Aikido

Finally made it to the dojo again. Looking at the logs, I'd only been there three times in the last month. Felt like it, too.

The problem is, the longer I'm away, the harder it is to go back. Last time, I was away for almost two years. Pretty much had to start over from scratch after that.

The one class I went to today wore me out. Actually had to step off the mat for a few minutes, which I hate doing. I think I did that last time I was there, too, come to think of it.

I am feeling better, though. Cough is actually almost gone. Almost. Looking forward to that being completely gone.

So, just need to build up my stamina a bit more again.

Definitely a fun class tonight, though.

Oh, yeah, and speaking of life

I did a bit more research into the meteoroid that may or may not have cyanobacteria fossils in it.

From what I can tell, based on what other scientists, and NASA, are saying:

1. There is considerable disagreement on whether what Dr. Hoover found were actually bacteria fossils, or formations that looked like them and had similar (but not identical) chemical composition.

2. Dr. Hoover seems to be a legitimate and respected researcher. So, while other scientists disagree with his findings, they do not fall under the category of crank, or pseudo-science.

3. The Journal of Cosmology may be a legitimate, though in general not a well-respected, scientific journal.

4. This is NOT the same as the suspected fossils found on the Mars rock in 1996 (wow, was it that long ago??) - that was a different kind of meteor altogether, though the results were similarly inconclusive.

5. Scientists will continue to study and argue about the CI1 carbonaceous meteorites over the next several years, and perhaps some sort of consensus may be reached. Eventually. But what's really needed is to find either more asteroids, or similar fossils or living bacteria by one of our space probes. Fortunately, we've got a couple out searching now, so we may have a "final" answer within just a few years.

So, it could be a while. But, possibly, less than a single decade, let alone plural.

And that will be very, very, very awesome.