planet formation

[BillT]

Some people think they have found a planet forming a mere 335 light years from earth:
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/09/scientist-explores-birth-planet?et_cid=4141771&et_rid=651558105&type=cta

This is really very close on the cosmic scale of things. It would only take you 335 years to get there at the speed of light.

Eric Idle can put these distances in perspective for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk

[Mugwump]

LOL.....Monty Python's hilarious.......thanks

[PaulineMi]

That stuff boggles my mind but is fascinating.  Here's an explanation of the light years part of the article:

http://www.ducksters.com/science/physics/relativity_light_time.php

[Mugwump]

Ah science, and chemistry... ..my favorite is.. ...ranks right up there with E=mc2....can you name it?

[BallAquatics]

You just can't go wrong with the Pythons

Dennis

[PaulineMi]

Ah science, and chemistry... ..my favorite is.. ...ranks right up there with E=mc2....can you name it?

http://www.avogadros.com   

I think it's a constant....

[BallAquatics]

We have a winner!!!

In chemistry and physics, the Avogadro constant (symbols: L, NA) is defined as the number of constituent particles (usually atoms or molecules) per mole of a given substance, where the mole (abbreviation: mol) is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI). The Avogadro constant has dimensions of reciprocal mol and its value is equal to 6.02214129(27)?1023 mol−1.[1][2][3] The constant happens to be quite close to an integer power of two, specifically only about 0.37% less than 279 mol−1, making the latter a useful approximation in nuclear physics when considering chain reaction growth rates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant

Dennis

[BillT]

Avogadro's number is very cool.

Wikipedia has an article on the numbers in the galaxy song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Song

The numbers in the song hold up pretty well, but the article quotes Eric Idle saying: "...There was some smug website pulling apart all my original figures for the song (written circa 1981) so for the 2003 Tour (or maybe 2000) I "updated" them. Now you tell me I was right all along! Not sure where I got my figures originally but tell the bastards to make up their minds."

Reminds me on the effect of taxonomists on people sometimes.

[Mugwump]

Ah science, and chemistry... ..my favorite is.. ...ranks right up there with E=mc2....can you name it?

LOL..I had a chemistry teacher who swore by the 'magical' power of the 'Avogadros number'...

[BallAquatics]

Chemistry teachers...  I remember mine, Mr. Zuzak.  He always struck me as having been around too much MEK.

Dennis

[Mugwump]

Chemistry teachers...  I remember mine, Mr. Zuzak.  He always struck me as having been around too much MEK.

Dennis

LOL...On the first day of Chem class, our teacher Mr Brown waited until the bell rang.....then jumped up on his desk and shouted "Do you hear that bell?"......then said with a little dance..."When that bell stops ringing, a Mr Brown starts swinging".,...LOL.....he had our devoted attention for the rest of the year.....what a great guy......and as if it makes any difference, he was a black man....but he's on my top five of best teachers ever list... ....right up there with John Zweers my favorite.....http://www.csun.edu/science/herr/photographs/memorial/zweers/zweers.htm   ..but that's another story...