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The Moon affects rainfall here on Earth…and we have no idea why [Mad Science]
Even the most ridiculous and obviously false bits of folklore can turn out to have a kernel of truth. It turns out the Moon really can affect how much rain the Earth gets. The reason why is still a mystery.There’s an old wives’ tale that says rain foll… Continue reading
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Tagged folklore, mad science, Moon, rainfall, science, space, syndicated
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Spacecraft Finishes Mapping Cosmic Microwave Background
After nine years of plotting the oldest light in the universe, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe has shut down. The satellite, which single-handedly helped establish the standard model of cosmology, took its last look at the cosmos Aug. 20, and… Continue reading
1,200 NASA Layoffs, Shuttle Fuel Tank Plant Shuts Down
As the space shuttle program winds down, 1,200 NASA workers were laid off today, and thousands more will lose their jobs in the months ahead. “Many shuttle workers held out hope that they could find new jobs in the Constellation program, which would ha… Continue reading
Astronomers have discovered a habitable planet 20 light years away [Space Colonization]
Orbiting a nearby red dwarf star called Gliese 581 are 6 planets. One of them is a rocky ball, bigger than Earth, in the “habitable zone” where water is liquid and temperatures are human-friendly. It’s possible we could live there.
Unlike Earth, this … Continue reading
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Tagged astrophysics, discoveries, Earth 2, Gliese 581g, science, space, space Colonization, space porn, syndicated, Top
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Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes [Mad Science]
Black holes might be infinitely weirder than simply ultra-dense masses from which even light can’t escape – they might actually be the end result of the collapse of five-dimensional objects known as black strings. Yeah…this one’s going to get weird.W… Continue reading
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Tagged Astronomy, Black Hole, Black string, mad science, Physics, science, space, syndicated, Top
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Astronauts’ fingernails fall off
You know how you always wanted to be an astronaut, because you really wanted to have an EVA jaunt in the great empty of space? Well, good luck with that: it’ll make your fingernails fall off. Some astronauts actually pull their own fingernails off befo… Continue reading
The clearest photo of a sunspot we’ve seen thus far [Space Porn]
This is the clearest, most detailed image of a sunspot ever taken in visible light. These ultra-magnetic structures are thought to be crucial to potentially Earth-threatening space weather, and it’s photos like these that will help us better understand… Continue reading
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Tagged Astronomy, science, space, space porn, sun, sunspots, syndicated
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The Sun is changing the rate of radioactive decay, and breaking the rules of chemistry [Mad Science]
The Sun is changing the supposedly constant rates of decay of radioactive elements, and we have absolutely no idea why. But an entirely unknown particle could be behind it. Plus, this discovery could help us predict deadly solar flares.It’s one of the … Continue reading
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Tagged Astronomy, Chemistry, Fb, mad science, Physics, Radioactive decay, science, Solar flares, space, syndicated, tweet
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Space Food Turns Gross Within a Year
CHICAGO — Most people find the palatability of in-flight entrees an oxymoron. But even frequent fliers seldom encounter more than a few such meals per week. Astronauts, in contrast, may have to survive months in orbit dining on a really limited menu… Continue reading
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Tagged food, Institute of Food Technology, International Space Station, Mars, Michele Perchonok, NASA, ScienceNews.org, space, Space Food, space shuttle, syndicated
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Our Eavesdropping-on-ET Strategy Not Likely to Work
Bad news for SETI: Even with the most sensitive radio telescopes yet designed, humans probably won’t find intelligent aliens by listening in on their phones and televisions, a new study finds.
“Eavesdropping on ET is very hard, even with the lates… Continue reading
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Tagged Abraham Loeb, Allen Telescope Array, Duncan Forgan, SETI, SKA, space, syndicated, University of Edinburgh
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Breathtaking SLR photos show life aboard the ISS [Life In Space]
Yes, that’s an apple floating in zero gravity. This is just one of a bunch of arresting images that just went online. Nikon sent a high-res SLR camera aboard the International Space Station with NASA’s astronauts. More pics below.
I love all of the pho… Continue reading
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Tagged astronauts, Cameras, Life in space, Nikon, Photos, Soichi Noguchi, space, syndicated
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Sun's Dark Companion 'Nemesis' Not So Likely
TravisTR passes along a story about the death of Nemesis. “The data that once suggested the Sun is orbited by a distant dark companion now raises even more questions… The periodicity [of mass extinctions] is a matter of some controversy among paleobi… Continue reading
Dark Matter May Be Building Up Inside the Sun
The sun could be a net for dark matter, a new study suggests. If dark matter happens to take a certain specific form, it could build up in our nearest star and alter how heat moves inside it in a way that would be observable from Earth.
Dark matter is… Continue reading
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Tagged dark matter, helioseismology, Physics, space, Subir Sarkar, sun, syndicated, University of Oxford
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Planck’s first image of space, past and present
The European Space Agency today released the first image of space obtained by the Planck mission. Shown above, the image includes emissions from dust in our own galaxy and faint ripples of the cosmic microwave background that is light left beh… Continue reading
Incredible New Microwave Map of the Entire Sky
The Planck satellite released its first microwave radiation map of the entire sky. The image is made from 10 months of data and will be followed by three more all-sky surveys by the end of the European Space Agency’s mission in 2012.
Astronomers wil… Continue reading
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Tagged Big Bang, cosmic background radiation, ESA, mindblowingspacephotos, Planck, space, syndicated
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Monument created for Laika the space dog
A nice memorial for the first dog in space. Stories about how she was selected varied: Some said Laika was chosen for her good looks — a Soviet space pioneer had to be photogenic. Others indicated the top choice for … Continue reading