• How Big Are Sunspots?

    Updated: 2012-05-18 04:43:35
    The short answer? Really big. The long answer? Really, really big. (...)Read the rest of How Big Are Sunspots? (258 words) © Jason Major for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: active region, CME, Earth, Jupiter, SDO, size, solar, solar max, sun, sunspots Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

  • SpaceX says All Systems GO for Historic May 19 Blast Off to ISS

    Updated: 2012-05-18 02:28:51
    In less than 48 hours, SpaceX is primed to make history and launch the first ever commercial rocket and spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) early Saturday morning on May 19. Following today’s Launch Readiness Review (LRR), SpaceX was just given the official “GO” from NASA to proceed with the blastoff of the Falcon [...]

  • Ring of Fire! Annular Solar Eclipse on May 20

    Updated: 2012-05-18 00:00:22
    There’s a great reason to look up this weekend and hope for clear skies! On May 20-21 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from a 300 kilometer-wide track that crosses eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the western United States. An annular eclipse means the Moon will not cover the Sun [...]

  • Monster Sunspot's Flare Strong Enough to Confuse Satellites

    Updated: 2012-05-17 23:24:00
    The flare triggered a radiation storm intense enough to also cause radio blackouts.

  • JPL Wants To FINESSE Info From Exoplanets

    Updated: 2012-05-17 23:14:18
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s proposed FINESSE space telescope may not hunt for exoplanets, but it will find out what they’re made of. (...)Read the rest of JPL Wants To FINESSE Info From Exoplanets (236 words) © Jason Major for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Post tags: exoplanets, FINESSE, JPL, planets, space telescope, [...]

  • As promised: Jupiter and moons seen by SOHO

    Updated: 2012-05-17 20:56:45
    : Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Ring of fire eclipse on May 20 As promised : Jupiter and moons seen by SOHO A little while back , I wrote about Jupiter appearing in an image from NASA’s SOHO Sun-observing satellite . I promised that it would soon appear in a SOHO camera that had higher magnification , and we’d be able to see its moons . I am not one to break : promises Awesome . It helps to set the resolution to 720p to see the moons when they’re pointed . out And just you wait : in early June , Venus will appear in the LASCO C3 and C2 cameras , on its way for a date transiting the Sun for the last time in

  • Deep in the ocean floor scientists find life buried for millions of years

    Updated: 2012-05-17 20:38:47
    There’s a truly fascinating research paper in the journal Science just out today. Scientists have drilled into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, generally along the equator and into the North Pacific Gyre, to bring back samples of the clay there. They brought brought cores of sediment up to 90-feet deep into the seafloor. And [...]

  • Lots of Ink: Crippled by stroke, man and woman use brain waves to drink with robot arm

    Updated: 2012-05-17 20:14:38
    : , Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Yale e360 : How come Manta rays are shunning the plantation Bonus : other news from non-profit publishers Lots of Ink : Crippled by stroke , man and woman use brain waves to drink with robot arm A report in Nature today that two stroke victims , paralyzed for years , have learned to use their thoughts to control a robot arm and to help them drink a beverage kicked up a storm of news coverage . Never mind that the system is nowhere near ready for practical use an implanted brain probe prone to deterioration an the arm is not only not attached to the person but is slow , clumsy , and doubtlessly far too expensive to qualify for any medical plan’s coverage . Plus , the implanted chip is prone to deterioration with

  • Yale e360: How come Manta rays are shunning the plantation? (Bonus: other news from non-profit publishers)

    Updated: 2012-05-17 19:26:06
    : : Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Does Sugar Make Journalists Stupid Not as Much as You Might . Think Lots of Ink : Crippled by stroke , man and woman use brain waves to drink with robot arm Yale e360 : How come Manta rays are shunning the plantation Bonus : other news from non-profit publishers Here’s another reason to be grateful that a few non-profit sites have stepped into the breach left by collapsing news holes in big newspapers for science feature stories that are , at heart , deeply-written breaking news stories pinned to a single event . Which is to say news , but not necessarily sweeping stories of the sort that fancy magazines would publish as . features Yale environment 360 Carl Zimmer The Vital Chain : Connecting the Ecosystems of

  • How Do The Biggest Telescopes Work?

    Updated: 2012-05-17 17:56:12
    Located high in the mountains of Chile’s Atacama Desert, the enormous telescopes of the European Southern Observatory have been providing astronomers with unprecedented views of the night sky for 50 years. ESO’s suite of telescopes take advantage of the cold, clear air over the Atacama, which is one of the driest places on Earth. But [...]

  • Ring of fire eclipse on May 20

    Updated: 2012-05-17 17:49:13
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS I was into astronomy when it was still astrology As promised : Jupiter and moons seen by SOHO Ring of fire eclipse on May 20 On Sunday , May 20, the Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun , creating a solar . eclipse However , this isn’t your usual event : because the Moon will be at apogee the farthest point in its orbit it won’t completely cover the face of the Sun . Instead of the Sun being totally blocked and the ethereal glow of its corona visible we’ll see an annular eclipse also called a Ring of Fire eclipse . The picture here from the October 2005 annular eclipse

  • Stunning Timelapse of Planet Earth from Elektro-L

    Updated: 2012-05-17 16:49:58
    We’ve shared the images and a previous timelapse of Earth’s northern hemisphere, but now here’s a breath-taking timelapse of the entire blue (and green!) marble as seen from Russia’s Elektro-L weather-forecasting satellite, orbiting at a geostationary height of about 36,000 km (22,300 miles). This new video was created by James Drake using some of the [...]

  • University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Predicts Bright Future for Space Solar Power

    Updated: 2012-05-17 15:35:21
    Solar power gathered in space could be set to provide the renewable energy of the future thanks to innovative research being carried out by engineers at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. The project is part of a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) study led by John Mankins of Artemis Innovation. The University [...]

  • I was into astronomy when it was still astrology

    Updated: 2012-05-17 14:00:06
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Science Getaways : T- 4 months Ring of fire eclipse on May 20 I was into astronomy when it was still astrology One of the things I love about the internet , and specifically Twitter , is how an offhand comment turns into awesome . And it happens within . seconds For some reason , a super-hi-res picture of the Earth is making the rounds right now . It’s a gorgeous pic , and lots of people are sending me the link via email and Twitter . The thing is , I wrote about this picture back in April on Earth Day . But such is the nature of the interwebz that stuff pops back up . I

  • Linkpost | 5.17.12

    Updated: 2012-05-17 12:19:19
    Morning everyone. Couple more days to the weekend, so let’s start working toward it… Is a steak or veggie burger better for the planet?: A fun read on the not entirely straightforward environmental implications of the food we eat. Hint: if you’re going to eat beef, eat grass-fed beef. (Mother Jones) Remarkable rainbow cloud towers [...]

  • CSExtra – Thursday, May 17, 2012

    Updated: 2012-05-17 12:09:07
    To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here. If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@spacecoalition.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. New U.S. and Russian astronauts dock with the International Space [...]

  • Soyuz Spacecraft Delivers U.S., Russian Astronauts to International Space Station

    Updated: 2012-05-17 06:35:41
        A Russian Soyuz spacecraft reached the International Space Station early Thursday, safely delivering a pair of cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut to the orbiting science laboratory. New arrivals Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin and Joseph Acaba were greeted by Expedition 31 commander Oleg Kononeko, NASA’s Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers, of the European Space [...]

  • Science Getaways: T- 4 months

    Updated: 2012-05-16 20:34:03
    : Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Prairie Light : Alberta Aurora I was into astronomy when it was still astrology Science Getaways : T- 4 months Science Getaways is a company my wife and I started so that science enthusiasts and you better face it , since you’re reading this , that’s you can go on a vacation that has extra science added . For me , science isn’t a career or a hobby it’s a lifestyle . I can’t get enough , even on vacation , so we figured why not put together vacation deals that have bonus value-added science The first Getaway is September 16 20 of this year , and it’ll be at the C Lazy U ranch

  • Copy-cat ink: Never mind the press release. That’s no dinosaur with an arthritic jaw. suggest it’s a dino.

    Updated: 2012-05-16 20:23:13
    : . . . Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Chicago Sun-Times : Puff piece endorsement for bogus autism and vaccine link ie Jenny McCarthy lights up . comments Copy-cat ink : Never mind the press release . That’s no dinosaur with an arthritic jaw . suggest it’s a . dino Seen one humongous Mesozoic reptile fossil , seen em all , eh dinosaur fan A few reporters and editors fell into a trap inadvertently laid by a Bristol University press release see Grist below with a headline that says Ancient sea reptile with gammy jaw suggests dinosaurs got arthritis too . 8221 You all out there who remember school science classes on the vanished age of reptiles , or who have covered these things or just paid attention , know that not all gigantic creatures of

  • Mars Rover Opportunity is on the Move

    Updated: 2012-05-16 19:40:29
    After surviving its fifth Martian winter, NASA's tenacious rover is off to a rolling start.

  • (UPDATED*) Chicago Sun-Times: Puff piece endorsement for bogus autism and vaccine link (ie Jenny McCarthy) lights up comments.

    Updated: 2012-05-16 18:40:46
    : . Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment TWiM 32 : A microbiology chat with Monolakian arsenic buster Rosie on scientific error , sci journos , and a submission to Science Copy-cat ink : Never mind the press release . That’s no dinosaur with an arthritic jaw . suggest it’s a . dino UPDATED Chicago Sun-Times : Puff piece endorsement for bogus autism and vaccine link ie Jenny McCarthy lights up . comments Oh sigh . Oh my . If you like to raise your blood pressure take a look at the Chicago Sun Times s Sunday Q A by Alisa M . Alexander with actress Jenny McCarthy the latter of note for vociferously pushing the idea that childhood vaccines cause autism and , more recently , that detoxification , new diet , and other non-standard treatments will make it

  • Superflares Found on Sun-like Stars

    Updated: 2012-05-16 18:09:00
    There is no explanation for how flares more than 1 million times more powerful than solar flares are occurring.

  • Prairie Light: Alberta Aurora

    Updated: 2012-05-16 17:57:18
    : Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS The long reach of the Centaur’s dark heart Science Getaways : T- 4 months Prairie Light : Alberta Aurora Every now and again my work piles up and I can feel that edge of panic start to set in . Then I saw a video and my brain let out a nice long sigh brains are remarkable that way Alberta Aurora Prairie Light a lovely time lapse that has better-than-usual resolution and color , taken as the April 23 24 solar storm swept over the Earth What you see in an aurora depends in part on the angle of the Earth’s magnetic field relative to the air the geomagnetic field guides particles

  • TWiM 32: A microbiology chat with Monolakian arsenic buster Rosie on scientific error, sci journos, and a submission to Science

    Updated: 2012-05-16 17:18:19
    : , , Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Absolute vs . relative risk : Must we go over this again Chicago Sun-Times : Puff piece endorsement for bogus autism and vaccine link ie Jenny McCarthy lights up . comments TWiM 32 : A microbiology chat with Monolakian arsenic buster Rosie on scientific error , sci journos , and a submission to Science Take a listen to four very savvy and plain-talking biologists chatting on their business at an inside-the-academy site called This Week in Microbiology and more specifically at episode TWiM 32. There host and Columbia U . faculty member Vincent Racaniello and two colleagues talk of arsenic and Mono Lake with a famed myth-buster , zoology associate prof and microbiology lab boss Rosie Redfield of the University of

  • It’s Family Space Day at the George on Saturday: Take your family to the Moon!

    Updated: 2012-05-16 16:59:59
    Want to go to space? We can take you. Say hello to the Challenger Learning Center and Family Space Day. The Challenger Learning Center opened at HMNS in 1988 after the tragic last flight of the space shuttle Challenger. A living, teaching memorial to the crew, the Challenger Center continues to teach children about space [...]

  • Mars Rover: Back On the Prowl for More Science

    Updated: 2012-05-16 15:51:02
    NASA’s Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover is on a roll. The robot had spent some 19 weeks parked in one spot to survive the Martian winter. Due to the setting sun, Opportunity’s solar power was too low for driving. The winter worksite was on the north slope of an outcrop called Greeley Haven. Opportunity has used [...]

  • Absolute vs. relative risk: Must we go over this again?

    Updated: 2012-05-16 14:27:51
    . : Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment AP : Off goes Soyuz as old space age creaks . Meanwhile SpaceX is ready to go maybe even to Bigelow’s space . stations TWiM 32 : A microbiology chat with Monolakian arsenic buster Rosie on scientific error , sci journos , and a submission to Science Absolute vs . relative risk : Must we go over this again OK , it’s late , I just cleaned up the kitchen , and I turned to  The New York Times for a little relaxation reading . And it wasn’t . relaxing Turning to Science Times , I saw this : Nicholas Bakalar  is reporting on a study that found a 28 percent greater risk for birth defects in babies conceived with fertility treatment . 8221 Why wasn’t this on page one , you ask , for the benefit of Times readers who are

  • CSExtra – Wednesday, May 16, 2012

    Updated: 2012-05-16 12:05:36
    To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here. If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@spacecoalition.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Wednesday’s CSExtra offers a collection of the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities. China looks to June for the launching of the country’s fourth [...]

  • Update: State of the Blog feedback

    Updated: 2012-05-16 01:47:19
    On Saturday I posted a “State of the Blog” entry in which I raised three issues for discussion. First of all let me say I was blown away by the response, nearly 100 comments, and many of them on a Saturday when readership levels are generally lower. A lot of you really care about this [...]

  • Linkpost | 5.16.12

    Updated: 2012-05-16 01:24:27
    Ring of fire: Aurora from space: Need to be inspired? This picture of an aurora from space, like I’ve never seen it before, will fill the bill. (Marcus Chown) Did dogs help our ancestors outcompete the Neanderthals: Fascinating. Dogs would help humans to identify their prey; but they would also work, the theory goes, as [...]

  • Space Ambassadors Update Announcement

    Updated: 2012-05-15 21:31:35
    This advisory announcement is to update everyone that the selection and assignments of the top 10 ambassadors from the Space Ambassadors Program will not be announced at the National Space Society’s 2012 International Space Development Conference.  The selection announcement is being deferred to a future ISDC. We hope at that time to have additional opportunities [...]

  • The GFS model develops a Caribbean storm next week. Should we take it seriously?

    Updated: 2012-05-15 21:09:21
    The Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t begin until June 1, but that doesn’t mean storms can’t form before then. And if you’re a weather nerd chances are you may have seen the GFS model predicting some development in the Caribbean Sea next week. Here’s a screen grab from earlier today showing the GFS developing a tropical [...]

  • AP: Off goes Soyuz as old space age creaks. Meanwhile – SpaceX is ready to go … maybe even to Bigelow’s space stations.

    Updated: 2012-05-15 19:34:18
    : . . Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Investigadores espabilad : Fin del café para todos en la ciencia española . Opiniones de Barbacid , Massagué y Bermúdez de . Castro Absolute vs . relative risk : Do we really have to go over this again AP : Off goes Soyuz as old space age creaks . Meanwhile SpaceX is ready to go maybe even to Bigelow’s space . stations Look at those pictures . It might as well be Yuri Gagarin heading into the history books aboard Vostok One 51 years ago . Actually , one is . The other is the latest iteration of Soyuz crew-exchange missions on its way to the Int’l Space Station from the same Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan . Can you figure out  which one was shot this morning and the other April 12, 1961 or cheat at bottom

  • Might NASA be Forced to Kill the Commercial Space Race?

    Updated: 2012-05-15 19:29:57
    Commercial space competition may be over before it's even really begun.

  • Book Review: Space Chronicles – Facing the Ultimate Frontier

    Updated: 2012-05-15 18:19:31
    Space Chronicles – Facing the Ultimate Frontier by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Edited by Avis Lang); W.W. Norton & Co., New York; $26.95 (hardcover); 2012. This delightful read comes courtesy of a thoughtful, charismatic astrophysicist and renowned popular speaker – an alien blend that’s refreshing, entertaining and stimulating. Tyson has written a spirited why, how, and [...]

  • Help find Hubble’s Hidden Treasures

    Updated: 2012-05-15 16:00:57
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS If the Mayans were right , it was probably about Internet comments Big Picture Science : Antivaxxers and updates Help find Hubble’s Hidden Treasures I worked with Hubble Space Telescope data for about ten years , and one of the most amazing things about that was seeing the images fresh off the mirror . Knowing that no human on Earth had ever seen that particular object that sharply was a thrill . Not every Hubble observation gets turned into a gorgeous image , though . A lot of them don’t need to be for scientific publications , for one thing , and for another not every

  • ESA’s Asteroid Hunt Boosted by Amateur Astronomers

    Updated: 2012-05-15 14:38:19
    Home Blog Advertise The Sky This Month The Moon This Month Astronomy News Astrobiology Magazine News Astronomy Picture of the Day BBC Science News CNN Space News Earth Observatory News Eurekalert Astronomy Space News European Southern Observatory News European Space Agency News Gemini Observatory News Hubble Space Telescope News JPL News Kepler Telescope News Lunar and Planetary Institute News MSNBC Space News NASA Breaking News NASA PlanetQuest News NASA TV National Geographic News PBS Nova News Science at NASA News Scientific American News Space Shuttle News Space Today News STEREO Solar Mission News The Astronomer’s Telegram News The Space Show Wired Science News Astronomy Podcasts 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast Astronomy Cast Podcast Astronomy Magazine Podcast Earth Sky Podcast

  • Making plans to watch that partial eclipse Sunday night? (You should.)

    Updated: 2012-05-15 12:59:27
    For the first time in my life I can honestly say that I’m jealous of people who live in Lubbock. That’s because they’re going to have a tremendous view of this Sunday’s annular eclipse, much better than we city slickers in Houston will. Nevertheless this weekend’s eclipse is still going to be far cooler than the [...]

  • Linkpost | 5.15.12

    Updated: 2012-05-15 12:19:23
    Here’s my first stab at a science linkpost. I’ll try to do these most weekday mornings. If you like it let me know. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts launched late Monday: If all goes well, the ferry flight will boost the International Space Station’s crew back to six just in time for the [...]

  • CSExtra – Tuesday, May 15, 2012

    Updated: 2012-05-15 11:45:00
    To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here. If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@spacecoalition.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Tuesday’s CSExtra offers a collection of the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. Three U.S. and Russian astronauts lift off [...]

  • U. S., Russian Crew Launches to the International Space Station

    Updated: 2012-05-15 06:40:42
          A three-man U. S.and Russian crew successfully lifted off for the International  Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Monday. The Soyuz capsule with Joseph Acaba, of NASA, and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin departed the Central Asian launch complex at 11:01 p.m., EDT, safely reaching orbit nine minutes later. Following a [...]

  • Engineer dude has a plan to build the Starship Enterprise in 20 years. Let’s do it.

    Updated: 2012-05-14 22:14:45
    I had to try about a dozen times, but I finally got through to the Build the Enterprise web site. The server is a bit overwhelmed. Run by an engineer who styles himself BTE-Dan, the plan is to build the U.S.S. Enterprise over the next 20 years. Yes, the Enterprise of Captain Kirk, live long [...]

  • WANT Part XIII: Moon throw

    Updated: 2012-05-14 20:00:15
    : Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Psychedelic space station stars and cities If the Mayans were right , it was probably about Internet comments WANT Part XIII : Moon throw When I’m getting the mid-afternoon drowsies , and looking for a comfortable , warm , cozy place to take a nap , what could possibly be better than the impact crater-scarred surface of the Moon This may be the greatest blanket throw in the history of blankets . Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up in a little regolith And ZOMFSM and it comes with matching pillows And there’s a floor cushion Supermoon , . indeed Tip o’ the spacesuit visor to Design

  • Amateurs to “Crowdsource” Asteroids

    Updated: 2012-05-14 19:48:53
    Any attempt to survey and catalog hazardous asteroids faces a number of difficulties. Coming to aid the effort are amateur astronomers, ready to boost the European Space Agency’s (ESA) asteroid hunt as part of ESA’s Space Situational Awareness program. A new partnership has been formed between the United Kingdom’s Faulkes Telescope Project and ESA. ESA [...]

  • Is Red Wine Good for the Health of Press Releases?

    Updated: 2012-05-14 18:37:44
    Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment NOTICE : Early Tracker Newsletter today Is Red Wine Good for the Health of Press Releases Source : Wikimedia Commons Last week , the journal Cell Metabolism published a study in mice exploring the interactions between the compound resveratrol which some research indicates may promote health and genes associated with . longevity That it produced a virtual flurry of coverage owes much , I think , to our journalistic love for research extolling the virtues of wine . But in this case , one could also argue , that the hyperbolic press reports that followed also owed much to the hyperbolic press release announcing the . study How hyperbolic Well the study is titled  SIRT1 Is Required for AMPK Activation and the Beneficial

  • Psychedelic space station stars and cities

    Updated: 2012-05-14 18:01:23
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Space X set to launch on Saturday May 19 WANT Part XIII : Moon throw Psychedelic space station stars and cities The view from the International Space Station is always pretty cool , but when an astronaut points the camera at the Earth’s horizon and takes a series of short exposures , adding them together gives a view right out of Haight-Ashbury in the : 1960s Click to psilocybinate . Whoa , man Astronaut Don Petit took the pictures to make this composite . Basically , it’s a series of eighteen 30-second exposures added together so the motion of the ISS around the Earth makes

  • NOTICE: Early Tracker Newsletter today….

    Updated: 2012-05-14 17:52:10
    Pacific Gas & Electric has big trucks outside KSJTracker’s Berkeley outpost. Replacement of a splintered old pole means a power outage is about to start. The men in hardhats say it may not be back on until late this afternoon.. We should be back on normal track tomorrow. Other posts from other outposts may trigger a second email today. - Charlie Petit

  • Specialty outlets, etc: Kepler astronomers ‘discover’ another star’s invisible Neptune

    Updated: 2012-05-14 17:46:24
    , : Home Suggest Stories About Us Staff Contact Us Log In Register to Comment Time Mag : The cover photo that may move the needle on comfort with breastfeeding NOTICE : Early Tracker Newsletter today Specialty outlets , etc : Kepler astronomers discover’ another star’s invisible Neptune It’s only natural that in 150 years the standards of evidence in many fields of science what it takes to make a case have changed . Several outlets late last week and over the weekend reported news , off a paper in Science , that a sunlike star among the 150,000 that the Kepler telescope is monitoring for tiny blips in their brightness as planets cross in front of them , found another . But this planet is in the bag without such shadow blips of its own . And several outlets dutifully report the press

  • Space X set to launch on Saturday May 19

    Updated: 2012-05-14 16:31:19
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS China’s space lab has a spot in the Sun Psychedelic space station stars and cities Space X set to launch on Saturday May 19 The private company Space X is set to launch its Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon space capsule to the International Space Station on Saturday , May 19, with a backup launch date of May 22. The launch is set for 04:55 a.m . Eastern time , which is 09:55 08:55 UTC there’ll be a live webcast at Space X’s site and no doubt NASA TV will carry it as well . They have what’s called an instantaneous launch window which means if they don’t launch right on time they

  • NSS Urges Congress to Ease Export Control Restrictions on Satellites and Space-Related Items

    Updated: 2012-05-14 15:36:16
    The National Space Society (NSS) calls on Congress to ease export control regulations on spacecraft and related items, as urged by the Departments of Defense and State in their recent, joint “Section 1248″ report, “Risk Assessment of the United States Space Export Control Policy.” This report concluded that spacecraft and their components, designated as dual-use items, [...]

  • CSExtra – Monday, May 14, 2012

    Updated: 2012-05-14 12:03:19
    To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here. If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@spacecoalition.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world, plus a roundup of weekend happenings. In Russia, U. S. [...]

  • China’s space lab has a spot in the Sun

    Updated: 2012-05-14 01:30:55
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Time lapse of the midnight Sun Space X set to launch on Saturday May 19 China’s space lab has a spot in the Sun On May 11, the phenomenal astrophotographer Thierry Legault took another amazing picture of the Sun See Related Posts below for more of Thierry’s work that’s been featured here at the BA blog Setting up his equipment in the south of France , he captured this truly magnificent shot of our nearest star and when you finish picking your jaw off the floor , stick around , because your amazement isn’t done : yet Click to hugely ensolarnate . I know , right That HUGE sunspot

  • Herschel Snaps Stunning Image of Cygnus-X Star Nursery

    Updated: 2012-05-13 19:49:31
    Home Blog Advertise The Sky This Month The Moon This Month Astronomy News Astrobiology Magazine News Astronomy Picture of the Day BBC Science News CNN Space News Earth Observatory News Eurekalert Astronomy Space News European Southern Observatory News European Space Agency News Gemini Observatory News Hubble Space Telescope News JPL News Kepler Telescope News Lunar and Planetary Institute News MSNBC Space News NASA Breaking News NASA PlanetQuest News NASA TV National Geographic News PBS Nova News Science at NASA News Scientific American News Space Shuttle News Space Today News STEREO Solar Mission News The Astronomer’s Telegram News The Space Show Wired Science News Astronomy Podcasts 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast Astronomy Cast Podcast Astronomy Magazine Podcast Earth Sky Podcast

  • Time lapse of the midnight Sun

    Updated: 2012-05-13 14:19:39
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Fire , water , and ice China’s space lab has a spot in the Sun Time lapse of the midnight Sun Iceland has long been on my list of Places I Really Really Want to Visit . This video makes me want to go there even . more You may need to refresh this page to get the video to load . The video was the Grand Prize winner in the X Prize Foundation’s video contest Why Do You Explore and it won videographer Joe Capra a 10,000 National Geographic Expedition of his choosing . . Wow And Iceland What a place The chance to see something like this or an active volcano or another active volcano

  • Fire, water, and ice

    Updated: 2012-05-12 14:00:10
    , , Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Time and Relative Dimensions IN ROCK Time lapse of the midnight Sun Fire , water , and ice Because you simply cannot have enough incredibly beautiful photographs of aurorae in your life , here’s one taken near Tromso , Norway , on March 28, 2012 by photographer Helge : Mortensen Click to coronalmassejectenate , and you should . What a shot Dead center in the picture is the Pleiades , the small cluster of bright stars . The bright object is the Moon , and to the lower right is Venus . If you look carefully , just above the horizon , lies Jupiter . To see it , start at the

  • Time and Relative Dimensions IN ROCK

    Updated: 2012-05-11 22:17:35
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Re-cycled Mayan calendar nonsense Fire , water , and ice Time and Relative Dimensions IN ROCK Holy . Wow If you’re a Doctor Who fan , watch this I don’t care if you like this kind of music or not that kind of instrumental mastery is astonishing to watch . And while I like metal , I love the Doctor Who music , so the two together Allons-y and Geronimo Tip o’ the sonic to Buzzfeed Haha . Mastery Get it Don’t ever try to outnerd me . I will exterminate you . Related : Posts I am the Piano Doctor Man Doctor Who fan trailer to tide you over Doctor Who infographic Doc Savage Share

  • NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Reveals Vesta’s Secrets

    Updated: 2012-05-11 21:07:49
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  • AAVSO Alert Notice 458: Multiwavelength Observing Campaign on AE Aqr

    Updated: 2012-05-11 19:59:04
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  • Phyt O’Plankton

    Updated: 2012-05-11 17:21:25
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS The start of a long , long dance Re-cycled Mayan calendar nonsense Phyt O’Plankton I’ve written about pictures from space of ocean-borne phytoplankton blooms see Related Posts below but I recently saw a new : one This one was new to me for two reasons . For one , I hadn’t seen one such a bloom off the coast of Ireland before the three I’ve posted previously were south of the Equator . You can see the coast of Mayo County in Ireland there on the . right Second , it was from a satellite I’d never heard of : SPOT-5. This is a European Space Agency satellite that observes the Earth

  • It’s Crowded Out There! Life-Bearing Earth-size Planets – New Study

    Updated: 2012-05-11 14:55:16
    Since 1995, when the first extrasolar planet was reported, the number of detections has increased to roughly 750 newly found worlds. All of these planets orbit stars. But a very few, if any, have been deemed potential candidates for life. New work by an international team of astrobiologists suggests a few hundred thousand billion free-floating [...]

  • The start of a long, long dance

    Updated: 2012-05-11 01:30:29
    , Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS A banner day for me on reddit Phyt O’Plankton The start of a long , long dance A hundred million light years away , two gorgeous spiral galaxies are locked in an embrace that may end with them merging , a dance spread across a hundred thousand light years in space and a hundred million years of . time Click to galactinate , and yeah , just do it . The hi-res version is big and lush and lovely indeed . This image taken by frequent BABlog contributor Adam Block , shows this cosmic waltz in lovely detail another wonderful image is available via the ESO as well UPDATE : and from

  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Revealed Movement in Sand Dune Fields on Mars

    Updated: 2012-05-10 23:01:00
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  • SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace Join Forces to Offer Crewed Missions to Private Space Stations

    Updated: 2012-05-10 22:44:30
    Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Bigelow Aerospace (BA) have agreed to conduct a joint marketing effort focused on international customers. The two companies will offer rides on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, using the Falcon launch vehicle to carry passengers to Bigelow habitats orbiting the Earth. According to Bigelow Aerospace’s President and Founder, Robert T. Bigelow, “We’re very [...]

  • Galaxies With Powerful, Active Black Holes Produce Fewer Stars

    Updated: 2012-05-10 20:09:53
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  • Dawn flies over Vesta

    Updated: 2012-05-10 19:51:30
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Will ATK beat everyone into space A banner day for me on reddit Dawn flies over Vesta The Dawn mission has been orbiting the asteroid Vesta since July 2011. It’s taken thousands of images of the 500 kilometer-wide 300 mile rock since then , and JPL just released an amazing video which uses real data from Dawn to simulate flying over the asteroid . Wow . The animation at Marcia Crater the bottom crater making up the Snowman triple impact is especially beautiful and realistic Dawn is scheduled to leave Vesta in August and then take a long , slow voyage to the even-larger asteroid

  • Will ATK beat everyone into space?

    Updated: 2012-05-10 17:57:15
    Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Ice moon , ghost moon Dawn flies over Vesta Will ATK beat everyone into space Right now , the future of US human space exploration is a little unsettled . NASA is still talking about building a new rocket system to replace the Shuttle , but it’s unclear how long it will take and how much it will cost . Space X is a private company that has already launched rockets into orbit , and is working to make their vehicles rated to carry humans there are strict rules about that , which I’ll get to in a sec They’re planning an uncrewed launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon space

  • Ice moon, ghost moon

    Updated: 2012-05-10 15:55:29
    , Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Ho hum , another boring gorgeous sparkling beehive of stars Will ATK beat everyone into space Ice moon , ghost moon One of my favorite things to do is take a gorgeous astronomical image and pierce down into it , finding some detail not discussed in press releases and other articles . On the other hand , sometimes I’ll post a picture because it’s so , so : cool Click to encronosenate . That’s a shot of Saturn’s rings and moons by the Cassini spacecraft taken in mid-April 2012. Cassini was nearly in the same plane as the rings , so they look like a knife cutting across the

  • End of Mission for ESA’s Envisat Satellite

    Updated: 2012-05-10 15:39:41
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  • Big Sunspot Crackling With Flares and Radio Bursts

    Updated: 2012-05-10 12:11:05
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  • Europe Delivers MIRI – the First Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope

    Updated: 2012-05-10 11:28:07
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  • First Major International Space Solar Power Organization Includes the National Space Society

    Updated: 2012-05-10 02:08:14
    The Global Space Solar Power Working Group (Global SSP-WG) has held its first meeting at the European Space Agency in Paris, France. All of the world’s major SSP players were represented, except for the Chinese. National Space Society CEO Mark Hopkins had the honor of representing NSS. The Global SSP-WG, organized under the auspices of the [...]

  • Ho hum, another boring gorgeous sparkling beehive of stars

    Updated: 2012-05-10 01:45:04
    , Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Reminder : Public talk in Boulder Saturday Ice moon , ghost moon Ho hum , another boring gorgeous sparkling beehive of stars Orbiting our galaxy in the lonely depths of intergalactic space , 160+ globular clusters are among the oldest structures we know . They’re composed of thousands , sometimes hundreds of thousands , of stars , all held together by their mutual gravity . I always think of them as beehives , with the stars buzzing around on orbits all tilted willy-nilly . The European Southern Observatory just released this picture of the globular cluster M55 using the

  • Reminder: Public talk in Boulder Saturday

    Updated: 2012-05-09 20:00:21
    : Subscribe Today Renew Give a Gift Archives Customer Service Facebook Twitter Newsletter SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Asteroid , mine Ho hum , another boring gorgeous sparkling beehive of stars Reminder : Public talk in Boulder Saturday Just a reminder : On Saturday , May 12, I’m giving a FREE public talk in Boulder , Colorado at Boulder high School starting at 7:00 . p.m The talk is 10 Amazing Facts About Our Solar System and I have all the details in an earlier post After the talk there will be a star party if it’s clear , which is likely where we’ll look at Saturn , Mars and hopefully Venus will still be up and other objects through telescopes . I’ll be hanging out to answer questions and

  • Spitzer Space Telescope Detects Light Emanating From a “Super-Earth”

    Updated: 2012-05-09 15:33:56
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  • Additional Keynote Meal Speakers Announced for ISDC

    Updated: 2012-05-09 14:32:00
    We are pleased to announce that the following individuals have been confirmed as featured meal speakers for the 2012 International Space Development Conference later this month: Mark Sirangelo, Chairman, Sierra Nevada Space Systems, as the Keynote Speaker at the 25th Anniversary Governors Dinner and Gala on Friday, May 25th. Mr. Sirangelo will also present the Space [...]

  • White House Opposes House Restrictions on Commercial Crew Program

    Updated: 2012-05-08 15:48:23
    On May 7 the Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget issued a Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 5326 − Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013. The statement included the following section on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), quoted in full: The Administration strongly opposes the level of [...]

  • Water Droplets Dance on the Space Station

    Updated: 2012-05-07 20:41:02
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  • Mars Express Sees Signs of Flowing Water on Ancient Mars

    Updated: 2012-05-07 01:23:09
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  • Video: Buzz Aldrin presents NSS Space Pioneer Award to Stephen Colbert

    Updated: 2012-05-04 15:35:38
    5-minute video

  • Video Interview of NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse

    Updated: 2012-05-02 16:37:01
    Moonandback Media has released a 2-part video interview of NSS Executive Director Paul E. Damphousse about his background, NSS goals, and the upsoming International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Washington DC later this month. Part 1 (6 minutes) about Paul’s background and NSS goals: Part 2 (4 minutes) about the upcoming ISDC: You can find many more space-related [...]

  • 1st Space Solar Power International Student and Young Professional Design Competition

    Updated: 2012-04-29 04:30:31
    The Space Generation Advisory Council is announcing a partnership with the International Astronautical Federation’s Space Power Committee (SPC) to organise and run the 1st Space Solar Power International Student and Young Professional Design Competition. The competition aims to [...]

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