Archive for September, 2010
Hubble Spots Ghostly Space Spiral
• September, 2010When I first saw this ghostly Hubble Space Telescope image, I assumed that faint blurry spiral was a lens flare or some other photographic anomaly. But on closer inspection, the details started to present themselves. As imaged by the space telescope’s sensitive Advanced Camera for Surveys, this striking pattern is formed by material being ejected from a dying star. But this isn’t a lone star; there’s a second star — a binary partner — orbiting with it and modulating the expanding gas. SLIDE SHOW: Top…
US military’s top secret X-37B shuttle ‘disappears’
• September, 2010US military’s top secret X-37B shuttle ‘disappears’ for two weeks and changes orbit. AMATEUR astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B. The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use. Built by Boeing’s Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA. It was later turned over to the Pentagon‘s research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.
Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy – BBC Horizon
• September, 2010Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy? <<Editors notE>> A BBC Horizon documentary film that compares effects of various drugs. They take twenty of UK’s most dangerous drugs and put them in a nice list going from “not so bad” to “worst drug u can find”. The list they have come up with looks like this: 20 Cathinone (Khat) 19 Amyl nitrite (Poppers) 18 MDMA/ Ecstasy 17 GHB 16 Anabolic steroid 15 Methylphenidate (e.g. Ritalin) 14 LSD/ Acid 13 4-MTA 12 Solvents 11 THC (Cannabis) 10 Buprenophine…
Clouds Can Communicate, Scientists Say
• September, 2010Clouds Can Communicate Little, fluffy and talkative? Clouds can communicate, a new paper suggests — but what are they talking about? A new study has found that clouds “communicate” with each other, much like chirping crickets or flashing fireflies on a summer night. The surprising findings, published online in the journal Nature, may have significant implications for our understanding of the Earth’s climate. So the next time you find yourself laying on your back picking out shapes among the clouds, mull on this one: Are…