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n2doc's JournalNew Ultradense Planet Found; Astronomers Baffled
Rachel Kaufman
for National Geographic News
Published February 22, 2012
A newly discovered planet 4,000 light-years away is just too dense.
Dubbed CoRoT-20b, the planet is thought to be a gas giant about four-fifths the size of Jupiter and orbits close to a sunlike star.
Despite the new planet's relatively diminutive size, this world has four times Jupiter's mass, making CoRoT-20b one of the densest known planets, a new study says.
That poses a problem for astronomers: If CoRoT-20b is structured like a traditional gas giant, with a solid core surrounded by a gassy atmosphere, the planet's core would have to make up 50 to 77 percent of the world's total mass.
By contrast, Jupiter's core is thought to represent just 15 percent of that planet's mass.
To have such a robust core, CoRoT-20b would defy current theories for how planets form.
more
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120222-new-planet-found-densest-jupiter-corot-space-science/
There's literally no app for this: KIRF iPhone-branded gas stoves seized by Chinese authorities
By Daniel Cooper posted Feb 24th 2012 7:11PM
Ordinarily, if you use your iPhone to fry eggs, it's time to check when your warranty expires. Not so for these KIRF iPhones, which can't make calls or download apps (let alone use Siri) but can fry your bacon rather well. 681 of these bafflingly branded gas stoves were seized by police in Wuhan, each bearing the legend "Apple China Limited." Apparently the units did not come with flame-out protection and only ran iOS 4.1, leading to the swoop. We should probably take that as solid confirmation that the iPhone 6's killer feature is going to involve making brunch on the go.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/iphone-gas-stoves/
Infographic: Cannabis Contradictions
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/02/cannabis_contradictions_people_vs_government_infog.php
Toon - Theocalypse Now
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/the-strip.html?ref=sunday#1
Solar-Panel Giant Poised to Get Even Bigger
One of the world's fastest-growing solar-panel manufacturers, Tokyo-based Solar Frontier, may soon increase production still more with help from its oil-company-funded parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu.
In 2007, Solar Frontier built its first factory, which had the capacity to make 20 megawatts of solar panels a year. It's since built a plant every two years, culminating in a 900-megawatt plant in Kunitomi, Japan, that started production last year. Now it's evaluating building a fourth plant in Japan after it was selected by the Japanese government to receive funding to build a factory. It also plans to build a new plant in the Middle East in connection with Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell. Saudi Aramco owns 15 percent of Showa Shell, and Shell owns 35 percent. Solar Frontier has seen significant demand for its solar panels: for example, earlier this year, the company announced that it would supply solar panels for a large (up to 150-megawatt) solar-power plant in California.
Solar Frontier makes CIGS solar panels, which are based on a thin film of semiconductor made from copper, indium, gallium, and selenium. The semiconductor material is far better at absorbing sunlight than silicon, so less of it is required, and it can be processed using fewer steps than silicon. Both attributes could reduce the cost of a solar panel. But it's proved difficult to manufacture CIGS panels at large scales and at costs low enough to compete with the incumbent technology. Dozens of companies have tried, but so far, they make only relatively small amounts of solar panels. One such company, Solyndra, famously failed to reduce the costs of the process and ran out of money.
Solar Frontier, with nearly a gigawatt of solar-panel production capacity, is the notable exception. The company's direct competitors include other CIGS companies, but also silicon solar-panel manufacturers and First Solar, which makes thin-film solar panels based on cadmium telluride. Taken together, these companies make most of the world's solar panels. Solar Frontier declined to give specific cost figures, but it says its costs are competitive, even with low-cost Chinese solar-panel makers using conventional silicon technology. Because its panels work well in low-light conditions, they can generate more electricity than silicon solar panels of the same peak power output. The company says this allows its customers to earn more revenue from solar-panel installations than they could using other solar panels.
more
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39748/?p1=A1
N. Georgia judge investigated for brandishing gun in court
By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A North Georgia judge is being investigated for pulling out a handgun during a hearing this week as a woman testified about being an assault victim.
Judge David E. Barrett.
Lumpkin County Superior Court Judge David E. Barrett pulled out his pistol Wednesday not in anger, but out of frustration and to make "a poor rhetorical point," District Attorney Jeff Langley said Saturday. Langley, who was in the courtroom when it happened, said the Judicial Qualifications Commission has launched an investigation of the judge.
"It was totally inappropriate conduct for a courtroom," Langley said. The district attorney said that he approached the bench after Barrett pulled out his gun and told the judge to put his pistol away. The judge did so and the hearing continued, Langley said.
Barrett, chief judge of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, did not immediately respond to emails or to phone calls left at his office Saturday. Under Georgia law, judges are allowed to carry a concealed weapon on the bench, but it is a crime to point a pistol at another person when there is no justification to do so.
more
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/n-georgia-judge-investigated-1362511.html
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