SCI-ence!!

[crowschmo]

Put anything you've seen or read about that's interesting going on in the field of - well, you know.

Look up Betelguese. (However it's spelled). Scientists have been noticing that Betelguese is dimming. Could just be a cycle it goes through, but they're wondering if it will go supernova. (Or if it has already and the light just hasn't reached us yet). I hope we get to see that in our lifetimes.

[Phantom Engineer]

I'd love to see a rockin' supernova. Close enough to be spectacular but far enough to not kill us. I got my total eclipse.

[Afgncaap5]

I'd be sad to see Betelgeuse go, but that'd totally rock.

So, apparently scientists don't fully understand how a washing machine, like... works? In general we know, of course, but a lot of the nitty gritty details about how the water and soap moves through the fabric weave to remove stains is unclear. In recent years, though, it's been determined that certain styles of weaving are more conducive to the kind of agitated water flow than others, which might either lead to more easily cleaned clothing or to more efficient machines. Or something. Been a few months since I watched the video on it.

[crowschmo]

Tonight (1/29) at around 6:40 EST two satellites may collide approximately over Pittsburgh. They could come within 15-30 meters of each other and could collide. They're around an altitude of 559 miles above Earth and going 32,880 miles an hour. One is a NASA telescope and the other is a naval research lab.

Folks'll be watching the skies to see if it happens - they're hoping all amateur astronomers in the area will all be watching as well. They're hoping the debris isn't too bad. They're hoping it doesn't cause a "Kessler Effect": where it causes a chain reaction and effects other satellites, causing too much debris and having other satellites collide with all that.

Interesting. And kind of scary. If something like that happens too much, there would be a debris field orbiting the Earth too large for us to safely go into space. They better figure out what to do with all the junk out there so nothing of that magnitude occurs. Eesh.


Edit: Well, I guess they didn't collide.

[crowschmo]

Well, in the NOT science category: That flat Earther Mike Hughes died because he crashed in his home-made rocket. Yeah - who DIDN'T see that coming?

[Afgncaap5]

Some scientists working out of a university have devised a way to generate electricity out of the moisture in the air. And it even works in very low humidity environments.

You read that right: Electricity Out Of Thin Air! These people need to back up their work and take out some life insurance policies, there's lots of rich folks interested in making sure the common folk never get that kinda tech.

[crowschmo]

^^^ That would be awesome. Everyone in the power industry would have to diversify and get into that sort of power instead of what they're currently doing, but...
I said currently.

This is STEVE.



It's a fascinating type of aurora. The green stripes are oxygen excited by a downpour of electrons. The mauve may be a plasma stream that heats atmospheric particles through friction. Scientists aren't sure of any molecules at STEVE's altitude in the atmosphere that could produce that observed spectrum.

So...neat. (That's as scientific as I can get).

[crowschmo]

Has anyone seen the comet Atlas with the naked eye yet? They were saying it was supposed to get really bright May 23rd. Like, brightest object in the sky bright. But now they are saying that it is breaking up so that show may be a no go.

I say "they" but the sites I see are usually by end of the world types, so I guess I should go to NASA's site and see what they are saying about it. I don't see any main stream media sites covering this. Am I dreaming it all, or does this actually exist? Guess I should've done the NASA thing before writing about this.

Isn't there supposed to be an asteroid fairly close, too?

More to come, I guess.

Edit: It may not last long enough to be seen with the naked eye, darn it. But if one has a good telescope, I guess one could see it. It's supposed to be in the area of Ursa Major.

There is the Lyrid Meteor shower going on now though, wee hours before dawn. Peak is supposed to be April 21-23.

[crowschmo]

So now we have MURDER HORNETS to worry about, too?!!!






Stay away from our bees you varmints!!!

[crowschmo]

Big launch Wednesday (weather permitting).

[mylungswereaching]

May 25, 2020 14:56:58 GMT -5 crowschmo said:

Big launch Wednesday (weather permitting).

I've been looking forward to this for years. The first American Built spacecraft to send humans into space in almost 10 years. The shuttle costs around 2 billion dollars per flight. Space-X can charge 80 million dollars and make a profit. In its original configuration it could hold 7 people. But they when the changed from landing by rockets to landing by parachutes, they changed it to 4 people plus pressurized cargo. It also has another section for unpressurized cargo on the way up that is jettisoned on the way back.

Space-X is also working on Starship. Which is a fully reusable space ship. With refueling in space it will go to Mars. They are building 2 a month. The goal is to make each version a little better than the one before. They'll be doing a 100 meter hop in a month or so. With luck, version 1.0 will be flying sometime next year. It will cost somewhere between 10 million and 40 million dollars a flight. It will be the largest spaceship ever built.

Starship is a game changer. Once it's reliable, starship will be able to launch 100 people into space at 10 million per launch. That's $100,000 per person. And it will be able to also take up cargo which would make the price even cheaper.

[crowschmo]

I hope I win money. I'd love to be able to go into space. At least just in orbit around the Earth a few times. When I die, I want them to take my body into space and just jettison me so that I fall to Earth and burn up on re-entry. Maybe too small for anyone to see, but I'd just be like a shooting star instead of taking up any space in the ground. Just whatever my body is made up of going back to the elements and thrown back into the mix. Maybe that's what they'll do to everyone some day instead of digging up too much precious space on the ground. Talk about spreading ashes, eh?

I bought a place on the Mars launch if it ever goes up, where they engrave your name and put it on the ship and leave it there.

[mylungswereaching]

May 25, 2020 17:12:19 GMT -5 crowschmo said:

I hope I win money. I'd love to be able to go into space. At least just in orbit around the Earth a few times. When I die, I want them to take my body into space and just jettison me so that I fall to Earth and burn up on re-entry. Maybe too small for anyone to see, but I'd just be like a shooting star instead of taking up any space in the ground. Just whatever my body is made up of going back to the elements and thrown back into the mix. Maybe that's what they'll do to everyone some day instead of digging up too much precious space on the ground. Talk about spreading ashes, eh?

I bought a place on the Mars launch if it ever goes up, where they engrave your name and put it on the ship and leave it there.

Objects in low earth orbit take anywhere from a few months to a few years to deorbit. If everyone is buried that way, they'll be a layer of dead bodies floating around for a few years. It would make an interesting Star Trek episode.

[sol-survivor]

I suppose this could be considered Science, sort of. Really funny, though:

[crowschmo]

^^^^ That's hilarious and adorable. Talk about elaborate. I have squirrels in my yard that I've named, too. (One of them is named Notch, 'cause she has a notch on her right ear). They come to the door and look in when they want food. As soon as "Fat Gus" came into view, I was like, yeah, no - that's Gussina.

May 25, 2020 17:48:18 GMT -5 mylungswereaching said:

Objects in low earth orbit take anywhere from a few months to a few years to deorbit. If everyone is buried that way, they'll be a layer of dead bodies floating around for a few years. It would make an interesting Star Trek episode.

Well, I didn't mean to just push me out and leave me there. I meant with a little more force so I would crash and burn. And, yeah, I guess there's way too many people dying to do that on a regular basis.