept picking the wrong floors, including something about them just moving-in to the apartment complex, then something about some other girl that was apparently lost on the elevator just minutes before, and a story about them going to the wrong apartment earlier in the day.  

The lady cordially responds with a reconciliatory comment about how her son (the same in the elevator with us) once entered the wrong apartment on the wrong floor by walking in an older Chinese gentlemen.  I'm sure her son was thinking to himself "Thanks Mom!".

The tweens finally find their floor.  This allows the elevator to move upward unencumbered by any further wrong floor choices.  The lady, her son and dog exit on the same floor as I.  Toebzilla keeps his composure the whole ride up, despite the giggly tweens, multiple stops and the excited dog.  The lady and I cordially excuse ourselves with a couple of "take-cares".  

I reward Toebzilla for behaving, and our remaining walk back to the apartment was uneventful.

Q: Why did the optimist dislike the horse?

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A: The horse is a neigh-sayer!