What a Croc!
- By Brian Switek |
- May 9, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
Paleontologists have just named a 27-foot-long fossilized crocodile that hid in the rivers and lakes of prehistoric Kenya between 2 and 4 million years ago. Laelaps blogger Brian Switek explains how the creature may have lived alongside human ancestors.
Laelaps, Science BlogsA Lost Polar Explorer Returns: Todd Balf’s “Farthest North”
- By David Dobbs |
- May 9, 2012 |
- Comments
Farthest North: America’s First Arctic Hero and His Horrible, Wonderful Voyage to the Frozen Top of the World. Byliner Orignals. $1.99 Publisher site. Reviewed by David Dobbs Crossposted from Download The Universe, the science e-book review site _____ When people today imagine scientists, they tend to picture a man in a white lab coat, glasses, and [...]
Neuron Culture, Science BlogsThe Regularities of Giving
- By Samuel Arbesman |
- May 9, 2012 |
- Comments
Researchers who studied charitable donation rates after the December 2004 tsunami noticed some surprising regularities. Mathematician and Social Dimension blogger Samuel Arbesman explains how the donating pattern resembles an outbreak of disease.
Science Blogs, Social DimensionMystery Volcano Photo #46
- By Erik Klemetti |
- May 9, 2012 |
- Comments (21)
As I try to wrap things up at the end of the semester here, I thought I’d put out a new Mystery Volcano Photo. I’m also trying to digest some new research papers that I’ll try to post on soon. As for MVP, the last one was apparently super easy as Alastair Preston nailed it [...]
Eruptions, Science BlogsMars: A World for Exploration (1959)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- May 8, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
Our understanding of Mars has come a long way since we launched our first probe toward the planet in 1964. In 1959, at the dawn of the Space Age, Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh summed up conditions on Mars for members of the American Rocket Society. Space historian David S. F. Portree takes stock of how far our knowledge has advanced — and how much we have left to learn.
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsThe NASA Budget That Launched a Thousand Letters (And a Facebook Group)
- By Jeffrey Marlow |
- May 8, 2012 |
- Comments (21)
The slim budget proposed for NASA’s planetary science came as a call to arms for researchers. Astrobiologist and Extremo Files blogger Jeffrey Marlow describes the campaigning scientists are performing behind closed doors.
Science Blogs, The Extremo FilesBig Hail Is Bad
- By Rhett Allain |
- May 8, 2012 |
- Comments (14)
A YouTube video shows baseball-sized hail pummeling a suburban neighborhood in St. Louis, so Dot Physics blogger Rhett Allain explores the physics behind the destructive weather event.
Dot Physics, Science BlogsTM65 Liquid Propellant Engine Test May 17 – Open For the Public
- By Kristian von Bengtson |
- May 7, 2012 |
- Comments (8)
May 17 is going to be a very exciting day in the name of Euthanasia. We are going to test our biggest liquid propellant engine to date. The test will be performed at 1900 hours Copenhagen time and is open to members from Copenhagen Suborbitals Support
Rocket Shop, Science BlogsEruption Update for May 7, 2012: Popocatépetl, Iliamna, Lokon-Empung and a Pair of Japanese Volcanoes
- By Erik Klemetti |
- May 7, 2012 |
- Comments (119)
Quick updates on current activity at a number of volcanoes while I am mired in grading jail: Popocatépetl: The Mexican volcano is still churning away (see above). Thus far, most of the activity has been subplinian plumes from the crater area as the new magma rises and fragments, but Mexican officials are not taking any [...]
Eruptions, Science BlogsCopenhagen Suborbitals – Activities April 2012 Video
- By Kristian von Bengtson |
- May 7, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
Ad Astra Kristian von Bengtson
Rocket Shop, Science BlogsManned Asteroid Flyby Mission (1966)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (20)
Asteroids often arouse fear when they should really arouse fascination. Relics of the early solar system, they contain clues to the formation of the planets. In 1966, a Northrop Space Laboratories engineer proposed a piloted flyby of the near-Earth asteroid Eros to prepare astronauts for voyages to the planets. Space historian David S. F. Portree describes this early plan for a manned asteroid mission.
Beyond Apollo, Science BlogsFriday Photos: Eccles Dinosaur Park
- By Brian Switek |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
For many years, I ran a Photo of the Day feature on this blog. Then I killed it. I got bored with it, and there seemed to be little interest in the photostream. But I have piled up so many photos from museums, zoos, national parks, and other places that I feel I should do [...]
Laelaps, Science BlogsHow Tyler Cowen’s New Book Got Me Thinking about the Math of Bookbinding
- By Samuel Arbesman |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (2)
When I opened Tyler Cowen‘s new book An Economist Gets Lunch I was very excited. I was excited to learn about the many ways to find good places to eat and I wasn’t disappointed. However, I did not expect to learn much about how books are published. But that’s exactly what happened. When I opened [...]
Science Blogs, Social DimensionThe Microbial Complications of Fracking
- By Jeffrey Marlow |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (29)
When prospectors frack shale for its natural gas deposits, bacteria spit out toxic molecules. Astrobiologist and Extremo Files blogger Jeffrey Marlow explains how these byproducts — on top of fracking’s better-known environmental damage — pollute aquifers and gnaw away at human plumbing.
Science Blogs, The Extremo FilesHow Big Is C-3PO’s Battery?
- By Rhett Allain |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (19)
Batteries for modern androids are already a big bottleneck, but consider the needs of a mobile sentient supercomputer like C-3P0. Dot Physics blogger Rhett Allain figures out just how much battery capacity this world-famous robot would need.
Dot Physics, Science BlogsOn Earthquakes, Eruptions and the Moon (Eruptions Revisited)
- By Erik Klemetti |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (192)
Will this weekend’s so-called “supermoon” — a full moon when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit — cause geologic catastrophes? Volcanologist and Eruptions blogger Erik Klemetti weighs in with some comforting scientific sensibility.
Eruptions, Science BlogsDrug-Resistant Gonorrhea: How We Lost Track
- By Maryn McKenna |
- May 4, 2012 |
- Comments (5)
Attempts to track sexually transmitted diseases may have enabled the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea. Superbug blogger and author Maryn McKenna explains how.
Science Blogs, SuperbugAlbertonectes Was an Extreme Elasmosaur
- By Brian Switek |
- May 3, 2012 |
- Comments (1)
Laelaps blogger Brian Switek describes recently discovered fossils of an ancient, ocean-dwelling beast with the longest neck in its class.
Laelaps, Science BlogsGiant Eruptions from Yellowstone Caldera May Have Taken Millennia
- By Erik Klemetti |
- May 3, 2012 |
- Comments (101)
News headlines often decree Yellowstone National Park will be swallowed by a giant eruption, but the reality may prove far less exciting. Volcanologist and Eruptions blogger Erik Klemetti describes a new study suggesting previous Yellowstone eruptions occurred in spurts rather than one “supereruption.”
Eruptions, Science BlogsTalking to the Farside: Apollo S-IVB Stage Relay (1963)
- By David S. F. Portree |
- May 3, 2012 |
- Comments (5)
Several critical Apollo mission maneuvers took place in lunar orbit over the moon’s Farside hemisphere — out of visual and radio contact with Earth. Space historian David S. F. Portree describes a novel 1963 plan to ensure uninterrupted communication with Apollo spacecraft behind the moon.
Beyond Apollo, Science Blogs
