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Latest Posts by curiositytherover - Page 3
On 15 March 2009, when the space shuttle Discovery was about to launch into orbit, a wounded bat grabbed ahold of its fuel tank to become an officially recognised stowaway, despite safeguards that are supposed to keep such things from happening. He was a bat pioneer hell-bent on glory, or so we choose to believe.
So what exactly happened here? The story started on a mild Sunday evening at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, as crew members began prepping to launch the STS-119 mission. As the crew made their rounds checking for icy buildup on theDiscovery fuel tanks and whatnot, they were shocked to find a small free tail bat clinging to the tank’s foam insulation.
“Based on images and video, a wildlife expert who provides support to the centre said the small creature was a free tail bat that likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist,” NASA explained. Unfortunately, it did not appear to be wearing a tiny spacesuit at the time.
Anyone with a younger brother or sister knows it’s not always an easy ride (unless you happen to be very fortunate), but a new study suggests there could be real, tangible health benefits to having a younger sibling. Researchers have linked having a little brother or sister to a lower risk of obesity in a comparison of the body mass indexes (BMIs) of 697 children in the US.
The University of Michigan team found that the birth of a sibling between the ages of two and four was associated with a healthy BMI, while those without a sibling by the first grade (age six) were almost three times more likely to be obese at that age. Those are quite dramatic findings, but the researchers behind them aren’t entirely sure why such a link exists.
“This study is believed to be the first to track subsequent increases in BMI after a child becomes a big brother or sister,” said senior author Julie Lumeng. “Research suggests that having younger siblings - compared with having older or no siblings - is associated with a lower risk of being overweight. However, we have very little information about how the birth of a sibling may shape obesity risk during childhood.”
Scientists just released a ton of surprising new information about Pluto.
Eight months after the New Horizons spacecraft whizzed past this small planet, scientists have published a whole suite of studies that bring into perspective just how strange and wonderful a place the tiny dwarf planet is.
Pluto’s surface is even more alien than we thought. The dwarf planet’s smooth plains, scarred craters and ice mountains were not what scientists expected to find on something so far out in the outer solar system. Scientists think all that diverse terrain means Pluto has been geologically active for much of its life over the past 4.6 billion years.
Pluto’s atmosphere is still a mystery. Turns out Pluto’s atmosphere is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit colder and much more stable than scientists initially thought.
We finally got a close look at Pluto’s five moons. Scientists think that Pluto and its largest moon Charon once collided. Instead of completely breaking apart, they went into orbit around one another. Now there’s evidence that Pluto’s four smaller moons may have formed from chunks of debris that spilled out of the same collision, according to the new research.
We still only have about half the data that New Horizons collected during its flyby, so Pluto may hold many more mysteries. Read more.
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Space exploration is pretty amazing right now. Just yesterday, we launched the ExoMars 2016 spacecraft, which will hunt for signs of life on Mars, and by now, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is likely way out in interstellar space. NASA recently announced that it plans to visit Europa, one of the most promising candidates in our Solar System to host life, and even NASA’s chief scientist thinks we’ll find alien life within 20 to 30 years, as long as we keep exploring.
But how do you keep track of all these awesome space missions? To help out,the guys at Pop Chart Lab have created this beautiful poster showing our space exploration to date. It spans all the way from 1959 to 2015, and features over 100 exploratory probes, landers, and rovers.
As you can see on the poster below, the majority of our machines never leave Earth’s orbit. There are a whole lot of crowded lines near our planet, each of which belongs to a space probe or explorer of some kind. But as you get further from Earth, there are less and less of these brave explorers, and you get to see just how far humanity has travelled into our Solar System.
Scientists Get Their First Glimpse At How New Memories Are Born
This is the closest we’ve come to watching new memories form in real time… http://futurism.com/scientists-get-first-glimpse-new-memories-born/
Here’s Why Spider Silk Is One of the Most Incredible Materials on Earth
Spider silk is five times as strong as the same weight of steel, amazingly light, and a great chemical detector. http://futurism.com/videos/heres-spider-silk-one-incredible-materials-earth/
The remote-controlled robots that were sent into the site of the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan have reportedly ‘died’, thanks to incredibly high amounts of leaked radiation destroying their wiring.
The robots - which take years to manufacture - were designed to swim through the underwater tunnels of the now-defunct cooling pools, and remove hundreds of extremely dangerous blobs of melted fuel rods. But it looks like that’s not going to happen any time soon.
In 2011, one of the most severe earthquakes in recorded history triggered a 10-metre-high tsunami that crashed into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, leading to several meltdowns that killed nearly 19,000 people and destroyed the homes and jobs of 160,000.
Before US astronaut Scott Kelly returned from his year-long mission aboard the International Space Station, he shared photos of his very last sunrise in space.
I think you need to see the full photos, in all their glory:
Source
Vibrant winter stars over Lake Tahoe, a week ago. That’s Sirius’s bright reflection on the water! [3000x1633]
Source: http://i.imgur.com/ZnhiC8R.jpg
Google’s Superhuman Computer Can Tell Where Neany Any Photo Was Taken
Google knows where your photos were taken… http://futurism.com/world-googles-superhuman-computer-knows-photo-taken/
4D Printing Allows You to Print Objects That Change over Time http://futurism.com/videos/4d-printing-allows-print-objects-change-time/
Scott Kelly is two inches taller after 340 days in space
After 340 days on the International Space Station, Scott Kelly grew 2 inches taller than his twin brother who spent the time on Earth, CNBC reports.
Gaining a couple inches is pretty common among astronauts that spend a significant amount of time in space. That’s because the microgravity environment allows room for their vertebrae to expand. Here’s how NASA explains it:
Imagine that the vertebrae in your back form a giant spring. Pushing down on the spring keeps it coiled tightly. When the force is released, the spring stretches out. In the same way, the spine elongates by up to 3% while humans travel in space. There is less gravity pushing down on the vertebrae, so they can stretch out — up to 7.6 centimeters (3 inches).
He aged less than us Earth-bound humans too.
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The plate is called a Chladni plate. When he plays it with a bow (you know, like a violin) the couscous aligns itself it certain patterns. We’re not sure if this is science or magic.
Watch: Tiny Real Dog Meets Enormous Robo-Dog
Here, Alex the dog meets Spot…the electrically-powered, hydraulically-actuated, four-legged robotic dog. http://futurism.com/videos/watch-tiny-real-dog-meets-enormous-robo-dog/
I should never have downloaded NASA’s Eyes. Now all I want to do is watch planets and galaxies all day.
Nor should I have checked out Experience Curiosity. Now I wanna cruise all over Mars.
Or the website where you can see the ISS (International Space Station) orbiting Earth in real time.
And yes, I linked all of those because I want everyone to join in the “oooh, shiny planets and galaxies!” :D
@geometrynerd, @ultranos
Can we talk about this?
So there’s this physics journal that uses math and science to discuss the realities of fictional universes in a super legit, peer-reviewed manner?
And they did a thing on Frozen?
Combining research on the film?
With info on how water works and stuff?
Then applied math and chemistry (and other things in which I am not especially well versed) to reach this conclusion:
So.
What’s Up for March 2016?
In March, Jupiter, it’s moons and moon shadows will all be visible in the sky. Find out when and where to look up:
Jupiter dominates the evening sky this month, rising at sunset and setting at dawn. On March 8, Jupiter reaches what is called “opposition”. Imagine that Jupiter and the sun are at opposite ends of a straight line, with the Earth in between. This brings Jupiter its closest to Earth, so it shines brighter and appears larger in telescopes.
On the nights of March 14 – 15, March 21 – 22 and March 29, two of Jupiter’s moons will cross the planet’s disk.
When the planet is at opposition and the sun shines on Jupiter’s moons, we can see the moon’s shadow crossing the planet. There are actually 11 of these double shadow transits in March!
The next six months will be awesome times for you to image Jupiter when it’s highest in the sky; near midnight now, and a little earlier each night through the late summer.
Even through the smallest telescopes or binoculars, you should be able to see the two prominent belts on each side of Jupiter’s equator made up of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa Ganymede and Calisto. If you have a good enough view, you may even see Jupiter’s Red Spot!
Our Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter on July 4th of this year and will go into orbit around the giant planet. Right now, the Juno mission science team is actively seeking amateur and professional images of the planet. These images are uploaded to a Juno website, and the public is invited to discuss points of interest in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Locations will later be voted on and the favorites will be targets for JunoCam, the spacecraft’s imaging camera. Once JunoCam has taken the images, they’ll be posted online. Imaging participants can then process these raw mission images and re-upload them for others to view.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Scientists Are Working on a Real-Life Invisibility Cloak
An actual invisibility cloak? We may be getting close. Scientists at the University of Rochester have created the “Rochester Cloak,” a device that effectively makes the object behind it invisible by making light move around it. http://futurism.com/videos/scientists-working-real-life-invisibility-cloak/
Mars Pathfinder & Sojourner Rover (360 View) Explained
Thanks to new technology, we can take a 360-degree tour of the 1997 Pathfinder mission landing site, including Sojourner, the first Mars rover. Check out this interactive YouTube panorama, and then…
…keep scrolling to find out more about each point of interest, how the Pathfinder mission compares to “The Martian” and NASA’s real Journey to Mars.
Yogi
“Yogi” is a meter-size rock about 5 meters northwest of the Mars Pathfinder lander and the second rock visited by the Sojourner Rover’s alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument. This mosaic shows super resolution techniques applied to help to address questions about the texture of this rock and what it might tell us about how it came to be.
Twin Peaks
The Twin Peaks are modest-size hills to the southwest of the Mars Pathfinder landing site. They were discovered on the first panoramas taken by the IMP camera on the July 4, 1997, and subsequently identified in Viking Orbiter images taken over 20 years ago. They’re about 30-35 meters tall.
Barnacle Bill
“Barnacle Bill” is a small rock immediately west-northwest of the Mars Pathfinder lander and was the first rock visited by the Sojourner Rover’s alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument. If you have some old-school red-cyan glasses, put them on and see this pic in eye-popping 3-D.
Rock Garden
The Rock Garden is a cluster of large, angular rocks tilted in a downstream direction from ancient floods on Mars. The rocky surface is comprised of materials washed down from the highlands and deposited in this ancient outflow channel.
MOAR INFO
Pathfinder Lander & Sojourner Rover
Mission Facts [PDF]
Science Results
Rock & Soil Types
This vista was stitched together from many images taken in 1997 by Pathfinder.
Pathfinder and Sojourner figure into Mark Watney’s quest for survival on the Red Planet in the book and movie, “The Martian.” See JPL’s role in making “The Martian” a reality: http://go.nasa.gov/1McRrXw and discover nine real NASA technologies depicted in “The Martian”: http://go.nasa.gov/1QiyUiC.
So what about the real-life “Journey to Mars”? NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. Discover more at http://nasa.gov/journeytomars and don’t forget to visit me when you make it to the Red Planet. Until then, stay curious and I’ll see you online.
NASA is Planning to Capture an Asteroid and Put it in Orbit Around the Moon
NASA is planning a mission that will visit a large asteroid and redirect a large portion of it into a stable orbit around the Moon. From there, we can study it at our leisure. http://futurism.com/videos/nasa-planning-capture-asteroid-put-orbit-around-moon/
The God Brain: Roundtable Discussion on God and Spirituality for Brain Games
NeuroscienceNews was invited by National Geographic’s Brain Games to participate in a virtual roundtable discussion on the question:
“Is belief in God innate in our brains, as if it were installed by some divine programmer? Or is spirituality a more complex evolving adaptation that has both helped and harmed us as a species?”
Let us know what you think.
Image: Jason Silva sits with Jonathan, a grad student at IDC Herzliya as they test out the virtual reality EEG cap and goggles. Photo Credit: NG Studios/Andy Fram.
The Detection of Gravitational Waves, Evidence of the “Impossible Particle” – it has been a fantastic week in science.
Clickable image with links to the stories: http://tinyurl.com/jqhz76o
Source: https://imgur.com/c4LP6eW
Pale Blue Dot, taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 as it left the Solar System, 3.7 billion miles away.
Source: https://imgur.com/Hc4lkLG
a full day from space (x-post woahdude)
Source: https://imgur.com/mOpsxQu
British astronaut Tim Peake made this timelapse of lightning storms from the International Space Station. He says it was recorded as he flew from North Africa over Turkey towards Russia.
The upper atmosphere of the Sun is dominated by plasma filled magnetic loops (coronal loops) whose temperature and pressure vary over a wide range. The appearance of coronal loops follows the emergence of magnetic flux, which is generated by dynamo processes inside the Sun. Emerging flux regions (EFRs) appear when magnetic flux bundles emerge from the solar interior through the photosphere and into the upper atmosphere (chromosphere and the corona). The characteristic feature of EFR is the Ω-shaped loops (created by the magnetic buoyancy/Parker instability), they appear as developing bipolar sunspots in magnetograms, and as arch filament systems in Hα. EFRs interact with pre-existing magnetic fields in the corona and produce small flares (plasma heating) and collimated plasma jets. The GIFs above show multiple energetic jets in three different wavelengths. The light has been colorized in red, green and blue, corresponding to three coronal temperature regimes ranging from ~0.8Mk to 2MK.
Image Credit: SDO/U. Aberystwyth
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how incredible our Solar System is? Sure, pretty much everywhere other than our own planet is a deathtrap, with acid rain pouring down on Venus and storms three times the size of Earth swirling around Jupiter, but you don’t have to look too hard to find the unique beauty in our neighbouring planets and moons.
And with unique beauty comes… tourism! From the diamond-inspired cloud observatory of Venus to Jupiter’s aurorae-backed balloon ride, the design team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have taken us back to the future with this new batch of retro space tourism posters.
The “Visions of the Future” series features seven original posters released this week, plus seven “Exoplanet Travel Bureau” posters that were published around this time last year. And these haven’t just been dreamt up by anyone - the designers behind the posters have been consulting with JPL scientists and engineers to come up with tourism scenarios that are as realistic as they are fantastical.
Behold the most massive young galaxy cluster found in the early universe. How do these megastructures form? This newly discovered cluster, located 10 billion light years from Earth, gives us clues. Details here.
Credit: NASA’s Facebook Account