The Weather Report From Around the Solar System
Mar 30, 2011 Space
Though spring is coming to the Northern Hemisphere –finally– our planet is far from the only world in the solar system seeing a change in the weather or feeling the rhythm of the seasons. The weather report from across the solar system includes spring rainstorms (of methane) on Titan, mysteriously vanishing stripes of Jupiter and more.
NASA – First Image Ever Obtained from Mercury Orbit
Mar 30, 2011 Space
Early this morning, at 5:20 am EDT, MESSENGER captured this historic image of Mercury. This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the Solar System’s innermost planet.
Explained: How to measure radioactivity
Mar 30, 2011 Space
A guide to terminology about radiation exposure
Custom Fabricated Creepy Robotic Eye (VID)
Mar 30, 2011 Space
This is a custom fabricated animatronic eye mechanism designed for a standard 1.125″ human size eyeball. Built by: Dan Thomson www.visionaryeffects.com
Dust storms test the limits of scientific computing
Mar 30, 2011 Space
By taking into account the spatial relationships between data points, it’s possible to design a computational architecture that performs better. Does that mean we need to develop spatial computing?
Elektra One Electric Plane’s First Flight a Success! (w/Vid)
Mar 30, 2011 Space
The Elektra One plane by PC-Aero is competing to win NASA’s CAFE Green Flight Challenge (there’s a 1.6 million dollar prize). The goal is to create an aircraft that can “fly 200 miles in less than two hours using the energy equivalent of less than 1 gallon of gasoline per occupant.” The Elektra One is 100% powered by electricity, and it recently had a successful maiden flight in Germany!
Stress hormone combats fear of heights
Mar 30, 2011 Space
If you have a fear of heights, you wouldn’t think being given extra stress hormone would help – yet Dominique de Quervain at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues report that it can.
Martian Space Suits Get a Test Run in Antarctica
Mar 30, 2011 Space
NASA researchers travel to the bottom of the Earth to test new space suits they hope will one day be used on Mars. The space agency continues to prepare for Mars despite having no firm time table for a manned mission. So, exactly how far are we from another “small step for man.”
Bid to ban cloned foods in Europe collapses
Mar 30, 2011 Space
An effort to ban cloned foods from supermarket shelves in Europe collapsed Tuesday after EU states and the parliament failed to agree a law to control the industry.
Radiation Study: Don’t fear X-rays from airport scanners
Mar 30, 2011 Space
Passengers fear backscatter X-ray scanners, believing they pose a cancer risk. Backscatter X-ray scanners pose very little risk, according to a study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Flying itself poses more risk of cancer than going through backscatter X-ray scanners.