The Science Library

Great astronomy images at the LPI Flickr account

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:21:42 -0600

The images are here. LPI=the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Too bad they are not licensed CC.

Flerovium and Livermorium

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:16:46 -0600

Two new elements have been named Flerovium and Livermorium. “The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially approved names for the elements - which sit at slot 114 and 116, respectively — on May 31. They have until now gone by the temporary monikers ununquadium and ununhexium.” (More at Wired.)

Access2Research - Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:20:52 -0600

Access2Research - Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research:

From John at del-fi:

In my spare time when not working on Portable Legal Consent, I continue to work on Open Access issues.

About ten days ago, I got home from vacation to news that I could go to Washington DC and meet with John Holdren, the Science Advisor to President Obama. He’s a nice guy, and it was a…

From jtotheizzoe: Science, You’ve Done It! We are a mighty...

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:42:50 -0600

From jtotheizzoe:

Science, You’ve Done It!

We are a mighty species. MIT researchers have developed a nanomaterial coating for ketchup bottles (and other hard to pour substances) that solves one of mankind’s most immense problems: How do you get the stuff out of the bottle??

Behold LiquiGlide, and glance into the future of condiments.

No 57’s were tapped in the making of this video.

(via Co.Exist)

So, ever wonder how whales eat sooooo much krill?

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:36:06 -0600

“Researchers have discovered how very large whales co-ordinate their jaw muscles and bones to take gigantic mouthfuls of prey.” The full paper at Nature is here, subscription probably required.

Now you know.

The “Science of Science Communication” conference at...

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:35:00 -0600

The “Science of Science Communication” conference at the National Academy of Sciences. All of the videos are located at http://events.tvworldwide.com/Events/NAS120521.aspx

Live video of the eclipse

Sun, 20 May 2012 08:39:05 -0600

The National Park Service has a solar eclipse webcast from Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, N.M. So, if it is cloudy, you can view the eclipse here.

NASA Science - Solar Eclipse in the USA (May 20, 2012). ...

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:20:57 -0600

NASA Science - Solar Eclipse in the USA (May 20, 2012). I’m going to Texas for this eclipse. Note that because the light bends around the atmosphere of the earth, the true annular eclipse at sunset is actually some miles past the end line in TX. I’ve got a figure in my Sky and Telescope that shows where, but it isn’t online.

Robotic bird lands on a hand. Lead scientist/aerospace...

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:52:48 -0600

Robotic bird lands on a hand. Lead scientist/aerospace engineering Prof. Soon-Jo Chung at the U of Illinois says it is the “first demonstration of autonomous/robotic flight of a bird-like micro aerial vehicle (MAV) perching on a human hand.” Found the story through Guy Kawasaki.

NASA Solar Flare on May 8, 2012. “The active region 1476...

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:51:13 -0600

NASA Solar Flare on May 8, 2012. “The active region 1476 flexed its solar-flare-muscle and produced a beautiful M1.4-class solar flare.” Found this via Phil.

Exoplanet candidates for three M dwarf stars

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:54:37 -0600

From Futurity.org (Exoplanets orbit in star ‘sweet spots’) and (Characterizing the Cool Kepler Objects of Interests. New Effective Temperatures, Metallicities, Masses, and Radii of Low-mass Kepler Planet-candidate Host Stars Subscription needed) from ApJ.

Happy Birthday to the Hubble Telescope

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:28:39 -0600

Yea! You are 22 years old.

Really cool time lapse video of Saturn and Jupiter and some of...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:21:00 -0600

Really cool time lapse video of Saturn and Jupiter and some of their moons. Found via David.

So, how bad could solar storms really get? Do we even...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:23:04 -0600

So, how bad could solar storms really get? Do we even know?

“But when the sun really acts up, spewing out heaps of charged particles in a burst called a coronal mass ejection, space weather can get a bit more menacing—and future storms could be even worse than the ones we’ve experienced.” — Scientific American blog post.

We are still trying to figure out how birds know where they are flying...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:27:17 -0600

“The swallows will still come back to Capistrano, albatrosses will wing their way across vast oceans, and homing pigeons will still arrive at home. But scientists are no longer sure how they do it.” From the Chronicle of Higher Ed.

This three year old kid knows the names of more chemical...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:17:25 -0600

This three year old kid knows the names of more chemical elements than I do. Thanks Boing Boing for the link.

Really cool plasma Tornado on the Sun. This one was from...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:37:45 -0600

Really cool plasma Tornado on the Sun. This one was from February 7-8, 2012. A previous one was recorded by NASA back in September of 2011.

Bunch of middle aged white guys at a US House hearing. IT IS...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:30:48 -0600

Bunch of middle aged white guys at a US House hearing. IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK! “The Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight today held an oversight hearing to examine various models for disseminating federally funded research and their corresponding effects on the scientific process. With the federal government funding 31 percent of research conducted in the country, access to the outcomes of the research is of significant interest to scholarly journals, researchers, and taxpayers who want access to what they have already paid for.”

Such a cute little snake and fly. From Robin Moore Photography.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:55:25 -0600

Such a cute little snake and fly. From Robin Moore Photography.

From christinetheastrophysicist: Star Explosion Photographed...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:29:36 -0600

Before Supernova Explosion

After Supernova Explosion

From christinetheastrophysicist:

Star Explosion Photographed by Amateur Astronomers

The supernova, called SN2012aw, represents the death of a massive star that collapsed in on itself and released a huge blast of radiation into space. It will be visible only for a limited time, so astrophotographers have been diligently gathering pictures while they can.

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