At this year's meeting of the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, at a panel titled "Solar and Stellar Variability ― impact on Earth and Planets," a multidisciplinary group of experts discussed the evolving research into the types of suns and planets that would be hospitable to the development of life.

Edward Guinan, a professor of astronomy at Villanova University, claims that our sun provided better conditions for the formation of life in its youth. Over four billion years ago, the sun rotated ten times faster than it does today, causing the sun to generate a stronger magnetic field and considerably more radiation than it does today. These conditions have aided the formation of life, but other stars exist that maintain such a rapid rotation for a much longer duration:

The Sun does not seem like the perfect star for a system where life might arise. Although it is hard to argue with the Sun's ‘success' as it so far is the only star known to host a planet with life, our studies indicate that the ideal stars to support planets suitable for life for tens of billions of years may be a smaller slower burning ‘orange dwarf' with a longer lifetime than the Sun ― about 20-40 billion years. These stars, also called K stars, are stable stars with a habitable zone that remains in the same place for tens of billions of years. They are 10 times more numerous than the Sun, and may provide the best potential habitat for life in the long run.

Jean-Mathias Grießmeier of ASTRON's research similarly suggests that the Earth may not be an ideal planet for the formation and development of life. Grießmeier examined planetary magnetic fields, finding that a planet with a stronger magnetic field is less likely to have its atmosphere blown away by cosmic debris and is also better able to shield its surface from cosmic radiation. Guinan suggests that planets larger than Earth might be better able to protect any burgeoning life forms:

On the more speculative side we have also found indications that planets like Earth are also not necessarily the best suited for life to thrive. Planets two to three times more massive than the Earth, with a higher gravity, can retain the atmosphere better. They may have a larger liquid iron core giving a stronger magnetic field that protects against the early onslaught of cosmic rays. Furthermore, a larger planet cools more slowly and maintains its magnetic protection. This kind of planet may be more likely to harbour life.

That K stars are relatively common may offer new hope for the possibility of extraterrestrial life, although astronomers are quick to note they don't fully understand how common or fragile life in the universe may be. But their findings do suggest that, on a cosmological scale, Earth can't support life much longer. Says Guinan:

The Earth's period of habitability is nearly over ― on a cosmological timescale. In a half to one billion years the Sun will start to be too luminous and warm for water to exist in liquid form on Earth, leading to a runaway greenhouse effect in less than 2 billion years.

[Science Daily]

NewScientist reports that scientists have discovered that, last year, the sun released a plasma bubble called a coronal mass ejection (or CME, for short) while still seeming otherwise tranquil:

The sun ordinarily gives some warning when it is about to let loose a CME. Plasma filaments, flares, dim areas, and bright S-shaped sigmoids are often associated with the events.

However, in the past decade or so, solar physicists have measured a number of mild magnetic storms around Earth that seemed to be associated with "stealth" CME's – eruptions that occur with no clear sign of where they might have originated on the sun.

The CME in question was a burst of 3 billion tonnes of solar material, a not-uncommon size that - if it were aimed at Earth - could affect migration patterns of birds and affect power grids, but NASA solar physicist Ron Moore isn't too concerned:

All the big dangerous things come from much more powerful explosions, which as far as we know are always strong enough to make some signature on the face of the sun.

Well, that's reassuring. At least we'll probably be able to see what caused us all that trouble. As far as we know.

Stealth storm erupts from the sun [New Scientist]

The image was captured by NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft, which sounds like an early 90s rapper, using its Extreme UV camera. I'm going to start dropping those phrases into conversation: "I'm feeling like taking it to the extreme UV, like STEREO-B."

But this picture may be cool-looking, but it's a bit more alarming after you read this ABC News article, which the NASA site links to, about the potential devastation that a "Solar Katrina," caused by solar storms, could wreak on Earth:

More than a million people without power. The distribution of drinkable water disrupted. Transportation, communication and banking upset. Trillions of dollars in damage... Severe weather in the sun's outer atmosphere could knock out much of the country's power grid, incapacitate navigational systems and jeopardize spacecraft, scientists say.

Bottom line: probably best to keep an eye on STEREO-B. [NASA via SpaceWeather]

The two solar missions were discussed at a conference of solar physicists in Bournemouth this past weekend. One mission, spearheaded by the European Space Agency, will launch in 2017. Protected by a 15-inch heat shield, the solar orbiter will take pictures of the sun's poles and its surface, orbiting at a distance of 20 million miles - a third closer than Mercury. Its orbit will take it past the sun's poles. Here are some cool pics of the solar orbiter:

And then meanwhile NASA is launching a probe with the sexy, sexy name of Solar Probe Plus. Forget orbiting the sun - this baby will fly into the sun's upper atmosphere, known as the corona, and fly just 4.3 million miles above the surface. That's getting up close and personal! [Daily Telegraph]

Using the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph mounted on the Hinode spacecraft, astronomers pinpointed the pressure fluctuations in the immense magnetic fields that send the gases spewing out into the sun's corona. In a press release, Dr. Michelle Murray of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London had this to say:

When a new section of magnetic field pushes through the solar surface it generates a continual cycle of fountains, but new magnetic fields are constantly emerging across the whole of the solar surface and so our results can explain a whole multitude of fountains that have been observed with Hinode.

New Views On The Sun's Startling Magnetic Fountains. [Science Daily]

John Wu is a conceptual artist who has done extensive work in the gaming industry, including work on Resistance: Fall of Man, and Ratchet & Clank. You can check out some of his personal artwork, as well as concept art from both of those games at his website. If you're interested in "We Never Learn" or some of his other futuristic design pieces, you can buy prints directly from the Nucleus Gallery. It's nice to know that artists who do this sort of thing for a living still enjoy churning out their own artwork in their free time.

• "The Watch": This was the kickoff scene for these scenes, and it didn't bode well when there was some hammy acting and dialogue. Basically, Jack's father gives him a watch, which belonged to his father. And no, he hadn't been keeping it in his ass. The moral of the scene is "Don't be a crappy father like I was."

  

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• "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt": Remember Neil, the frozen yogurt salesman from Season One? The producers always promised he'd become "more interesting." Sadly, that doesn't happen in this clip when he tells Hurley to make a move on Libby or he'll step in.

  

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• "King of the Castle": Ben and Jack play a friendly game of chess, and Ben promises Jack he won't try to stop him from leaving the island... but the island might. He also tells Jack that one day he might look back and regret leaving, and that if he does he hopes that he'll remember this conversation. Ooooooh! This is probably the best acted of all of these, and written by comics scribe Brian K. Vaughan to boot.

  

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• "The Deal": Juliet visits Michael while he's held captive by the Others, and tells him that he can believe Ben's offer of freedom. She confesses that she's staying there to help save her sister, and wouldn't he do anything to save Walt? Michael sure isn't happy about it.

  

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• "Operation: Sleeper": Juliet wakes Jack up and tells him she's been working with Ben all along, and that the other survivors have been right not to trust her. Off all the mobisobes, this one felt the rip-offiest.

  

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• "Room 23": Alarms and panic around the Barracks! Juliet tells Ben they need to let Walt go, but Ben tells her he's special and that Jacob wants him there. She shows him a pile of dead birds around Walt's window and wants to know what's so special about that. Is Walt's power the ability to get birds to commit suicide? We've seen it before, and we'll probaby see it again.

  

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• "Arzt & Crafts": It's Arzt! He's in his pre-dynamite phase, and he's trying to convince everyone on the beach not to move to the caves. That is until they hear the smoke monster's crazy horn bellow, and he craps his pants.

  

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• "Buried Secrets": Michael stumbles across Sun burying her fake California driver's license in the woods, and she confesses that she was going to leave Jin. They almost kiss, but then Vincent cockblocks them. That's right, the dog makes 'em stop.

  

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• "Tropical Depression": Arzt confesses to Michael that he lied about the monsoon season, and that he just wants to get off the island. He also tells him that he'd flown to Sydney to meet a woman he'd been chatting with on the internet, but she left him at the restaurant. Boy, this guy really has a depressing life.

  

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• "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack.": Jack meets Ethan while looking for medicine, and Ethan whips up a few tears and tells Jack his wife and child died in childbirth. Then he creepily stares at Claire. After he leaves, Jack creepily stares at Ethan, like "Hey... I know something is weird about that dude."

  

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• "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum On the Golf Course": Jin has a Happy Gilmore freakout on the golf course after he can't sink a putt. While Hurley and Michael look on, he sinks to his knees and curses the ball. Probably the best scene out of all of them.

  

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• "The Envelope": Juliet burns her hand on something in the oven, and then almost confesses to Amelia and shows her Ben's x-rays, but someone rings the doorbell. Another exercise in frustration, since this one is really just a deleted scene. Okay, maybe this one was the big ripoff.

  

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• "So It Begins": There's a POV shot of Vincent running through the forest until Jack's dad stops him and tells him to go wake Jack up on the beach, just moments after the crash. So is Jack's dad alive? This is the only real "What the hell?!" clip in the whole bunch.

  

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What's more insulting is a glance at the list of other entrants on the list, which will soon be boiled down to the nominees:

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• Evan Almighty: seriously, a bunch of CGI animals? Giant waves? We're weeping, on the inside. Doctor Doolittle had some similar effects, from what we remember. We love Steve Carell, but not as Neo Noah.
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• The Bourne Ultimatum: sure Matt Damon kicked some butt, but other than that chase across the rooftops and a car chase or two, the vfx didn't blow our pants off.
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• The Golden Compass: this movie got lost in the wake from the Harry Potter yacht, and the effects looked impressive, and a bit too Narnia-esque.
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• I Am Legend: we'll tip our hat to this one, since those desolate shots of an empty Manhattan are simply gorgeous, and the hordes of infected were pretty scary as well. Especially that shot where they're all huddled together the in dark. Yikes.
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• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: This is what happens when you marry a really shoddy story that's full of holes with a ton of CGI. A mess that looks fake and is ultimate unsatisfying. Like a bowl of wax fruit.
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• Transformers: decent effects, like the drawn-out Optimus Prime transformation and some of the slow-motion fights, but in the heat of most of these robo-battles, it was hard to tell what was going on. Something we keep hearing about this flick.
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• 300: We wanted this to capture more of the spirit of the Frank Miller graphic novel, but simply copying scenes from it didn't work. Sure, Gerard Butler was great, but at times this felt a bit goofy. Still, we'll admit the effects were the film, and not badly done.
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Sunshine, while you might not be the Academy's darling, you're certainly ours.

To get good images of the sun, you have to "take the law into your own hands," Alvarez writes. His site includes instructions on how to build a build a white light filter system out of cardboard and filter material, or a slightly fancier version made of plywood, glue and velcro. He also teaches how to convert your Coronado 60mm, 70mm or 90mm MaxScope telescope into a focuser for solar images. I love his workbench with the Rubik's cube next to his hacked telescope and camera equipment.

Flower Mound Observatory [Photographer's Website]

• Wind power may not be a clean energy source of the future after all. Though Sweden has just built a massive wind farm at sea, most countries have found wind an inefficient and unreliable energy source. [New York Times]
  
  Why brain damage is okay and MySpace experiences white flight after the jump.

• Just because you're brain damaged and lose a huge part of your memory, it doesn't mean you don't care. A study published today shows that people with profound memory loss can still empathize with other people and figure out what they are feeling. In other words, you don't need specific memories of your life in order to have social skills. So that whole subplot about the hot, romantic amnesiac on Gray's Anatomy is based in scientific fact, OK? [Scienceblog]
  
• Apparently, your race and parents' educational background are the main things that determine whether you'll join MySpace. Researchers at Northwestern found that Latinos prefer MySpace, as do the children of people with less than a high school education. White kids whose parents went to college prefer Facebook. Could mass social network abandonment for Facebook be the white flight of the future? [Northwestern University]
  
• Mars doubled in brightness over the past month, and backyard astronomers are taking pictures of its blue-white polor ice caps. Meanwhile, it turns out the sun may be smaller than we thought. [NASA and New Scientist]

More than a few people have been alarmed since the comet flared up and can now be seen by the naked eye in your own backyard. Plus scientists still have no idea why the eruption occurred, and they don't even know what's in the middle of the thing. So you can be sure there's someone out there telling everyone it's an alien spaceship, and who's to say it isn't? Hopefully this doesn't mean the earth will be surrendering to the Comet Empire any time soon.

As far as Holmes colliding with us, unless you were planning to hitch a ride on the back of this thing, you don't have anything to worry about. Holmes orbits the Sun at 200 million miles out, which is a shade past our own 93 million mile orbit. Besides, if this thing was going to come anywhere near us you know that NASA has Bruce Willis programmed into their speed dial.

Incredible Comet Bigger Than The Sun [SPACE.com]