The new X-ray telescope NuSTAR has opened its eye and taken its first images.
The new X-ray telescope NuSTAR has opened its eye and taken its first images.
Year: 2012
Data of the tidal fluxes on Titan by the Cassini spacecraft now suggest that there is a liquid ocean below Titan’s icy crust.
Data of the tidal fluxes on Titan by the Cassini spacecraft now suggest that there is a liquid ocean below Titan’s icy crust.
The team’s analyses suggest that the surface of the moon can rise and fall by up to 10 metres during each orbit, says Iess. That degree of warpage suggests that Titan’s interior is relatively deformable, the team reports today in Science1. Several models of the moon’s internal structure suggest such flexibility — including a model in which the moon is solid but soft and squishy throughout. But the researchers contend that the most likely model of Titan is one in which an icy shell dozens of kilometres thick floats atop a global ocean. The team’s findings, together with the results of previous studies, hint that Titan’s ocean may lie no more than 100 km below the moon’s surface.
A private organization focused on preventing asteroids from impacting the Earth today announced its plans to build and launch an infrared space telescope by 2017.
A private organization focused on preventing asteroids from impacting the Earth today announced its plans to build and launch an infrared space telescope by 2017.
Solar scientists think they have found out what heats the Sun’s atmosphere: Giant solar tornadoes thousands of miles high.
Solar scientists think they have found out what heats the Sun’s atmosphere: Giant solar tornadoes thousands of miles high.
SpaceShipTwo resumed flight tests yesterday.
SpaceShipTwo resumed flight tests yesterday.
Marilyn Monroe – Heat Wave
An evening pause: From the 1954 film, There’s No Business Like Show Business.
Scientists have found a previously unknown mineral embedded in a meteorite that crashed to Earth in 1969.
Scientists have found a previously unknown mineral embedded in a meteorite that crashed to Earth in 1969.
Dubbed panguite, the new titanium oxide is named after Pan Gu, the giant from ancient Chinese mythology who established the world by separating yin from yang to create the earth and the sky. … “Panguite is an especially exciting discovery since it is not only a new mineral, but also a material previously unknown to science,” says Chi Ma, a senior scientist and director of the Geological and Planetary Sciences division’s Analytical Facility at Caltech and corresponding author on the paper.
Both Russia and the United States have developed a “pain ray” weapon for dispersing protestors.
What could go wrong? Both Russia and the United States have developed a “pain ray gun” for dispersing protestors.
The beam has a much shorter wavelength than a microwave oven and very different effects. The waves penetrate only about 1/64 of an inch, and anyone caught in the beam experiences painful but harmless heating of their skin. It causes what developers call a repel effect; nobody can stand it more than a few seconds before having to get out of the beam.
That’s the American system, not yet used. The Russian system is similar, and the Russians seem ready and willing to put it into operation.
The bloody and corrupt scandal of Obama’s Fast-and-Furious gun-smuggling operation: a summary.
The bloody and corrupt scandal of Obama’s Fast-and-Furious gun-smuggling operation: a summary.
Imagine a government agency designed for the specific purpose of investigating and preventing the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms. Now imagine this agency engaging in an operation that not only goes against that purpose, but actually seeks to accomplish the opposite, by actively encouraging the sale of firearms to people whose ties to organized crime and gun violence are well known – and that this operation involves sending firearms across an international border into a country that this agency, and the government of which it is a part, purposely failed to warn, inform, or request permission from.
Brookhaven Labs has achieved the hottest man-made temperature ever, 4 trillion degrees Celsius.
Brookhaven Labs has achieved the hottest man-made temperature ever, 4 trillion degrees Celsius.
In the process, the scientists have found that matter at these temperatures acts more like a liquid than a gas, something they did not expect.
The scientific stupidity of the TSA’s security rules.
The scientific stupidity of the TSA’s security rules.
Here’s one example from the article:
Take the Transportation Security Administration’s rules about carry-on electronics, for example. Laptops have to come out of their bags and lie flat in a plastic tub—but not tablets, phones, Kindles, cameras or portable game consoles. Why the distinction? The TSA says that it’s not just about detecting explosives: removing bigger gadgets also unclutters your bag for better x-ray examination. Even so, on close inspection the rules get arbitrary very quickly. For example, according to the TSA, the 11-inch model of the MacBook Air is fine to leave in your bag, but the 13-inch model must be removed.
More than thirty thousand people have been ordered to flee the growing wildfire in Colorado.
More than thirty thousand people have been ordered to flee the growing wildfire in Colorado.
Stockton, California, has filed for bankruptcy, making it the largest bankruptcy of any U.S. city in history.
We’ve only just begun: Stockton, California, has filed for bankruptcy, making it the largest bankruptcy of any U.S. city in history.
China has spent $6 billion since 1992 on its manned space program.
China has spent $6 billion since 1992 on its manned space program.
A German court has declared the practice of Judaism a crime.
This is not a joke: A German court has declared the practice of Judaism a crime.
Enya – Only Time
An evening pause: “Who knows? Only time.”
Boeing has successfully tested the thruster it plans to use on its CST-100 crew/cargo capsule.
The competition heats up: Boeing has successfully tested the maneuvering thruster it plans to use on its CST-100 crew/cargo capsule.
Astronomers watch as the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way begins to eat a giant gas cloud.
Astronomers watch as the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way begins to eat a giant gas cloud.
The real fireworks will occur next year, when the cloud passes only 25 billion miles from the black hole.
A TSA agent in Florida spilled the cremated remains of a man’s grandfather on the floor after illegally opening the jar to finger the ashes.
A TSA agent in Florida spilled the cremated remains of a man’s grandfather on the floor after illegally opening the jar to finger the ashes.
[John] Gross says about a quarter to a third of the contents spilled on the floor, leaving him frantically trying to gather up as much as he could while anxious passengers waited behind him. “She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.” [emphasis mine]
Freedom dies, one security checkpoint at a time.
The full story about last night’s swatting of a blogger critical of leftwing activist and convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin.
Leftwing civility: The full story about last night’s swatting of a blogger critical of leftwing activist and convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin.