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Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:12:43 -0700

Why sleep? UCLA scientist delves into one of science's great mysteries.
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/why-sleep-98748.aspx

Why flamingoes stand on one leg.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8197000/8197932.stm

Coolest penguin pic ever.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1250764162/html/1.stm

Coolest bunny pic ever.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1250768496/html/1.stm

Shifting the world to 100 percent clean, renewable energy as early as 2030 -- here are the numbers
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/su-stw101909.php#

http://www.eanet.com/kodama/astro/1999/0911a/mosaic-c.jpg

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:07:44 -0700

This photo is a mosaic assembled from 19 of 25 frames taken on a single evening on September 11-12, 1999. A September evening was chosen for this mosaic so that the summer Milky Way could be captured in the early evening and as much of the fall and winter portions of the Milky Way could be photographed as well later in the night.

Can anybody help me? I need to know the name of a song. It's about a little star that twinkles.......
i don't think I'm the only one wondering.

Fron TWAN, click on for larger image

Squirrels Complete Insane Obstacle Course - Video

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:07:07 -0700

Squirrel Completes Insane Obstacle Course
plus a bonus trick at the end

http://www.lyzard.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/potrait.jpg

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:05:17 -0700

http://www.lyzard.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/26_podborka_11.jpg

http://www.lyzard.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/26_podborka_19.jpg

http://www.lyzard.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/26_podborka_12.jpg

http://www.lyzard.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/26_podborka_39.jpg

Diving White Tiger

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:02:42 -0700

Amazing slideshow of white tigers diving and swimming underwater.

Click Here http://www.flickr.com/photos/84287798@N00/sets/72157608490304365/show/

Nice shot

http://starspirit.stumbleupon.com/review/28984302/

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:59:11 -0700

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/3148341396_02d3a09468_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2267/2225360314_2c518008ab_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/3150761191_206266337f_b.jpg

http://img1.eyefetch.com/p/lv/525005-87986d87-3423-4e57-9211-0ebbf98b6bddl.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2109173385_2646a70136_o.jpg

World First WIMP Detector: Searching for Dark Matter | Universe Today

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:53:55 -0700

From the page: "How do you catch a WIMP? No, I'm not talking about bullying the weakest kid in class, I'm talking about Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (those WIMPs). Well, it isn't easy. Although they are "massive" by definition, they do not interact with the electromagnetic force (via photons) so they cannot be "seen" and they do not interact with the strong nuclear force, so they cannot be "felt" by atomic nuclei.

If we cannot detect WIMPs via these two forces, how can we possibly ever hope to detect them? After all, WIMPs are theorized to be flying through the Earth without hitting anything, they are that weakly interacting. But sometimes, they might collide with atomic nuclei but only if they collide head-on.

This is a very rare occurrence, but the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector will be buried 4,800 feet (1,463 meters, or nearly a mile) underground in an old South Dakota goldmine and scientists are hopeful that when an unlucky WIMP bumps into a xenon atom, a flash of light will be captured, signifying the first ever observation of dark matter..."

Here's a great site http://www.astroengine.com
So many physics research papers and news items are released every day to the public domain, but many don't get noticed, especially if they originate from a small institution or individual. It is the purpose of astroENGINE to find interesting papers, letters, proceedings or online articles of interest and discuss them in an informal, yet informed, crisp blog format.

Humans kill 1pc of animal species yearly: report - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:50:43 -0700

From the page: "A new scientific report says humans are eliminating about 1 per cent of all animal species each year.

The census of wildlife says that more than one in four species have disappeared in the past 35 years.
Pollution, the expansion of farming and cities, and over-hunting are said to have caused the most rapid decline since the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Colin Butfield from the British arm of environmental organisation WWF said the new data has to be taken seriously.

"It's an absolutely alarming statistic, especially when you consider the rising awareness in environmental problems at the moment that we're still seeing substantial declines in every major part of the world, every major ecosystem in the world," he said. "

Wildlife populations 'plummeting'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7403989.stm

Biodiversity loss costs six percent of world income
http://www.physorg.com/news130270551.html

10 Easy things you can do at home to protect endangered species
https://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_custom&cause_id=1704&page=tensteps

Primates 'face extinction crisis'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7541192.stm

APOD: 2007 December 22 - Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:47:40 -0700

The December Solstice marks the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the south. When viewed from northern latitudes, the Sun will make its lowest arc through the sky along the southern horizon. So in the north, the Solstice day has the shortest length of time between sunrise and sunset and fewest hours of daylight. This striking composite image follows the Sun's path through the December Solstice day of 2005 in a beautiful blue sky, looking down the Tyrrhenian Sea coast from Santa Severa toward Fiumicino, Italy. The view covers about 115 degrees in 43 separate, well-planned exposures from sunrise to sunset.

an amazing "untethered space walk" image
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0709/freeflyer_nasa_big.jpg

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070918.html [nasa.gov]
Volcano Tungurahua erupted spectacularly last year. Pictured above, molten rock so hot it glows visibly pours down the sides of the 5,000-meter high Tungurahua, while a cloud of dark ash is seen being ejected toward the left. Wispy white clouds flow around the lava-lit peak, while a star-lit sky shines in the distance. The above image was captured last year as ash fell around the adventurous photographer. Located in Ecuador, Tungurahua has become active roughly every 90 years since for the last 1,300 years. Volcano Tungurahua has started erupting again this year and continues erupting at a lower lever even today.

http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/333708.JPG

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051002.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070922.html

beautiful aurora
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0711/aurora_mcvay.jpg [nasa.gov]

Roundest objects in the world created - tech - 01 July 2008 - New Scientist

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:31:20 -0700

From the page: "When asked by the Pope to demonstrate his artistic skill, 14th century Italian painter Giotto di Bondone supposedly drew a perfect circle freehand and said: "That's more than enough." Now, an international group of engineers and craftsmen has gone him one better and built a pair of nearly perfect spheres that are thought to be the roundest objects in the world.

The unusual balls, discussed last week at the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference in France, were created as an answer to the "kilogram problem".

The kilogram is the only remaining standard of measurement tied to a single physical object: a 120-year-old lump of platinum and iridium that sits in a vault outside of Paris, France. But the mass of this chunk of metal is slowly changing relative to the 40-odd copies kept by other countries, and no one knows why or by how much."