Tales of Seven

In the Shadow of Saturn

A gorgeous picture of Saturn from within its own shadow, taken by the spacecraft Cassini. The faint blue dot at 10 o'clock just outside the bright rings is our own Earth. Simply beautiful.

(Credits: Jan, 11 2009 Astronomy Picture of the Day, via NASA and the Cassini Imaging Team. Check out the Cassini Imaging Team site for more spectacular images.)

LittleRedFrog

glowing fish, littleredfrog,

fleet of stingrays, snakethatwasabranch

redyellowturquoisepurplegreen fish

penguincuriosities

butterfly-filled rainforest. world of stars.

On a first visit to the San Francisco Academy of Sciences, a wonderful world of nature's colors, adaptations, ancient holdovers, oddities, and treasures was to be found.  I'm looking forward to a return visit, and the upcoming NightLife Events starting February 12th!

 

(credit: panther chamleon, alexandre ewen) 

(source: http://www.marvitours.com/)

Robotic Jellyfish

Little mechanical things of beauty....

Two Voices on Science

We have seen the profound impact the CEO of the United States has on scientific policy and I hope to see our country pay close attention to our candidates' positions (and level of knowledge) on issues of scientific importance this election.

Scientific Integrity. Genetics. Stem Cell Research. Education.  Obama and McCain have each responded to 14 questions posed by SEA (Scientists and Engineers for America), as SEA works to bring greater exposure to science in the world of politics. See their answers  here!

             

The Large Hadron Collider: A First Breath

Hide and seek, says the cloud,
Star on to star

 

Early this morning the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, had its first test run. It intends to play a game of seek and find with subatomic particles by colliding them together at 99.99% the speed of light and seeing what comes out the other side. Answers around dark matter, the Higgs boson, black holes, and the very beginnings of the universe are at stake.

 

It took 6000 researches across 50 countries over 10 years and $8 billion to create the collider.

 

Happy Birthday, and we'll hold our breath in anticipation as this thing of beauty and innovation takes its first breath.

 

(Photos credit, Maximilien Brice)

 

 

 

BigDog Skates & Frolics

These two videos show a robot with an absolutely amazing ability to respond to the environment and maintain its balance on uneven and changing terrains. My favorite part is around 2:03 when it frolics, yes, frolics. What next?

(BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with help from Foster Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the University Concord Field Station as a tool for military and police use.)

Take a look at how it responds to ice at 1:32. Unbelievable.

The Metabolism of Magnetic Fields

How amazing would it be to be able to see something like this in everyday life? An artist's view into what the metabolism, stride and motion of magnetic fields could look like.

Credits: A film by Semiconductor: Ruth Jarman & Joe Gerhardt
Space Physicists: Janet Luhmann, Bill Abbett, David Brain, Stephen Mende
VLF Radio Recordings: Stephen P McGreevy

 

A Flight Through Orion

"The topography and beauty of the Orion Nebula like never before. Based on data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope..." (source)

Touchable Galaxy

The astounding beauty of nature... a spiral galaxy.

(From the NASA website, via Graham Glass)

An Underwater Lake

Another fascinating and otherworldly discovery from the deep ocean...check out this underwater lake.