Posts by Ptar

41) Message boards : Cafe SETI : NASA announcement thursday (Message 1052214)
Posted 1 Dec 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
The panel participants for NASA at this announcement are as follows (with specialization in brackets):
Mary Voytek (USGS astrobiologist; aquatic microbial ecology)
Pamela Conrad (astrobiologist/astrogeology; life on Mars)
Felisa Wolfe-Smith (oceanography/astrobiology; arsenic biochemistry, cyanobacteria)
Steven Benner (JPL remote-sensing instrument systems manager)
James Elser (algal biology/exobiology; evolution of non-carbon life forms)


So my guess:
NASA's Cassini fly-by of Enceladus detected 'warm cracks'. From some remote-sensing gear, these cracks will be revealed on Thursday to appear to have the chemical signatures consistent with non-carbon-based algal life.

<LATER EDIT:
On second thought, having looked at the research done by the press-conference participants, my (second guess is) it will be something about algae found on earth but highly unusual.

Which means Bill's Roswell guess #7 could be mostly correct./>
42) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 8 (Message 1052174)
Posted 1 Dec 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:

Two guesses:
a) In the United States somewhere?

If so then to narrow it down:
b) In Hawaii?
43) Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomenon) and the ET hypothesis (Message 1052170)
Posted 1 Dec 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Hi,
I tend to oscillate between believing a small percentage of UFOs or UAPs are of extraterrestrial origin and not believing any are at all.


Well Tim, this should clear things up.
BBC News today reports that Australian astrophysicist Stephen Hughes has published a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society - Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

The headline of the BBC piece is: "Ball Lightning May Explain UFO's".
The link to the BBC piece is here:
BBC News UFO's

Or perhaps not clear things up entirely. Fortunately, at the end of the BBC article, they quote Dr. Hughes as saying:
"It's not a vigorous theory; it's more a suggestion that may be worth exploring".

Clear as mud. Cheers!
44) Message boards : SETI@home Science : Human electrical transmission & detecting aliens (Message 1051063)
Posted 25 Nov 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:

To paraphrase Johnney's central posit: the question is do power transmission lines actually transmit an EM signature detectable at interstellar distances; particularly at around 50-60Hz?

I rephrase it this way so I can answer it, sort of. I have used a (ground-based) survey instrument that detects the secondary (induced) EM field in rocks. The earth is criss-crossed as Johnney notes with transmission lines which in my rock world also behave (annoyingly) as primary transmitters which swamp the secondary fields I want to measure; however the surveys capture/measure the fields generated by these transmission lines too.

For clarity, the survey instrument has a frequency tuning range between 15kHz to 30kHz - so it is a VLF and not SLF field detector. The unit measures total field strength, total dip (in-phase), and the vertical quadrature (out-of-phase) components of the EM field.

A major >1,000km transmission line (230kV) is detectable in the 15kHz to 30kHz range up to 250 meters either side of the line. So what I see in measured VLF data is a detectable effect from transmission lines out to say 500 meters diameter centered on the line. This is consistent with car radio 'interference' distances. It is not consistent with interstellar distances. Note that this method doesn't measure magnitude of energy transmission; it just shows how far from the transmitter an effect is detectable - considering the detection limit of the instrument.

I leave the science and form of EM energy propagation to you guys - who know a lot more about it than I. In practical terms though, with the VLF equipment I use, the transmission lines are invisible to detection about a half-km away. This suggests to me that the boys on Tau Ceti at >10 LY will have a hard time figuring out we have coal-fired electricity and not lightning storms. And vice versa for us.


45) Message boards : Cafe SETI : TLPTP Wins #128 - The end of the thread is here, Esme Wins! (Message 1043452)
Posted 21 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
I'm just happy the boards are up and I'm T2ndLPTP
wooowhooooooo!
46) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 7 (Message 1043448)
Posted 21 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
OK, first time playing this game. Where is this?


Hey DJStarfox
Nice mystery post; I'm just moving this thread *up* in the wild'n'crazy world post start-up ... .
No worries; keep crunching! Cheers!
47) Message boards : Number crunching : Emergency fund drive for the project............. (Message 1043197)
Posted 17 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:


Thank you for your gift of $250.00 via Visa on 10/17/2010.
Your gift was assigned to the following areas:
SETI@home - $250.00
Your confirmation number is:
63690

Worth every penny.
48) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 7 (Message 1043053)
Posted 17 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Looks like the Army Corp of Engineers (or somebody similar) have been busy 'channeling' the flow. And they look like flat lying sediments so my guess goes with John ... .

How about Montana? Somewhere on the upper Missouri River?
49) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beer Drinkers thread part 2 (Message 1043044)
Posted 17 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:

A beer. A GLORIOUS beer.
After 12 hours on a plane crossing 5 time zones, landing at 3am local, followed by a 3 hour drive in a black monsoon ... I have arrived and grasped a strategically placed Cold Beer.
Which just evaporated; so I have to open another.
In an hour or so it will be dawn and I would have a view from the deck (see photo above) except I'll be asleep then. But for now - oohh the beer is glorious.

Great thread Steve. Typing while drinking. Another good concept.
50) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 7 (Message 1042189)
Posted 15 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Ok here's the next one. What is this and where is it?


Och aye the noo. Is this Scotland?


You're on the right continent.



Ist es Deutschland?
51) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Beer Drinkers thread part 2 (Message 1042154)
Posted 14 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Nice pictures Steve:)


Thank you! It's very quiet and peaceful here. I actually pace back and forth on the deck drinking beer, while I solve complex programming problems. I go to work the next day, and belt out the solution. It's amazing what you can do when you are relaxed. I have done that for years, and it works every time. At work I look at every aspect of the problem, then go home and have a few cold beers, and the solution becomes obvious.

Steve



Steve that is a beautiful place to drink a beer! Encourages quiet contemplation; the perfect place for a fridge full.

Here is a photo of my 'working home'. This is near to the project I have been eating/sleeping/breathing for the past 10 years and where I spend a significant amount of my time.
It is similar to yours. I sit on the front deck (not in photo) and look out over the lake and the trees etc. Been known to have a "scattered" beer, or rum, or both on this deck at the end of the day.




Cheers!



52) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 7 (Message 1042149)
Posted 14 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Ok here's the next one. What is this and where is it?



Och aye the noo. Is this Scotland?
53) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 6 (closed) (Message 1039047)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Hint for the evening "canvas doors".


Appearances to the contrary, is this at trolley-car bridge (aka streetcar) - they used canvas because they were light duty and not freight haulers.

No probably not because it leads to the much more likely thought on my one track standard "guage" (lol) mind:
is this a passenger only rail line? Hence dining cars ... .?
54) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 6 (closed) (Message 1039023)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:

I have three questions about this one.

What is it (should be very easy)?
Where is it (be very specific please)?
Why is it abandoned (might be kind of difficult)?


Colonel Mustard in the dining car with a stoker's coal shovel?
Oops wrong game.

b) western Nevada?
c) private rail line goes bankrupt?
55) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 6 (closed) (Message 1039006)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Thank You.

I have three questions about this one.

What is it (should be very easy)?
Where is it (be very specific please)?
Why is it abandoned (might be kind of difficult)?

Winner is the one to answer whichever is the last of the three questions tp be answered.


Because I run on a one track mind, and narrow gauge at that:
a) rail bridge
b) I'll start with somewhere in Arizona
c) the arroyo flood risk was too high???
56) Message boards : Number crunching : Quiting (Message 1038981)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Well said Richard. Speaking for myself, I will be here until the last wu is passed out, or I drop dead. I will also continue to donate dollars when ever I can to help out. I do respect everyones own choices, and Dave, I wish you the best. I'm going for another 11 years.

Steve


Well said Steve. You speak for me as well.


Well said Richard, and Steve, and Greg.
After 11 years of crunching it would be a hard thing for me to stop altogether; so considering the obvious dedication that Dave's 31 million credits requires - best wishes to Dave and Seti is poorer as a result.
57) Message boards : Number crunching : Welcome to the 11 year club (Message 1038973)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Does anyone know of a SETI 12 step program?


I do know of a 12 pack program! By the way, here is a picture for you rosyboa! This is Rosie. It is a male, but with no ears, it doesn't matter!



Steve


In Canada it used to be a "Two-Four". However with austerity and all we are mostly cut back to the 12 Pack program - which still makes for a mighty fine day. I bet Rosie the boa would go a two-four by the look of him!
58) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 6 (closed) (Message 1038971)
Posted 7 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
Dalian China? This is on the sea coast where the Brits could have sailed in.

The globe is in the center of the City with roads radiating in all directions (according to one web site I found with the picture).



Absolutely; the pictures are indeed of Dalian, China.

But first, I just want to say a la Gene Wilder in "Young Frankstein": "It's AALLIIIVVVVEE!!"


Take it away John!
59) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Stressing about lack of work units? The Solution (Message 1038567)
Posted 3 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:

Spend a week on the beach at Rarotonga. :)
Ian


Absolutely brilliant! For posing the question - AND for the excellent answer. Great photos too - thanks.
60) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Mystery Photo Game 6 (closed) (Message 1038557)
Posted 3 Oct 2010 by Profile Ptar
Post:
I've been reading and seem to have understated(!) the geopolitical turnover ... .

Consider the area of the city in question has been populated since the year *dot* with what is now considered ethnic Chinese nationals.

The following is a 'brief history of time' since the advent of boats - with the beginning date of 'visitation':
British - 1858 (sailed in and stayed)
Chinese - 1880 (returned peacefully)
Japanese - 1895 (by war)
Russian - 1898 (by war reparation) - start building city/fort, population 12,500
Japanese again - 1905 (by war)
Russian again - 1945 (by war)
Chinese finally - 1950 (returned peacefully)

I imagine a local Chinese fisherman watching foreigners-gaijin-guys with guns running past him up the beach shooting at other equally foreign guys with guns - and planting a new flag. Wait 5 minutes, and here comes another bunch ... . Make no wonder Chinese are reputedly 'inscrutible'.

That should hopefully be enough 'ammo' to figure out where this is. Good Sunday morning to you all; i'm off to bed.


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