An Engineer's Aspect II - A Visual Companion

dereinzigeweg: Cross section of Kufu’s pyramid

Sun, 26 May 2013 03:00:46 -0500

dereinzigeweg:

Cross section of Kufu’s pyramid

alwaysinsearchoflight: “Give me a lever long enough and a...

Sat, 25 May 2013 21:01:17 -0500

alwaysinsearchoflight:

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”—Archimedes

MEAN PSYCHOLOGY (A STATISTICS CARTOON) - CARTOON...

Sat, 25 May 2013 20:15:39 -0500

MEAN PSYCHOLOGY (A STATISTICS CARTOON) - CARTOON THURSDAY

It’s hard to be mu.

"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."

Sat, 25 May 2013 18:01:20 -0500

“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”

- Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

phampants: The Strange Beauty of Airports Photographed From...

Sat, 25 May 2013 15:02:07 -0500

phampants:

The Strange Beauty of Airports Photographed From Above by Jeffrey Milstein

Photo

Sat, 25 May 2013 12:01:22 -0500

repetitivestress: It is with great disappointment that I report...

Sat, 25 May 2013 09:00:52 -0500

repetitivestress:

It is with great disappointment that I report that you can’t actually get indefinite amounts of chocolate out of a single bar.

earthandanimals: Lightning over Volcano

Sat, 25 May 2013 06:00:38 -0500

earthandanimals:

Lightning over Volcano

distant-traveller: Remaining Martian atmosphere still...

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:00:46 -0500

distant-traveller:

Remaining Martian atmosphere still dynamic

Mars has lost much of its original atmosphere, but what’s left remains quite active, recent findings from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity indicate. Rover team members reported diverse findings today at the European Geosciences Union 2013 General Assembly, in Vienna.

Evidence has strengthened this month that Mars lost much of its original atmosphere by a process of gas escaping from the top of the atmosphere.

Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument analyzed an atmosphere sample last week using a process that concentrates selected gases. The results provided the most precise measurements ever made of isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere. Isotopes are variants of the same element with different atomic weights.

SAM found that the Martian atmosphere has about four times as much of a lighter stable isotope (argon-36) compared to a heavier one (argon-38). The ratio is much lower than the solar system’s original ratio, as estimated from argon-isotope measurements of the sun and Jupiter. This points to a process at Mars that favored preferential loss of the lighter isotope over the heavier one.

While daily air temperature has climbed steadily since the measurements began eight months ago and is not strongly tied to the rover’s location, humidity has differed significantly at different places along the rover’s route. These are the first systematic measurements of humidity on Mars.

Dust distributed by the wind has been examined by Curiosity’s laser-firing Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. Initial laser pulses on each target hit dust. The laser’s energy removes the dust to expose underlying material, but those initial pulses also provide information about the dust.

“We knew that Mars is red because of iron oxides in the dust,” said ChemCam Deputy Principal Investigator Sylvestre Maurice of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie in Toulouse, France. “ChemCam reveals a complex chemical composition of the dust that includes hydrogen, which could be in the form of hydroxyl groups or water molecules.”

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

xplanes: the jaw-dropping art of Christophe GIBELIN “SNCASO...

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:00:52 -0500

http://christophe.gibelin.free.fr/indexhibit/index.php?/illustration/fana-de-laviation

http://christophe.gibelin.free.fr/indexhibit/index.php?/illustration/fana-de-laviation

xplanes:

the jaw-dropping art of Christophe GIBELIN

“SNCASO DEVER, Fana de l’Aviation n°437 Avril 2009, Aéro Artbook Editions Paquet 2009”

geometrydaily: #391 Constructing another golden ratio – A new...

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:01:05 -0500

geometrydaily:

#391 Constructing another golden ratio – A new minimal geometric composition each day

christinetheastrophysicist: On the origins of the Schrodinger...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:02:09 -0500

christinetheastrophysicist:

On the origins of the Schrodinger equation

One of the cornerstones of quantum physics is the Schrödinger equation, which describes what a system of quantum objects such as atoms and subatomic particles will do in the future based on its current state. The classical analogies are Newton’s second law and Hamiltonian mechanics, which predict what a classical system will do in the future given its current configuration. Although the Schrödinger equation was published in 1926, the authors of a new study explain that the equation’s origins are still not fully appreciated by many physicists.

Read More.

fromtheotherhorizon: thebaytabox: enjoying this alongside my...

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:01:21 -0500

fromtheotherhorizon:

thebaytabox:

enjoying this alongside my homework tonight.

100 Greatest Discoveries - Physics

hosted by Bill Nye (the science guy)

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS.EVER.

droppingthephysics: Because liquids and gases in the stomach do...

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:01:03 -0500

droppingthephysics:

Because liquids and gases in the stomach do not separate adequately away from the presence of gravitation, astronauts are incapable of burping in space. This makes carbonated sodas difficult to drink in micro-gravity.

classroomcartoonist: Gotta test them all.

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00:48 -0500

classroomcartoonist:

Gotta test them all.

discoverynews: Up Close and Personal With Titan’s Haze This is...

Fri, 24 May 2013 03:00:57 -0500

discoverynews:

Up Close and Personal With Titan’s Haze

This is an approximate true color image of Titan’s haze layers, taken by Cassini’s Imaging Science Subsystem during Cassini’s 91st encounter with Titan on April 5, 2013.

Image: NASA / JPL / SSI / composite by Val Klavans

Titan’s upper haze layers appear blue, while its main atmospheric haze appear orange in this view. The difference in color is most likely due to particle size rather than composition. The blue haze probably consists of smaller particles than the orange haze.

Stunning view.

electricspacekoolaid: Black Hole Snacks on ‘Super Jupiter’...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:00:56 -0500

electricspacekoolaid:

Black Hole Snacks on ‘Super Jupiter’ Planet

Image: The black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 4845 is seen snacking on a giant gas planet or “failed star” in this screenshot from an ESA animation.

In a cosmic first, astronomers have discovered a black hole chowing down on what may be a giant rogue planet.

The supermassive black hole didn’t finish off its meal, which scientists say was either a huge Jupiter-like planet wandering freely through space or a brown dwarf, a strange object that’s larger than a planet yet still too small to trigger the internal fusion reactions required to become a full-fledged star.

“This is the first time where we have seen the disruption of a substellar object by a black hole,” study co-author Roland Walter, of the Observatory of Geneva in Switzerland, said in a statement. “We estimate that only its external layers were eaten by the black hole, amounting to about 10 percent of the object’s total mass, and that a denser core has been left orbiting the black hole.”

By studying the flare’s properties, the team determined that the emission likely resulted when NGC 4845’s central black hole — which is as massive as 300,000 suns — fed on an object with a mass between 14 and 30 times that of Jupiter.

That mass range corresponds to a brown dwarf, also known as a failed star. But it’s also possible that the unfortunate object is quite a bit smaller, with a mass just a few times that of Jupiter, researchers said.

Articles

natureofnature: Confocal micrograph showing the expression of...

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:01:29 -0500

natureofnature:

Confocal micrograph showing the expression of different fluorescent proteins in the stem of a thale cress seedling (Arabidopsis thaliana).

n-a-s-a: Space Station Lookout Image Credit & Copyright:...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:02:07 -0500

n-a-s-a:

Space Station Lookout

Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Hadfield (CSA)

My shot at ‘500 Miles High’ on alto sax. Played...

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:51:35 -0500

My shot at ‘500 Miles High’ on alto sax. Played with Gary Burton Trio for Gary Burton’s Jazz Improvisation Class