Google celebrates Nicolaus Copernicus’s 540th birthday today with a Google Doodle illustrating the heliocentric universe: Unlike the doodle above, the one on their main search page is animated. They’ve also a link to search for Copernicus’s scientific accomplishments and investigations of the natural order.
Science/Nature
Science/Nature
The Dry Ice and Dunes of Mars
by JOHN ADAMS •
Science/Nature, Technology
Another triumph of Elon Musk’s private SpaceX
by JOHN ADAMS •
America’s most extraordinary accomplishments in space lie yet ahead, and private efforts like the ones from SpaceX are among those forthcoming accomplishments. Just one example is SpaceX’s Grasshopper vertical takeoff, vertical landing capability. Step by step, SpaceX has been perfecting VTVL capability for rockets, thereby reducing recovery times, improving recovery safety, and cutting refurbishing costs…
Science/Nature, Technology
NASA uses one spacecraft to photograph another descending toward Mars
by JOHN ADAMS •
Science/Nature
Curiosity Mars Rover Mission: NASA Live Television on UStream
by JOHN ADAMS •
Engadget offers the schedule for NASA’s Mars mission: “NASA TV will be broadcasting the event onUstream, offering commentary from the minds behind the rover, as well as audio from mission control. The Curiosity Cam, which runs from 11:30PM until 2:00AM EST and 3:30AM to 4:30AM EST, will offer commentary from the scientists and engineers behind Curiosity,…
Animals, Science/Nature
Can office dogs reduce stress?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Perhaps they can — According to a preliminary investigation published in March in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business, employees who bring their dog to the office can cap the amount of stress experienced during the day, and improve job satisfaction for all…. Those who…
Science/Nature
Go Curiosity!
by JOHN ADAMS •
NASA’s Administrator, Charles Bolden, has recorded a video for the employees of his agency, encouraging them to share excitement over the Curiosity rover’s upcoming August 2012 landing on Mars. It’s called, ‘Go Curiosity.’ The video announces a press kit available to NASA employees, so that they can talk about the mission with friends and neighbors.…
Science/Nature
NASA Video of the Transit of Venus
by JOHN ADAMS •
Animals, Science/Nature
So, why can’t humans fly like birds?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Animals, Science/Nature, Wisconsin
Winter bald-eagle-watching events held around state
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well worth watching: Each winter, hundreds of bald eagles congregate along areas of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers where they feed on fish in the open water below dams. Wildlife officials say this is the largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states, offering some of the best eagle viewing in the…
Government Spending, Planning, Science/Nature
NASA’s Amazing New Rocket to … Somewhere
by JOHN ADAMS •
One sees that NASA has a proposal for a new, powerful rocket. It’s a design that’s impressive, expensive, and oddly aimless. NASA’s problems are the problem of many government plans – the plan offers a Next Big Thing without a clear goal. NASA once built rockets to send Americans to the moon and back; now…
Science/Nature
NASA’s Better Days, Our Still-Bright Future
by JOHN ADAMS •
More than a generation ago, NASA saw its greatest triumph, on this day in 1969, when Armstrong set foot on the moon. Even now, it’s a moving scene — There’s superficial reason to be concerned about America’s future in space exploration — these are bleak days for NASA’s human space flight program (now more shell…
Science/Nature
Daily Mail: How men and women really do look at things in a different light
by JOHN ADAMS •
The old advertising adage that ‘sex sells’ may be recognised worldwide, but new research has revealed exactly how men and women are drawn into looking at a sexy ad: A study of where men and women look on a ‘sexy’ advertisement gave a fascinating insight – with men found to be first interested in the…
Science/Nature
Ars Technica: Where’s Tyche, the 10th 9th planet? Getting the full story
by JOHN ADAMS •
The very solid science and technology website has Ars Technica reports on speculation about another planet far from the sun, in the Oort cloud. They consider the speculation, and the quality of information behind the frenzy: On February 14th, the UK’s Daily Mail reported the possible discovery of a planet four times bigger than Jupiter…