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Insanely hot exoplanet has titanium in its atmosphere When it comes to heat in our solar system, Mercury takes the top crown, at least as far as planets are concerned. You wouldn’t last more than a few seconds on Mercury’s surface, with temperatures topping 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the sun-facing side of the planet, but believe it or not that’s downright chilly compared to the distant exoplanet KELT-9b. KELT-9b is located around 650 light years from our solar system and it’s orbiting its start — named KELT-9 — at such a short distance that it managed to complete an orbit in less than two Earth days. Earth, in case you had forgotten, takes 365 days to orbit our star. That close relationship makes KELT-9b an incredibly hostile place and a new study reveals that the planet is so hot that materials we favor on Earth because of their strength are actually vaporized. The planet is being hailed as the first example of an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” meaning that it’s a massive ball of gas and it’s, well, very hot. Temperatures on KELT-9b are thought to reach as high as 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks in large part to the fact that the star the planet is orbiting is a great deal hotter than even our own sun. In fact, the planet gets hotter than many stars observed by astronomers. This latest round of work was published in Nature. By studying the light that shines through the planet’s atmosphere as it passes in front of its star, researchers have calculated what chemicals are likely present there. Amazingly, the team detected what appears to be iron vapor around the planet, which is something their theoretical models had predicted, but they also found something unexpected. The spectrum of light revealed the presence of gaseous titanium. Yes, the planet is so incredibly hot that even titanium doesn’t stand a chance. It’s thought that planets which get as hot as KELT-9b sometimes completely evaporate due to the heat, but this particular gas giant is large enough that it’s been able to stand the test of time. We still wouldn’t want to visit it, though.

Insanely hot exoplanet has titanium in its atmosphere When it comes to heat in our solar system, Mercury takes the top crown, at least as far as planets are concerned. You wouldn’t last more than a few seconds on Mercury’s surface, with temperatures topping 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the sun-facing side of the planet, but believe it or not that’s downright chilly compared to the distant exoplanet KELT-9b. KELT-9b is located around 650 light years from our solar system and it’s orbiting its start — named KELT-9 — at such a short distance that it managed to complete an orbit in less than two Earth days. Earth, in case you had forgotten, takes 365 days to orbit our star. That close relationship makes KELT-9b an incredibly hostile place and a new study reveals that the planet is so hot that materials we favor on Earth because of their strength are actually vaporized. The planet is being hailed as the first example of an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” meaning that it’s a massive ball of gas and it’s, well, very hot. Temperatures on KELT-9b are thought to reach as high as 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks in large part to the fact that the star the planet is orbiting is a great deal hotter than even our own sun. In fact, the planet gets hotter than many stars observed by astronomers. This latest round of work was published in Nature. By studying the light that shines through the planet’s atmosphere as it passes in front of its star, researchers have calculated what chemicals are likely present there. Amazingly, the team detected what appears to be iron vapor around the planet, which is something their theoretical models had predicted, but they also found something unexpected. The spectrum of light revealed the presence of gaseous titanium. Yes, the planet is so incredibly hot that even titanium doesn’t stand a chance. It’s thought that planets which get as hot as KELT-9b sometimes completely evaporate due to the heat, but this particular gas giant is large enough that it’s been able to stand the test of time. We still wouldn’t want to visit it, though. NASA admits Mars Opportunity rover could be lost forever In a blog post, NASA said that it may never again have contact with the Opportunity rover after the craft got caught up in a Martian dust storm in the middle of June. While expressing optimism that the worst of the Opportunity’s rover’s problems may be behind it, as the dust storm starts to “decay,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Andrew Good cautioned that the battery for the $400 million vehicle might have discharged so much power and been inactive for so long, it could be a loss. “Even if engineers hear back from Opportunity, there’s a real possibility the rover won’t be the same,” Good wrote in an Aug. 16 blog post. “The rover’s batteries could have discharged so much power — and stayed inactive so long — that their capacity is reduced. If those batteries can’t hold as much charge, it could affect the rover’s continued operations.” Good also cautioned that no one will know how the Opportunity rover is doing “until it speaks,” but added that the team behind it is optimistic after performing tests on its batteries before the storm hit its location. “Because the batteries were in relatively good health before the storm, there’s not likely to be too much degradation,” Good wrote. “And because dust storms tend to warm the environment — and the 2018 storm happened as Opportunity’s location on Mars entered summer — the rover should have stayed warm enough to survive.” Good added that the dust is less of a problem. Previous storms which “plastered dust on the camera lenses” saw most of the dust eventually shed off. “Any remaining dust can be calibrated out,” he wrote. The dust storm started on June 10 and eventually covered the entire planet, according to Space.com. Still, it has been a sore spot for NASA that it has not been able to contact the Opportunity rover since the dust storm. Assuming NASA is able to get in contact with the rover (it is continuing to listen for signs and pinging it three times a week), Good says we may not know anything for a few weeks, likening its condition to a patient coming out of a coma. “After the first time engineers hear from Opportunity, there could be a lag of several weeks before a second time,” Good wrote. “It’s like a patient coming out of a coma: It takes time to fully recover. It may take several communication sessions before engineers have enough information to take action.” Opportunity has three so-called “fault modes” when it experiences a problem: a low-power fault that causes it to go into hibernation until there is more sunlight to let it recharge; clock fault, which might happen if the rover doesn’t know what time it is, causing disruptions in communication and uploss fault, which occurs when the rover hasn’t heard from Earth in a long time, causing it to check its equipment and try alternate ways to communicate with Earth. Opportunity’s history The Opportunity rover, which was initially meant to only be on the Red Planet for a 90-day mission, has made several groundbreaking discoveries throughout its now roughly 15-year trip, initially leaving Earth on July 7, 2003. So far, it has detected signs of water, explored the insides of two craters and completed a marathon — the first vehicle to do so on another planet. But Opportunity’s journey hasn’t always been a smooth one. In 2005, the rover lost the use of one of its front wheels and got stuck in a thick pile of sand for about five weeks, according to Space.com. When it finally managed to move, it ran into a sand dune. In 2007, a dust storm hit and reportedly cut the spacecraft’s power to “dangerously low levels.” A month later, it turned back on and began exploring the Victoria Crater. Despite its obstacles, the Opportunity has always managed to pull through. But this time, researchers aren’t sure what will happen. In the meantime, scientists are trying to stay positive, creating a Mars-themed Spotify playlist — featuring “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!, “Rocket Man” by Elton John, among others — and an office pool to help pass the time.

Goats captured after running wild on subway tracks They got their goat! Police managed to capture two goats who had been running wild on the N train tracks in Brooklyn Monday morning — after using tranquilizer darts to calm those crazy kids down. Officers spent two hours trying to corral the billies between the Fort Hamilton Parkway and New Utrecht stops in Borough Park, and eventually the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit had to step in with sedatives to bring the four-legged scoundrels down, Cpt. Jonathan Bobin told reporters after the chase. The zonked-out animals snored as police bound them with ropes waited for a van to haul the captives away and hand them over to the city’s Animal Care and Control. It’s still unclear where the goats came from — but Bobin noted there are many meat markets in the area. It’s up to Animal Care if the animals will escape the chopping block for good, he said. “Hopefully they’ll find new homes,” said Bobin, the commanding officer of Transit District 34. Despite the weird creatures who ride the rails every day, he said these scofflaws were new kids on the block. “Sometimes we see cats and dogs but never goats. That’s a new one,” he said. Bobin said Coney Island-bound N trains were delayed for two hours during the chase, but the MTA said trains were only rerouted for 30 minutes.

He is now engaged to Priyanka Chopra.

That was one of three fantastic double features I saw. TERMS came on after a sneak preview of THE BIG CHILL (or TERMS was the sneak preview-- I forget). Also saw PAPER MOON with A TOUCH OF CLASS (I think PM was a preview) and SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (definitely a great movie, because I actually liked Alan Alda in it) with a sneak preview of THE CHAMP. But my mom saw the ultimate pairing of two very similar movies-- back when there were such a thing as discount, second-run theaters, she saw ORDINARY PEOPLE with AMERICAN GIGOLO. Maybe they're big fans of Tipper?

On back-to-back days this week I watched Lee give Will hell during his Thanksgiving meal prep, then worry about her Mother Rose's heart surgery.

Take... those chicken wings... and learn to fry again...

You're welcome, you overrated Japanese import.

When I was a teen, The Exorcist was re-released. A bunch of us from my neighborhood went. For some reason, the theater broke it up with an intermission. All the girls wanted to leave at that point because they were so scared, but all of us guys thought it was one of the best comedies we'd ever seen, and wanted to see how it ended. THE SIMPSONS' version of that (Cape Feare) was hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgUGwFKchQ THE SIMPSONS version. She was a real wimp. :cool:

I heard they're gonna do a remake, only now the tomatoes will be drizzled with balsamic vinegar. This version promises to be much more palatable.

I had disc fusion surgery on my neck in 2003 & 2012, and 2 mini-strokes in May, 2017 (just over a week after I joined this site, not that I'm assigning any blame...), so my sister has my medical power of attorney.

I loved that movie. The sight of Vincent D'Onofrio as a bleached blonde just made me laugh. (His cousin dated the friend I walked out of the Yankee game with... who was also one of the two who walked out of Jerome Robbins' Boredway.) It's a shame Elizabeth Shue's career never again reached such dizzying heights. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It wasn't the violence that got to me, it was the boring last 14 hours after the interesting first hour. I saw it many months after it came out. I was on a business trip in Connecticut & had nothing to do one night, so I went. The theater was packed. I sat in an aisle seat. By the end, I was desperate to go back to my hotel room and stare at the four walls. The end of the film seemed to have several 'false endings'... I remember being ready to stand up several times, only to have the boredom continue. When it was FINALLY over, I saw a crowd reaction I'd never seen at a movie before... The second the closing credits came on, every single person stood up and exited silently. Nobody stayed through the credits. Nobody discussed anything. Everybody was probably saying silent prayers of thanks that it was over. I never understood all the hoopla over Tarantino's talent until I saw his legendary appearance on THE GOLDEN GIRLS.

I was dying to walk out of Grease, but the friend I was with didn't want to walk home alone. I absolutely hated Close Encounters of the Worst Kind, but stuck it out through all 15 hours. I walked out of Down & Out in Beverly Hills and Blade Rudder (coincidentally [perhaps?] both those theaters have been torn down) and Punch-Drunk Love (got my $ back for that one). On Broadway I've walked out of HurlyBurly and Jerome Robbins' Boredway (I walked out at intermission; the two friends I was with walked out a few minutes into Act II). My friend and I walked out of a Yankee game in 1998 because it was broiling hot & muggy that night. On the way home, we were listening to the game and it turned out we missed an infamous brawl:

Mexico City bans use of attractive models at city events They’ve long been an unmissable part of public events in Mexico, from soccer matches to trade fairs: attractive women hired to be greeters or simply as eye candy, sometimes scantily clad in short skirts and high heels or crop-tops and hot pants emblazoned with corporate logos. Now Mexico City has prohibited the use of models known in local parlance as “edecanes” at events sponsored by the local government, breaking new ground for a country where deeply entrenched gender stereotypes often continue to relegate women to supporting roles in the workforce. “This job should not exist,” the capital’s mayor, Jose Ramon Amieva, said in announcing the ban last week. “It goes against policies of gender equality.” In 2014, a group of female politicians organized a forum on the topic that concluded the edecan industry sometimes is a cover for prostitution and that the models face precarious employment conditions. It estimated more than 1 million Mexicans work as hostesses or hosts, most of them in the informal sector. Online job postings for hostesses offer salaries ranging anywhere from 5,000 pesos ($260) to 30,000 pesos ($1,560) per month, well above the current minimum wage of about $4.60 per day. While edecanes’ presence at corporate and government events tends to be more demure than elsewhere — think blazers, high heels and slacks or knee-length skirts rather than skin-tight bodysuits — there have been some instances that attracted criticism. In perhaps the most notorious one, the electoral institute hired a Playboy model to hand out envelopes at the first presidential debate ahead of the 2012 election. Julia Orayen emerged onstage in a tight white dress with a plunging neckline that revealed lots of cleavage, in sharp contrast to the button-up dress shirt and black suit donned by the lone female contender for the presidency, Josefina Vazquez. Julia Orayen, second from right, carries a box to presidential candidates containing paper for them to take to assign their speaking order at the start of a presidential candidate debate in Mexico City, Sunday, May 6, 2012. And in 2016, the New Alliance party held a campaign event featuring several women in tight white stretch pants and topless save for body paint in the party’s signature turquoise and white. At Mexico City government events, models have generally been hired to greet guests, pass microphones around for questions or simply smile onstage alongside mostly male speakers. Indra Rubio, who coordinates the gender justice program for Oxfam in Mexico, called the capital’s model ban a “small but very important step” for a country that’s “still macho.” “We need to question as a society: Why is a woman’s body seen as an object?” Rubio said. “This places the woman always at a disadvantage, if her participation in the workforce is subject to her physical appearance.” Rubio said she would like to see the model ban extend to other local governments and also be adopted at the federal level, arguing that taxpayers’ money should be spent to empower women, not objectify them. “Women aren’t seen as having rights, as equals,” she said, “and I think this generates violence against women.”

This city is suggesting residents cool it with the sex. The health secretary of Santa Marta, Julio Salas, advised locals to abstain from sex to stay cool during an intense heat wave, according to Colombia Reports. Santa Marta, a popular tourist destination on the coast of Colombia, has seen temperatures rise higher than 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Associated Press. Recently, medical facilities in the coastal city have been flooded with patients complaining of heat stroke symptoms, the AP reported. For those who cannot contain their sexual urges, Salas says they should wait until night when the temperature is lower, SkyNews reported. “If you have a good air conditioning, there is no problem,” he added. Salas issued the advice as part of a list of other recommendations for combating the heat wave, include taking cold showers, staying hydrated, and avoiding prolonged exposure to the sun.

Sounds like a potential TLC program... Little Person, Big Penis :rolleyes: