Michael McKean

"Koichi Wakata was still getting used to gravity, though it wasn't going to stop him from diving into a deluge of sushi." - Michael McKean

It's heaven in a jar. I'm glad you're enjoying it. - Kisha

I keep meaning to try baking something with it, but I keep running out. Strangest thing. - Ha3rvey (on hiatus)

doesn't take long to get hooked on that stuff. - Jim #teamFFrank

"Space shuttle Endeavour touched down in Florida on Friday morning, bringing to an end a successful 16-day mission to complete Japan's Kibo science laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS)." - Michael McKean

"The little bits of interplanetary grit making up the Perseid meteoroid stream orbit the Sun with a period of about 130 years, like their object of origin, Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The richest part of the stream is strung out near the comet itself, which last dipped through the inner solar system in 1992. So the shower's annual sky show has waned of late — gone are the great Perseid meteor displays of the early 1990s." - Michael McKean

I saw them once as a child, on vacation. I never see anything cool in the sky because of light pollution. - m9m, Crone of FriendFeed

Yeah, them old farts keep disappearing. - Brent - Yes I am

Natural causes? - Lindsay

That is because it is! - RAPatton

Exactly! - Ayşe E.

"What is clear in Irenaeus’ teaching is that there was what he called the “Apostolic Hypothesis,” a framework of basic doctrine by which Scripture (first the Old Testament, later the New) should be interpreted. This consensus fidelium, or rule of faith, guided the Church century after century into its life, continually enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Though expressed in different ways at different times, the central goal was always the same: that the Church would teach the same Christ as it had received, and proclaim the same salvation it had always known." - Michael McKean

"Jagged looking shadows stretch away from vertical structures of ring material created by the moon Daphnis in this image taken as Saturn approaches its August 2009 equinox." - Michael McKean

"A set of high-tech Japanese underwear has passed the ultimate smell test in space." - Michael McKean

"NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account." - Michael McKean

"Astronomers have used the comet record — including 2001 RX14 (Linear) at left, captured in 2002 by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey — to model a new route for incoming comets that sneaks past Jupiter's gravity." - Michael McKean

"The recent questions about knowing God – which I have described as something that often comes to me in the “peripheral vision” of my life – seems somehow related to the perception of beauty as well. Beauty often seems to be “greater than the sum of its parts.” We see beauty not simply by looking at a thing – but by seeing it. Many people look at icons – a rightly prepared heart is required in order to see an icon. Beauty is not an object to be manipulated – but always a gift and a wonder to be venerated. So, too, our knowledge of God. Thus the knowledge of God seems radically different than the knowledge we gain by the exercise of our rational faculty. God cannot be mastered or measured. Even though He has given us words to express Him – He cannot be contained in the words. As the Fathers of the 7th Council said, “Icons do with color what Scripture does with words.” I would suggest that it is also true that Scripture does with words what icons do with color. With that – some brief thoughts on beauty." - Michael McKean

=/ - FFing Enigma

Dude...you covered? - Josh Haley

Nope! Eligible for Medicaid, though, and they're expediting it for me. Even if that weren't the case, the bill is the last thing on my mind right now. :) - Michael McKean

OK, man. Just checking. I like your attitude. :) - Josh Haley

Exceptional as in good? - Anika

Michael - wow - that does sound exceptional. Means you're stronger and fitter to battle it. - Patrick Jordan

"A Russian cargo ship, launched Friday from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan, docked Wednesday with the International Space Station, the Russian news agency Interfax said." - Michael McKean

"A day on Saturn is pretty short, and it just got shorter. The time it takes the beringed behemoth to complete a spin on its axis has just been calculated by astrophysicists at 10 hours, 34 minutes and 13 seconds, more than five minutes shorter than previous estimates." - Michael McKean

"Light is intangible and, in addition, it travels at great velocity. Nevertheless, it can be confined to a very small space by controllably inserting light into a microscopic container surrounded by reflective walls. The light will then be stored by continuous reflections and cannot escape. In the scientific domain, such a small reflective microcavity is termed a microresonator. These microresonators find applications in all areas where the interaction between light and matter shall be enhanced and studied in a controlled manner. An important area of usage is, for example, the laser diode, which has revolutionized telecommunications and optical data storage in the past few decades." - Michael McKean

"Betelgeuse — the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) — is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1000 times larger than our Sun [1]. It is also one of the most luminous stars known, emitting more light than 100 000 Suns. Such extreme properties foretell the demise of a short-lived stellar king. With an age of only a few million years, Betelgeuse is already nearing the end of its life and is soon doomed to explode as a supernova. When it does, the supernova should be seen easily from Earth, even in broad daylight." - Michael McKean

This is the most ambiguous sentence ever: "This artist's impression shows the supergiant star Betelgeuse as it was revealed thanks to different state-of-the-art techniques on ESO's Very Large Telescope." So... this is an artist's impression of a photograph? - Kevin Fox

I was hoping to see some real science photography, but it's likely the impression is based off of the way scientists described tabular data to the artist; almost like a police sketch. - Mark Trapp

"Artists' impressions" always disappoint me. - Michael McKean

pop tarts are always a great idea, :) - chaz2b

nope, you don't want pastry crumbles in your tang. i meant RCS thruster controls. - Big Joe Silenced

I'm not sure we can say humans don't learn through pleasure at all... good quote, though. - Gus

At the low level it's interesting that reward is what guides thinking. When trying to solve a math problem what is that makes the brain take one line of thought or another? It's which path the brain calculates will offer the greatest reward. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed...) - Todd Hoff

"NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has put its infrared eyes back on the sky to observe the cold and dusty universe." - Michael McKean

"A group of volunteers that spent 105 days locked up in a mock spaceship simulating a trip to Mars is finishing up their final tests this week. The programme, which was used to test the psychological and physiological effects of isolation, will pave the way for a longer 520-day mission that will take place in the first half of 2010." - Michael McKean

"The space shuttle Endeavour cast off from the International Space Station Tuesday after a whirlwind 11 days of construction work at the orbiting laboratory." - Michael McKean