VIDEO

Neuroscientist Jill Taylor describes her experience with a stroke.

VIDEO (TED|Talks via ZeFrank)

One of the few known oscillating chemical reactions, it can generally repeat itself about 10 times before ending as a dark blue liquid smelling of iodine. It’s called the Briggs-Rauscher reaction, named after the two high school science teachers who discovered it in the 70’s by building off a Russian scientist’s work from the 50’s.

VIDEO (YouTube via Wohba)
ARTICLE [Briggs-Rauscher reaction] (Wikipedia)

A reversed-polarity sunspot was detected today, marking solar minimum and the beginning of the 24th solar cycle (since humans first recorded the undulating pattern of solar intensity nearly 400 years ago).

Solar cycles appear to last on average about 11 years, taking a few years to rise and fall between the peaks and troughs of solar activity. The next solar maximum is expected around 2011 or 2012, just in time for the beginning of the 14th b’ak’tun cycle, as measured by the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. To add to the synchronicity, David Hathaway (and colleagues) of the Marshall Space Flight Center are predicting this upcoming cycle will be one of the most intense ever measured.

ARTICLE ["Sunspot is Harbinger of New Solar Cycle (...)"] (NOAA)
LINK/IMAGES [solar cycle 24 prediction] (NOAA)
ARTICLE ["Scientists Predict Big Solar Cycle"] (NASA)
IMAGE [graph of sunspot activity since 1870]
ARTICLE [solar cycle] (Wikipedia)

I’m currently sorting through gigabytes of solar satellite footage — sunspots, flares and filaments — with the hopes of rigging up a sort of VJ tool and audio visualizer using video of the sun. I should have a preliminary version ready for this year’s Southeast US regional Burn, Transformus. I posted a very short rendering test a ways back, and am posting now my proposal for an art grant I was awarded just last week, which briefly outlines my ideas for the project.

VIDEO [rendering test using lunar transit footage]
LINK [grant proposal, "Flirting with Blindness"]

Most of my video so far has come from the STEREO and TRACE archives — if anyone knows any other good sources I’m all eyes, and would be more than grateful.

This entry was cross-posted at Space Collective.

Previously: Flirting with Blindness Redux, First 3D Images from STEREO

If it works, the HTV-3X will be the first reusable scramjet-powered plane. It will be able to take off from a runway, fly at speeds of up to Mach 6, land safely, and then do it again.

Scramjets, and even the HTV-3X, are not new news — but this rendering featured recently in Popular Science is straight creamy delicious.

ARTICLE ["The Hypersonic Age is Near"] (Popular Science)

artwork credit: Matt Furie

Synopsis: it’s hard. And the recent article that circulated about confidential NASA sex studies on the space shuttles? Definitely a hoax.

That said, sex in space is important to think about (not to mention fun) — put a bunch of humans on a tiny ship on a 6 month trip to Mars and, you can imagine. Astronauts need to do it like anyone else, especially if the mission counts on their mental and physical well-being. Some things to consider:

Sex in space would likely be “hotter and wetter” than on Earth, [Vanna Bonta, writer] said, because in zero-G there is no natural convection to carry away body heat. Also, scientists have found that people tend to perspire more in microgravity. The moisture associated with sexual congress could pool as floating droplets.

The physics of zero-G make the mechanics of sex more complicated. Bonta said it was challenging even to kiss her husband during a zero-G simulation flight they took recently. “You actually have to struggle to connect and stay connected,” she recalled. Partners would have to be anchored to the wall and/or to each other. To address that need, Bonta has come up with her own design for garments equipped with strategically placed Velcro strips and zippers.

Although zero-G could be a boon for saggy body parts, Bonta said males might notice a “slight decrease” in penis size due to the lower blood pressure that humans experience in microgravity.

Romantics will also need to guard against the type of motion sickness that space travelers often encounter, especially if they get too adventurous right off. “Save the acrobatics for post-play vs. foreplay,” Bonta advised.

(MSNBC)

What’s more, we don’t know if traditional mammalian conception is even possible in zero-G, though I imagine the first carnal explorers will find this of little relevance.

ARTICLE/VIDEO ["Outer-space sex carries complications"] (MSNBC)
ARTICLE ["Sex in Space: Imagine the Possibilities"] (Space.com)
ARTICLE ["The Uncomfortable Reality of Sex in Space"] (Regina Lynn, Wired)

This is my first post written in response to votes from Skribit. “Sex in Space” left the other suggestions behind in the polls for dead, go figure. Thanks for your ideas so far, keep them coming!

There’s a high-res version of the above collage that makes the detail in the bottom-most view of Europa really stunning. Images recently reprocessed by Ted Stryk from original Galileo telemetry.

IMAGE [full res] (via APOD)
ARTICLE [Europa] (Wikipedia)

Where forward thinking terrestrials share ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe, living the lives of science fiction.

Not really sure what this is all about but it looks interesting. Maybe a kind of future-minded think tank slash social network? Definitely a good job done on promoting the website/community, or at least sparking interest. You can apply for access at their website.

LINK/VIDEO [SpaceCollective preview]

Nevermind that the fork and spoon are balanced perfectly so as to be their own counterbalance. Watch how the flame extinguishes at the fulcrum, and how the ash curls away from the center of gravity. An easy experiment to try while cleaning up the kitchen after Thanksgiving.

VIDEO (YouTube)

Update: OK, so it might only be that there isn’t enough surface area exposed on the toothpick at the lip of the glass to sustain the flame. A cool experiment nonetheless.

VIDEO (via Everyone Forever)