Science Walrus

What the news is actually saying:

Higgs Boson: “Welp, we didn’t find the predicted Higgs Boson. In fact, we still have no idea what it could be, but, if we change our definition of the Higgs significantly, it almost might look close to maybe what a Higgs would look like if we pitch it to the public that doesn’t have any education in our respective fields.”

Dark Matter: “We didn’t find any conclusive evidence, but please fund our $2,000,000,000 particle detector! Also dark matter is something fabricated to explain other simple aspects of subatomic, pan-dimensional electromagnectic forces that are already explained in a few widely scrutinized theories (such as M). But that doesn’t matter because just listen to how cool that names sounds—- dark matter. No, wait, maybe we’ll call it dark energy. That’s freakin’ cool. Yeah [slides aviator glasses over eyes].”

I know this image is doing more good than harm, but i just hate how gullible you all have been. So, maybe, it’s doing more harm from a sociological aspect. Imbue the populous with a watered down perception of reality, fed by a private source with hopes everyone will just accept without thinking and drone on.

First off, the “1978” image was taken in 2001 and is a composition of a ton of data. The data was collected from June through September. Not to mention, whoever posted it adjusted the colors for it to appear more green. Source:
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=57723

Secondly, nearly all of this deforestation took place prior to 1910, and the forest resources of the United States have remained relatively constant through the entire 20th century. Source:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_the_United_States

And, you can tell that, obviously, from the different aspects of the photos; the drastically different cloud movement, that these photos incorporated different seasons. Yeah, those crazy things.

But of course no one ever took the time to research what the fuck they were talking about, which is the slogan of the internet. Maybe I should let this be Jebediah… have I learned nothing from the Simpson’s?

(via electro-wizard)

NASA’s HS3 Hurricane Mission Ends for 2012

NASA’s 2012 Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel, or HS3, mission came to an end Nov. 6 when a NASA unmanned Global Hawk aircraft flew a final data-collection mission in the North Pacific Ocean over a large storm in preparation for next year’s campaign.The primary activity of the 2012 HS3 mission included a NASA Global Hawk aircraft that flew from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., in September to investigate the environment and cloud structure of hurricanes Leslie and Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean with more than 148 hours flown over six science flights. A second Global Hawk equipped to examine hurricane precipitation and wind structure was unable to deploy to Wallops before the end of the hurricane campaign, but successfully completed its maiden science research voyage in the Pacific flight.

One of the instruments on this HS3 journey was the High-altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler, or HIWRAP. This system maps 3-D winds and precipitation within hurricanes and other severe weather events. Gerry Heymsfield is the principal investigator for the HIWRAP and is a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

A second instrument that flew on this final 2012 HS3 flight was the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer, or HIRAD. HIRAD is an instrument that measures surface wind speeds and rain rates using its rectangular antenna to track storm-induced fluctuations on the ocean’s surface. The antenna measures microwaves emitted by the ocean surface that are increased by the storm. As winds move across the surface of the sea they generate white, frothy foam. This sea foam causes the ocean surface to emit increasingly large amounts of microwave radiation. HIRAD measures that microwave energy and, in doing so, allows scientists to deduce how powerfully the wind is blowing. 

The High Altitude MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR) instrument was also tested during this flight over the Pacific Ocean. For HS3, HAMSR will provide measurements of the moist thermodynamic state (e.g. temperature, water vapor) and precipitation structure in and around a tropical cyclone, which are important measurements for understanding the storm dynamics and evolution.

NASA is doing more to understand weather than just about any other organization, which is fantastic because it greatly helps all of us. And just look at how cool their aircraft are!

For more information about NASA’s HS3 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/HS3

Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford shares a Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station. Ford demonstrates how the crew will spend the holiday on orbit and describes the menu he and his two crewmates will share on Thursday. Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin joined Ford to send their best wishes in Russian.

Does no one else just enjoy that we’re getting videos… from space?!

A+

Mars Curiosity Descent - Ultra HD 30fps Smooth-Motion (by suitzoot)

“Can you find NASA on there? It’s actually listed under General Science, near the bottom right. That rectangle’s not very big, is it? And NASA is only a part of that section, so the space agency’s lion’s share is starting to look more like a kitten’s nibble.”

(via Wait, how big is NASA’s budget again? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine)

hit the atmos

everything’s working fine

2 minutes

7 minutes to entry

let’s all move to the moon.

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, University of Arizona

The cosmic brush of star formation composed this alluring mix of dust and dark nebulae. Cataloged as Sh2-239 and LDN 1551, the region lies near the southern end of the Taurus molecular cloud complex some 450 light-years distant. Stretching for nearly 3 light-years, the canvas abounds with signs of embedded young stellar objects driving dynamic outflows into the surrounding medium. Included near the center of the frame, a compact, tell-tale red jet of shocked hydrogen gas is near the position of infrared source IRS5, known to be a system of protostars surrounded by dust disks. Just below it are the broader, brighter wings of HH 102, one of the region’s many Herbig-Haro objects, nebulosities associated with newly born stars. Estimates indicate that the star forming LDN 1551 region contains a total amount of material equivalent to about 50 times the mass of the Sun.

Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just below it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The red glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gasionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

Flying over the planet Earth.

What should you do to celebrate this October 4th?

1. Donate a few bucks to a science organization!
2. Drink!
3. NASATV is free, watch that :)