KenMankoff

Water Balloon at 7000 fps

Expedia's April Fool's Joke…..

The day we can actually purchase a ticket to Mars would be awesome!

http://www.expedia.com/daily/mars/flights-to-mars/?mcicid=Mars_us

Scientists worldwide admit global warming is a hoax

In an unprecedented move Wednesday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee rescinded the Peace Prize it awarded in 2007 to former US vice president Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, amid overwhelming evidence that global warming is an elaborate hoax cooked up by Mr. Gore.

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Mapping the big melt

Since the mid-1970s, glaciers have been melting faster than any other point in geologic history. James Balog, National Geographic Society photographer, has visited many of the world’s most stunning glaciers, and has documented their unnaturally rapid retreat as a result of global climate change. Thanks to James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey, you can go to what was once the highest ski resort in the world, Chacaltaya Glacier in Bolivia, at 17,200 ft; this thousand year old glacier has all but disappeared in the past 68 years. Or visit Colombia Glacier in Alaska, which has lost the amount of ice equivalent to the height of the Empire State Building. Watch time-lapse photography of many glaciers’ movements around the globe, from Alaska to Greenland to Switzerland.

Through books, films, TV shows, and now through Google Earth, efforts are being made to illustrate what is going on with the world’s most remote and inaccessible glaciers. “I think science and art both have something to say to the public about what’s going on. And that’s what motivates me. I think with these tools we have a mechanism for telling the truth and bringing the evidence to the public,” said James. 

Mars500 diary: Preparing for Mars

Just over a week from now, a crew of six will embark on a simulated mission to Mars. On 31 March, when they enter a special isolation facility in Moscow, the hatch will close behind them, only to be opened 105 days later. The two European participants will share their experience through a regular diary on the ESA website.

Little Red Riding Hood, the Animated Infographic Story

Tomas Nilsson, a graphic design student from Linköping University, tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood with animated infographics. The video (below) was inspired by Röyksopp’s Remind Me and has that ever so familiar European electronica music moving things along. Covering topics from grandma’s nutritional value to the aerodynamics of the traveling bus, the video is very tongue in cheek and totally worth the three minutes of your life.

[Thanks, Jesse]

STS-119 Bat-ronaut

Prior to Discovery’s launch yesterday, a fruit bat was noticed clinging to the external tank (ET).

We were hoping the bat would fly away at some point throughout the countdown, however it never flew away. Infrared imagery shows the bat was alive and not frozen (the surface of the ET foam was between 58-70 degrees F where the bat was located). Liftoff imagery analysis confirmed that the bat held on until the vehicle cleared the tower before it became out of sight.

The Sound Advice Project: Speech Messages as Bracelets

The Sound Advice Project [thesoundadviceproject.com] converts voice recordings into sound waves that are then rendered into wearable bracelets. The ultimate aim of this project is to remind children of the dangers of drugs, by rendering the advising words of parents’ into physical form which then accompanies them at all times. Parents can choose the bead and cord colors and purchase the custom bracelet for $18

Thnkx Amb and Rebecca. Via Boing Boing Gadgets.

Simple solutions to complex problems

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Scott’s Terra Nova hut has been under threat from the buildup of snow and ice pressing against it. The building was slowly being engulfed by a mini glacier forming behind it.

The Terra Nova hut © Antarctic Heritage Trust

Using shovels and wheel barrows the Trust’s staff would spend up to a week each summer removing a hundred or more cubic metres of snow. This process was unsustainable and each year the buildup of ice would increase.

With the best intent the Antarctic Heritage Trust was losing the battle with Mother Nature. A simple solution to this complex problem was urgently required.

After consulting with international experts it was decided to use the energy sources provided by nature to resolve the problems created by nature.

The first solution was to increase the rate of ice melt each summer by spreading scoria, dark coloured volcanic gravel on the ice. Snow reflects the solar radiation so it minimises the amount of ice that melts. On the other hand, scoria absorbs solar radiation so it increases the surface temperature of the ice and makes more of it melt. The same thing happens if you put a white object and black object in the sun and then feel the temperature difference between the two – the black one will be warmer because it has absorbed more solar radiation.

Scoria outside the Terra Nova hut © Antarctic Heritage Trust

The second solution was to create a turbulent air flow to reduce the snow build up behind the hut. This was achieved with the use of vortex generators, aluminum triangles that are free to rotate and point into the wind at an angle of 15 degrees. The turbulence or vortexes created by these structures as the wind passes across them erodes the snow collecting behind the hut.

The vortex generators © Antarctic Heritage Trust

As I write this blog the ice is slowly melting in the 24 hour sunshine and the wind is eroding the snow.

The Terra Nova hut with the generators © Antarctic Heritage Trust

A great outcome!

the awesome book

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from illustrator and kid’s book author Dallas Clayton