Weird Asteroid Itokawa Has a Dual Personality 61
astroengine writes "We care about how asteroids are made, in large part because if one were aiming to smash into us, we'd like to know what we can do about it. The structure of asteroids is also a matter of scientific curiosity, as it tells us a bit about the formation and evolution in our solar system. ... 25143 Itokawa is a relatively small near-Earth asteroid that was visited by the Japanese Habayusa spacecraft in 2005. It has also been monitored by Stephen Lowry of the University of Kent and his colleagues over a twelve year span with the 3.58 meter New Technology Telescope in La Silla, Chile. In that time span, Itokawa has made five near approaches to Earth. And what did they find? The asteroid is composed of two lobes of different densities, suggesting that Itokawa is in fact a merged binary."
ESO is hosting a preprint of the paper.
NO! (Score:4, Insightful)
If you move me to the beta slashdot abortion i'll add this place to the block list and never visit again.
Too many other news sites regurgitate the exact same storys i see here. And all of them don't look as shitty as the beta slashdot.
Stop being stupid.
Adios Amigos (Score:0, Insightful)
MOVIN’ ON UP. You are on Slashdot Classic. We are starting to move into new digs in February by automatically redirecting greater numbers of you. The new site is a work in progress so Classic Slashdot will be available from the footer for several more months. As we migrate our audience, we want to hear from you to make sure that the redesigned page has all the features you expect. Find out more.
Sure I'm just an adblocking, no-login leach. I'll have to find somewhere else to be an adblocking, no-login leach after "several more months".
Re:NO! (Score:4, Insightful)
It could look like anything for all I care, if it *worked*.
But the beta is a huge discussion functionality downgrade. Might as well read comments on Ars Technica to get that masochist interface kick...
Re: NO (Score:4, Insightful)
Terrible, isn't it? Occasionally I get directed to it and keep reloading/pressing the back button until I don't.
The Slashdot Beta is fucking terrible, and has gone the route of Way Too Much Whitespace and looks like shit.
Whatever drunken idiots think it's a good website should be flayed, castrated, and then shot.
OMG!!! Ponies!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Our marketing department has done extensive research over the last 3 quarters and discovered that our audience is strangely disproportionately skewed towards males. Like, 98.3% males to be precise. To correct this oversight, we have decided to subtly tweak Slashdot's design and content to widen our appeal to these less active demographics. Don't worry! We'll still continue to serve our core audience, but we hope you'll work with us as we try to find a balance that will work for all. [slashdot.org]
gee, that sounds strangely familiar...
Re: NO (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not just this site which decided that usefulness should be jammed down the sewer in favor of shiny, take a look at NBC's redesigned site. It looks and acts like Windows 8!
Once again, Rule #3 that should never be broken:
Never let a web designer design your web site.
Re:Maybe (Score:3, Insightful)
But from what I can tell of the little message that came up, at some point they intend to shut down the classic site. That's why I sent them an email telling them I'm gone once they do that.
Can inanimate objects have a personality? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the correct definition would be dual properties comprised of different materials and densities. Other than that you better send like Risperdal or Prozac to the asteroid immediately and sign it up for a guest shot on Dr. Phil.