Sunday, May 20, 2012
Photographs of todays eclipse
Check out this link! I didn't get a chance to view the eclipse myself but it looks like some people caught a ton of awesome pictures!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Solar Eclipse, May 20th 2012
Just to give everyone in Eastern Asia and Western North America a heads up on the up and coming solar eclipse!
Unfortunately I love on the Eastern side of the USA and from the looks of the map I will just barely miss it... =(
Unfortunately I love on the Eastern side of the USA and from the looks of the map I will just barely miss it... =(
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Why even bother with space travel?
There's a reoccurring question that keeps popping up in pro-space travel videos and blogs. Why waste money on mining asteroids and space exploration when we can't even manage our own resources here on Earth?
Exploration is the root of human nature. Ever since the stone age we have seen the nearest horizon and felt the need to cross it. Whether it was the mountain ridge on the other side of the plains or the urge to see what is on the other side of the great seas, humans have always pushed exploration to the next level.
Could you imagine if Columbus had never braved the edge of the world and found the Americas? It's not a matter of managing the resources we currently have. It's a matter of pushing exploration to the next edge. It's a matter of breaking the bonds of our current technology. It's a matter of pushing the human ingenuity to its limits.
There are many reasons why we should pursue space travel and it's many resources. Resources, real estate, water. These are all things that we will eventually run out of here on earth but are in a near infinite supply in the starry heavens. All we have to do is reach up and take them.
Exploration is the root of human nature. Ever since the stone age we have seen the nearest horizon and felt the need to cross it. Whether it was the mountain ridge on the other side of the plains or the urge to see what is on the other side of the great seas, humans have always pushed exploration to the next level.
Could you imagine if Columbus had never braved the edge of the world and found the Americas? It's not a matter of managing the resources we currently have. It's a matter of pushing exploration to the next edge. It's a matter of breaking the bonds of our current technology. It's a matter of pushing the human ingenuity to its limits.
There are many reasons why we should pursue space travel and it's many resources. Resources, real estate, water. These are all things that we will eventually run out of here on earth but are in a near infinite supply in the starry heavens. All we have to do is reach up and take them.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Are we alone in the universe?
The age old question. Are there aliens out there, in the vast nothingness of space? Well apparently that is a very hard question to answer.
Back in 1950, a physicist named Enrico Fermi posed this question. If there are even a handful extraterrestrial civilizations the Milky Way galaxy that are capable of interstellar travel, where are they? Where is the evidence? No spacecrafts. No Space probes. Nothing...
The biggest problem that I see with this paradox is that the Universe is HUGE! Even our on galaxy is over 100,000 light years across. Now a distance that large is very hard to comprehend. Let's say that we send a a message via radio waves that are traveling at the speed of light towards the nearest star to our sun. It would take just over 4 years to get there. So if we shot a signal to the other side of the galaxy it would take over a little over 200,000 years to get there.
I believe that life is out there. Somewhere. Unfortunately, unless we can find a way to travel faster then the speed of light, the chances of us running into one of these civilizations are next to none.
Back in 1950, a physicist named Enrico Fermi posed this question. If there are even a handful extraterrestrial civilizations the Milky Way galaxy that are capable of interstellar travel, where are they? Where is the evidence? No spacecrafts. No Space probes. Nothing...
The biggest problem that I see with this paradox is that the Universe is HUGE! Even our on galaxy is over 100,000 light years across. Now a distance that large is very hard to comprehend. Let's say that we send a a message via radio waves that are traveling at the speed of light towards the nearest star to our sun. It would take just over 4 years to get there. So if we shot a signal to the other side of the galaxy it would take over a little over 200,000 years to get there.
I believe that life is out there. Somewhere. Unfortunately, unless we can find a way to travel faster then the speed of light, the chances of us running into one of these civilizations are next to none.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Scale of the Universe
Check this out!
This is AMAZING! I've never felt so small as I did when I was scrolling out to the distant reaches of the universe...
This is AMAZING! I've never felt so small as I did when I was scrolling out to the distant reaches of the universe...
Super Moon
In case you guys missed out on the super moon last night, check out these cool pictures that have been popping up all over the web!
This is the largest full moon of the year because the moon is at it's closest rotation, which only happens once per year!
This is the largest full moon of the year because the moon is at it's closest rotation, which only happens once per year!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Why do stars twinkle?
There are many speculations and children's tales about why stars twinkle. Space debris, planets moving in front of the star, I've even heard someone try and convince me that distant stars where constantly shrinking and expanding, thus the twinkle effect. The real science behind it all is called astronomical scintillation.
What is happening is really quite simple. When the light from stars travels through the earths atmosphere it has a little over 6,000 miles to travel. Now, our atmosphere isn't a constant temperature through out. There are pockets of hot and cold air scattered all over the place. When the light from distant stars reaches us it's a pinpoint of light that gets distorted rapidly before being seen by us. That's why planets and other objects (like satellites or the ISS) don't twinkle. Because they are reflecting enough light back at us that the pockets of air aren't strong enough to warp it.
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Mining Asteroids
Although it sounds like a theme for a science fiction movie, a group of billionaires and former NASA employees have announced the foundation of the first asteroid mining company. They claim to add trillions of dollars to the worlds GDP and to help ensure that the human race will survive.
This new venture could change space travel forever. One of the reasons that space exploration has come to a grinding halt is the huge cost that is associated with leaving the grasps of Earths gravity. You need to be traveling at a whopping 25,000 miles per hour (or 7 miles a second) to escape the clutches of our big blue marble. How do you get moving to that speed? Fuel. Rocket fuel to be exact. It takes about $10,000 USD to get a pound of anything into space.
How does mining asteroids reduce the cost of space travel you ask? Not only can the metals extracted from near earth asteroids be smelted and processed in space, but asteroids contain a surprising amount of frozen water. If the ice where to be melted and shipped off to a fueling station that is in orbit around the earth. This water can not only be used to sustain life on long missions but could even be converted into rocket fuel!
All in all, this sounds like an amazing venture and I for one can't wait to see where this company is going to take us!
For more information head over to their website.
This new venture could change space travel forever. One of the reasons that space exploration has come to a grinding halt is the huge cost that is associated with leaving the grasps of Earths gravity. You need to be traveling at a whopping 25,000 miles per hour (or 7 miles a second) to escape the clutches of our big blue marble. How do you get moving to that speed? Fuel. Rocket fuel to be exact. It takes about $10,000 USD to get a pound of anything into space.
How does mining asteroids reduce the cost of space travel you ask? Not only can the metals extracted from near earth asteroids be smelted and processed in space, but asteroids contain a surprising amount of frozen water. If the ice where to be melted and shipped off to a fueling station that is in orbit around the earth. This water can not only be used to sustain life on long missions but could even be converted into rocket fuel!
All in all, this sounds like an amazing venture and I for one can't wait to see where this company is going to take us!
For more information head over to their website.
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