Previous “Random Facts” In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. When George Lucas was mixing the American Graffiti soundtrack, he numbered the reels of film starting with an [...]
26 November 2012 The Milky Way Galaxy, above Paranal Laboratory.Credit: European Southern Observatory Just after the Big Bang, scientists theorise the Universe was equal parts matter and its opposite, but now, antimatter is almost non-existent. Astronomer-detectives are on the case. Federation Fellow of The University of Sydney’s School of Physics, and Senior Fellow at Merton [...]
First 20 historical photos Wedding photo of Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde, 1965 Winston Churchill in bathing suit New York – Central Park, 1933 Young Joseph Stalin Dr Martin Luther King in Chicago playing pool 30th of June 1922. A policeman Bill Norton is checking the distance between knee and a bathing suit, which couldn’t [...]
Prof Jon Butterworth, Head of Department (Physics & Astronomy), UCL Mathematical and Physical Sciences Faculty The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is using proton-proton collisions to explore physics at higher energies than ever before. This is the region where the weak and electromagnetic forces unify, where mass originates, and where a new particle — looking [...]
The new planet is seven times earth’s size, and unlike many exoplanets it has a day/night cycle.
Previous “Random Facts” There are two credit cards for every person in the United States. There is a town in Newfoundland, Canada called Dildo. There wasn’t a single pony in the Pony Express, just horses. Thomas Edison, lightbulb inventor, was afraid of the dark. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. To escape the [...]
First 20 amazing cloud formations can be found HERE Another 20 amazing cloud formations are HERE Arcus layers, Australia Photo: ~Bootscrub Fallstreak hole, Linz, Austria Photo: H. Raab Lenticular UFO, Kananaskis Country, Alberta Photo: sabertasche2 Wave clouds, Tadrart region, Algeria Photo: Wikimedia Commons Shelf cloud, Kearney, NE Photo: NebraskaSC Wall cloud, South Dakota Photo: Michael Carlson – Photography Cirrocumulus cloud, Chilbridge, [...]
by Rob Bryanton. Modern theories tell us that there are ten spatial, or “space-like” dimensions to our reality. My name is Rob Bryanton. With this project, I have developed a creative way to use a variation of what’s known as the “point-line-plane postulate” to visualize those ten dimensions, a concept that most would have thought impossible [...]
22 October 2012 Yuandi Li UK scientists have shown that plants can be used to detect nerve agents. Nerve agents such as the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, VX (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate), are extremely toxic substances banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Unfortunately, they can still be used to terrifying effect in the wrong hands, with one example [...]
European astronomers have discovered a planet with about the mass of the Earth orbiting a star in the Alpha Centauri system — the nearest to Earth. It is also the lightest exoplanet ever discovered around a star like the Sun. The planet was detected using the HARPS instrument on the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. The results will appear online in the journal Nature on 17 October 2012.
Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won’t be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice.
Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we’re frequently asked regarding 2012.
Lenticular cloud, Mt. Fuji, Japan Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction. Lenticular clouds can be separated into altocumulus standing lenticularis (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL). Due to their shape, they have been offered as an explanation [...]
Pinocchio is Italian for “pine head.” Playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII. If captured, they could be soaked in water and unfolded to reveal a map for escape. Polar Bears trying to blend in with the ice will sometimes cover up their black nose with their paws. Pollsters say that 40 percent [...]
5 October 2012 Patrick Walter A forensics error has led to an innocent man being held for five months on a charge of rape in the UK. The DNA sample from the rape victim was contaminated during a routine DNA extraction procedure, although this is thought to have been an isolated incident. Adam Scott was [...]
