Dragonmimi - Dragons, Sharks And Stargate Atlantis!

Jason Momoa on playing Aquaman

It'a all up to Roger now. If it helps, I used to have a pet Goldfish named Roger. I won him at a fair. 

Yoga Studio Invites Shelter Cats To Do Yoga And Helps Them Find Homes

7 Things to Know About Spacewalks

On Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Friday, Nov. 6, Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren will perform spacewalks in support of space station assembly and maintenance. You can watch both of these events live on NASA Television. But, before you do, here are 7 things to know:

1. What’s the Point of a Spacewalk?

Spacewalks are important events where crew members repair, maintain and upgrade parts of the International Space Station. Spacewalks can also be referred to as an EVA – Extravehicular Activity. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren will complete a spacewalk. During this time they will service the Canadarm2 robotic arm, route cables for a future docking port, and place a thermal cover over a dark matter detection experiment, which is a state-of-the-art particles physics detector that has been attached to the station since 2011.

2. What Do They Wear?

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacewalking suit weighs around 350 pounds. It’s weightless in space, but mass is still very real. The EMU provides a crew member with life support and an enclosure that enables them to work outside the space station. The suit provides atmospheric containment, thermal insulation, cooling, solar radiation protection and micrometeoroid/orbital debris protection.

3. How Long Are Spacewalks?

Spacewalks typically last around 6 ½ hours, but can be extended to 7 or 8 hours, if necessary. The timeline is designed to accommodate as many tasks as possible, as spacewalks require an enormous amount of work to prepare.

4. What About Eating and Drinking?

Before a spacewalk astronauts eat light, usually something like a protein bar. The spacesuits also have a drink bag inside, and there is a bite valve that allows ready access to water.

5. What About Communication?

Spacewalkers wear a ‘comm’ cap that allows them to constantly communicate with astronauts inside the space station that are helping with the walk, and with mission control. Astronauts also wear a checklist on their left wrist called a “cuff checklist”. This list contains emergency procedures.

6. What About Light?

Something that most people don’t realize about spacewalks is that the crew will experience a sunrise/sunset every 45 minutes. Luckily, their spacesuits are equipped with lights that allow them to see in times of darkness.

7. How Do They Stay Safe?

When on a spacewalk, astronauts use safety tethers to stay close to their spacecraft. One end of the tether is hooked to the spacewalker, while the other end is connected to the vehicle. Another way astronauts stay safe is by wearing a SAFER, which is a Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue. This device is worn like a backpack and uses small jet thrusters to let an astronaut move around in space.

You can watch both of the upcoming spacewalks live on: NASA Television or the NASA App, or follow along on @Space_Station Twitter.

Wednesday, Oct. 28: Coverage begins at 6:30 a.m. EDT. Spacewalk begins at 8:10 a.m.

Friday, Nov. 6: Coverage begins at 5:45 a.m. EDT. Spacewalk begins at 7:15 a.m.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com 

The bus driver did a wonderful thing. G-d bless him.

Bus driver saves woman from jumping off bridge - From Siz (Get the app)

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He does look good!

I’m into Brazilian jiu jitsu, and there’s a big jiu jitsu community here, which I like a lot.

This was a wonderful way to say thank you.

Last surviving 9/11 rescue dog has the best day ever for his birthday

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Your cat is adorable! Odd, but adorable.  This reminds me of a parakeet I had years ago. Kiwi would actually fly in and out of the fridge. Granted, if you started to close the door, she would shriek. But she would go the fridge every chance she got. 

Here is too the odd, but loveable creatures in our lives. ^_^

Today I shut my cat in the fridge.

Okay, so here’s the deal.  Tali loves the fridge.  I don’t know why, but every single time we open it, she bolts for it and jumps in.  She crawls into the back of the fridge and nestles int the smallest little corner she can.  Now naturally, my biggest fear has been that I’ll close the fridge without knowing she’s in there.  And of course, today I went to go grab my Brita filter to pour myself some water.  I wasn’t really watching the fridge, and I just opened and closed it really quickly to put the Brita back while I was looking somewhere else.  And then I looked around and realized that Tali had been in the kitchen, and now she was nowhere in sight.  So immediately, I throw open the fridge door, and there is is, hanging out in the back, content as can be.

This is interesting

To Combat Climate Change, Researchers Want to Pull Carbon Dioxide From the Ocean and Turn It Into Rock

Running seawater through an ocean carbon capture plant could chemically convert carbon dioxide to limestone on a grand scale

Excerpt from this story from Smithsonian:

Anew method for combatting climate change feels like a bit of modern-day alchemy: scientists have figured out how to take carbon dioxide out of the ocean and turn it into harmless rock.

For every tonne of carbon dioxide we pump into the air, roughly a quarter of it gets absorbed by the ocean like a giant, watery sponge. All of this excess carbon dioxide is acidifying the water and threatening organisms, such as those with calcium carbonate shells, that are sensitive to the change.

To avert this fate, carbon emissions need to drop—fast. But many scientists also believe that active carbon capture—deliberately pulling carbon dioxide out of the environment—will be a necessary step to help curb, and potentially even reverse, the rise in emissions responsible for countless environmental impacts. However, capturing enough carbon to make a difference is a massive task, one that has so far proved challenging and expensive.

“You’re talking about removing some 10 to 20 gigatonnes of [carbon dioxide] per year, starting from 2050, probably for the next century,” says Gaurav Sant, a civil and environmental engineering professor and director of the Institute for Carbon Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

To date, most efforts to capture carbon have focused on direct air capture—trying to pull the gas out of the atmosphere. But to make carbon capture more efficient, Sant’s research team is turning to the ocean for help.

Oceans and other large bodies of water can hold more than 150 times more carbon dioxide than the air. Sant and his colleagues’ idea is that if you can remove carbon from the ocean, the water will absorb more from the atmosphere to maintain a state of equilibrium. Now, they’re proposing an innovative way of getting carbon out of the ocean—by turning it into rock.

Seawater contains a lot of calcium and magnesium. When the calcium or magnesium ions combine with carbon dioxide, they form calcite or magnesite. The chemical reaction is similar to how many marine organisms build their shells. But by introducing a third ingredient, electricity, Sant and his team can make that reaction happen quickly, efficiently and, perhaps eventually, on a large scale. Putting this all together, the scientists have proposed a new technology that will run seawater through an electrically charged mesh, using electrolysis to trigger the chemical reactions needed to form carbonate rocks.

So far, the team has built a 1.5-by-1.5-meter prototype that they can flood with simulated seawater. They are collecting data on the amount of carbon dioxide that can be removed over various periods of time, analyzing the process efficiency and the amount of energy required. Aside from simply demonstrating the concept, they are using the model to determine what operational variables might impact the process.