They Just Went Full Retard. NEVER GO FULL RETARD!

Neil deGrasse Tyson slams rapper B.o.B for his flat-Earth theory. Watch the mic drop heard ’round the world.

Rockhound, with the Tampax in Taipei.

Where Could Life Exist?

When NASA scientists announced earlier this year that they had found evidence of liquid water on Mars, imaginations ran wild with the possibility that life could exist somewhere other than here on Earth.

Scientists continue to explore the possibility that Mars once looked a lot like Earth — salty oceans, fresh water lakes, and a water cycle to go with it. That’s exciting stuff.

So where else are they looking? What exactly are they looking for?

There are nine places in our universe where scientists say life is a possibility. The locations range from a smoking hot planet like Venus to a moon that orbits Saturn called Enceladus, which looks a lot like a massive, tightly-packed ball of ice.

All of these places show signs that water is, or at least was, a possibility. They also appear to feature some kind of energy that could produce heat.

full resolution

Rare double impact crater on Mars. Such features are thought only to from simultaneous impacts.

via reddit

In his defense, he didn’t know if it was the real life or just fantasy...

A genius named Eleanor Lutz made a beautiful map of one interesting slice of Mars (based on this USGS map). She says:

Recently I’ve been really into old maps made by medieval explorers. I thought it would be fun to use their historical design style to illustrate our current adventures into unexplored territory. So here’s my hand-drawn topographic map of Mars, complete with official landmark names and rover landing sites.

Not only is it beautiful to look out - it’s fun to explore. I never new that Mars’ small craters are officially named after small earth towns - here, Lutz labels them and (in caps) indicates their home country on earth. The large craters bear the names of famous scientists.

I highly recommend heading over to http://tabletopwhale.com/ to check out the higher resolution version.

German Extr@

I started watching this educational sitcom in German a few months ago, and it’s really great. I mean, it’s no cult classic like Treffpunkt Berlin or anything, but it’s still pretty cool. It’s called “Extr@,” and it’s about this (secretly) wealthy American guy named Sam who moves in with his middle school pen pal Sascha in Berlin and her roommate, Anna. He also meets their aspiring actor neighbor Nic who despite acting all cool, turns out not to be. The language barrier is an important plot device. The romance is all wonky. Nic’s in love with Sascha, who’s in love with Sam, who’s in love with Anna, who’s in love with Nic. Yeah. Confusing. But nevertheless, it’s a pretty cool show.

Little did they know.

The launch of the Columbia for the STS-107 mission.  She would burn up during re-entry resulting in the loss of the crew.

beautifulwarbirds@gmail.com Twitter: @thomasguettler

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