1. Check out this beautiful bird’s-eye view map of St. Louis, circa 1907. From the excellent Big Map Blog (which happens to be a product of our fair city).

    Check out this beautiful bird’s-eye view map of St. Louis, circa 1907.

    From the excellent Big Map Blog (which happens to be a product of our fair city).

  2. The scene-stealer is that detached prominence off to the left. That’s the leftover material ejected from the Sun by an erupting sunspot (you can see other sunspots in the picture as well). The gas is ionized — aplasma — and so it’s affected by magnetic fields. The material follows the magnetic field of the Sun in the explosion, lifting it off the surface and into space. Sometimes it falls back, and sometimes it leaves the Sun entirely. In this case, Alan caught some of the material at what looks like the top of its trajectory. Click here for more info. (It’s well worth your time.)

    The scene-stealer is that detached prominence off to the left. That’s the leftover material ejected from the Sun by an erupting sunspot (you can see other sunspots in the picture as well). The gas is ionized — aplasma — and so it’s affected by magnetic fields. The material follows the magnetic field of the Sun in the explosion, lifting it off the surface and into space. Sometimes it falls back, and sometimes it leaves the Sun entirely. In this case, Alan caught some of the material at what looks like the top of its trajectory.

    Click here for more info. (It’s well worth your time.)

  3. What planets would look like if they were same distance from Earth as the Moon.
    (Be sure to watch in full screen.)

    via

  4. (Source: alexdotjpeg)

  5. I received this as a Christmas gift and was able to watch it this afternoon. It’s wonderful documentary. Werner Herzog explores the often alien nature of the Antarctic, the ground-breaking research performed by the scientists who study there, and the fascinating personalities and life stories of the people who live at the South Pole. The cinematography is gorgeous, punctuated by great quotes from Herzog, such as this question for a penguin researcher: I don’t mean that a penguin might believe he or she is Lenin or Napoleon Bonaparte, but could they just go crazy because they’ve had enough of their colony? Oddly enough, it seems that they might, as rogue penguins will sometimes take off for the middle of the continent, away from both their nesting grounds and the shores where they feed. The most memorable part of the film was the trippy under-ice recordings of Weddell seals. Unreal. Anyways, I highly recommend it. (Best enjoyed with a cup of hot tea on a cold winter day.)

    I received this as a Christmas gift and was able to watch it this afternoon. It’s wonderful documentary. Werner Herzog explores the often alien nature of the Antarctic, the ground-breaking research performed by the scientists who study there, and the fascinating personalities and life stories of the people who live at the South Pole.

    The cinematography is gorgeous, punctuated by great quotes from Herzog, such as this question for a penguin researcher:

    I don’t mean that a penguin might believe he or she is Lenin or Napoleon Bonaparte, but could they just go crazy because they’ve had enough of their colony?

    Oddly enough, it seems that they might, as rogue penguins will sometimes take off for the middle of the continent, away from both their nesting grounds and the shores where they feed.

    The most memorable part of the film was the trippy under-ice recordings of Weddell seals. Unreal.

    Anyways, I highly recommend it.

    (Best enjoyed with a cup of hot tea on a cold winter day.)

  6. A 3-D Tour of All the Known Galaxies, In 90 Seconds →

  7. fuckyeahspace: NASA Finds New Form of Life NASA astrobiologists have discovered a microorganism in California that is doing something completely novel: substituting arsenic for phosphorus in its chemical makeup. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the six basic building blocks of all known forms of life on Earth. Phosphorus is part of the chemical backbone of DNA and RNA, the structures that carry genetic instructions for life, and is considered an essential element for all living cells. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate. It’s been known for a while that some microbes can metabolise arsenic, but what this organism is doing is building parts of itself out of arsenic, something no other known life forms can do. ”If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected,” asks Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow, “What else can life do that we haven’t seen yet?” This will change the way astrobiologists look for life on other planets, including where they look (arsenic-rich atmospheres were previously considered off-limits) and what the definition of life really is (right now, we only know that life exists the way it does on Earth, so finding out that life can exist very differently and using different chemicals will expand what we think of when we think of “life”). This is the first alternative biology we’ve ever known to exist; previously, the idea of alternative biologies has been mere speculation, more common in the realms of pop-science and science fiction. Source: NASA. Photo via Gizmodo. More info at NASA astrobiology.

    fuckyeahspace:

    NASA Finds New Form of Life

    NASA astrobiologists have discovered a microorganism in California that is doing something completely novel: substituting arsenic for phosphorus in its chemical makeup.

    Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the six basic building blocks of all known forms of life on Earth. Phosphorus is part of the chemical backbone of DNA and RNA, the structures that carry genetic instructions for life, and is considered an essential element for all living cells. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate.

    It’s been known for a while that some microbes can metabolise arsenic, but what this organism is doing is building parts of itself out of arsenic, something no other known life forms can do. ”If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected,” asks Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow, “What else can life do that we haven’t seen yet?”

    This will change the way astrobiologists look for life on other planets, including where they look (arsenic-rich atmospheres were previously considered off-limits) and what the definition of life really is (right now, we only know that life exists the way it does on Earth, so finding out that life can exist very differently and using different chemicals will expand what we think of when we think of “life”). This is the first alternative biology we’ve ever known to exist; previously, the idea of alternative biologies has been mere speculation, more common in the realms of pop-science and science fiction.

    Source: NASA. Photo via Gizmodo. More info at NASA astrobiology.

  8. Of course Sharma wins this. The guy is unreal.

    Really want to try some deep-water soloing in NZ next summer. Anyone know any good locations?

  9. Ki Gompa. This picture was taken when I visited the Buddhist Monastery of Ki. Ki is a tiny village in the middle of the Himalayas, and next to it is Ki Gompa (Ki Monastery). I lived with the monks for about a week, and this picture reflects the peaceful, almost heavenly atmosphere that characterizes this place. The Monastery is almost 4,000 meters high, and I had to climb almost 500 meters more to get this panorama. This place is a touch of heaven. (Photo and caption by Natalia Luzuriaga) How does one get the living with monks gig? This looks incredible. from Finalists for Nat Geo’s Photo of the Year on the Big Picture Be sure to view all of them.

    Ki Gompa. This picture was taken when I visited the Buddhist Monastery of Ki. Ki is a tiny village in the middle of the Himalayas, and next to it is Ki Gompa (Ki Monastery). I lived with the monks for about a week, and this picture reflects the peaceful, almost heavenly atmosphere that characterizes this place. The Monastery is almost 4,000 meters high, and I had to climb almost 500 meters more to get this panorama. This place is a touch of heaven. (Photo and caption by Natalia Luzuriaga)

    How does one get the living with monks gig? This looks incredible.

    from Finalists for Nat Geo’s Photo of the Year on the Big Picture

    Be sure to view all of them.