Sunset on Mars
Sunset colors on Mars appear opposite of those typically seen on Earth. The central blue glow appears when the Martian atmosphere scatters the sunlight, the same phenomenon that makes the Earth’s sky blue. Powdery dust suspended in the atmosphere gives the rest of the sky a copper color. The Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it does on the Earth.
This is pure eye candy: a time lapse of Lake Tahoe scenery. Perfect for a Thursday, wouldn’t you say?
More eye candy, fascinating tidbits and bit size news bits from the editors of DiscoveryNews can be found here.
Time Lapse Images of Earth at Night Taken From the International Space Station
Not bad pictures for someone traveling 7,706 meters per second, eh?
(Source : britneys-unicorn)
How Long Does It Take for Earth’s Magnetic Field to Reverse?
As end of the world scenarios begin to ramp up with 2012 now in play, I figured it would be timely to post one of the debunk facts about the switching of our magnetic field reversal which some believe to occur in a matter of days. Most of the folks who believe this we’re likely duped by another 2012 site.
The time it takes for Earth’s magnetic field to reverse polarity is approximately 7000 years, but the time it takes for the reversal to occur is shorter at low latitudes than at high latitudes, a geologist funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) has concluded. Brad Clement of Florida International University published his findings in this week’s issue of the journal Nature. The results are a major step forward in scientists’ understanding of how Earth’s magnetic field works.
The magnetic field has exhibited a frequent but dramatic variation at irregular times in the geologic past: it has completely changed direction. A compass needle, if one existed then, would have pointed not to the north geographic pole, but instead to the opposite direction. Such polarity reversals provide important clues to the nature of the processes that generate the magnetic field, said Clement.
Since the time of Albert Einstein, researchers have tried to nail down a firm time-frame during which reversals of Earth’s magnetic field occur. Indeed, Einstein once wrote that one of the most important unsolved problems in physics centered around Earth’s magnetic field. Our planet’s magnetic field varies with time, indicating it is not a static or fixed feature. Instead, some active process works to maintain the field. That process is most likely a kind of dynamic action in which the flowing and convecting liquid iron in Earth’s outer core generates the magnetic field, geologists believe.
Blue Marble 2012
See, when you look at this on your Dashboard, it isn’t going to do it justice. Instead, click here, because viewing HD pictures of Earth at 8000 x 8000 px is really where it’s at.
Rivers form tree-like shapes in the desert in Baja California, Mexico.
This is mind-blowingly awesome.
What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?
This is a video made of 600 images from the international space station orbiting high above Earth. The journey begins in the Pacific ocean and pans the Americas before finally arriving to see a beautiful sunrise over Antarctica. The lightning storms are also particularly cool. To be completely honest there’s not much I can say about this that wouldn’t subtract from it’s beauty.
“I got frustrated with NASA and made this video. NASA is the most fascinating, adventurous, epic institution ever devised by human beings, and their media sucks. Seriously. None of their brilliant scientists appear to know how to connect with the social media crowd, which is now more important than ever. In fact, NASA is an institution whose funding directly depends on how the public views them.”
Such a great video. Carl Sagan being profound as usual.
