Space News

[Dalty]

I didn't understand a word you just said, or gather it's context.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

[Dalty]

The Ghost of Steve Jobs forbade it!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I guess you'll always be left wondering. It's a shame.

[Dalty]

Always.

[Space Tycoon]

Life? How do we get there and drill through miles of ice?

If there's life, maybe we could leave it the fuck alone for a change. Just a thought.

[Space Tycoon]

Well, except to study I guess.

[Dalty]

And if it turns out to have a totally different biological and physiological structure due to billions of years of evolution on a different planet....... maybe you guys will start to agree with me about gaseous or acidic life forms?

You're welcome!

[Space Tycoon]

For a sneak preview, take a look at some of those deeply weird lifeforms that exist at the very bottom of the ocean, where no sunlight ever appears, and life is based on chemosynthesis, rather than photosynthesis. Then make 'em weirder.

And I think the current dream proposals involve melting through all that ice using the heat from a nuclear reactor and dropping an automated sub.

There's a fission/fishin' joke in there somewhere.

[Dalty]

You know what's waiting up there? Space sharks!!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

[Dalty]

Just when you thought it was safe.......

[Quasar]

Space is never safe.

[Space Tycoon]

Not true, I always use a condom. Usually.


Well... frequently.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

He does not avoid women, but he does deny them his essence.

[Space Tycoon]

So here's something that has been rolling around in my mind for a awhile.

Europa and other moons like it have been touted as possible homes for life due to the presence of liquid water. However, they are also unfortunate enough to be situated around gas giant planets that have overwhelming electromagnetic fields. Jupiter's is somewhere on the order of a million times greater than our own.

To make matters worse, Jupiter's em field traps solar and other particles, creating a radioactive death zone for life as we know it. If we built a ship that could take us swiftly to Jupiter, it would need to be an armoured dreadnought, with lead shielding a foot thick. And even that would be a sketchy proposition. Unprotected, we'd die within minutes.

One wonders what the implications for life are. The way I see it, there are three possibilities:

1) Radiation rules out the possibility of complex organisms developing on Europa at least. Sorry Charlie.

2) Radiation is bad, mmkay, but these moons' oceans are covered over by layers of an icy-mineral mixture that provide a protective shield. Any such life within this cocoon is safe.

3) The ice shield is not sufficient to block radiation, but the indigenous organisms have an inherent tolerance to high levels of radiation, having evolved within this milieu over billions of years. In the off chance that intelligent life has developed on Europa, this would give them a distinct advantage if they ever tried their hand(or fins, or tentacles, or suckers or whatever) at space travel.


I lean towards 2) myself.

[Space Tycoon]

He does not avoid women, but he does deny them his essence.

Women sense my power, and they seek the life essence.

[Dalty]

Maybe they smell the paint and get confused.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

A sidenote:

When a cowboy refers to "paint" in a western novel, he's usually referring to a very strong, very shitty liquor. When a cowboy refers to "a paint," he's referring to a horse.

It's pretty rare for a cowboy to speak of actual paint in a western novel. They didn't paint that much in the West. It's not like they needed to waterproof the wood.

They might paint the town red every now and then.

[Dalty]

Space Tycoon, not Space Cowboy. That was the other fella from that shitty sci-fi film.

And this Spacey knows his paint and his liquor. His horse knowledge, however, is yet to be proven.

[Mal Shot First]

I'm sure Goiter could suggest some reading to catch up Spacey on the topic of horses.

[Jubbers]

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I was wondering if anyone would make a Paint Your Wagon reference. Jubbers made a reference to a Simpsons reference to it. I guess that counts.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

If you've never experienced the bizarre beauty that is Paint Your Wagon, here's a peek:





Marvin gave up the lead in The Wild Bunch to be in Paint Your Wagon. Bigger payday. I like both, but I'd hate to have to spend decades looking back and remembering that I could have had the William Holden role in The Wild Bunch. It's a hell of a role. Holden's great in it. I'm sure Marvin would have also been great in it, but I'm glad Holden got it. Besides, Marvin had already played a vaguely similar role in The Dirty Dozen.

[Space Tycoon]

You don't necessarily need to use oil-based paint if the wood is pine.

Just use a decent stain-blocking primer over the original substrate and---- OH MY FUCKING GOD I'M SICK AND TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT THIS GODDAMN SHIT ALL THE FUCKING TIME.







Ahem. There are many fine water-based, environmentally-friendly products that will accomplish the same ends.

That is all for now.