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SciencePhysics & ChemistryHow Long Would It Take to Fall Through The Earth?
You might not want to check this out for yourself, but do you know how long it would take for a person to fall through the Earth? Around 42 minutes. That’s according to MinutePhysics, which uploaded a video to YouTube in response to a recent collaboration between the science channel and Vsauce on the effects … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidWhat Would Happen to Our Solar System If Jupiter Didn’t Exist?
Our solar system is weird. Not only because we’re unique little snowflakes on a blue marble called Earth but because other stars usually have their giant ass planets (i.e. their Jupiter) orbiting them at a much closer distance. This is really common in other systems! Our Jupiter, however, doesn’t work like that. Why? Life Noggin … Continued
By Casey Chan -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightSaturn’s Moon Titan Is Looking Even More Earth-Like
The Cassini mission is sending us better and better data and images of just what’s happening on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. And it’s beginning to look awfully familiar… The latest data NASA researchers have been pouring over shows new details about the strange lakes and seas that trickle across Saturn’s frigid moon, Titan. … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech NewsSploidHow Many People Can the Earth Actually Hold?
There’s over 7 billion people on this planet of ours and some estimates peg the population to reach 10 billion by the end of the century. Given that there’s only a certain amount of land on Earth, is there a maximum amount of humans that our blue marble can support? Sort of! And that limit … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsSploidNasa’s 4K Earth Porn Montage Is Basically Perfect if You Are High
Queue up that 2001 soundtrack, baby! Following up on the incredible Aurora Borealis and Australis footage that Nasa posted a few days ago, we can now marvel at crystal clear 4K footage of our home sweet home, covered in white clouds and blue sky. Now that Nasa and the astronauts on the ISS are shooting … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightA Nightmarish Timeline of What Would Happen to the Earth After a Massive Solar Flare
At first, things could actually be rather beautiful: worldwide auroras! A brighter sun! But then things would rapidly get ugly, with the breakdown of communications, rolling power outages, and a burning away of the ozone. We see solar flares all the time on our sun. There’s nothing unusual about them, or the lovely auroras that … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9The Vernal Equinox Isn’t What You Think It is
Tomorrow is the vernal equinox! You might think that it’s simply the mid-point between each solstice, but that’s not exactly correct. Joe Hanson, host of It’s Okay to be Smart, explains. The equinoxes aren’t in the middle of the solstices, and it doesn’t mean that day and night are exactly equal. It’s the point in … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWorking Lego Model of the Earth, Moon, and Sun Is Remarkably 97 Percent Accurate
Few Lego builders are as masterful at combining model-making and engineering as Jason Allemann of JK Brickworks. His latest creation, a miniature Lego Orrery depicting the moon orbiting the Earth, and both of them orbiting the sun, not only works, it’s also 97 percent accurate. Because Allemann was limited to the gears and other components … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Savor the Snow from Far, Far Away
It’s hard to remember the beauty of winter when constantly shovelling walkways, scraping ice off cars, and tromping through freezing slush. That’s why it’s nice to get a view from above, far away from the chilly realities of the season. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took this photo from the International Space Station, before an epic … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidSeeing One Day Pass on Earth from Space Is Beyond Stunning
This is what one day looks like on Earth from space. The footage condenses 24 hours of imagery from Japan’s Himawari-8 satellite into 12 seconds and shows us how the our beautiful blue marble peels itself from the darkness in unbelievable detail. The reveal of Earth is just beyond words. No planet is as beautiful … Continued
By Casey Chan -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Sink Into the Beauty of This Frozen Mountain Lake
Our planet can be too beautiful to be plausible some days. This frozen lake in the Himalayas is shockingly deep blue set against the slightly-oxidized rusty landscape. And it’s completely real, photographed from the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly photographed this patch of the Himalayan mountains, posting it on January 9, 2015. Top … Continued
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Tech News
Commander Scott Kelly Has The Best View Of This Weekend’s Blizzard
The crew onboard the International Space Station has the absolute best view of Winter Storm Jonas this weekend. Commander Scott Kelly snapped a couple of pictures as they passed overhead, showing off the sheer size of the storm. These are some incredible images, looking over the east coast and the midwest. It’s a massive one, … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
These Are Our Favorite Earth Images of 2015
With astronauts becoming bonafide Instagram celebrities and new high-tech satellites blasting into orbit, it was a tremendous year for planetary imagery. From the Bahamas to the Sahara to the far side of the Moon, our Blue Marble never ceased to dazzle us. There was too much great Earth art this year to include it all, … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Temperatures Rose Above Freezing at the North Pole Today
It isn’t just the US that’s getting walloped with bizarre weather. This week, temperatures around the North Pole were fifty degrees higher than usual for December—and today, they rose above the freezing point. That’s right: In the middle of what’s supposed to be winter, the NORTH POLE was registering temperatures you’d expect to feel in … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Bizarre, Deadly Weather Is Sweeping the Country
Is it the Godzilla El Niño or harbinger of a future hell? Weird, deadly weather has been sweeping the country for the past week, from tornadoes and blizzards in the Southwest, to historic flooding in the corn belt. If one thing’s certain, it’s that the hottest, climatically wackiest year on record is going out with … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsSploid
What an Earthrise Looks Like from the Surface of the Moon
Wow. A million wows, really. Here’s a truly spectacular image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that shows Earth in all its glory from the perspective of being on the surface of the Moon. It’s an Earthrise and it’s just gorgeous and amazing to be able to “see” it. The image was “composed from a series … Continued
By Casey Chan -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThe Earth Looks Beautiful from the Moon
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter really outdid itself with this amazing shot of the Earth over the rocky limb of the Moon. While complicated to capture, we think it was worth every moment. This gorgeous image of the Earth was taken on October 12, 2015 as the LRO spacecraft soared nearly 22 miles over the edge … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
This Is How the Ocean Makes Earth Livable
Seventy percent of Earth’s surface is ocean, and without it, the other 30 percent would barely be inhabitable. The ocean absorbs and distributes heat around the globe, and it acts as a planet-sized CO2 scrubber, saving us all from a runaway greenhouse effect like the one that turned Venus into a hell-world. But the ocean, … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Japanese Spacecraft Reveals Our Home is a Lonely Outpost in the Darkness
Our home planet and its moon are but specks against the vast blackness of space in this image from the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2. The robotic explorer is currently flying past the Earth to redirect its trajectory into the main asteroid belt. The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft launched in December 2014, and is currently approaching the … Continued