I must have stars in my eyes because this is another astronomical post. I saw this story (click on the graphic for the animation) in the New York Times article on 2013: The Year in Interactive Storytelling. The story talks about the planets outside of our solar system that have been discovered by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. I do love a good info-graphic and find the animated planets just fascinating. There is more to the story here.
This is a page from Galileo’s notebook. On this day in 1610, he recorded his observations of the moons of Jupiter, noting that they did not behave as stars, but appeared to travel with the planet. It was this and other observations that cause Galileo trouble with the church. They are also the reason his name and work endure today – 404 years later. While Galileo was able to discern Jupiter’s 4 largest moons, the actual number of this planet’s moons is 50 or more. Thanks to Lights in the Dark for this reference.
“Who are we, if not measured by our impact on others? That’s who we are! We’re not who we say we are, we’re not who we want to be — we are the sum of the influence and impact that we have, in our lives, on others.”
This quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson in his comments about Carl Sagan on the occasion of Sagan’s papers being acquired by the Library of Congress. I read the story here on Brainpickings.
The drawing above is part of the collection that will be in the Library of Congress. It was created by an eight year old Carl Sagan in 1942. As an unabashed geek and fan of Sagan, deGrasse Tyson, and most things astronomical, I found this tidbit fascinating.
This new book from Peter Reid and Tim Goddard. I saw it on Live Science. If you want to take a look at the constructions – inspired by reality and fantasy – without all of the ads, click on the Amazon Look Inside site. I think the Martian rover really is made out of Lego.
I have been reading about companies that will test your dna to see how much Neanderthal is in your genetic make up, but why stop there.
I thought this was interesting. It is one of those quizzes one finds online. This one is from the New York Times and is based on a Cambridge University study aimed at helping people raise their sensitivity IQ.
How did you do?
Are diamonds a girl’s best friend? Perhaps they are on Saturn and Jupiter according to some researchers who hypothesize that heat, pressure and chemical conditions on these two giant planets may be conducive to the production of diamonds – diamonds that may rain down through the atmosphere.
This research opens up new and interesting ways to look at the composition and mineral wealth of the solar system. As for me, I am working on the development of my Hydrogen Integral Squeezing System (HISS) in order to produce more helium – because the world needs more helium.
And here are the tattoos:
Tattoo Tuesday is about jellyfish – because I think they pretty and interesting. I remember gathering and studying little pink ctenophores – which are comb jellies – relatives of jellyfish, when I was in college on a biology field trip to Chesapeake Bay. We tromped around the Bay in February, gathering specimens and studying them in the Marine Fisheries Lab nearby. I was particularly taken with the comb jellies. Their rows of cilia undulated down their bodies, propelling them along. Fascinating to watch.
Here are the tattoos:
Amazing and beautiful photographs of the Cat’s Paw nebula in the constellation Scorpius taken by the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope in Chile.
and this one:
The story, from Bad Astronomy on Slate, explains that the flame-like filaments of star-forming materials are actually, in this case, mind-bogglingly cold, at around minus 445 degrees Farhenheit.
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 