futurejournalismproject: The Periodic Table of Star Wars, Episodes IV, V and VI While they don’t claim to have every character in the original trilogy, they do have the major ones. Via etckt: The first thing we had to think about when designing this new table of elements was the data that was to be contained on the tile. Naturally, there is the Element ID and name but what else could we include. Working through some thumbnails, we settled on the cast order, episode number and the actor’s initials. When working through the first drafts, it was starting to look good, but wasn’t entirely what the original concept we had hoped for delivering. After much research, we were able to find one of the alphabets used in the films, Arabesh, and decided to use that for some of the ancillary data on the tile. The coloring of the elements comes from variations on Luke and Darth Vader’s light sabers. FJP: Be still, our nerd hearts. I love this idea, but Darth Vader as a noble gas? He’s far too reactive.
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futurejournalismproject: The Periodic Table of Star Wars, Episodes IV, V and VI While they don’t claim to have every character in the original trilogy, they do have the major ones. Via etckt: The first thing we had to think about when designing this new table of elements was the data that was to be contained on the tile. Naturally, there is the Element ID and name but what else could we include. Working through some thumbnails, we settled on the cast order, episode number and the actor’s initials. When working through the first drafts, it was starting to look good, but wasn’t entirely what the original concept we had hoped for delivering. After much research, we were able to find one of the alphabets used in the films, Arabesh, and decided to use that for some of the ancillary data on the tile. The coloring of the elements comes from variations on Luke and Darth Vader’s light sabers. FJP: Be still, our nerd hearts. I love this idea, but Darth Vader as a noble gas? He’s far too reactive.
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futurejournalismproject:

The Periodic Table of Star Wars, Episodes IV, V and VI

While they don’t claim to have every character in the original trilogy, they do have the major ones.

Via etckt:

The first thing we had to think about when designing this new table of elements was the data that was to be contained on the tile. Naturally, there is the Element ID and name but what else could we include. Working through some thumbnails, we settled on the cast order, episode number and the actor’s initials.

When working through the first drafts, it was starting to look good, but wasn’t entirely what the original concept we had hoped for delivering. After much research, we were able to find one of the alphabets used in the films, Arabesh, and decided to use that for some of the ancillary data on the tile.

The coloring of the elements comes from variations on Luke and Darth Vader’s light sabers.

FJP: Be still, our nerd hearts.

I love this idea, but Darth Vader as a noble gas? He’s far too reactive.

How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a Time-Traveler In what may be my favorite Star Wars-themed science article ever written (and that’s saying a lot), Kyle Hill analyzes Han Solo’s oft-criticized description of completing the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs … and discovers he was probably a time-traveler. The problem arises because a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. So Han’s statement implies that he found a Kessel Run shortcut. In the Star Wars universe, this famous smugglers’ route skirts dangerously close to some black holes. So if the Millennium Falcon can keep from being sucked in, it must be really fast.  And that’s where it gets cool: So for the purposes of calculating the Kessel Run, let’s say the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship ever. Somehow able to withstand the forces involved (perhaps it has something to do with that sweet tractor-beam tech), we can calculate what happens when Han and his baby go 99.9999999 percent the speed of light, or 0.999999999c. Funny things happen to time when you start traveling close to the speed of light. Time runs normally for you, but everyone else moves forward at an increased rate, covering years while you only experience minutes. What does this time dilation mean for Han? Because the shortened Kessel Run spans 12 parsecs (39.6 light-years), a ship traveling nearly light-speed would take a little more than 39.6 years to get there. Factoring in time dilation, anyone watching the Kessel Run would see Solo speeding along for almost 40 years, but Solo himself would experience only a little more than half a day. If you haven’t picked out the potential pitfall for the Star Wars timeline I’ll spell it out: In the time it takes Han to complete just one Kessel Run, the rest of the galaxy battles, negotiates, and force-chokes its way through almost 40 years — and pushes the date of Solo’s birth 40 years further into the past. It gets better. Go read the rest at Wired.com.
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How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a Time-Traveler

In what may be my favorite Star Wars-themed science article ever written (and that’s saying a lot), Kyle Hill analyzes Han Solo’s oft-criticized description of completing the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs … and discovers he was probably a time-traveler.

The problem arises because a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. So Han’s statement implies that he found a Kessel Run shortcut. In the Star Wars universe, this famous smugglers’ route skirts dangerously close to some black holes. So if the Millennium Falcon can keep from being sucked in, it must be really fast. 

And that’s where it gets cool:

So for the purposes of calculating the Kessel Run, let’s say the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship ever. Somehow able to withstand the forces involved (perhaps it has something to do with that sweet tractor-beam tech), we can calculate what happens when Han and his baby go 99.9999999 percent the speed of light, or 0.999999999c.

Funny things happen to time when you start traveling close to the speed of light. Time runs normally for you, but everyone else moves forward at an increased rate, covering years while you only experience minutes. What does this time dilation mean for Han?

Because the shortened Kessel Run spans 12 parsecs (39.6 light-years), a ship traveling nearly light-speed would take a little more than 39.6 years to get there. Factoring in time dilation, anyone watching the Kessel Run would see Solo speeding along for almost 40 years, but Solo himself would experience only a little more than half a day.

If you haven’t picked out the potential pitfall for the Star Wars timeline I’ll spell it out: In the time it takes Han to complete just one Kessel Run, the rest of the galaxy battles, negotiates, and force-chokes its way through almost 40 years — and pushes the date of Solo’s birth 40 years further into the past.

It gets better. Go read the rest at Wired.com.

Source: Wired

via discoverynews: Star Wars Saga Mapped Very cool, but wouldn’t it be better if you could find one big enough to actually read? :) Joe to the rescue! Check out a hi-res version here (Tatooine is in the bottom middle in case anyone cares). Of course, what good is a map without an index? Got ya covered there, too: Coordinates of all the places you’ll be looking for. Here’s a thought experiment for you: Is the Star Wars galaxy oddly small or does it have an unusually high density of habitable, life-harboring planets? This may or may not relate to an upcoming episode of the YouTube show.
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via discoverynews:

Star Wars Saga Mapped

Very cool, but wouldn’t it be better if you could find one big enough to actually read? :)

Joe to the rescue! Check out a hi-res version here (Tatooine is in the bottom middle in case anyone cares). Of course, what good is a map without an index? Got ya covered there, too: Coordinates of all the places you’ll be looking for.

Here’s a thought experiment for you: Is the Star Wars galaxy oddly small or does it have an unusually high density of habitable, life-harboring planets? This may or may not relate to an upcoming episode of the YouTube show.

Source: sunfoundation

The administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon…. Even though the United States doesn’t have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we’ve got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we’re building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun.

Paul Shawcross, chief of the Office of Management and Budget’s Science and Space Branch, responding to a petition encouraging the United States to build a Death Star.

Another reason listed for opposing the Death Star construction?

“Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?”

This White House is the best White House.

(via squashed)

sciencecenter: Beau, the echidna puggle What’s an echidna puggle? Really freakin’ adorable, obviously. But what is an echidna, you may ask? Echidnas are monotremes, which are one of the three types of mammals, alongside marsupials (like koalas and platypuses) and placentals (us!). Monotremes lay eggs, and their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems all converge on the same whole in their cloaca (hence the name monotreme, meaning ‘single opening’). This echidna puggle is named Beau, and he was rescued by members of the Taronga Zoo in Australia. Be sure to check out the adorable video here and click through the image for more pictures. Quick Links Echidnas - Wikipedia Beau the orphan echidna - ZooBorns After you finish squeeing and then read that and learn all about echidnas, may I just add this? Anyone else see the resemblance?
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sciencecenter: Beau, the echidna puggle What’s an echidna puggle? Really freakin’ adorable, obviously. But what is an echidna, you may ask? Echidnas are monotremes, which are one of the three types of mammals, alongside marsupials (like koalas and platypuses) and placentals (us!). Monotremes lay eggs, and their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems all converge on the same whole in their cloaca (hence the name monotreme, meaning ‘single opening’). This echidna puggle is named Beau, and he was rescued by members of the Taronga Zoo in Australia. Be sure to check out the adorable video here and click through the image for more pictures. Quick Links Echidnas - Wikipedia Beau the orphan echidna - ZooBorns After you finish squeeing and then read that and learn all about echidnas, may I just add this? Anyone else see the resemblance?
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sciencecenter:

Beau, the echidna puggle

What’s an echidna puggle? Really freakin’ adorable, obviously. But what is an echidna, you may ask? Echidnas are monotremes, which are one of the three types of mammals, alongside marsupials (like koalas and platypuses) and placentals (us!). Monotremes lay eggs, and their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems all converge on the same whole in their cloaca (hence the name monotreme, meaning ‘single opening’). This echidna puggle is named Beau, and he was rescued by members of the Taronga Zoo in Australia. Be sure to check out the adorable video here and click through the image for more pictures.

Quick Links

After you finish squeeing and then read that and learn all about echidnas, may I just add this?

Anyone else see the resemblance?