Composers Alex Parker and Melissa Graham gave each supernova a note to play, the volume of the note determined by the distance to the supernova. Fainter, more distant supernovae play quieter notes. Each note's pitch was based on a stretch factor measured by how fast the supernova brightens and fades over time relative to an adopted standard time history. Higher stretch factors play higher notes in pitches drawn from the above illustrated Phrygian dominant scale. Of course, each supernova note is played on an instrument. Supernovae in massive galaxies were assigned to a stand-up bass, while supernovae in less massive galaxies played their note on a grand piano.
I've seen (heard of?) some "really out there" projects before, but this is clearly among the top entries.
In 1969, a group of astronauts change the world. They ride the biggest rocket ever built to the Moon. It's the culmination of 10 years of space pioneering, and the foundation of four decades of exploring worlds beyond our own. Join us for the ongoing story of our greatest adventure.
The Discovery That Changed The Universe Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the course of modern astronomy. And, at least one famous astronomer of the time lamented that the discovery had shattered his world view.
The star goes by the inauspicious name of Hubble variable number one, or V1, and resides in the outer regions of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, or M31. But in the early 1900s, most astronomers considered the Milky Way a single "island universe" of stars, with nothing observable beyond its boundaries. Andromeda was cataloged as just one of many faint, fuzzy patches of light astronomers called "spiral nebulae."
Were these spiral nebulae part of the Milky Way or were they independent island universes lying outside our galaxy? Astronomers didn't know for sure, until Edwin Hubble found a star in Andromeda that brightened and faded in a predictable pattern, like a lighthouse beacon, and identified it as V1, a Cepheid variable. This special type of star had already been proven to be a reliable distance marker within our galaxy.
The star helped Hubble show that Andromeda was beyond our galaxy and settled the debate over the status of the spiral nebulae. The universe became a much bigger place after Hubble's discovery, much to the dismay of astronomer Harlow Shapley, who believed the fuzzy nebulae were part of our Milky Way.
"V1 is the most important star in the history of cosmology," says astronomer Dave Soderblom of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
The title El Cielo de Canarias translates as "The Canary Sky." The above video was shot solely from the Teide National Park on Tenerife in the Canary Islands of Spain, as was "The Mountain." Be sure to watch in full screen mode.
Did you notice the green refracted image just before sunset? Although not quite the fabled "green flash", the atmospheric effect is the same for both.
There is also an excellent example of atmospheric standing waves illustrated by cloud motions off of a conically shaped mountain peak, and a strange plant that I can't identify. As an aside, the old mail pilots that flew over the Rocky Mountains used to report an "interesting" (if not near fatal) ride through such standing waves when they weren't visible (and avoidable) due to lack of atmospheric moisture.
The images of the night sky are quite good, perhaps almost as good as "The Mountain." Which video did you enjoy more?
Concentrate on the center dot. As the video progresses, the peripheral dots obviously change color. Once that circle of dots is set into circular motion, the color changes seem to totally disappear.
The spinning motion somehow suppresses the viewer's ability to detect the changes.
I've got to admit, I've seen a lot illusions but this one is really surprising. More illusions can be found here, and don't forget the original Cage Match Illusion Series.
In 1969, a group of astronauts change the world. They ride the biggest rocket ever built to the Moon. It's the culmination of 10 years of space pioneering, and the foundation of four decades of exploring worlds beyond our own. Join us for the ongoing story of our greatest adventure.
NASA's Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission has confirmed two key predictions derived from Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which the spacecraft was designed to test.
The experiment, launched in 2004, used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the hypothesized geodetic effect, the warping of space and time around a gravitational body, and frame-dragging, the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates.
"Imagine the Earth as if it were immersed in honey. As the planet rotates, the honey around it would swirl, and it's the same with space and time," said Francis Everitt, GP-B principal investigator at Stanford University. "GP-B confirmed two of the most profound predictions of Einstein's universe, having far-reaching implications across astrophysics research. Likewise, the decades of technological innovation behind the mission will have a lasting legacy on Earth and in space."
Innovations enabled by GP-B have been used in GPS technologies that allow airplanes to land unaided. Additional GP-B technologies were applied to NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer mission, which accurately determined the universe's background radiation. That measurement is the underpinning of the big-bang theory, and led to the Nobel Prize for NASA physicist John Mather.
The drag-free satellite concept pioneered by GP-B made a number of Earth-observing satellites possible, including NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and the European Space Agency's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer. These satellites provide the most precise measurements of the shape of the Earth, critical for precise navigation on land and sea, and understanding the relationship between ocean circulation and climate patterns.
Just as a spinning electric charge will create a magnetic field, Einstein's General Theory of Releativity predicts that a spinning mass will create a very slight effect that acts something like magnetism. This effect is expected to be so small that it is beyond practical experience and ground laboratory measurement.
Fifty years to the moment Alan Shepard rocketed away, more than 100 Project Mercury workers joined former astronauts and NASA leaders at the original Redstone launch pad Thursday to celebrate the event that opened space travel to Americans.
The Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin beat him into space by just 23 days. Then, as now, those who helped launch Shepard took solace in the fact that "it was the first one for the free world."
A compilation of TV footage from that day — the launch itself and the huge crowds on the beaches — played on a giant screen near the stage. In the background, a replica of the Mercury Redstone rocket stood on the actual launch pad.
Former shuttle astronauts winced as Shepard reported the building G's — nine times the force of gravity and more — during the initial descent.Some of the Project Mercury team had to support themselves with canes and walkers. But they stood proudly when asked to rise and be recognized by the hundreds of others gathered there at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
All three of Shepard's daughters sat in the front row, surrounded by about 20 family members, including two of the astronaut's great-grandchildren.
Shepard later became the fifth man to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 14. It was barely three weeks after his Mercury shot that President John F. Kennedy announced America would launch a man to the moon and safely return him by decade's end.
That was a memorable day for this editor. I remember well the months following, when America seemed full of spirit, anticipation and opportunity. The future was so bright I had to wear shades.
Just a few years later came 1968, a tragic year in our history. Racial riots in the major cities, protests and shootings at universities, thousands of American deaths overseas in a hell called Vietnam all led to feelings of discouragement and anger.
Then in December 1968 Apollo 8 orbited the Moon on Christmas Eve. “You saved 1968”…That was the short telegram message sent by an anonymous well wisher to Frank Borman upon his return to Houston after his space capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968. Do you remember that day?
Since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, it seems that most of the memorable days involve tragedy rather than human achievement. Children starting high school don't remember a time when America wasn't at war. You'd have to be on the Moon in 2001 to not remember 9/11.
Another memorable day -- even the death of bin Laden involves war rather than accomplishment, not to mention angering Middle East governments and many Muslims. Will there be another 9/11 coming in retaliation?
For every $1 the federal government spends on NASA, it spends $98 on social programs. In other words, if we cut spending on social programs by a mere one percent, we could very nearly double NASA’s budget. Much of that budget now serves the military. Where do you think we get most of our satellite and weapons technology? The military? Nah, they just buy stuff.
We can't even launch our own astronauts to our space station. Doubling NASA's budget seems like a good idea to me. Perhaps then we could have memorable days actually worth remembering.
President Obama announced the stunning development during an address to the nation late Sunday night from the White House. “Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda.”
Osama bin Laden -- the longtime leader of al Qaeda -- was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
U.S. officials have taken custody of bin Laden's body, Obama said. No Americans were harmed in the operation, he added.
Hundreds of people arrived at the White House late Sunday night and chanted, "USA! USA!" They then chanted, "Hey, hey, goodbye!" in reference to the demise of bin Laden and then spontaneously sang the national anthem.
"This welcome news is a credit to our intelligence efforts and brings to justice the architect of the attacks on our country that killed nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, in a statement issued Sunday night.
Do you remember where you were September 11, 2001? May 1, 2011 is another day we'll not likely forget.
It remains to be seen what effects this will have on relations with Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries.
Researchers say they currently have no answers as to how Collins could be so f*cking inept.
BALTIMORE—Neurologists at Johns Hopkins University confirmed Monday they remain completely baffled by Rockville, MD resident Erik Collins, a man who possesses an extraordinary and previously undocumented ability to f*ck everything up.
According to Dr. William Moore, head of a research team studying exactly how Collins manages to drop the goddamn ball every single time, the 32-year-old sales associate represents a major conundrum for modern science.
In their attempt to study the brain mechanisms required to perform such simple tasks with so little competence, researchers were unable to use standard neuroimaging techniques, as Collins inadvertently destroyed the lab's $250,000 MRI machine by using a handheld video-game device during a routine cortical diagnostic.
"Our theory is that Erik approaches f*cking up unconsciously, his mind automatically creating a fractal model of screwing the pooch that is not unlike the infinite images contained within facing mirrors," Moore said.
Collins reportedly first came to the scientific community's attention late last year when, in a simple attempt to download pornography from the Internet, he somehow managed to crash a highly secure server in Fermilab's particle physics department.
Where this one man's massive clusterf*cks originate is still a mystery, but scientists have hypothesized that each individual f*ckup may compound itself exponentially, expanding in every conceivable direction until a given situation is no longer salvageable.
Moore admitted that it might be years before neurologists unravel the full workings of Collins' brain, due in large part to delays caused by their subject's inability to arrive at the facility without getting lost several times and having to repeatedly call for directions.
Probability dictates that even the biggest f*ckups should occasionally get things right, if only by accident. But not Erik.
This video, shot from the tallest mountain in Spain, features time lapse frames of the weather, the landscape and the sky. The shots of the night sky and the Milky Way are very difficult to film due to the long exposure times and optics required. Easily visible near the upper galactic center are star clusters and clouds of red and blue glowing gases, the Lagoon, Eagle and Trifid nebulae.
Pausing the video on individual frames reveals wide angle detail in the center of our galaxy. Be sure to change to full screen.
Other videos by this artist can be found here. "The Aurora" video is also superb.
To see a full panoramic vista, click the image, zoom (if cursor shows a magnifying glass) and start scrolling right.
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008), was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest.
Mt. Everest stands 8.85 kilometers above sea level, roughly the maximum height reached by international airplane flights. It lies in the Himalaya mountains in the country of Nepal. In the native language of Nepal, the mountain's name is "Sagarmatha" which means "forehead of the sky."
In 1969, a group of astronauts change the world. They ride the biggest rocket ever built to the Moon. It's the culmination of 10 years of space pioneering, and the foundation of four decades of exploring worlds beyond our own. Join us for the ongoing story of our greatest adventure.
This Day In Space April 12, 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to orbit Earth
On April 12th, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. His remotely controlled Vostok 1 spacecraft lofted him to an altitude of 200 miles and carried him once around planet Earth. Commenting on the first view from space he reported, "The sky is very dark; the Earth is bluish. Everything is seen very clearly".
His view could have resembled this image taken in 2003 from the International Space Station. Alan Shepard, the first US astronaut, would not be launched until almost a month later and then on a comparatively short suborbital flight.
Born on March 9, 1934, Gagarin was a military pilot before being chosen for the first group of cosmonauts in 1960. As a result of his historic flight he became an international hero and legend. Killed when his MIG jet crashed during a training flight in 1968, Gagarin was given a hero's funeral, his ashes interred in the Kremlin Wall.
Twenty years later, on yet another April 12th, in 1981, NASA launched the first space shuttle.
As you may recall, in December The Lookout reported on the Naga Viper and its initiation as the chili pepper with the most heat. But now there's a hotter ticket in town: the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.
Yes, the Butch T. outdistances the Naga Viper (Ghost pepper), barely, on the Scoville scale -- which rates spice power by tracking the presence of a chemical compound in chilis. The Australian Butch T. weighs in at 1.46 million heat units on the scale, while the British Naga Viper tops out at 1.38 million. For comparison, the average jalapeno pepper falls around 5,000, the habanero around 350,000 up to 500,000.
"They're just severe, absolutely severe," Marcel de Wit, co-owner of the chili farm that produced the pepper, told Australian Geographic. "No wonder they start making crowd-control grenades now with chillies. It's just wicked." He added that the pepper is so potent, he and his his team have to wear protective gloves when handling the Butch T., lest their hands are left "pumping heat for two days later." Making salsa with the Butch T., he explained, involves wearing chemical masks and body suits to defend against fumes given off in the cooking heat.
Show Posts
