DiscoveryNews

Into Reality: Top Star Trek Warp Speed Concepts J.J....

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:29:00 -0400

Into Reality: Top Star Trek Warp Speed Concepts

J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek outing “Into Darkness” will hit movie screens this week, no doubt packed with excitement, explosions, mind-melding Vulcans and phasers set to stun. But there will also be the USS Enterprise traveling faster than the speed of light, carving up the vast expanses of interstellar space as if it was a short jaunt to the shops.

Over the years, warping spacetime has become more than a sci-fi notion, however. Star Trek may have popularized the mode of space transportation with Captain Kirk at the helm in the 1960s original series, but today, there are some serious efforts underway to establish whether spacetime can be warped in a useful way. Could warpships really be the future of zippy space travel? Or should the very notion of warp speed be resigned to the darkness of interstellar space? Read more

Gallery: Funniest-Faced Monkeys I’m pretty sure...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:23:11 -0400

Gallery: Funniest-Faced Monkeys

I’m pretty sure they’d find us funny-looking too….

Sun Unleashes THREE Record X-Class Flares The weekend ended with...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:01:42 -0400

Sun Unleashes THREE Record X-Class Flares

The weekend ended with the biggest solar flare of the year — an X-class flare measuring X1.7. X-class flares are the most energetic type of flare, but an X1.7 is at the lower end of that scale. Obviously disappointed by its 2013 personal best, the sun let rip with not one, but TWO more X-class flares within 24 hours, each bigger than the last.

The X1.7 erupted at 9:17 p.m. EST (Sunday), and then a X2.8 followed-up at 11:09 a.m. EST (Monday). Then, the biggest flare completed the hat-trick at 8:17 p.m. EST with a new 2013 record of X3.2. The largest flare of the day is nearly 3 times more energetic than the first X1.7 flare.

Need a morning “boost”? Then this might be the...

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:26:12 -0400

Need a morning “boost”? Then this might be the cereal for you!

From oysters and the gonads of hermaphroditic sea urchins, to Viagra and the Horny Goat Weed supplements at your local gas station, there seem to be no shortages of food and pills purported to boost the sex drive. However, you may be surprised where the latest libido booster is popping up: your cereal bowl.

Space Oddity: Astronaut Ends Mission With Music Video Wonderful...

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:23:10 -0400

Space Oddity: Astronaut Ends Mission With Music Video

Wonderful tribute to a Bowie classic. Have a safe trip home, Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko!

Astronauts Fix Phantom Space Station Leak During an unscheduled...

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:33:25 -0400

Astronauts Fix Phantom Space Station Leak

During an unscheduled spacewalk on the space station’s exterior on Saturday morning, NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy carried out the mother of all plumbing jobs: They detached a suspect ammonia pump, replaced it with a spare and watched for any further ammonia leakage.

“It will take some diagnostics, still, over the course of the next several days by the thermal systems specialists to fully determine that we have solved the problem of the ammonia leak,” said NASA commentator Rob Navias during the live NASA TV spacewalk broadcast. “But so far, so good.” Read more

n-a-s-a: Ring of Fire over Monument Valley Image Credit &...

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:13:08 -0400

n-a-s-a:

Ring of Fire over Monument Valley

Image Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN)

insiderimages: The final piece of the spire at One World Trade...

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:08:50 -0400

insiderimages:

The final piece of the spire at One World Trade Center is lifted into place in New York, May 10, 2013. The tower now rises to a symbolic 1776 feet, making it the tallest building in the western hemisphere. INSIDER IMAGES/Gary He (UNITED STATES)

To license these images and more, click here.

Beautiful skyline.

Can Court-ordered Rehab Work? Lindsay Lohan checked in at the...

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:03:58 -0400

Can Court-ordered Rehab Work?

Lindsay Lohan checked in at the Betty Ford Clinic this week, marking at least the seventh time she’s been in rehab. Lohan’s case isn’t even all that unusual, as the New York Daily News points out with a slideshow featuring over 40 celebrities who have been in rehab. Meanwhile, Gawker published a guide to the most popular rehab centers among celebrities.

But it raises the question: Does court-ordered rehab work?

Space Station Crew Prepare for Emergency Spacewalk After the...

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:58:00 -0400

Space Station Crew Prepare for Emergency Spacewalk

After the discovery of a leak of ammonia coolant supplying one of the International Space Station solar arrays on Thursday, NASA managers have decided to plan for an unscheduled spacewalk on Saturday to repair the problem. The final decision about whether to go ahead with the extravehicular activity will be made late on Friday. Read more.

NASA has also released a video showing the ammonia flakes drifting into space.

Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100 Are you ready...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:55:50 -0400

Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100

Are you ready for the robocalypse? Nah, I’m sure it’ll be peaceful.

Weird Geological Features Spied on Mars The High-Resolution...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:53:09 -0400

Weird Geological Features Spied on Mars

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera carried by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has spotted a strange geological feature that, for now, defies an obvious explanation. Found at the southern edge of Acidalia Planitia, small pits with raised edges appear to hug a long ridge. So far, mission scientists have ruled out impact craters and wind as formation processes, but have pegged the most likely cause to be glacial in nature.

This Year’s Cicadas: A 90s Retro Re-mix In 1996, the top...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:06:57 -0400

This Year’s Cicadas: A 90s Retro Re-mix

In 1996, the top box office film, “Independence Day” wasn’t the only invasion by bizarre creatures, nor was the remix resurrection of the “Macarena” the only sound grating upon the ear drums of Americans on the East Coast. The Brood II cicadas arose from the soil in screeching droves that year.

Now, they’re back.

Herschel’s Coolest Infrared Hotshots The European space...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:04:22 -0400

Herschel’s Coolest Infrared Hotshots

The European space observatory may be dead, but its legacy lives on. Here are some of our favorite Herschel observations since 2009.

christinetheastrophysicist: Mysterious hot spots observed in a...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:02:02 -0400

christinetheastrophysicist:

Mysterious hot spots observed in a cool red supergiant

Astronomers have released a new image of the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse – one of the nearest red supergiants to Earth – revealing the detailed structure of the matter being thrown off the star.

The new image, taken by the e-MERLIN radio telescope array operated from the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, also shows regions of surprisingly hot gas in the star’s outer atmosphere and a cooler arc of gas weighing almost as much as the Earth.

Read More.

This is lovely.

Baked Exoplanet Gets Lab Treatment Don’t get too excited, an...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:55:31 -0400

Baked Exoplanet Gets Lab Treatment

Don’t get too excited, an exoplanet hasn’t really been captured from the cosmic wilds. And no, one of NASA’s boffins isn’t really taking a pair of tongs to the upper atmosphere of a strangely tiny “hot-Jupiter” being baked by a Bunsen burner. The doctored photo is actually a fun metaphor for this golden age of exoplanetary science. In particularly, it illustrates what one NASA space telescope is doing to understand the chemistry and dynamics of a particular Jupiter-sized exoplanet located some 385 light-years away.

mypubliclands: Calf Creek Falls is one of the most well known...

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:32:03 -0400

mypubliclands:

Calf Creek Falls is one of the most well known and unique features in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The 6 mi trail follows Calf Creek to the 126 ft high lower falls.

This is a great shot of my new “happy place” — the shady beach-like area near the base of the falls where many break for lunch or play in the water nearby. Here you can just close your eyes, feel the mist on your face, and listen to the sounds of solitude. For me, it doesn’t get any better than this!

Article and Photo by Chad Douglas, BLM-Utah Web/New Media Lead

hydrogeneportfolio: Minimal Posters - Five Great...

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:29:34 -0400

hydrogeneportfolio:

Minimal Posters - Five Great Mathematicians And Their Contributions.

Our Solar System: Rare Species in Cosmic Zoo Pulling from 20...

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:19:21 -0400

Our Solar System: Rare Species in Cosmic Zoo

Pulling from 20 years of research since the first discoveries of planets beyond our solar system, scientists have concluded that Earth and its sibling worlds comprise what appears to be a relatively rare breed in a diverse cosmic zoo that includes a huge variety of planet sizes, orbits and parent stars. Read more

odditiesoflife: Glass Beach, Northern California From 1950 to...

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:16:30 -0400

odditiesoflife:

Glass Beach, Northern California

From 1950 to 1967, residents of Fort Bragg, California chose to dispose of their waste by hurling it off the cliffs above a beach. No object was too toxic or too large such as household appliances, automobiles, and all matter of trash were tossed into the crashing waves below, eventually earning it the name The Dumps. Then in 1967, city leaders closed and reclaimed the beach. Various cleanup programs were undertaken.

Over the next several decades, the pounding waves cleaned the beach by breaking down everything but glass turning the sand into a sparkling, multicolored bed of smooth glass stones. The California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the land and incorporated it into MacKerricher State Park in 2002.