So…an atmosphere of super-heated steam? Sounds nice.

I’ve been seeing a lot of excitement about this new discovery on an extrasolar planet: it’s got water.

“We know that water vapor exists in the atmospheres of one extrasolar planet and there is good reason to believe that other extrasolar planets contain water vapor,” said Travis Barman, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona who made the discovery.

That’s cool. Not at all surprising, but cool. I shouldn’t think it unexpected that H2O is found throughout the universe. I’ve also been seeing naive gushing about prospects for colonizing other worlds. They never seem to take the other parameters of this planet into account.

HD209458b is separated from its star by only about 4 million miles (7 million kilometers)-about 100 times closer than Jupiter is to our Sun-and is so hot scientists think about it is losing about 10,000 tons of material every second as vented gas.

It’s also 220 times the mass of Earth and has a surface (I’m curious about what kind of surface this gas giant has) temperature of about 1000°C. Since it’s 159 light years away, I won’t be taking a vacation there in my lifetime.

Well, when you put it that way, maybe I’d like to visit, just a little bit.

Correction: the latest buzz is about K2-18b, a rocky planet that is only 7-10 times Earth’s mass, and a mere 110 light years away. Compared to HD209458b, it’s a paradise practically right next door!

How to interpret the data they’ve got seems to be complicated.

Ingo Waldman, on the University College London team, explained that three different scenarios fit the data equally well: The atmosphere could be pure hydrogen with lots of water, or the atmosphere could contain hydrogen and nitrogen with just a little bit of water. Or a third option allows for a hydrogen atmosphere, a “tiny speck” of water, and high-altitude clouds or hazes that obscure the view.

Benneke and his colleagues throw in another option: liquid water in addition to water vapor. Their calculations suggest that it could rain in the mid-atmosphere of this world.

I don’t think that, after our quick jaunt for a vacation on K2-18b, we’re going to be breathing that atmosphere. H2 on Earth is present in less than one part per million, so that they’re even discussing how much hydrogen fills the skies of K2-18b is a little off-putting.

The big tease

I refuse to believe anything new will come of this. I suspect it’s going to be nothing but a remarketing of old strips.

Besides, if Gary Larson were to come out of retirement, or even reveal a cached archive of 25 years of secret strips, I’m pretty sure that would be so momentous it would have to be a prelude to the end of the world.

Might be worth it, though.

How’s MIT doing lately?

MIT seems to be having a bad day week month year, and new horrors keep tumbling out all the time. Thanks, Jeffrey Epstein, the one good you did in your life was to make corruption visible!

  • You know, Richard Stallman has always been an egotistical jerk, so he had to poke his head up and demonstrate it once again. His latest is to claim that Epstein’s “harem” — I guess that’s his word for “victims” — were “mostly willing”. Ugh. You aren’t helping, rms. Crawl back into your hole.
  • Joi Ito pressured other faculty, like Naomi Oxman, to participate in rewarding Epstein for his “anonymous” gifts, and they in turn pressured their students to create and send gifts to him. What’s interesting is that the students were the ones to immediately question the whole process, and to feel guilty about succumbing to pressure afterwards. I guess MIT hadn’t had enough time to pound the ethics out of them yet.

I’ve noted elsewhere that the rich get richer, and colleges with already massive endowments tend to be the recipients of more corrupt gift giving…so they inherit all the filth that comes with the filthy lucre. I suspect our small liberal arts colleges would be just as guilty if billionaires were trying to impress their peers by giving us money.

In case you’re wondering how Kavanaugh got on the Supreme Court…

It’s because toxic masculinity is so ingrained in the culture that the staid ol’ NY Times can publicly say that “Having a penis thrust in your face at a drunken dorm party may seem like harmless fun”, and think that’s a good lead to a story about new testimony that confirms the accusations made against Kavanaugh.

I’ve never experienced that (I guess I attended the wrong kind of dorm party), but I’m a guy, I’d just find it inappropriate and disgusting. I can see how a woman would find it intimidating and insulting.

We’re hiring an ecologist!

Hey! Hey, you! The University of Minnesota Morris is offering employment to an ecologist! Apply now!

(Special attention will be paid to anyone studying arachnid ecology…OW. OK, OK, fellow UMM biologists, I admit that’s not true, stop punching me. I’m not even on the search committee. See the description below for the real requirements: “broadly trained ecologists with expertise at the community, landscape, and/or ecosystem level who connect basic and applied ecology“. At least it doesn’t exclude arachnid ecology.)

Assistant Professor of Biology
University of Minnesota, Morris

The University of Minnesota, Morris seeks an individual committed to excellence in undergraduate education, to fill a tenure-track position in biology beginning August 17, 2020. Responsibilities include: Teaching undergraduate biology courses including sophomore biodiversity with lab, ecology with lab, electives in the applicant’s areas of expertise, and other courses that support the Biology, Environmental Science, and Environmental Studies programs; advising undergraduates; conducting research that could involve undergraduates; and sharing in the governance and advancement of the Biology program, the division, interdisciplinary programs, and the campus.

Applicants must hold or expect to receive a Ph.D. in ecology or a related field by August 17, 2020. Experience and evidence of excellence in teaching undergraduate biology is required (graduate TA experience is acceptable). Preference will be given to applicants who are able to develop and teach upper-level elective courses in their area of expertise that complement those offered by the current biology faculty (https://academics.morris.umn.edu/biology/biology-faculty). We strongly encourage applications from broadly trained ecologists with expertise at the community, landscape, and/or ecosystem level who connect basic and applied ecology. We particularly value research that can involve the habitats endemic to our region.

A distinctive undergraduate campus within the University of Minnesota system, the University of Minnesota Morris combines a student-centered residential liberal arts education with access to the resources and opportunities of one of the nation’s largest universities. A founding member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), UMN Morris provides students with a rigorous academic experience, preparing them to be global citizens who value and pursue intellectual growth, civic engagement, intercultural competence, and environmental stewardship. The student body of nearly 1600 is supported by approximately 130 faculty members with a student/faculty ratio of 13:1. UMN Morris serves one of the most diverse student bodies in Minnesota. Forty percent of UMN Morris students are Native American, persons of color, or of international origin. UMN Morris is the only federally recognized Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution in the Upper Midwest.

UMN Morris is highly ranked by national publications – U.S. News & World Report as a top-ten public liberal arts college; Forbes as one of the best colleges and universities in the nation; and Fiske Guide to Colleges includes Morris campus in its list of “the best” and “most interesting” schools in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. Morris students are taught by a faculty with the highest per capita representation in the University of Minnesota’s Academy of Distinguished Teaching and students consistently win national awards, as demonstrated by UMN Morris’s status among the top baccalaureate institutions producing student Fulbright awards. The campus is also a national leader in sustainability, evidenced by receipt of the inaugural Excellence in Sustainability award from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and an AASHE STARS Gold rating.

This tenure-track position carries all of the privileges and responsibilities of University of Minnesota faculty appointments. A sound retirement plan, excellent fringe benefits and a collegial atmosphere are among the benefits that accompany the position. Appointment will be at the Assistant Professor level for those having the Ph.D. in hand and at the Instructor level for those whose Ph.D. is pending. The standard teaching load is twenty credit hours per year.

Applications must include a letter of application describing how working at a small liberal arts college fits into your career plan, a curriculum vitae, copies of graduate and undergraduate transcripts, a teaching statement documenting teaching effectiveness, a research statement proposing a research program that is viable at a small liberal arts college and accessible to undergraduates, and three letters of reference. To apply for this position go to the University of Minnesota Employment System at https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs. The job ID # is 333212. Please click the Apply button and follow the instructions. Attach a cover letter, curriculum vitae and as many supporting documents as are allowed. Additional supporting documents may be emailed to: Ann Kolden, Administrative Assistant, at koldenal@morris.umn.edu, (320) 589-6301, or they may be sent to:

Ecology Search Committee Chair
Division of Science and Mathematics
University of Minnesota, Morris
Morris, MN 56267-2128

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Screening begins October 18, 2019. Inquiries can be made to Ann Kolden, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, at (320) 589-6301 or koldenal@morris.umn.edu.

The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, familial status, disability, public assistance status, membership or activity in a local commission created for the purpose of dealing with discrimination, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

UMN Morris values diversity in its students, faculty, and staff. UMN Morris is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute to the diversity of our community through their teaching, research, and /or service because we believe that diversity enriches the University experience for everyone.

This publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact Human Resources, 320-589-6024, Room 201, Behmler Hall, Morris, Minnesota.

Eat at Subway

After I was done protesting yesterday (lie: we’re never done protesting), it was late, it had been a long day, and I was too tired to cook, so I just picked up some wraps at Subway. The Sandwich Artist, who is also a student at UMM, said, “Hey, aren’t you really into spiders?” Yes, of course, my reputation is spreading, I guess. “There’s a big spider on the window over there, it’s been here for several days.”

Of course I looked.

I came back this morning when the light was good, with my camera. There she was, with a big orb web against the glass…Argiope aurantia.

It was impressive, especially since it’s been so chilly lately. I noticed the stabilimentum on the web are rather disorganized and scraggly — a kind of disordered denser mess around the center of the orb here. But she was huge and pretty, and most conveniently right at eye height. This was shot with just my 17-85mm zoom lens, nothing fancy, and I’m tempted to go back later with my good macro setup and get some closeups.

Protest ICE & CBP

I was part of our local protest against the unmitigated evil of ICE yesterday. Several people spoke out with testimonials about people they know who are being deported, or of local raids. About two dozen people showed up.

It wasn’t enough. We’ve got crimes against humanity going on in our country right now, and do you really want to tell your grandchildren someday that you just stayed home and did nothing?

The desperate plea of a defeated man

Why does it always come down to lashing out to do harm to others? It’s another lawsuit by a man who lost prestige over his acts of sexual harassment, now thinking he can recover his dignity by punishing someone else. It won’t work. He won’t win, and even if he did, it’s not going to make him more employable.

That whole thing just makes David Silverman look pathetic and crushed.

I’m kind of happy that my name isn’t on the list of defendants.