Our Star

Well, our kitten is famous. Not only is she famous, but she has made into the latest issue of one of the most prestigious science journals in the world, Nature (which, by the way, my work has not made it even close to making it into this journal and my kitten makes it in after only about 2 and a half months of life, some people have all the luck). Mira, the several billion-year old star (not to be confused with our kitten) has recently been found to have a 13 light-year long tail, and is the first star ever discovered to have any such appendage. You can read more about it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6947607.stm or if you are a physicist, you can read the article at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7155/full/nature06003.html (I could barely make it past the abstract). I think that I see a resemblance, though our Mira is much cuter. The list of similarites between the star and the kitten is growing:

1. Our Mira can probably give the star a run for its money when it comes to gas emissions.

2. Both have tails (okay one is 13 light years, but since when does size matter?).

3. Both move very quickly, the star at 80 miles per second, and our furball can't be far behind.

4. Both leave in their wake plenty of destruction and waste.

5. Both continue to astound scientists, one captivates an entire field of physicists, the other mesmerizes just one, me.

Pb or Not Pb? That is the question.

I grew up during the 80s in the age of Atari and Nintendo so I only risked rotting my brain. So thankfully (or regrettably) I missed out on the earlier era that had chemistry sets that allowed you to make gun power or military grade C4. Also I missed out on the toy guns and weapons that could take down low flying aircraft. It is actually amazing that the US did not suffer negative population growth after the 60s and 70s because most children should have been killed off due to mishaps with "Easy Bake Ovens" and "Lawn Darts". Maybe DARPA secretly had a deal with manufactures such as Mattel and Whammo for training children to fight the Soviets or maybe it was a huge Fascist social Darwin experiment.



The latest Mattel recall of nine million Lead (chemical symbol Pb for all you non-chemists) based toys has started me thinking about the various deathtraps passed off as children's toys during my parents era. I really don't see what the big deal is. So what if Lead causes nephropathy and dementia. Nietzsche once said, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Of course he suffered from dementia and later died of pneumonia but hey you can't win 'em all. Lead really can't be any worse than what was found in "Shrinky Dinks" or "Super Elastic Bubble Plastic" right? Also weren't Tonka Trucks just big blocks of Lead with wheels? People are over-reacting to this latest Pb based toy scare. Hell, its not like our government and corporations are exposing us to something really dangerous like Mercury or something. Those of us with kids should just calm down, grab a nice plate of salmon or tuna and watch the little ones play with their "Silly Pants Elmo" and "Ernie Lightup Musical Pal". Why is it that the Ernie toys are chocked full of Lead but the Bert toys are Pb-free? Aren't they supposedly a couple ... of guys living together?



Let's save our outrage for when Mattel dips into their archives and re-releases the "Mattel Agent Zero M Sonic Blaster 5530". Because then we all will know that DARPA is at it again trying to training our youth to fight the new Commies - Al Qaeda.



Oh, if you haven't heard or seen the "Mattel Agent Zero M Sonic Blaster 5530" then you will be happy to know that the toy can emit a blast of compressed air that produces a 157dB sound wave capable of rupturing and causing permanent damage to the ear drums of adults and the kid using it. I attached a picture of a kid holding one. He is probably about to take down a flock of geese or maybe a twin engine Cessna.



And no that is not a joke or doctored picture. You can still buy this TMD (Toy of Mass Destruction), "Mint In Box", on Ebay for the Buy It Now Price of $2495.