SETI Reboot: Project Dorothy & Watching Outer Space TV Broadcasts

Everyone has heard of SETI. This project aimed at scanning distant stars for radio signals that could be held as evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligent life. Today, I learned that Project Dorothy will start re-scanning distant stars that have already been scanned by project SETI as a renewed effort to try and find intelligent life outside of our planet. I can't help but wonder how fascinating and at the same time odd it would be if we were to find evidence that we are not alone in the universe.
Let's be optimistic and imagine we were to receive and decode radio-signals such as audio-video signals emanating from a distant planet. Assuming intelligent life and the tendency to become a couch potato are related, let's go even one step further and imagine these observed intelligent beings had some kind of TV equivalent and that we were able to watch their TV broadcasts coming directly from outer space. Wouldn't it be cool to flip channels and watch soap operas from the other side of the galaxy featuring 4-legged aliens and being able to understand them thanks to instant YouTube/Google translations? Outer space channels would surely be a hit! Discovering an alien world through its TV broadcasts would change everything in our world and in the way we perceive the universe.
If the broadcast came from a a very distant star, direct communication wouldn't be possible due to the limitations of our current understanding of physics and namely the speed of light barrier. We would, however, be able to watch a time-projected broadcast of their maybe-extinct culture, learning something new on a daily-basis or looking forward to the release of the next outer space blockbuster.
My main concern would be: how frustrated would it be not to be able to buy whatever would be featured in outer space commercials such as Double Space Burgers?
If we look at things the other way around, imagine if aliens were to receive and watch our current TV broadcasts? Shouldn't we be ashamed of the image of our world that we are sending everywhere in the Universe?

Sunday Burger Doppelganger

I am proud to say that in tonight's burger challenge, man (modestly embodied by myself) was victorious!

I did enjoy eating these two burgers.

You gotta love and behold the bacon on the left side which looks like it is defying gravity by litterally floating over the burger. That beautifully fried piece of bacon looks like it is about to embark on a journey to the unknown and in the process defying the very laws of physics that made it a reality.

Yummy !

Continue reading this story here.

If I Had A Hammer And A Stargate

I could have chosen "Monday Burger Monday"as the title of this post but decided otherwise as I'm attempting to possibly write the worst blog post ever in the entire history of the Internet and while at it, probably the worst piece of writing altogether in the history of mankind, the Universe and whatever preceded the latter.

You might be tempted to ask, provided you had the guts to comment this post and therefore risk being traced back and associated with this blog, why I would change my perfect habits and make a burger on a Monday. Well, I know I have used my readers to the Sunday burger challenge but I had good reasons to try and reach Burger Xanadu on a Monday. As a matter of fact, we are hosting friends next week-end and will probably go out for dinner next Sunday evening, hence denying ourselves from another attempt at the perfect burger. It, consequently, only seemed logical to anticipate our  Sunday routine as a precaution in case anything would happen to us until the following Sunday.

I must say I was quite happy with tonight's burger. It was tasty, juicy and spicy. I used Louisiana Gold Green sauce, two beef patties, lettuce, two slices of cheese with Buffalo Mozzarella in-between the slices (an idea of a Michelin Star Chef friend of mine). This made for a perfectly melted cheese and juicy burger. It was kind of like applying the recipe for a Juicy Lucy to the cheese itself.

So, what's up with the Hammer, Stargate and possibly worst blog post ever?

Well, here it comes: while I was tasting my burger, I had this stroke of genius (well, actually quite the opposite): If I had a Stargate, I would probably use it to go the most isolated planet in the galaxy (where, of course, the entire population of the planet speaks English, just like in the TV series) and I would introduce to this unspoiled civilization the holy Burger. I would persuade them to believe that hamburgers are representations of the essence of the universe, that they should be revered to and that  followers should strive to try and perfect their recipe. This amazing idea would make generations and generations work on my Sunday burger challenge. They would innovate in the field of Hamburgers (disregarding any other field such as physics, mathematics, biology, art etc... as Hamburgers unify all fields) and the result of all this would be the advent of a new Universe filled with wisdom and melted cheddar.

What about the Hammer? Well, isn't it obvious? The Hammer would be used to show the people from this faraway planet at the edge of the universe how to beat the sh*t out of a beef patty in order to make it flat and large. I would teach this people how to frantically scream, like a serial killer for his first kill, and flatten all patties ever destined to be used in a burger.

And when this whole process is over and in millions of years, Burger Xanadu is reached, I will prove Bergson wrong when he stated that the essential function of the universe was to be a machine for the making of Gods for in fact, the essential function of the universe is to be a machine for the making of Burgers.

The Legion Of eXtraordinary Dancers (LXD)

This is one my favorite TEDTalks! The way these people dance is just out-of-this-worldish. They give us the eerie impression that they are able to manipulate matter, energy and time through their flawless skills. This probably is the exact opposite of Theoretical Physics but it gives us a deep understanding of how first-hand experience can be misleading. Nobody would indeed think that what is presented here is actually possible to achieve and yet, the proof is right there in front of our eyes! Enjoy it!

Freud, Einstein, The Universe, Quantum Teleportation & The Future of IT

It turns out that I've been very been much interested in Quantum Mechanics lately. This isn't a new hobby of mine as I remember, when I was in High School, having a hard time deciding which studies I wanted to pursue. The fascinating world of Quantum Mechanics as well as my long interest in Astrophysics seemed as important to me as the exhilarating psychoanalytic theories of Freud.

If I had to name the most significant scientific figures of the 20th century, I would without any hesitation mention Albert Einstein & Sigmund Freud. They have both uncovered new fields of science and had the audacity and courage to question the established knowledge.

I can't help thinking that there are still great discoveries to be made and that our knowledge of the fabric of space and time is still very limited, probably in the same way that our understanding of consciousness is. My recent post about microtubules & consciousness shows that the world of Quantum Physics and the world of Biology are about to collide and maybe lead to a better understanding of who and what we are.

As for Quantum Mechanics & geekier concerns, I recently stumbled accross this news:

Scientists were able to successfully teleport information between 2 entangled photons across a ten-mile distance! This is an absolute great achievement and when you think of it, it might pave the way for unlimited bandwidth over unlimited distances! Imagine an Internet not limited by bandwidth concerns!

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/05/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-ten-miles-of-free-space.ars