My God, It's Full Of Stars

By 1990 our understanding of the sky at night was simple. We have nine (9) planets (Pluto was still a planet then) and the rest of the galaxy does not. We might have seen evidence in Infra-Red of primordial discs around younger stars but there was no evidence of planets. Flash forward five (5) years and a team of astronomers made an extraordinary discovery, a planet around another star. And it was like no other planet in our solar system. This planet was bigger than Jupiter and "hugged" its parent star so tight that it orbits it about every four days. This, however, was the tip of the iceberg. Every month since then teams of planetologists and astronomers have been discovering new planets. The smallest mass planet so far found is about 5 times Earth mass all the way up to more that 15 times Jupiter mass. These are all heady figures but I wish to impress upon you the menagerie of planets goes well beyond our comfortable eight (8) into new realms never dreamed up by sci-fi. Hot Jupiters, Water Giants, and Super Earths to name a few.

Growing up as a Star Wars and a Star Trek fan (not mutually exclusive fandoms) I believed there was no way our solar system had the only planets in the galaxy, let alone the rest of the universe. My teachers and superiors patronized my "delusion" and told me our solar system is it, the galaxy is empty. The same old crap the likes of Galileo had to deal with. In fact since the beginning of our endeavours to understand nature by science, they are always opposed by those that declare Humans the center of the universe. And each scientific revolution proves them wrong. We aren't on a flat Earth, the sun and stars don't revolve around us, the universe isn't static and forever. My reasoning for writing this is not to "toot the horn" of science, merely show a connection from the past and the learned scholars and teachers I dealt with in my youth. With a certain feeling of vindication I can say, not including our solar system, there are 264 confirmed exo-planets. That is way more than the zero of just 20 years ago. To keep track of these new discoveries JPL & NASA run a helpful website. Included is a 3D interactive map of the planetary systems within 300 Light Years of us. Science Fiction predicted other planets for at least a century, and here we are with new worlds to explore, someday.

I tracked down a re-released copy of the manga Parasyte, as well as a lesser known Japanese horror Manga, Uzumaki. Meaning "Spiral" it is a story of the Japanese town's obsession with anything spiral, to the point of dementia. The main character, a high school girl, watches as her friends and family are consumed by spiral, or Uzumaki, obsession. A fascinating read with strange, grotesque imagery: a student turning into a snail, a father who wants to be one with the wash tub, and a mother so fearful of uzumaki she begins to cut spirals off her body. A live action version was made in 2000 and subtitled in North America. An untranslated preview is available on YouTube. More creepy than horror, I recommend this movie for any fan of the manga, or any movie fan who likes Asian cinema. I especially like the spirals that form out of the screen as you watch the movie, very subtle.

Two geek events filed me with joy this passed week. I took a co-worker out to buy his first Xbox 360, and the other I introduced to Guitar Hero. I love the fact I'm in the future (relative to when I was younger) but some things should become better, not more confusing. When Christmas rolled around in the past kids wanted an Atari or a Nintendo or a SEGA Genesis. Parents (usually the ones buying) payed little attention to the console market (with exceptions I'm sure) but wanted happy kids and blindly bought their kids a system. And it was easy; go to store, trade money/credit for Nintendo, take Nintendo home, happy children. I had the honor this week to help a co-worker buy an X360 for his son. I'm always spewing game information so he came to me for help picking out which 360 to get, splurge on the Halo edition, buy the Elite, or get the 20GB joint with two (2) free games. It occurred to me later to ask, why did he need help? Why isn't it simple to go buy a system? He would have had the same problem buying a PS3, but Nintendo only has one Wii and that makes sense. When Neo-Geo came out it was just as expensive as a PS3, at that was in the early 90s. They didn't make multiple types depending on budget, there was one, buy it or don't. I didn't. I'm a little more annoyed with the "Goldilocks" effect, trying to find the mix of technology and price that's just right for you. WTF! I had a great time helping my co-worker figure out which X360 wasn't too hot or cold, but I shouldn't have to. Anyone buying an X360 or a PS3 has to juggle info on gaming specs, backwards-compatibility, HD connections and TV specs, and wireless options. Back in the 80s the deciding factor was, "which console has Pac-Man?"

On the Guitar Hero front, an ultra geek moment occurred when I found out there is a Halo battle music mix, set to guitar, for free download. And it actually sounds good. I am 2 songs shy on Medium for all 5 stars, but I've also worked my way into Hard. I think Hard will be where I wash up. Cords are not my friends and unless I grow a sixth finger like an inbred kitten I won't be getting even four stars. Not looking forward to facing Slash this time. The first two times were straight forward (and a let down) but this time he's armed and fully operational. I introduced a friend to the game and it's awesome to watch him slowly figure the buttons and eventually transition to listening to the beat and getting coordinated. I was there last month, stabbing at three (3) fret buttons trying to "play" music. Now after playing for three (3) weeks I've started playing hard. Its amazing how the game preps you for later levels. Still looking forward to Rock Band for christmas. See you next broadcast.