Science Friday: Handing Apollo, Bleeding Glacier, Speaking Dolphin, Thinking Bullets + more

Welcome back to another exciting edition of Science Friday! This week, discover the hand of Apollo, see Antarctica bleed micro-organisms, learn to speak dolphin, and see the effects of the recent Italian quake. All this plus our gadget of the week: EXACTO super bullets!

 

NASA Finds the Hand of Apollo
You always wondered how Apollo did that hand-in-space trick. Well, now NASA has the answer. Well, at least they’ve found something terribly similar. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory took the below awesome image of a celestial hand reaching towards a 150 light year-wide nebula. This vast nebula was created by a tiny, dense pulsar only 12 miles in diameter. A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including the hand. The combination of rapid rotation and ultra-strong magnetic field makes this particular pulsar, known as B1509, one of the most powerful electromagnetic generators in the galaxy.


Is this indeed the hand of a god?

Glaciers “Bleed” Million-Year-Old Ecosystem
The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are considered one of the least hospitable places on Earth. So much so that NASA has used them to simulate conditions that might prevail on Mars. Nobody would have suspected that there is any life underneath this ice, which is hundreds of meters thick, if it weren’t for the striking red ice erupting from the glacier’s terminus, giving the formation the name Blood Falls. The red color is thanks to the high iron concentration in a microbial ecosystem that has been trapped under the glacier for over a million years. Researchers are now discovering what fuels these bacteria, and how they ever became trapped here in the first place. Read more…


The bloody ice in Antarctica has given clues to an ancient microbial ecosystem

Scientists Learn to Speak Dolphin
UK-based acoustics engineer John Reid has been working on a machine for a decade that may be able to translate dolphin talk in much the same way that we decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Called the Cymascope, the device analyzes the noises the mammals make and shapes them into a map of reproducible sound patterns, termed CymaGlyphs. The machine uses a basin of water monitored by a video camera, and a few other odds and ends, including sand, brass plates and a violin bow. "What we’re going to do is excite the water by introducing the whale song, then look at what happens on the TV monitor," Reid said. "What you see is the image of the sound." The final aim of the study is to develop a basic dolphin vocabulary.


Turns out they’re all just saying, “So long, and thanks for all the fish”

Satellites Show How Earth Moved During Italy Quake
Scientists have begun analyzing the movement of Earth during and after the 6.3 earthquake that shook the medieval town of L’Aquila in central Italy on 6 April 2009. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from satellites are being used to map surface deformations that occurred after the earthquake and the numerous aftershocks that have followed. The SAR technique merges data acquired before and after the earthquake to generate ‘interferogram’ images that appear as rainbow-colored interference patterns. With the high speed acquisition of this satellite data, scientists have been able to immediately see the physical geographical effects of the quake.


Satellites help map recent Italian earthquake

Gadget of the Week: EXACTO Smart Bullets
This week’s gadget is sure to excite those three Navy SEAL snipers who ended the hostage crisis on the high seas. The EXACTO (EXtreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance) smart bullets are capable of changing course in mid-air by utilizing built-in tech that senses air currents and moving targets, adjusting a bullet’s flight so it can stay exactly on course. Then again, maybe those SEALs don’t need these bullets; they were able to pick off two pirates who briefly poked their heads out of a small covered lifeboat, and simultaneously shot a third pirate through the boat’s tiny window. At dusk using night vision. From a tilting and rolling ship, while their targets were also bobbing boat. Amazing stuff.


Can EXACTO bullets make great SEAL snipers even greater?

Science Quickies
Not enough science for you? Here’s a warp-speed look at some more science tid-bits that are worth a look.

 


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It would be very interesting to be able to communicate with Dolphins, altough they’re not as intelligent as Darwin form seaQuest.

Zeroth?

looks like he’s reaching for a cosmic Burrito

DUDE…that bleeding glacier…when combined with Biblical Prophecy and Global Warming= THE BIBLICAL PROPHECY OF THE OCEANS TURNING BLOOD RED AND BECOMING POISONOUS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

Glaciers “Bleed” Million-Year-Old Ecosystem
The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are considered one of the least hospitable places on Earth. So much so that NASA has used them to simulate conditions that might prevail on Mars. Nobody would have suspected that there is any life underneath this ice, which is hundreds of meters thick, if it weren’t for the striking red ice erupting from the glacier’s terminus, giving the formation the name Blood Falls. The red color is thanks to the high iron concentration in a microbial ecosystem that has been trapped under the glacier for over a million years. Researchers are now discovering what fuels these bacteria, and how they ever became trapped here in the first place.

Dolphins have a really crude sense of humor if Startide Rising is any guide. Prepare yourselves for a shock.

If dolphins ever suddenly leave the planet and thank us for the fish, you better say your prayers . . .

I am Apollo!!!……and I am the Czar of all the Russias…..Cool!

That really is an amazing piece of astrophotography.

Gene Simmons invented those smart bullets.

#8 Damn…reference to Runaway…love it!….

Smart bombs… smart bullets… wait until they turn against us.

Anyone see “Dark Star”?

“Fa love Pa!”

@ Markonian

first thought I had was Darwin from SeaQuest too, “Darwin sad…. cackle cackle cackle…” lol!

my second thought was “all i asked for was dolphins with frickin laser beams attached to their heads”!

that hand of Apollo pulsar looks amazing.

“they were able to pick off two pirates who briefly poked their heads out of a small covered lifeboat, and simultaneously shot a third pirate through the boat’s tiny window. At dusk using night vision. From a tilting and rolling ship, while their targets were also bobbing boat. Amazing stuff.”

…don’t EVER play these guys in Fizzbin! They’ll totally cronk you!

Speaking with dolphins? So by 2020, we REALLY can speak with Darwin on seaQuest!!!!

M14!!! Canadian designed rifle!

Look what I found. http://www.nacellesmonthly.com

Too funny

#16

Wait, so Chris Doohan bought that domain? Smart move Chris! haha.

What? No technology built by Apple? I think they need to check again. This isn’t the REAL future!

Tech is only as smart as the programmer…the lowest bidding programmer using parts from the lowest bidding manufacturer…

I’ll stick with the SEALs.

Smart bullets….

Perhaps, one day, Mankind will take all the money they spend on death and spend it on life.

Nah, stupid thought, never catch on.

#3 – Oceans have always been poisonous for human consumption. Just try drinking nothing but seawater and see how long you’ll live. (Hint: Not very long)

#20: “Nah, stupid thought, never catch on.”

Let’s keep hoping, anyway.

2. The Last Maquis – April 17, 2009

looks like he’s reaching for a cosmic Burrito

LOL!! That’s hilarious! It does look like that!!

We don’t need a dolphin vocabulary. They’re just going to thank us for the fish and then fly into space.

Anthony–unrelated, but with Caprica coming out–any special previews, etc. a la BSG dedicated articles before?

Even the cosmos makes better space hands than CBS Digital! LOL

Reference toe the “glove” of Zeus from TOS-R.

“Then again, maybe those SEALs don’t need these bullets”

Or, then again, maybe they already HAVE them…

#8 Gene Simmons invented those smart bullets.

Yes, from the movie “Runaway” with Tom Sellick…pretty good Sci-Fi movie from the 80’s.

I love, love, love this weekly highlight of my intellectual life. Looks like 2 Shuttles are on the launch pad for the last time. Atlantis on Pad 39A and Endeavor under the heavily renovated Pad 39B. Many changes have already been done to 39B for a July first launch test of the follow-on Orion space program. That launch will contain a fully “dummy” second stage, and the test will be in the separation characteristics between the first stage – a 5-segment SRB motor and the “dummy” second stage. Up to five of these tests will take place over the next 3 years and in 2012 a 2-stage test will begin. The 2nd stage consists of an orange tank and liquid fuel. It will lack the sophistication of the Shuttle engines as the entire 2nd stage including the engines is expendible. Imagine a Shuttle ET placed atop a Shuttle Booster, with a capsule on top. If nothing untowards happens to Atlantis when it heads on a 28 degree easterly launch to meet with the international space station (the Space Station launches are a northeasterly 52 degree launch inclination) then all of the crew training for the rescue vehicle, Endeavor will be for nothing and a new crew will be assigned for the next launch after that, Endeavor to the space station. If Endeavor has to launch to rescue Atlantis’ crew, then it will, and that will be the end of the Shuttle program. Endeavor will not launch from 39B – it will be rolled over to pad 39A . Once Endeavor leaves launch pad 39B – one way or another, then the accelerated conversion to the launch pad to support Orion will begin, and it will soon become completely unrecognizable. There are 3 flights left for Atlantis (2 to the station), 3 left for Endeavor, and 2 left for Discovery – and all will take place from Launch Pad 39-A – we hope.

The dolphin story reminded me of an episode of the Six Million Dollar Man entitled Burning Bright
where Shatner Played an Astronaut friend of Steve Austin who developed advanced mental abilities including
ESP after returning from his latest space walk , and established a telepathic link with a dolphin.
He wanted to go on a spce mission with the dolphin
But NASA turned him down.

.. to #30 … as much as I love Bill Shatner, the zoom-in / out of that episode which I have on DVD from a friend at Universal absolutely drives me crazy. It seemed to be a continuation of the Star Trek Season 3 diving even further in the “zoom” grafitti that appeared in many Season 3 episodes had Star Trek been unmercifully granted a Season 4 – in which case TNG and TMP would probably have never come to pass. Gary Lockwood also appeared on The Six Million Dollar Man about the same time, and he got a much better role and gave a much better performance. Paul Fix (Kelso) and Malachi Throne (Mendez and many others) appeared about the same time on the show, often together.

The pulsar shot is really great! Thank the real God it looks more like Apollo’s hand and not the Vulcan hand salute!

First message translated from dolphin to english:

“Dude, when IS that probe getting here, again?…. 300 years?! Give me a break….”