[QUOTE=davar55;360449]Perhaps Planck's "constant" may be based on the limits of current technology, not on an absolute value determined theoretiically.[/QUOTE]I'm quite prepared to believe that if you can provide supporting evidence.

Your prediction of the spectrum of radiation from an object in thermal equilibrium with its e-m radiation would be of interest.

I like a good hack:
[URL="http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/11/nasa-outlines-ingenious-plan-to-resurrect-the-kepler-planet-hunter/"]NASA outlines ingenious plan to resurrect the Kepler planet hunter[/URL] (arstechnica.com)
[QUOTE]Back in August, NASA formally threw in the towel on attempts to get its Kepler planet-hunting probe working again. With the probe down to just two fine-pointing devices, there was just no way to keep the telescope consistently pointed at the right field of stars.
(...)
Kepler is powered by solar panels that are arranged symmetrically across the probe's long axis. If the probe can be oriented so that the sunlight strikes these panels evenly, the photons will exert a constant and symmetric force against the probe. Kepler's two remaining reaction wheels can then push against that force and keep the telescope gazing steadily at one point in the sky, just as it was designed to do.

There's one problem, though: as Kepler swings through its orbit, the Sun itself will eventually end up between Kepler and its point of focus. Shortly after that point in its orbit, the Sun's light will start striking the opposite side of the probe, where it has no solar panels. So, four times during the orbit, the probe will be completely reoriented and stare at a different part of the sky, each for quarter of a year (Kepler is trailing the Earth on its trip around the Sun).[/QUOTE]

[url=www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/11/29/science/ap-eu-sci-comet-ison.html?ref=science]Did Comet ISON Survive? Scientists See Tiny Hope[/url]: [i]A comet that gained an earthly following because of its bright tail visible from space was initially declared dead after grazing the sun. Now, there is a sliver of hope that Comet ISON may have survived.[/i][quote] New images being analyzed Friday showed a streak of light moving away from the sun that some said could indicate it wasn't game over just yet.

"It certainly appears as if there is an object there that is emitting material," said Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Basically a dirty snowball from the fringes of the solar system, scientists had pronounced Comet ISON (EYE'-sahn) dead when it came within 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) of the sun Thursday.

Some sky gazers speculated early on that it might become the comet of the century because of its brightness, although expectations dimmed over time. But it wouldn't be all bad news if the 4.5-billion-year-old space rock broke up into pieces, because some scientists say they might be able to study them and learn more about comets.

The European Space Agency, which had declared ISON's death on Twitter late Thursday, was backtracking early Friday, saying the comet "continues to surprise." [/quote]
The Mexican astronomical historian featured in the recent [i]Nova[/i] on Ison had a funny aphorism about cometary surprises:

[i]"We have a saying that comets are like cats - they all have tails and they do whatever they want."[/i]

[Perhaps he's never met a Manx comet...but those are genetic mutants, X-Cats, if you will.]

There's a good series of photographs here:

[url]http://www.nasa.gov/ison/[/url]

Some bit made it past.

Holy crap!
 

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25126333[/url]

[QUOTE=xilman;360803][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25126333[/url][/QUOTE]

Why is the spelling "coprolite"? Seems it should be "coprolith".

Or were these from some kind of prehistoric fad lo-cal herbivorous diet?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;360817]Why is the spelling "coprolite"? Seems it should be "coprolith".

Or were these from some kind of prehistoric fad lo-cal herbivorous diet?[/QUOTE]

Blame "geologist William Buckland", who coined the name from the Greek words for "dung" and "stone". Why he used ".....lite" instead of ".....lith" is beyond me.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite[/url]

Bringing in a longstanding pet peeve from my PhD field of study for comparison: 'coprolite' is even more stupid than dropping an 's' from the correct 'transsonic' to yield the consensus-of-semiliterate-aerodynamicists 'transonic'.

[Does saying that make my innate curmudgeonliness too 'tranparent', do you think?]

[QUOTE=ewmayer;360825]Bringing in a longstanding pet peeve from my PhD field of study for comparison: 'coprolite' is even more stupid than dropping an 's' from the correct 'transsonic' to yield the consensus-of-semiliterate-aerodynamicists 'transonic'.[/QUOTE]It is no worse than 'traveling', which I always read as trave-ling.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;360817]Why is the spelling "coprolite"? Seems it should be "coprolith".
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=kladner;360822]Blame "geologist William Buckland", who coined the name from the Greek words for "dung" and "stone". Why he used ".....lite" instead of ".....lith" is beyond me.

[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolite[/URL][/QUOTE]Perhaps [i]coprolith[/i] had already been in use as a synonym of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecaloma][i]fecaloma[/i][/url], and Buckland was trying to avoid confusion.

ah coprolithe...
quoting terry pratchett , in Thud
[quote]
'You ain't serious, are you? You're not going runnin' after a coprolite like
Chrysoprase, sir?'
(*snip)
'See, any troll gettin' in dere, he'd be a mad troll to start with. You know how der kids
are all wound up? People bin feeding dem that honour an' glory an' destiny stuff, that
coprolite rots your brain faster'n Slab, faster even than Slide. From what I am hearin,
the dwarf got knocked off for-rensic, all slick an' quiet. We don't do dat, Mister Vimes.
You played der game, you know it. Get a troll in der middle o' a load of dwarfs, he is
like a fox in der dem fings wi' wings, layin' dem egg fings...'
(*snip)
'Why'nt you go and ghuhg yerself, Brick, you little piece of coprolite the troll muttered.
(*snip)
'I'm in deep copro, right?' he said.
[/quote]