Well, that magnificent triple planetary conjunction I mentioned earlier in the month has begun! All you have to do is go outside tonight (and perhaps every night for the next couple of weeks) and watch the magnificent sunset. That way you’ll know where to look. Then go back outside at 7:15 and I hope you have a clear view to the west.

At 7:15, it won’t be quite dark, but you should still see three very bright ‘stars’ close to the horizon where the Sun disappeared. They aren’t stars; the top one is Jupiter, the incredibly bright one below Jupiter is Venus and below Venus, you just might be able to see Mercury.

Mercury moves very fast, and by Friday Mercury and Venus will be side by side and very close together. They will also be much closer to Jupiter.

So go outside at 7:15 every night this week. If you turn around, you’ll see a big triangle of bright stars in the eastern sky. The bottom one on the right isn’t a star: that’s Saturn so you can see four planets. (To see another one, just look down

Take your kids outside and introduce them to celestial mechanics in action. ENJOY!

Pam

Since it will soon be summer, I thought I’d talk a little bit about global warming. And you know climate change isn’t just about warming up. Several months ago, I talked about how a storm in Alaska had caused a giant iceberg to break up off the coast of Antarctica, literally on the other side of the planet.

Well, researchers at the University of Wisconsin have discovered something really interesting about a couple of freak events that happened in the continental U.S. Three years ago in May of 2010, the state of Tennessee experienced a torrential rainfall of over 20 inches. And in April of 2011, there was a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama.

Both events are apparently linked to a rare coupling of the polar jet stream and the subtropical jet stream. But here’s the fascinating part. These researchers think that these unprecedented storms were caused by events that happened in a place that we’re all familiar with; the western Pacific which is about 9,000 miles away from the U.S. midsection.

The mechanism that caused the storms originates during spring or fall when organized complexes of tropical thunderstorms over Indonesia push the subtropical jet stream north, causing it to merge with the polar jet stream. The researchers call the resulting band of wind a “superjet”.

A superjet and its circulating winds carry roughly twice as much energy as a typical jet stream and when the normally separate jet streams sit stacked up, it causes very strong vertical circulation, which produces clouds, heavy rain and tornadoes under the right conditions.

The scientists think that a warmer climate may be triggering the overlap of the jet streams and that the high impact weather it causes may become more frequent. The next step, the researchers say, will be to examine historic weather data to see if these jet stream interactions have happened in the past and whether they triggered violent weather. This, they hope, will lead to more accurate long term weather forecasts.

Of course, the biggest news as far as climate change goes is what’s happening to the ice caps at the poles. Well, Alan Werner, professor of geology at Mount Holyoke College, says that melting Arctic ice is no longer just evidence of a rapidly warming planet: it’s also part of the problem. That’s because the loss of snow and ice makes Earth’s surface less reflective, and the Sun’s heat is absorbed in greater amounts by the exposed dark ocean or tundra.

This means that the high latitudes are warming at a much faster rate than the other latitudes. Werner made his observations after the announcement by the National Snow and Ice Data Center that the surface area of Arctic sea ice reached a new low in 2012, breaking a previous record reached in 2007.

So . . . . do we believe them? I went to London last fall and took a non-stop flight out of Tokyo. If you look at a globe, you can trace my great circle flight path and you’ll see that virtually the entire trip took place over Siberia, that vast snow and ice-covered plain in the far north. I’ve flown over Siberia in the past and it was always covered with snow.

Except that in the last week of September last year on the outbound flight and the first week of October on the return flight, I saw no snow. That’s right. NO. SNOW. The entire flight was over endless empty vistas of brown, treeless dirt. NO snow.

Global warming? I’ve seen it with my own eyes, boys and girls, and I believe. I believe.

Well, it’s been a while since I dipped into the medical file and I’ve found a couple of items that are very good news indeed.

I realize that I’ve posted before about new and different skin adhesives and if you’re thinking that I’ve been traumatized by tape removal, you’d be right. I also was told a story about a gentleman who’d had exploratory surgery in his torso and they had opened him up ‘from stem to stern’. He said that when they wanted to remove the giant bandage, they simply gripped it at his shoulders and ripped off the whole thing. He said it took him several minutes to stop bouncing!

And of course, in addition to bandages, they now attach all sorts of medical devices to you . . . with tape. Well, I’m happy to report that a research team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has invented a quick-release tape that has the strong adhesion properties of commercial medical tape, but doesn’t have the ‘ouch factor’ when it’s removed.

The tape has three layers, and the middle layer has different physical properties depending on the direction of the applied stress. It’s like wood which is stronger along the grain than across it.

The researchers employed laser etching and a release liner to create a medical tape with high shear strength (for strong adhesion) and low peel force (for safe, quick removal). Once the backing is peeled off, any remaining adhesive left on the skin can safely be rolled off with a finger using a “push and roll” technique.

This is grand news, because there are more than a million injuries each year in the United States caused by medical tape removal. Such injuries can range from skin irritation to permanent scarring. So here’s to those people who are removing the ‘ouch factor’ from medical tape!

There’s also good news about a real scourge here on Guam. Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have developed a new method to test for latent tuberculosis. They hope the test will be cheaper, faster and more reliable than current testing for the disease.

About one-third of the world’s population is infected with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, a disease that kills an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most infected people have latent TB, in which the bacteria are kept in check by the immune system. Patients become sick only when the immune system is compromised. This enables the bacteria to become active and people with HIV are at especially high risk.

Current TB tests work by detecting interferon-gamma, a disease-fighting chemical made by cells of the immune system. Commercially available tests require sending samples to a lab, and can be used just once.

The UC Davis researchers used a novel approach. They coated a gold wafer with short pieces of a single-stranded DNA segment known to stick specifically to interferon-gamma. They then mounted the wafer in a chip that has tiny channels for blood samples. If interferon-gamma is present in a blood sample, it sticks to the DNA, triggering an electrical signal that can be read by a clinician. If the interferon-gamma level is high, a health care professional can diagnose latent TB.

The researchers plan to refine the system so that the sensor and electronic readout are integrated on a single chip. A patent application has been filed for the technology, and the researchers hope the test can be commercialized after FDA approval.

Here’s hoping they don’t charge too much for their test. It’s important to keep the spread of tuberculosis to a minimum!

Welcome to magnificent May! Just a reminder that there’s a partial solar eclipse tomorrow and Public Planetarium shows tonight (and tomorrow night and Saturday night!). And of course, there’s always the Magic Half Hour!

ENJOY!

Pam

1. Partial solar eclipse tomorrow morning 2. Public Planetarium shows

1. Partial solar eclipse

There will be a partial solar eclipse visible from Guam tomorrow morning, Friday 10 May. It starts at 8:21 a.m., maximum coverage occurs at 9:16 a.m. and the eclipse is over at 10:29 a.m. Here on Guam, the Moon will cover less than a quarter of the Sun’s surface. There will be a substantial ‘bite’ out of the Sun’s right side, but that’s about it. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. Look at the small circles under a tree or use a mirror to reflect the Sun’s image onto a wall.

2. Public Planetarium shows

9, 10 and 11 May 2013

At 6:30 we’ll have “What’s Your Sign?” which tells you all about the Zodiac constellations and the difference between astrology and astronomy.

At 7:00 p.m. we’ll have “The Great Cosmic Race” which tells you about the

8 different ways you’re moving as you read this and explains why you don’t know you’re moving.

The doors open at 6:00 and Planetarium shows are free!

—–

THANK YOU for your show suggestions and all your kind words. I’m featuring the top two vote getters this month (and public shows are NEXT

WEEK!) and we’ll feature the rest of them in June. I think there will be six different shows in June and there’s still space so if you have a favorite show, reply to this e-mail and tell me what it is!

Guam’s May skies this year are absolutely awesome! We have the early evening “Magic Half Hour” for the first two weeks of the month and during the last two weeks we’ll have a marvelous TRIPLE planetary conjunction in the western sky. There’s also a partial solar eclipse next week on Friday

10 May. Expect a couple more e-mails from me this month so I can tell you all about it!

Although it may be too cloudy to see it, there’s a bright pass of the International Space Station tonight and it will pass almost directly overhead. Keep reading for viewing directions. There’s also a meteor shower this weekend. The sky is astounding! Look up tonight, the universe awaits you!

Pam

1. Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower

2. Bright pass of the ISS

3 Public shows

9, 10 and 11 May

1. Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower

There’s a fairly active meteor shower this weekend (4 and 5 May).

Although the fat crescent Moon will be right in the middle of things, you still might see meteors, but you have to get up before dawn to do it.

Struggle out of bed around 5:00 a.m. this weekend and find the Moon in the eastern sky. You’re looking for the leftovers of probably the solar system’s most notorious litterbug: Comet Halley. They’re called the Eta Aquarids and the Moon will be in Aquarius on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Eta Aquarids usually produce about a meteor a minute.

2. Bright pass of the ISS tonight!

There will be a bright pass of the International Space Station tonight, 2 May. It’s a good one; the station’s magnitude will be -3.7 which will make it temporarily the brightest object in the sky. As I’ve said before, the ISS is now big enough that it appears as a moving line and not just a dot.

Although it’s completely overcast as I write this, Guam’s clouds can scatter pretty fast. To see the pass if the clouds let you, get a time hack for your watch or phone and go outside at 7:10 p.m. and face where the Sun disappeared. It won’t be quite dark.

Watch the area to the right of and below Jupiter and Capella and the ISS will appear above the western horizon at 7:13 p.m. It will climb virtually straight up from the horizon and by 7:17 p.m. it will be straight up. It will then plunge downward toward the southeastern horizon and at 7:20 it will be close to the Crux the Southern Cross. I sure do hope the clouds let us see this one!

3. Public Shows

9, 10 and 11 May

6:30 p.m. What’s Your Sign?

7:00 p.m. The Great Cosmic Race

Our show at 6:30 p.m. is the marvelous “What’s Your Sign?” You’ll learn where the Zodiac constellations are in the sky and you’ll also learn the difference between astrology and astronomy. But most important, you’ll learn that your Zodiac sign isn’t the one they’ve always told you it was and why that really doesn’t make any difference at all. Don’t miss “What’s Your Sign?”

The winner of the “What’s Your Favorite Show” contest is our 7:00 p.m.

show “The Great Cosmic Race” and is one of my favorites too. It’s the show that tells you all about the eight different ways you’re moving as you’re reading this e-mail and why you don’t know you’re moving.

Please join us next week for “What’s Your Sign?” and “The Great Cosmic Race”. The petition to save the Planetarium will also be available for you to sign.

I had a look at the files this morning and discovered that there were many stories in the file about . . . us. So off we go into the wonderful world of humanity!

So . . . what would you do if I told you I had an advance copy of the newest book by your favorite author and I was going to tell you exactly how it ended? Here on Guam, people go to great lengths to not find out who won the Superbowl until they can watch it on Monday evening.

Most of us avoid learning the endings of stories we have yet to read or see, whether they’re in books, at the movies or on TV. We plug our ears and loudly repeat “la-la-la-la”, to avoid learning the outcome and we get angry with friends who slip up and spill a fictional secret.

But according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego we’re wasting our time. Spoilers don’t spoil the stories. Contrary to popular belief, they actually seem to enhance enjoyment.

The psychologists ran three experiments with a total of 12 short stories. Three types of stories were studied: ironic-twist, mystery and literary. They used classics by authors like Roald Dahl, Anton Chekhov and Agatha Christie and they presented them three ways. The first was as the story was written (without a spoiler), the second was presented with a spoiler paragraph at the beginning of the story and the third was with that same paragraph incorporated into the story as though it were a part of it. Each version of each story was read by at least 30 subjects.

The researchers were surprised to discover that readers preferred the spoiled versions of ironic-twist stories, where, for example, it was revealed at the beginning of the story that a condemned man’s daring escape is all a fantasy before the noose snaps tight around his neck. The same held true for mysteries. Knowing ahead of time that Poirot discovered that the apparent target of an attempted murder was the perpetrator of the attempt, actually improved the reader’s enjoyment of the story. The readers also preferred the spoiled versions of the literary stories over the unspoiled ones.

Why? The answers go beyond the scope of the study, but one possibility is perhaps the simplest one: that plot is overrated. It’s more about the great writing than the storyline. It may also be easier to read a ‘spoiled’ story. Other studies have shown that people prefer things that are easy to process.

The overall findings are consistent with the experience most of us have had: A favorite tale can be re-read multiple times with undiminished pleasure. A beloved movie can be watched again and again.

So . . . don’t hold your ears and go “la, la, la”. You really want to know how it turns out after all!

And does that crabby co-worker who tells you the ending really enjoy raining on your parade? Is there any way to deal effectively with Mz Sour-Face? Well, researchers at North Dakota State University have discovered that you should give them candy! People with a “sweet tooth” have sweeter dispositions!

The research included a series of five studies. In one study, the authors found that people who ate a sweet food (chocolate), versus a non-sweet food (crackers), or no food, were more likely to volunteer to help another person in need. The authors also found in another study that people believe that a person who likes sweet foods like candy or chocolate cake (compared to foods from the other four taste types) is more agreeable or helpful.

The authors also showed that people who like sweet foods ranked higher for the personality trait of agreeableness and were more likely to volunteer to help clean up their city after it experienced a major flood. The authors demonstrated that you can predict how helpful or nice someone is, based on the extent to which whether he or she prefers eating sweet foods.

Of course, my question is, “Where did they find anyone who doesn’t like sweets?”

I’m sending this update out early for a couple of reasons. First, this Friday, 26 April is a busy day for the sky and second I have a request of you all. Read on! It’s probably the best time for sky watching for the whole year!

Pam

1. Lunar and Solar Eclipses

2. The Day Of No Shadows

3. What Would You Like to See?

1. Lunar and Solar Eclipses

First of all, there will be no lunar eclipse over Guam on Friday night, 26 April, despite what you’ve been seeing on Facebook and the Internet.

There is a lunar eclipse, but the Moon passes through the penumbra, the lightest part of Earth’s shadow and there will be hardly any change in the Moon’s appearance. But most importantly, it happens over the Indian Ocean and we don’t see it at all.

There will be a partial solar eclipse over Guam on 10 May, and you’ll receive an e-mail about it as the date draws closer. (And as a special preview for you loyal supporters of the Planetarium, there’s going to be an ASTOUNDING triple planetary conjunction at the end of May!)

2. The Day of No Shadows

I’ve been posting about the Magic Half Hour and that’s what this month’s Planetarium show was all about. You can only see the gathering of bright stars observable during the Magic Half Hour from the equatorial tropics, but there is something else you can see only from the tropics. Go outside this Friday 26 April at 19 minutes past noon. If it’s sunny you’ll discover something totally unexpected. Your body and all the things around you will cast no shadows! Who stole all the shadows?

The Earth is tilted as it spins. This causes the seasons, but it also means if you live in the temperate zones, the Sun is never directly overhead. However, if you live in the tropics, the Sun does pass directly over your head on two days of the year. Friday is one of those days and at 19 minutes past noon; the Sun will be directly overhead. I call it “The Day of No Shadows”. Connect with your planet. Enjoy the Day of No Shadows on Friday at 12:19 p.m.

3. A Request

I’m writing radio spots for May this week and I can’t decide which Planetarium shows I want to feature for the month of May. So, I thought I’d ask you guys what shows YOU want to see! Do you have a favorite Planetarium show? If May and June are going to be the last months for the UOG Planetarium, I’d like to feature your favorite shows.

Just reply to this e-mail and let me know what shows you’d like to see before Friday (because I have to record Tropical Skies on Friday afternoon). The Friends of the Planetarium have also asked me to tell you that they have placed a petition at the Planetarium that you can sign if you don’t want the Planetarium to close

I was flipping through the animal file and realized that I had two stories about very uncommon animals. The first one is a large animal that looks like an antelope but is, in fact related to wild cattle. It’s called the saola. The fact that it has managed to survive at all is amazing because it lives on the border between Laos and Vietnam.

The saola was discovered as a species in 1992 and was one of the most spectacular zoological discoveries of the 20th century. Saola are so secretive and so seldom seen (no biologist has ever seen one in the wild) that they’ve been compared to unicorns (although they actually have two horns).

Today, saola occur only in the dense forests of the Annamite Mountains. The species is classed as "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is one of the most threatened large mammals on the planet, and there are none in zoos anywhere in the world.

The most recent sighting occurred in Laos where villagers captured the animal and took pictures. Unfortunately it died after several days, but the body was preserved for further study. There are probably only a few hundred saola left and hopefully they won’t go extinct any time soon.

This is a saola, which was captured by villagers in Laos. (Credit: Bolikhamxay Provincial Conservation Unit)

The other animal is even rarer. But hey, Australia is a BIG country and you never know.

The western long-beaked echidna, one of the world’s five egg-laying species of mammal, became extinct in Australia thousands of years ago…or did it? Smithsonian scientists have found evidence that not only did these animals survive in Australia far longer than previously thought, but that they may very well still exist in parts of the country today.

Long-beaked echidnas are monotremes, a small and primitive order of mammals that lay eggs. The platypus, the short-beaked echidna, and the three species of long-beaked echidna (Western, Eastern and Sir David Attenborough’s) are the only monotremes that still exist. The platypus is found only in eastern Australia, the short-beaked echidna is found in Australia and New Guinea, and the long-beaked echidnas only on the island of New Guinea. Long-beaked echidnas are beach-ball sized animals covered in coarse blackish-brown hair and spines. They use their long, tubular snout to root for invertebrates in the forests and meadows of New Guinea.

The western long-beaked echidna like the saola is also listed as “Critically Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. It is considered extinct in Australia although fossils have been found there and it features in ancient Aboriginal rock art. But no modern record from Australia existed until scientists took a closer look at a specimen stored in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London. The specimen’s information showed that it was collected in northwestern Australia in 1901; thousands of years after they were thought to have gone extinct there.

Discovering if the western long-beaked echidna is still found in Australia will take time. Scientists will need to examine the right habitats and they also plan to visit Aboriginal communities to see if they have any knowledge of a beachball-sized ball of spines.

Unicorns with two horns and spiny beachballs. It would be a real tragedy to lose these marvelous animals!

There will be a lopsided smiley face in the western sky tonight as it grows dark after sunset. The ‘eyes’ will be Aldebaran on the left and Jupiter on the right and the ’smile’ will be, of course the crescent moon.

It will be visible until after nine, so don’t forget to go out and look!

ENJOY

Pam

Sorry this is a little late, but I’ve been having a little trouble with Internet access at work.

Welcome to the beginning of the best stargazing time to be found anywhere on the planet! Every year in April and May here on Guam, we can see eight of the ten brightest stars at the same time for a half hour each night.

Also, during this period, you can see the three most famous constellations and the largest and smallest constellations. I call it the Magic Half Hour and it occurs a half hour earlier each week. Stargazing simply doesn’t get any better than this. This week, the Magic Half Hour occurs from 10 to 10:30 p.m.

Although you can’t see all the bright stars in the early evening sky this week, most of them are up there and you can also see a planet. Just watch one of our beautiful tropical sunsets and as it begins to grow dark you’ll see what appears to be the sky’s brightest star about 5 fist-widths above the western horizon. It isn’t a star it’s our lone evening planet Jupiter. But Jupiter won’t be alone for much longer, and I’ll tell you more about that later in the month.

Happy Stargazing!!

Pam

1. April’s Public Shows

11,12 and 13 April 2013

6:30 and 7:00 p.m.

2. Bright pass of the International Space Station

5 April 2013

1. April’s Public Shows

Join us for the marvelous show ‘The Magic Half Hour’! Come to the Planetarium next week and we’ll show you the bright stars, the famous constellations and other stellar wonders. The Magic Half Hour will be presented next weekend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11, 12 and 13 April at 6:30 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m., it’s ‘Quality Time with the Star Lady’ when she answers your space-related questions. But what we’re really doing is stalling for time until it gets dark enough that we can go out and look what I call The Big Planetarium. How many of the real stars, constellations and planets will we see? Join us in the Planetarium next weekend to unlock the secrets of the best stargazing skies in the world. Don’t miss it!

2. Bright pass of the International Space Station.

7:10 p.m. to 7:16 p.m. Friday 5 April 2013 There will be a bright pass of the International Space Station this coming Friday night, 5 April. To see it, first go to time.gov and get an accurate time setting for your watch.

Then on Friday night go outside right before 7:10 p.m. and face west where the Sun disappeared. It won’t be quite dark. Then turn 90 degrees to your left and face south. At 7:10 p.m. you should see the ISS appear above the southwestern horizon (to your right).

At 7:11:23 the ISS will pass very close to Canopus, the second brightest star. This close conjunction is worth going out to see all by itself!

The ISS will then climb higher in the sky to its maximum altitude of 51 degrees and will pass fairly close to the end star of the Big Dipper’s handle before disappearing in the northeast. Don’t forget to wave!