Science is Cool: Earth got its oceans delivered.
Astronomers have found a new cosmic source for the same kind of water that appeared on Earth billions of years ago and created the oceans. The findings may help explain how Earth’s surface ended up covered in water.
New measurements from the Herschel Space Observatory show that comet Hartley 2, which comes from the distant Kuiper Belt, contains water with the same chemical signature as Earth’s oceans. This remote region of the solar system, some 30 to 50 times as far away as the distance between Earth and the sun, is home to icy, rocky bodies including Pluto, other dwarf planets and innumerable comets.
Science is so damn cool. So now we think we have an understanding of how our oceans were created. They were delivered by comets. We’ve always understood that this was possible, but seeing a comet with the exact same chemical composition as our oceans is as close to proof as I think we’ll ever get.
That makes me wonder if the same impact(s) that likely brought us our oceans also ejected the moon into orbit. It also makes me think about the potential for more surprises to be delivered by Comet Express. Who knows what else could end up on our doorstep? If oceans were delivered once, anything is possible. Hell, there have been theories for years that life, itself, was deposited here via cosmic-object-impact.
Science is awesome.
“But it’s an iPhone, Jen!"
“But it’s an iPhone, Jen. I might be able to get an iPhone without giving any money to Apple. I’ll be living the dream.”
Ah, if you’re a tech person or even use tech in your life, you need to watch “The IT Crowd.”
And it would be awesome to have an iPhone without giving money to Apple. I dumped my AT&T contract as soon as the first unlock came out.
Of course, even if you could have an iPhone without giving money to Apple, you’d still be stuck with their “walled garden”. You can get a lot from Cydia, but not enough and I think there are plenty more free apps that are actually useful in the “garden” than in Cydia, sadly.
But seriously—check out “The IT Crowd”—it’s on Netflix. TOTALLY worth it!!
Apple Inc.: A prominent new reason we need a pro-Net Neutrality Law
I posted this over on website666 and thought it would fit here, too.
I noticed this over the past few weeks as I read various coverage of iPhone apps that Apple was and was not letting get through. Check out these headlines:
Radio Station Apps: No Longer Welcome in the App Store
Apple Bans Android Magazine From The App Store
Why Does Apple Make Donation Apps So Hard?
In short, Apple seems to be using it’s position to stop certain information from getting onto it’s devices. Want to listen to your favorite local radio station now that you live in a different city? Sorry, you won’t be able to on your iPhone. That’s a shame since it’s just a little station with a tiny budget and not much ability to reach a national audience. Now, thanks to Apple, a great (and inexpensive) channel for reaching a national audience is gone.
Then, we’ve got Apple deciding whether or not you can read about competitors to Apple on Apple devices. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like Apple telling me what I can and can’t read on my iDevice. Sure, I can always pull up that Android magazine’s website in Safari, but then, what’s the difference between Safari and an app?
Finally, that last article I link to above talks about how Apple has stopped accepting apps that allow in-app donations to charity orgs (or anyone else). Why is this? It sure seems like it’s because it means money passes through Apple’s infrastructure without them getting a cut.
Over all, I feel that it’s this kind of “walled garden” mentality that makes us less free as consumers. When we start accepting limits on what content we are allowed to consume and how we consume that content, I think we become less free as a people, too.
You don’t really appreciate how important Net Neutrality is until you don’t have it anymore.
