Fred Langa: January 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

You just don't want to piss off some customers.

Full story:

http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/

Helioviewer - Solar and heliospheric image visualization tool

via helioviewer.org

Pick any day, zoom in and out...

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Colorful-Aurora-Borealis-in-Finland | Flickr

via flickr.com

Like Space? Got an extra $75K?

via Jay Poole

Friday, January 27, 2012

Russian Soyuz grounded again, SpaceX Dragon may be next to ISS | DVICE

via dvice.com

Plus, SpaceX has just posted an interior 360-degree panorama inside the Dragon capsule.

http://www.spacex.com/panorama/index.html

DARPA Funding a $50 F-Bomb. No, really! (It's a disposable computer.)

"At the Shmoocon security conference, researcher Brendan O'Connor plans to present the F-BOMB, or Falling or Ballistically-launched Object that Makes Backdoors. Built from just the disassembled hardware in a commercially-available PogoPlug mini-computer, a few tiny antennae, eight gigabytes of flash memory and some 3D-printed plastic casing, the F-BOMB serves as 3.5"-by-4"-by-1" spy computer."

More: it.slashdot.org

50 Great Russian Rocket Launch Photos

Russian Cargo Ship Dazzles in Launch to Space StationCredit: Russian Federal Space AgencyA dazzling view of the Oct. 14, 2009 (Eastern Time) launch of the Progress 35 cargo ship to the International Space Station was provided live via the Russian Federal Space Agency.

via space.com

Spectacularly clear air lets you see the effects of decreasing atmospheric pressure as this rockets ascends to very high altitude.

Political Cartoon from Tom Toles

via washingtonpost.com

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Doing great! Doing great! Doing great!...

Is anyone really surprised?

Those who bay loudest about local control and rugged individualism are actually the biggest beneficiaries of Big Government.

Interesting series of Light Paintings from American photographer Brice Bischoff, taken at the Bronson Caves, Los Angeles.

via bloodyloud.com

http://www.bloodyloud.com/bronson-caves-light-paintings-brice-bischoff/

How to respond to a literary critic

In 1791, riled by a recent review that criticised a supposed abundance of "obscure language" and "imperfect grammar" in his poetry, celebrated Scottish poet Robert Burns channelled his anger and wrote the following magnificent letter to the critic responsible.

It really is a thing of beauty.

Click through to read the letter.

via lettersofnote.com

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/thou-eunuch-of-language.html

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

World's longest experiment now on webcam (still going slowly, since 1927) | DVICE

via dvice.com

http://dvice.com/archives/2012/01/worlds-longest-1.php

Article:http://www.sciencenewsblog.com/blog/12520121

"You can see an amazing huge 8000x8000 pixel version of the Blue Marble image on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6760135001/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Click on the link "original" on the top right of the page to see the giant image."

The Oldest Living Things in the World by Rachel Sussman

via laughingsquid.com

underground forest #0707-10333 (up to 13,000 years old; pretoria, south africa

More: http://laughingsquid.com/the-oldest-living-things-in-the-world-by-rachel-suss...

this isn't happiness™ (Instructions: 1. Stare at the red dot on the...)

via thisisnthappiness.com

Instructions:
1. Stare at the red dot on the girl’s nose for 30 seconds.
2. Turn your eyes to a plain surface (your ceiling or blank wall).
3. Blink repeatedly and quickly.

Obama Risks Alienating Republicans By Using Facts

"Mr. Obama stirred controversy throughout the speech with his relentless references to facts, data, and things that have actually happened, all long considered the third rail of American politics."

more: borowitzreport.com

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx's feather color determined

"If Archaeopteryx was flapping or gliding, the presence of melanosomes [pigment-producing parts of a cell] would have given the feathers additional structural support," said Ryan Carney, an evolutionary biologist at Brown and the paper's lead author. "This would have been advantageous during this early evolutionary stage of dinosaur flight."

via physorg.com

Sustainably ahead of the unsustainable sustainability index.

via xkcd.com

Monday, January 23, 2012

PhotoBlog - Auroras spark awe across the north

via photoblog.msnbc.msn.com

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10217788-auroras-spark-awe-ac...

Borowitz Report: Concerned White House Aides Say Obama Has Not Stopped Laughing Since Saturday Night

The aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they heard “unusual howls” coming from the Oval Office just after the seven o’clock hour on Saturday evening, causing them to rush to the President to ascertain the cause of the uproar.

“It was weird,” one aide said. “He was just watching cable news.”

via borowitzreport.com

More: http://www.borowitzreport.com/

Two Faces of Titan's Dunes - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

via jpl.nasa.gov

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm

The Funky Craters of Mars

via astroengine.com

http://www.astroengine.com/2011/12/the-funky-craters-of-mars/

Good hair turns out to be a poor science educator : Pharyngula

"The requirements to be a TV weather presenter are fairly slack: an undergraduate degree with some training in meteorology is preferred, but not required, and the main skills seem to be looking presentable with nice hair, being able to dance with a green screen, and being glib and cheerful. So I guess it's not surprising that the "scientists" leading the charge against global warming are climate-denier TV weathermen. That link takes you to a long list of quotes from various television weather personalities — including a couple from Minneapolis — who all deny reality and use their position as frontmen pretending to be scientists to delude the public. Take a look and see if your local television station has a conspiracy nut doing the weather."

via scienceblogs.com

Friday, January 20, 2012

Top THAT, AARP!

A Tribute to Artists In The Form of Decorated Sandwiches

via laughingsquid.com

Thursday, January 19, 2012

iPad gains cunieform font!

Canadian customers get lumps of clay instead of iPads

via tuaw.com

live video, 15 min to Delta 4 rocket launching the WGS 4 military communications satellite.

via spaceflightnow.com

In honor of Newt’s very bad day

In case you haven’t heard, he’s about to have one. Seemed an appropriate moment to repost a cartoon from 1995:

Click to engorge.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 11:31 AM | link

via thismodernworld.com

Blogger sneaks into missile factory near Moscow - NY Daily News

via nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogger-sneaks-missile-factory-moscow-gallery-1.10...

Three reasons.

Coming soon, next October!

via laughingsquid.com

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Milky Way and Storms over Africa [video] | ISS

via flickr.com

What are SOPA and PIPA?

What are SOPA and PIPA?

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT-IP Act) are very similar pieces of legislation that both want to kill off illegal file sharing and music downloading. While the intention is good, the way they go about doing it is extremely dangerous and can be easily abused.

good overview here: twitpic.com

We'll all be relieved.

Palettes of Famous Painters | Retronaut

via retronaut.co

above: Paul Gauguin's.

More: http://www.retronaut.co/2011/01/pallettes-of-famous-painters/

What the SOPA blackout really looks like | Poynter.

via poynter.org

Leaders of tomorrow. Sigh.

via laughingsquid.com

A fiction blackout would hurt more.

https://twitter.com/#!/BorowitzReport/

A Costa Concordia view you aven't seen before --- from space.

via bbc.co.uk

BBC News - Costa Concordia: Satellite image

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WTFWiFi: collection of unusual wifi ssids

via wtfwifi.com

http://wtfwifi.com/

Borowitz: Romney Under Pressure to Prove He Was Manufactured in US

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (The Borowitz Report) – Controversy swirled at the Republican debate in South Carolina last night as Mitt Romney’s rivals pressured the GOP frontrunner to prove that he was manufactured in the United States.

The other candidates for the Republican nomination repeatedly pounded the former Massachusetts governor on the issue throughout the night, demanding that he produce a label proving that he was made in the U.S.A.

full text: borowitzreport.com

Recyclable, too!

via thedoghousediaries.com

Underwater Photography - Barbara Cole | Bloodyloud!

via bloodyloud.com

Monday, January 16, 2012

Finally, a style magazine for me!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

When art and science blend

via s3.amazonaws.com

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/picture-of-the-day/

http://radars.uit.no/sousy/

(Image: Vincent Fournier)

Details: Russian space probe crashes into Pacific

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's Defense Ministry says a failed probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars has crashed, showering debris over the southern Pacific, according to news reports.

The ministry said the fragments fell Sunday 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) west of Wellington Island.

more:hosted.ap.org

Phobos-Grunt is down

Early reports say "Pacific," not Atlantic.

John Steinbeck on Falling in Love: A 1958 Letter | Brain Pickings

12 JANUARY, 2012
John Steinbeck on Falling in Love: A 1958 Letter

“If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”

full letter text: brainpickings.org

LIVE: Phobos-Grunt now in likely final orbit

Likely impact: Atlantic Ocean, off the shoulder of South Ameruca.

via forum.nasaspaceflight.com

too stupid for words

An unbelievable Phiadelphia Inquirer sports column that starts with the anti-Tebow backlash (which Tebow entirely brought on himself with his aggressive religious grandstanding) and ends with 9/11 and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
This. Is. Insane.
Who hired this moron?
http://articles.philly.com/2012-01-13/news/30624129_1_tim-tebow-christianity-...

Gone viral this AM: Neil deGrasse Tyson on intelligent design

via youtube.com

phobos-grunt +/- 3 orbits away from final decay. Live coverage links.

Reentry +/- 12-1PM EST

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27593.0 (skip to last msg for latest)

http://www.spaceflight101.com/phobos-grunt-re-entry-information.html

Odd "related search" result for Phobos-Grunt

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Think Steve Jobs was a hero? Bill Gates has saved 5.8M human lives.

Microsoft co-founder saves 5.8M lives

"...an awesome infographic details the impact that Bill Gates’ philanthropic efforts have had on the world.... The infographic estimates that Gates — through donations to global health causes — has saved an estimated 5.8 million lives."

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/bill-gates-modernday-batman-microsoft-cofounder-...

LIVE, MOVING-MAP, REAL-TIME SATELLITE TRACKING: PHOBOS-GRUNT

via n2yo.com

Doomed Russian probe tracked in its final hours - splashdown estimates change

via msnbc.msn.com

"...the 14-ton spacecraft filled with fuel is expected to fall on Sunday and may crash in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile.

"Russian space officials pegged the potential crash time as occurring at about 4:51 p.m. ET Sunday, although major uncertainties still remain. There is a chance the spacecraft could fall earlier in the day, or on Monday."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45998627/ns/technology_and_science-space/?ocid=tw...