Coriolis Effect: IDTIMWYTIM
Does your toilet water drain differently than in the other hemisphere? Is it because of the Coriolis effect? Hank has some things to clarify about these questions, and more in this edition of I Don’t Think It Means What You Think It Means.
The Violent Violet Sun
“After dodging clouds and hailstorms all week I was able to record my first solar image at the CaK wavelength… 393.37nm in the violet end of the spectrum. I see almost no detail visually due to my eye’s poor sensitivity at this wavelength. But the camera sees good!” — Alan Friedman
Amazing Everyday Objects Seen by a Scanning Electron Microscope
These amazing images are from the book Microcosmos by Brandon Brill, in which a scanning electron microscope takes images of common everyday objects. Above, from left to right, we see:
- An ant holding a microchip.
- Eyelash hairs growing from skin.
- The surface of a strawberry.
- Velcro.
- Household dust, including: cat fur, twisted synthetic and woolen fibers, serrated insect scales, a pollen grain, plant and insect remains.
- A razor blade.
- Rusty metal nail.
- Mushroom spores.
!!!!
dat ant!
The Most Venomous Animals in the World
There are a lot of ways to kill and be killed in the animal kingdom, but only a lucky few use the powers of venom. Not all are closely related, so how did they acquire the same defenses, where did venom come from, and how does it work? And what animals can kill you the most quickly? Find the answers to these questions, and more, in today’s episode of SciShow.
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References for this episode can be found in the Google document here: http://dft.ba/-5GmD
Thanks again to Dr. Bryan Fry at the University of Queensland.
You guys like Saturn, right? Here’s a whole gallery of Saturn GIFs, from rings to moons, captured by the Cassini spacecraft. They’re part modern art and part science.
Next to the Voyager twins, I think Cassini might be the best satellite NASA ever launched. Certainly takes the best pictures. Tumblr’s own staceythinx has an iPad app called Cassini HD that features even more photos, plus color, plus science.
(GIFs by framesandflames)
Magical Medicinal Maggots
Although it may sound crazy, many doctors use maggots today to clean wounds of dead and infected tissue. This process, called debridement, is important for preventing the spread of infection in a world of increasing antibiotic resistance. Hank has more details on the marvelous maggot in today’s episode of SciShow.
World’s Largest Infrared Space Telescope Shuts Down Forever
After nearly four years mapping the “hidden universe,” the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space has reached the end of its life, European Space Agency officials say.
The $1.4 billion Herschel Space Observatory has exhausted the vital supply of liquid helium coolant that allowed it make the most sensitive and detailed observations of the cosmos in infrared light, ESA officials announced Monday (April 29).The infrared space telescope’s official end was recorded by a ground station in Australia, which recorded an increase in temperature for all of the spacecraft’s instruments during the telescope’s daily communications session. It began its mission in May 2009. [Amazing Photos from the Herschel Space Telescope]
“Herschel has offered us a new view of the hitherto hidden universe, pointing us to a previously unseen process of star birth and galaxy formation, and allowing us to trace water through the universe from molecular clouds to newborn stars and their planet-forming discs and belts of comets,” ESA’s Herschel project scientist Göran Pilbratt said in a statement.
Named for famed 18th century astronomer William Herschel, the space telescope was the most powerful infrared observatory ever launched to space until it stopped functioning this week. It has a main mirror 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) across nearly 1.5 times larger than Hubble Space Telescope, and was designed to chart the universe in the far-infrared to sub-millimeter wavelengths of light.
“Herschel gave us the opportunity to peer into the dark and cold regions of the universe that are invisible to other telescopes,”> said John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for science missions. The U.S. space agency was a partner with ESA in the Herschel mission.
The Herschel space observatory is responsible for some amazing images of far-off cosmic wonders, such as its dazzling views of the Eagle Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy. Its helium-cooled instruments allowed astronomers to study far away starburst galaxies and star formation closer to home in the Milky Way. The coolant kept Herschel’s instruments chilled to a temperature of minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 271 degrees Celsius), but that supply was expected to evaporate over time.
“It feels like losing a member of the family,” Herschel mission officials wrote in Twitter post at the mission’s end. “Almost 4 incredibly intense years in space.”
The Herschel observatory collected more than 35,000 scientific observations and 25,000 hours of data. According to ESA officials, that plethora of data will be Herschel’s main contribution to the world of science.
“The archive will become the legacy of the mission,” ESA officials explained in a statement. “It is expected to provide even more discoveries than have been made during the lifetime of the Herschel mission.”NASA scientists said the Herschel mission’s effect on astronomy will far outlast the four-year mission itself.
“Herschel has improved our understanding of how new stars and planets form, but has also raised many new questions,” said Paul Goldsmith, NASA Herschel project scientist at JPL, said in a statement. “Astronomers will be following up on Herschel’s discoveries with ground-based and future space-based observatories for years to come.”The space telescope has also paved the way for future missions focused on observing the universe in infrared wavelengths, ESA officials added.
“The mission resulted in a number of technological advancements applicable to future space missions and potential spin-off technologies,” ESA officials said. “The mission saw the development of advanced cryogenic systems, the construction of the largest telescope mirror ever flown in space, and the utilization of the most sensitive direct detectors for light in the far-infrared to millimeter range.”Stay Curious, Watch: The Herschel Story (via space.com)
image 1: This artist’s illustration shows the European Space Agency’s infrared Herschel Space Obsevatory set against a background image of the Vela C star-forming region. The space telescope launche din 2009 and ended its mission in 2013. credit: ESA/PACS & SPIRE Consortia, T. Hill, F. Motte, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/IRFU – CNRS/INSU – Uni. Paris Diderot, HOBYS Key Programme Consortium
image 2: Each of the thousands of dots in this image is an entire galaxy containing billions of stars, revealed in a region of space called the Lockman hole, which allows a clear line of sight out into the distant universe, as seen by the Herschel Space Observatory. See more amazing images obtained by Herschel since its launch in May, 2009
image 3: ESA Herschel space observatory image of Andromeda (M31) using both PACS and SPIRE instruments to observe at infrared wavelengths of 70 mm (blue), 100 mm (green) and 160 mm and 250 mm combined (red). Image released Jan. 28, 2013. credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS & SPIRE Consortium, O. Krause, HSC, H. Linz
CICADAS ARE COMING!
Cicadas have developed an amazing strategy for growth, survival, reproduction, and overcoming predation by…doing nothing. They do nothing for years (except sip at the juice excreted from root structures) before emerging in huge, simultaneous swarms.
The swarm is so huge that predators can’t consume even a fraction of it, but so rare that predator populations can’t sustain themselves between emergence events. Clever little things!
NASA Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Skylab
NASA will commemorate the 40th anniversary of America’s first space station Monday, May 13, with a televised roundtable discussion featuring Skylab astronauts, a current astronaut and agency managers planning future space missions.
The discussion, open to NASA employees and the public, will begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT in the James Webb Auditorium of NASA Headquarters at 300 E St. SW in Washington. The event will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.NASA launched Skylab on May 14, 1973. It was the nation’s first foray into significant scientific research in microgravity. The three Skylab crews proved humans could live and work effectively for long durations in space. The knowledge gathered during Skylab helped inform development and construction of the International Space Station, just as the research and technology demonstrations being conducted aboard the ISS will help shape a new set of missions that will take Americans farther into the solar system.
The bottom image is the original Skylab concept
This sketch of Skylab was drawn by George E. Mueller, NASA associate administrator for Manned Space Flight. This concept drawing was created at a meeting at the Marshall Space Flight Center on Aug. 19, 1966. The image details the station’s major elements. In 1970, the station became known as Skylab. Three crewed Skylab missions (Skylab 2 in May 1973; Skylab 3 in July 1973; and Skylab 4 in November 1973) were flown, on which experiments were conducted in space science, Earth resources, life sciences, space technology and student projects.
Read more about Skylab at NASA History in:
SKYLAB, Our First Space Station
Living and Working in Space: A History of SKYLAB
6 Surprising Blood-Drinking Animals
Hank introduces us to 6 blood-drinking (or otherwise consuming) animals that you may not be aware of. Don’t freak out…
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