Whoa, another Earth-like planet was discovered, and some NASA scientists say it has probable life! It is 'only' about 500 ly away from us, and its orbit is in the 'habitable' zone, a similar distance as we are away from the sun! Check out the video below for further details.
A question was asked to me the other day - how do super massive black holes come into existence? Well, one way for a black hole to be a billion times bigger than our sun, is to merge black holes, of course! Behold, a simulation of two merging black holes.
Oh my - some research into Einstein's equation has some scientists claiming that there was no big bang and that this universe has always existed. Their math has the universe at a finite size, and thus an infinite age. We will see how much traction this gets, if other scientists jump on board or find some error in their assumptions, or even their math! Read more here at phys.org.
The big four of Jupiter's moons were on display last month. Take a look at this spectacular footage. Make sure you don't mistake the shadows on Jupiter for moons! Read more at one of the more popular space blogs, Bad Astronomy.
With so many questions in class regarding dark matter, I just wanted to post this oldie from popular science that really showcases how hard our scientists are at work trying to find dark matter.
An amazing animated GIF showcasing the powers of our current telescopes shows the pillars in monkey head nebula. It starts with the constellations we see in the night sky, and demonstrates how far back in space/time we're able to see. It's beautiful and really a sight to take in.
Ok - now it's your turn to blog! Find ONE topic and start going in depth. Good luck!
Another year, another post. This year's a little different than most with all of your applications to university due and you're wrapping up your 7/8 of your high school career. Exams are coming up as well as a multitude of final assignments and projects. You're probably experiencing stress as you have never felt before. I respond to you with this:
Colleges in the US and universities in Canada are turning to puppy therapy to help relax their students. Puppies can be found in libraries and study halls throughout the university as a proven stress reliever.
Now that you're a little more relaxed, you're ready to catch up with the latest in science news!
This professor can't get funding for his warp drive research because it's "too far out there". It doesn't stop David Pares though as he's willing to continue his research in his garage after a full day's work of teaching. He's convinced of all that anecdotal evidence of veteran pilots who have traveled through serious electrical storms around the world and in the Bermuda triangle and find themselves 100 miles away from where they should be. It's happened too often to far too many pilots in the past half decade that this man believes there's a correlation between high electrical activity and the ability to bend space. Some physicists actually believe he's on to something. Read more here.
Some person wondered what would each of the planets look like if they were as close as the Moon. Here's an animated GIF that I cannot corroborate on its authenticity but it's fun to look at nonetheless.
A 5,500 year old fossil of an aboriginal woman found in Canada has its DNA analyzed. It was found in BC's northern coast where many members of the indigenous First Nations currently live and apparently have lived for many years according to their history. Their claim of living there has been verified by matching the DNA of that fossil with a living person who is now scientifically the 200x great-grandaughter. That's a lot of generations. Take a look!
Remember those infographics and concept maps I assigned? They're an increasingly important method of visually communicating information and its shown in WIRED's top 2014 science visualizations of the year. Above what we see is a computer animation of a coronal mass ejection from the sun with the Earth in the background. Make sure to look at the rest and make sure to read the captions.
A mathematician has found a better way to get to Mars on less fuel. Instead of aiming at the intended target and using extreme brakes (fuel) to arrive safely, the mathematician has shown a method of slowing down earlier at a proper speed enough to be gently pulled into orbit by the gravitational pull of the target. It will be slower, but it's much cheaper.
Again, I've shown versions of this before, but here's a video version that came out xmas eve with extreme font to annoyingly hammer it home that we live in a very, very, small portion of the universe. Have fun in your last few days of holidays - I know I will, because I'm marking.
A reddit user has posted a spectacular infographic visually explaining how every planet in the solar system would be able to fit between Earth and our own moon. I didn't believe it myself, and was about to go and dig up all diameters of each planet - but, it's already done. Also, Wolfram-Alpha, the google for calculations, can give the total diameter in one query.
1) Trending on reddit: "Cell-like structure found within 1.3 billion-year-old martian meteorite. Exciting news, except for the fact that it was a misleading title. If you read further into the article, the professor leading the team's investigation of the meteorite says: "... our research found that it probably wasn’t a cell but that it did once hold water – water that had been heated, probably as a result of an asteroid impact.” Well, there was water. That's somewhat significant in itself to warrant a link and a picture.
2) Perfect timing for our 'earth processes' unit. Rocks are moving in Death Valley. See more pics here.
3) An innovative new Canadian space company has just started their company. You want a job in space? You need to start preparing for your job as soon as yo ucan. So start following this company.
4) More astronaut selfies while they do work maintaining the ISS. See more on Discovery.
So my friend got a $600 Quadracopter and I sat there one day for hours on end trying to pilot it. Comparing grade 9 math to calculus is like a playing with remote controlled car and trying to attempt this Quadracopter. Even after hours of practice, I couldn't maneuver it consistently within the rooms of the house.
On the other hand, this man took a Quadracopter, attached go pro camera, and went to Iceland to get some serious volcano footage.
There was a point in which he captured the volcano eruption and the Aurora Borealis at the same time. What a beautiful (potential) moment that illustrates both the power and beauty of Earth at the same time. Let me know if you could find it in either the video above or below.
A volcano named Ontake San has suddenly erupted in Japan. Check out this Volcano Cafe for two reasons- 1) it has amalgamated the latest news and we can certainly learn from it and 2) the posting would have scored pretty well on the rubric. Can you spot which parts Volcano Cafe could improve upon?
It's also pleasing to read this quote isn't it?
"The base of the volcano is 17 km2 and the composition is mostly rhyolite but the upper parts also contain pyroxene and andesite. The longest lava flow that had been produced run 17 km."
