Star Talk Weblog

An alarm clock that will either cook your bacon or burn your house down

Wake N’ Bacon by CubeMe.

A frozen strip of bacon is placed in Wake n’ Bacon the night before. Because there is a 10 minute cooking time, the clock is set to go off 10 minutes before the desired waking time. Once the alarm goes off, the clock it sends a signal to a small speaker to generate the alarm sound. We hacked the clock so that the signal is re-routed by a microchip that in responds by sending a signal to a relay that throws the switch to power two halogen lamps that slow-cook the bacon in about 10 minutes.

Comment -- Undoubtedly fake but still a hoot.

We were at the Spartan's home opener last night at Breslin

Spartans open season by rolling over Idaho | The Detroit News | detnews.com.

One pleasant surprise for Izzo in the first half was the shooting of Austin Thornton , a non-scholarship player from Sand Lake, Mich. Thornton, a redshirt freshman, hit his first two 3-pointers and finished with nine points. His first score gave the Spartans a 47-24 lead near the three-minute mark. The second made it 52-25. Thornton's third 3-pointer gave MSU a 97-60 lead in the game's final minutes.

Comment -- Here's a photo I shot at tipoff with my camera phone.

A few observations from last night's game:

• I kept waiting for Drew Neitzel to come into the game.
• Delvin Roe showed flashes of amazing ability. He seems really agile for such a big man.
• What's with the short Spartan haircuts? They were counterbalanced by one of the Idaho starters, whose hairdo made him look like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons.
• Earl Walton, one of the officials, left the game early with an injury that the radio guys described as a ruptured Achilles Tendon. Ouch!

Amazing astronomy news

In a First, Astronomers Report Viewing Planets of Other Suns - washingtonpost.com.

Seeing an extrasolar planet directly was one of the last and most speculative goals of the Hubble Space Telescope when it was put in orbit in 1990, said Edward J. Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's science mission directorate, after a news conference yesterday at the agency's headquarters. "I actually never thought it would happen," Weiler said. "This is kind of the last crumb on the plate of promises."

If the new claims, being published today in the journal Science, hold up to what is certain to be feverish scrutiny, they will represent significant progress in the census of planets in our galaxy. More than 300 extrasolar planets have been found in the past decade or so, but they have been detected indirectly through changes in starlight. Astronomers can tell they are there but have not been able to see them directly as distinct objects.

Comment -- The next step is to try and image Earth-like planets. That will probably have to wait until we get a new space telescope in orbit.

It is pretty astounding how much progress has been made in astronomy in my lifetime. When I was a kid, we didn't even know that Mars had craters! Now, we're close to taking pictures of planets like ours in other star systems. Maybe we'll see Little Green Men smiling and waving back at us (or, licking their chops and waving knives and forks at us..shudder.)

Farewell to an old pizza/playland friend

Okemos Caesarland closes | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal.

Parents whose kids liked to play at Caesarland will have to find another place for them to eat pizza and climb on indoor playground equipment.  The children's restaurant and entertainment venue abruptly closed after parent company Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. said its lease expired at its West Grand River Avenue location near Okemos Road.

Comment -- When Jennifer was working on her masters degree, we used to go to Caesarland (back when it was Chuckie Cheese) on Sundays with Vanessa and Brandon. We'd stuff them with pizza, then turn 'em loose on the play equipment so Jennifer could do her homework.

Anything's got to be better than the current Cedar St./Penn intersection

Right direction? Proposed Lansing roundabout rankles residents | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal.

Stuart Goodrich, Delhi Township's supervisor, attended Wednesday's session. He owns Goodrich Optical Inc. near the troublesome intersection that is Lansing's southern gateway. He said he's OK with having a roundabout in the area as long as another lane is added to the 6400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. "Roundabouts are safer," Goodrich said. "There'll be no problem."

Comment -- I trust Stu's judgment, so if he's okay with the changes then so am I. I'm sure the residents are rankled, but what do they know about traffic management?

I go through a roundabout in downtown Lansing every day, and it's much better than a 4-way stop or traffic light.

I was on Ch6 TV last night, commenting on a new City of Lansing policy preference for doing business with local firms

http://www.wlns.com/Global/category.asp?C=754&nav=menu25_1

Click over and view it if you have an interest in seeing my ugly mug.

I like the way that Izzo is challenging his team

Morgan scores 23 as Spartans stomp LSSU - Michigan State Spartans Sports: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com.

...Maryland, No. 1 North Carolina and Texas are right around the corner, which is why Spartans coach Tom Izzo wouldn't accept a less-than maximum effort against the Lakers. "We're trying to create a sense of urgency every time we step on the court," Izzo said. "I've said it a million times that when you lose a game or two you really believe in your heart you shouldn't, you realize that's what takes you out of championship contention."

Comment -- I'm sure that when the coach says "when you lose a game or two you really believe in your heart you shouldn't" he is referring to last year's dreadful road losses to Iowa and Penn State -- losses that really knocked the Spartans out of Big Ten contention.

A Wall-E Roomie

Roomba 530 Wall-E edition proves even robots are corrupted by money - Engadget.

It's 2008 and we've finally achieved the ultimate goal of modern robotics. No, not singularity... better: a cross-promotional marketing deal between the world's leading robots. Meet the Wall-E edition of iRobot's Roomba 530. The special edition Roomba is just like the original 530 only with the addition of that magnificent sticker for a extra �5,000 (about $50) premium. 400 units of the limited run vacuumbots are scheduled to go on sale in Japan for �,84,500 (tax inclusive) starting November 20th. Tsk tsk, what's Eve going to say?

Comment -- Pretty clever idea. Isn't the Wall-E DVD coming out soon? I guess you could watch the movie while the Roomba 530 cleans the carpet.

We're not running our Roomba quite as often as we used to, mostly to try and stretch out its life span. Used daily, it was breaking down after less than a year. So, now I'm using it more "as needed."

Is Obama a doggone good politician?

Op-Ed Columnist - G.O.P. Dog Days? - NYTimes.com.

Obama was, naturally, asked about the promised-but-not-yet-purchased puppy at his press conference Friday. (If one were being churlish, one might say that it was typical of a liberal to promise the dog before delivering it. A results-oriented conservative would simply have shown up with the puppy without the advance hype.)

Comment -- Oddly, I dreamed last night that I was in our garage with a  small dog. That crazy dog was jumping six feet straight up into the air, like it was on a pogo stick. Weird...

Anyway, have to give props to the president-elect for placating America's dog owners.

Tragic death at building I can see from my office window

Lansing man dies from fall at former Ottawa Power Station | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal.

Lansing Fire Department officials said the worker, a Lansing man whose identity has not been released, fell about 100 to 110 feet down an open vertical shaft of the former Board of Water & Light power plant on Grand Avenue in Lansing at about 7:30 a.m. The 170-foot-tall former plant is the centerpiece of a $182 million headquarters project to house Lansing-based Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America.

Comment -- I've been watching the workers over the last week or so as they work on the building's roof. They've all been wearing safety harnesses and seem to be tethered to some kind of anchor.

The article says the worker who died was not on the roof, however. He fell inside the building.

What an awful accident.