Monday: May 17, 2010
- Venus and our moon align for one brief Kodak moment.
During spring time, Venus shines brightly, and as these photos show, Venus appears as a bright object before it disappears behind the moon and then reappears on the other side in a game of celestial hide-and-seek.
Wednesday: May 12, 2010
- Scientists have discovered that Jupiter somehow managed to lose a stripe.
The band was present at the end of 2009, right before Jupiter moved too close to the sun in the sky to be observed from Earth. When the planet emerged from the sun's glare again in early April, its south equatorial belt was nowhere to be seen.
- Rogue star mystery finally deciphered thanks to Hubble Space Telescope.
The massive, hot star seemed out of place when astronomers first spotted it in 2006, and now thanks to Hubble, we know why. The misfit, 30 Dor #016, appears to have been ejected from a cluster of even heftier stars, pinging off of them and off into space at tremendous speed.
Tuesday: May 11, 2010
- Fifteen things about Star Trek that you may not have previously known about.
I had no idea that a) the main tag line of Star Trek (to boldy go, yadda yadda) was lifted from a White House pamphlet on space exploration and b) the entire sentence is grammatically incorrect. Lets hear it for split infinitives!
Monday: April 26, 2010
- NASA releases brand new Hubble images in honor of the telescope's 20th birthday.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured over 570,000 images of roughly 30,000 objects in our known Universe? What, you didn't know that? Then go ahead and start your day off right with some additional cosmic photography.
Tuesday: April 20, 2010
- NASA to send first humanoid robot out into space later this year.
The robotics aren't quite advanced enough yet to send an actual android that is advanced as the ones you've seen on Star Trek - but it's a start. As to when these robot astronauts will turn on their masters and decide to destory all of our satellites - anybody's guess.
- Facebook now accounts for 41% of all social media traffic according to comScore stats.
As of March 2010, Facebook traffic made up 41% of all traffic on a list of popular social destinations. MySpace was in second place, capturing around 24% of traffic. Gmail had 15%, and Twitter had 8%.
Thursday: April 15, 2010
- Teaser trailer for Space Paranoids Online surfaces on the Interwebs.
I'm not sure if this is an actual upcoming game or if this is just a viral marketing advert for Tron Legacy. Either way, the concept is pretty cool and I'd most likely end up giving it a whirl should it see the light of day.
Friday: April 9, 2010
- NASA decides to unveil a whole slew of sweeping new programs
This budget provides an increase to NASA at a time when funding is scarce,' he said. 'It will enable us to accomplish inspiring exploration, science and R and D, the kinds of things the agency has been known for throughout its history.'
Thursday: April 8, 2010
- Hubble discovers mysertious giant planet orbiting a tiny nearby star.
The team reports the '2M044144' brown dwarf possesses a companion about 5-10 times heavier than Jupiter. The companion orbits some 2.25 billion miles from the small star, and must be less than 1 million years old, roughly the age of the brown dwarf.
Wednesday: March 17, 2010
- The great big red spot over on Jupiter has brand new glow about it.
Turns out that great big red spot is not just a plain old oval after all. It seems to act as a mood ring of sorts to indicate weather and circulation patterns for nearby storms systems. You can see this glow for yourself at home, assuming you have your very own infrared telescope facility.
Tuesday: March 9, 2010
- Your computer may one day operate at the speed of light thanks to laser technology.
An electrically powered, room-temperature, infrared laser for laptop computers is still years away, however, cautioned Michel. If and when those laptops do arrive, they will be powerful -- more powerful in fact than even today's supercomputers.
Friday: March 5, 2010
- Man finishes LEGO Star Wars space ship from scratch after just two years.
This model was completed using approximately 30,000 pieces of LEGO and remarkably without the direct use of a licensed LEGO instruction manual. That's right - this Droid Control Ship was assembled using only schematics from a book of Star Wars space ships. That's some impressive architectural dedication right there.
Thursday: March 4, 2010
- NASA has discovered an abundant amount of water on the moon.
The quantity of water present at the lunar poles is significant,' Spudis writes; 'at the north pole alone, the 600 million metric tons of water there -- turned into rocket fuel -- is enough to launch the equivalent of one Space Shuttle (735 mT of propellant) per day for over 2000 years.'
Monday: March 1, 2010
- Always wondered what it would be like to make sushi in space?
There is a pretty funny video/interview embedded over on the opposite side of the click. The sushi prep actually starts at about one minute in. Mark this as one small step for man and one giant leap for sushi-kind. Bon appétit.
Monday: February 22, 2010
- Space shuttle Endeavour lands safely at Kennedy Space Center.
Astronauts Bob Behnken and British-born Nicholas Patrick conducted three spacewalks during the mission, racking up a total of 18 hours, 14 minutes outside the orbiting outpost.
- Olympic events with some added thrills through the sporting eye of Photoshop.
Is everyone enjoying all the coverage of the Winter Olympic games? Looking for some variety in the competition? Try Space Boxing: no ropes, no rules, no gravity.
Wednesday: February 17, 2010
- Microsoft to bring MySpace and Facebook into Outlook.
I foresee this particular move as something that will greatly increase the productivity of every corporate employee that happens to use Microsoft Outlook as their primary email program.
Friday: February 12, 2010
- Hubble manages to capture an overly blue view of Saturn.
Aurorae result from charged solar wind particles trapped in a planet's magnetic field striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. Just like Northern Lights on Earth, Saturn sees similar polar light shows as a result.
Wednesday: February 10, 2010
- Twenty-one unbelievable photos of Mars for your Martian viewing pleasure.
Behold the wondrous splendor of Martian landscapes in all their strange atmospheric glory. After viewing these photographs I have a strange desire to go watch Total Recall. Two weeks!
Tuesday: February 9, 2010
- Take a video tour of the International Space Station in HD thanks to YouTube.
Always wanted to know what life would be like aboard a working space station? This seven minute video will give you a good indication of just that. Enjoy, future space travelers.
Wednesday: February 3, 2010
- Rare asteroid collision caught via Hubble space telescope.
Have a glimpse of what it looks like when two asteroids crash into each other in wide open deep space. Well, not so deep really - this event occured in an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Monday: January 25, 2010
- Internet access finally comes to astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
And what did the astronauts do first with said brand new Internet access capabilities? Why they sent the first tweet from space of course. NASA expects this newly announced capability to 'enhance morale and productivity.'
Tuesday: January 19, 2010
- Eleven minute solar eclipse won't happen again until the year 3034 says NASA.
NASA said on its website the eclipse was annular, meaning the moon will block most of the sun's middle, but not its edges, causing it to look like a ring. This blockage will last for 11 minutes, 8 seconds, an annual duration NASA said would not be exceeded until December 23, 3043.
Thursday: January 14, 2010
- A collection of Earth's most amazing meteor craters for you to gawk at.
Want to feel a bit more vulnerable today? Then have a gander at some of these photos. You'll start to feel a little bit more insignificant in no time knowing you stand no chance in the path of meteor destruction. Happy Thursday.
Tuesday: January 5, 2010
- Five new lightweight planets discovered via Kepler space telescope.
All five planets in question are really close to nearby stars making them a little too hot for any actual human/alien life. Also, the orbital period is about three to four days but still, your face would melt off.
Monday: January 4, 2010
- Mars Spirit Rover may be stuck for good this time.
This poor little vehicle has had nothing bad luck since it got to Mars. Latest reports from NASA indicate that Spirit is currently stuck in a sand trap and has lost a wheel as well. Bummer.
- Gamer pays $330,000 for virtual space station.
...$330,000 for a fully-equipped space station, boasting multiple biodomes packed with exciting hunting opportunities, a thriving bar, and extensive shopping and reincarnation facilities. Sounds like a bargain, but there's one drawback: it's not real.
Tuesday: December 29, 2009
- A collection of the top ten space photos of 2009 just for you.
Behold the almighty power of a Geminid meteor as it streaks across the Mojave Desert of California. These meteors are apparently quite easy to see since they move slower and are essentially just comet leftovers. The real lesson here is that leftovers can be a good thing after all.
Monday: December 28, 2009
- Scientists would like you to know that they have spotted fog on one of Saturn's moons.
Brown and colleagues first looked at the data using a digital filter they developed that reveals details only on the moon's surface. In the filtered images, the fog appears during the moon's late southern summer as bright, reddish-white patches hovering above the surfaces of lakes.
