8 light-minutes

All the info in the usual place (in Portuguese).

Finally I’ve converted to LPG, even though my Clio van managed to make a milleage of 5litres per 100 kilometres (diesel, off course). But for several reasons, the shift to a petrol/LPG car was coming of importance.

The 2 places were getting decisivly short. Sometimes I had to do extra trips gor not having enough places to everyone. With that, I ended up expending more in fuel, sending more CO2 to the atmosphere, withou mentioning the other particles a diesel engine emits.

Now I have 5 seats, a generous luggage compartiment (the reservoir is toric and is on the extra tyre place), lesse CO2 emissions and particles and an internally cleaner engine. And, with a bit of luck, I’ll manage to save some money on fuel…

The car is a Fiat Marea Weekend 1.4 SX, with a Lovato LPG system, aspirated with auto-tunning unit.

By now I’m happy with it and I’m no longer a “smoker”.

Strange things are happening at CERN, apparently because fo the news particle accelerator, the LHC. Watch here.

May the Force be with you!

Weep! Weep and pity yourselves, you Heralds of Doom! Prophet crows of darkness and disaster, unfortunate ignorant, coward, useless and short-sighted small people, for your predictions are wrong! Weep! Weep oh Heralds of Doom!

More seriously, the prophets of the end of the world, once again, are utterly mistaken. The LHC was put into operation and the world, be amazed, is not over. It is not clear for me how is there still ignorant people that still do this type of action. It’s very sad indeed.

But, if you are still worried, you can always go to this website: http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

The biggest delegation ever, has had, in my opinion, the worst performance ever. The expectations were high, but our athletes managed to fail big time.

Lack of attitude, professionalism, winning mentality and above all lack of culture.

Declarations as those of some athletes are unbelievable. Sorry and lame and stupid excuses, that not even a 7th grade kid would use trying to save is butt.

This is not regrettable. This is a big shame and it only serves to put our name in the mud. These people should never had the privilege of competing in the Olympic games. They have no attitude neither the notion of what is competing at the highest level. I totally agree with Vanessa Fernandes, by far the best of all of those who went to Beijing (until these moment, for I still have good hopes on Nélson Évora).

Something is very wrong and it’s needed to address that or else it isn’t worth it…and it is not because of the African ladies being too strong.

Some more headlines on the issue (in portuguese):

http://sic.aeiou.pt/online/noticias/desporto/Vicente+Moura+desagradado+com+resultados+em+Pequim.htm
http://olimpicos2008.publico.clix.pt/noticia.aspx?id=1339386
http://sic.aeiou.pt/online/scripts/2007/videopopup2008.aspx?videoId={E880DA3C-3180-47D1-9837-93C8EE379FF1}

Finally, I got to go to the Dragão Stadium. It’s really spectacular. The space and confort sensation e really out of this world, comparing to the old stadium, Das Antas. The acoustics are amazing.

You can watch the game perfectly from every place, as opposed to the old F.C.Porto stadium.

Tha game was a preparation one, with Lazio, Porto has won 2-1 and showed that the team is even better than the one of last season, even without Quaresma. It was nice to get back to watch a game in the stadium.

The overwhelming majority of the Portugal drivers are stupid, sadists, car choppers or simply have a malfunction in their inteligence sinapse.

Those who drive in our streets knows that when there is an accident, people want to see. Even in a freeway, when the cars are already ou of the way, people slow down, even stop just to see the fucking crash.People: it’s A CAR CRASH!!!! It’s bad enough without those stupid asses slowing down and stopping in a freeway to see a crash, putting the chances of aother one ocurring way up there.

Get real, relax, be carefull when driving.

Finally! Although it’s not a reason for extasy, Phoenix has confirmed the existence of water in Mars. Yep, water, in the form of ice, but it is water. And this time around this is not a statetment based on data collected by the instruments aboard the fleet of probes orbiting Mars…. This time is a direct confirmation. Phoenix has taken a piece of ice, analyzed it and confirmed it was water.

By the way, the Cassini which is around Saturn, has confirmed the existence of at least one hidrocarbonates lake int the surface of Titan.

This is also being talked about at astroPT (only in Portuguese).

The Universe is elegantly simple and complex at the same time. That is why it is beautiful and transcends us. Spiritually, I see in the Universe the strongest source of reflection and auto-contemplation there is, almost a kind of rational faith, supported in science and in the numbers since science, itself, is many times a process of faith int the experimental results.

To think and contemplate the Universe makes me feel spiritually better. There are days that the mind conflicts are so hard to manage, questions and issues popup, realizations of inexorable facts that make me “boil” of frustration, but the comprehension of my own mediocrity (and that of the Earth itself) in the great scheme of things, make me accept such questions as facts that they are or simply as contingencies of the random existence of everyday, making me realize that I am part of this grandiosity, even in a ultramicroscopic scale in relation to the Universe. But I am here and I make a difference, for to the good or bad I’m part of the ecosystem and as such I do have some influence, even if it is only noted in my own circle of family and friends. This makes me feel better with myself and the universe, for I understand my purpose, my function in the great Cosmic puzzle. It’s not much, is insignificant, diminishing? Perhaps, to those who do not have the grasp to accept the Universe as It is: dominating, all powerful. The Universe is calling the shots, even not being a thinking and conscientious entity.

My spirituality comes from the depths of the Universe. Comes from the stars of multiple colors, form the supernovae, from those far, far away galaxies and of everything else that I do not understand scientifically. The machinery, the orchestration of the Universe itself, the almost perfect way how everything fits and organizes it’s the fountain of my spirituality and the reason for my contemplation.

Nothing happens for a reason. Nothing has it’s destiny foreseen. None of us has an already written history line, except for the two inescapable certain: we all have born and we will all die, so the cycle can go on.
Do you really want more beauty than this? More perfection? “Ash to ash, dust to dust” indeed. It was from the dust that left from the death of a star that all the material of are existence came of. And dust we will become after our own death. But our legacy remains. Our voices, teachings, thoughts, experiences will linger on until the end of the Universal existence; our descendents will always carry a bit of us. Even our radio and TV emissions, echo in the far reaches of the Universe for those who can listen to them…

This brings me to another point, another pointless epiphany. I found some time ago that I would have like be living, perhaps, some 2 centuries in the future. Or, even better, in a context of a extra-planetary civilization, in a galaxy teaming with life and relations between several species of several worlds. An even bigger challenge, but also even more enriching without any doubt, than living in a united Earth (which hard to get for enough). It would be fantastic! A chance to know more of the Universe. To understand and figure it out even better.

So, do not get me wrong. I love living the now. Living is great and many pople don’t realize that. Some times the work stress and the “shortness of time” make it hard, but there is always time for living…
The experience with other species could bring more knowledge, but simply would confirm our not specialty, our not exclusivity, and who knows, make the Human race realize that what we have is too beautiful to be cast away. Maybe if our leaders accepted that unshakable fact of our mediocrity, perhaps a truly global, the so much talked global village, could rise and prosper. May that way, the differences of our people would get diminished. Maybe…

But this is my “romantic” self talking. Once in a while I also let it come out, for we should not let it die imprisoned, asphyxiated. Our romantic self allows us to dream and the dream commands life and can carry us far…

(continuing in the next days)

They’re around, but we insist in not wanting to see them. Until some day it will be too late and we’re going to get with one in our heads. The Gauls where very right in being afraid that the sky fell on them, at least they were always paying attention.

I’m obviously talking about asteroids and the dorment danger , but very real they are for us…

Many times I’v manifested my opinion about this matter and I think that there should be more funding to the search of NEOs. What is done now is not much. There are true assassins up there of which the orbits are not sufficiently known. Others we do not even know that they are there…

The problem is always the same… Not enough funding. Thos who have the money and resources to make more serious and intensive studies of this problema, normally have other economical priorities (such as wars and little wars) or hundreds of cientifical programmes, all needing funding as chickens need corn…