Siding Spring and Mars

Our study of the comet and models of the dust environment led to some very interesting conclusions:

Even with this close approach, very little, if any, dust from the comet is likely to hit Mars.
Any dust that does hit Mars will be in the form of relatively large particles, a few millimeters in size.
The highest risk of impact is not at the time the comet is closest to Mars, but instead occurs around 100 minutes after close approach.
Any dust grains that are going to hit Mars would have been ejected from the comet over a year ago.

As I noted, these results are fascinating and counterintuitive. How can the comet get so close to Mars, with so few impacts? Why is it that only grains of a particular size can reach Mars, and any impacts will happen, not around close approach, but over an hour later when the comet is more than twice as far away? And how is it that any impacting dust had to have left the nucleus so long ago, while the comet's activity throughout 2014 is irrelevant to the encounter?

Nobody tell Dan Simmons

The Islamic Roots Of Science Fiction by Charlie Jane Anders

Thought for the day

Will Rob Ford's illness translate into Mayor Doug Ford?

Saved by dumb luck and statistical obsessions

It's just dumb luck and a desire to keep the f:m ratio of my reviews close to 1:1 that prevented today's review being one of a satire that has as a throw-away bit about the destruction by passenger jet of an iconic skyscraper in NYC.

The Russians Came Knocking by K.B. Spangler

Set in the same universe as Digital Divide and Maker Space (and A Girl and Her Fed, which I have still not read), this novella offers a change of pace, eschewing the procedurals of the two Rachel Peng novels for the very sexy adventures of Josh Glassman, Deputy Director of the Office of Adaptive and Complementary Technologies, hunky cyborg media relations expert and self-declared man-whore.

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well, bother

I cannot imagine the colours inverting on my Playbook is a good sign...

Anyone else having trouble connecting with facebook

Getting cannot resolve hostname errors.

Not sure how to check this

When was the most recent day when this LJ was not number 1 in user ratings.