I got a reply from my friend with the Steinway… The comment in reply to changing it into a fishpond was “Sooner is better, we need the $300k!”… BTW, the Steinway sounds fantastic although it does need a tune 😉

In the news about the Pope, there have been some reports that there will be a video Screen in Rome at the ‘Circus Maximus’ allowing the people to see the funeral. I had to think about where that was then I remembered. The Circus Maximus is just next to the Colloseum and Constantine’s Gate, and originally seated about 250,000 people. It is a fairly flat structure, rather than the stadium of the Colloseum.

The photo below shows Constantine’s Gate, and the trees off to the side are part of the Circus Maximus.

Moon Dust

Wired has a story about the properties of Moon Dust. It is highly abrasive and corrosive. Unlike Earth, the Moon has no erosive capabilities to smooth the edges of rocks or dust. As a result the lunar dust has arms that stick out, like Velcro, and sticks to everything. As the astronauts who walked on the moon found out, the dust scratched lenses and corroded seals within hours.

When this was noted on SlashDot.Org, someone commented in the following highly satirical way “I’m sure that people will solve this problem, so that we, as a race, can live on the moon just fine.
Who do we have to thank about that? The smokers of the world!
Just think. Iron lungs, operations, tracheotomies, breathing machines, voice boxes, all that. All that moon dust that’s gonna end up in your lungs? Second hand dust, just like second hand smoke. Right? Right.
All the technology to handle lung disease is already here. You should be thanking the tobacco companies right now. Or… you should be lighting up… to umm, help your lungs adjust to the moon dust… Yeah!
I for one salute the smokers of this world, for giving us the technology to explore and survive on the moon and in outer space. “