posted August 26, 2010 09:01 AM         

Interesting info cpn, thanks!

------------------
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted August 26, 2010 04:45 PM         

quote:

---

The Mutating Mars Hoax
August 25, 2010:
It spreads,
it mutates,
it refuses to die.

For the seventh year in a row, the Mars Hoax is infecting email boxes around the world. Passed from one reader to another, the message states that on August 27th Mars will approach Earth and swell to the size of a full Moon. "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN," the email declares--always in caps.

News flash: It's not true.

Here are the facts. On August 27, 2010, Mars will be 314 million km from Earth, about as far away as it can get. Mars will shine in the western sky after sunset like a tiny red star of ordinary brightness. If you didn't know it was there, you probably wouldn't notice.
The only way to see Mars as large as the full Moon is to board a spaceship
The origins of the Hoax can be traced back to 2003 when Mars really did swell to unusual proportions. On August 27th of that year, Mars came within 56 million km of Earth—the nearest it has been in 60,000 years. People marveled at the orange brilliance of Mars in the night sky and crowded around telescopes for clear views of the planet's towering volcanoes, ruddy plains and glistening polar ice caps. At the height of the display, Mars was about 75 times smaller than the full Moon.

That's when "the virus" was born.

Someone, somewhere, reasoned as follows: If Mars is 75 times smaller than the Moon, then magnifying it 75 times should make it equal to the Moon. Early versions of the Hoax encouraged readers to get out their telescopes and insert a 75x eyepiece: "At a modest 75 times magnification," the message stated, "Mars will look as big as the full Moon to the naked eye."
Soon, the Hoax was vectoring around the internet, making copies of itself and mutating. Advanced versions of the virus, sleeker and less wordy than its ancestors, omitted the magnification and simply stated, "Mars will look as big as the full Moon to the naked eye!" Before long, the year was omitted, too. August 27, 2003, became August 27, and the Hoax became immortal. Indeed, years of stories contradicting the Hoax have failed to stamp it out.
This is the fourth vaccination by Science@NASA alone.

Tolerant readers point out that the Mars Hoax is not really a hoax, because it is not an intentional trick. The original composer probably believed everything he or she wrote in the message. If so, even the name of the Mars Hoax is wrong!

Here's what you should do on August 27th. Go outside at sunset and face west. The bright light you see shining through the twilight is lovely Venus. Grab a pair of binoculars and scan the sky around Venus. A few degrees to the right, you'll come across a little orange star-like object. That is Mars.

Now go back inside and delete that email.

---

quote:

---

Beware the Mars Hoax
Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter--but not as close as some people think.

July 7, 2005: Just when you thought it was safe to read your email....

There's a rumor about Mars going around the internet. Here are some snippets from a widely-circulated email message:

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular."

"Earth is catching up with Mars [for] the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history."

"On August 27th … Mars will look as large as the full moon."

And finally, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN."

Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax.

Here are the facts: Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, certainly not as wide as the full Moon.

Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.

Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.

You might remember another encounter with Mars, about two years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October's encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

Although closest approach is still months away, Mars is already conspicuous in the early morning. Before the sun comes up, it's the brightest object in the eastern sky, really eye-catching. If you have a telescope, even a small one, point it at Mars. You can see the bright icy South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet's surface.

---

posted August 26, 2010 05:09 PM         

and there is still only 4 paydays in August ... why couldn`t that be the hoax

------------------
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted August 27, 2010 11:57 AM         

that's why they were called planets in the first place

planet refers to wanderers as in wandering stars

the actual stars were known as fixed stars.....fixed as in they appeared to be fixed compared to the planets that were viewed as wanderers

The Moon will be oppose Mars today/tomorrow (depending on location)

------------------
No..I am not a Virgo.

posted August 27, 2010 12:29 PM         

nevermind.
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/004112.html
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/004113.html

the whole reason i barely post here anymore.... everyone constantly over-reacts to everything and picks every single thing every single person says apart.

moderator, please delete this irritating, irking, erroneous thread...hurry... before someone else freaks out and starts 4 more threads about it.

you caught me red handed... i was trying to spread a malicious rumor about the planet mars!

posted August 27, 2010 03:36 PM         

------------------
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted August 27, 2010 03:43 PM         

Sorry my exposing the hoax has upset you.

posted August 27, 2010 03:58 PM         

for some reason i think my just breathing irks you anymore.

this place used to be somewhat interesting and fun...not so much anymore, which is why i rarely log in.

not because of you, but in general all it seems to be is a b!tchfest with everybody picking each other apart. everytime i think i am done with it, i wait a week and log in, and then sure enough, same as it ever was, more of the same. seriously, soon i am just going to fugget about it completely. i used to get tibits that enlightened me here, a laugh or two..and chill with some friends....that has not happened in a very long time...in fact, people aren't all that friendly around here anymore at all.

pretty much anything any person posts about gets negative feedback.

i could say i winked at a butterfly and someone would chime in how i am biased against grasshoppers. ....the vibe has declined significantly and rapidly in the last year.

but let someone post about how a rape ruined thier life, and 3 people will chime in how they need to get over it, how they need to think positive, or even worse, how they created thier own reality... and how if it happened to them in a dream it was just as bad, and that shite can slide through like a first base runner...kinda screwed up anymore.

thanks juni.