sci-universe:

This is how a close-up of lightning beneath a cumulonimbus cloud looks like from space. An astronaut on International Space Station (ISS) captured this image while orbiting over Bolivia in 2011.

There’s also a more recent image of lightning’s white flash amidst the yellow city lights of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from 2013:

Hopefully, we are going to see more and more of these amazing images since there is a new instrument on ISS, called the Firestation,  which is specifically designed to study lightning.


Tags:

#space #weather #pretty things #the power of science

oldresidentdistrict:

 

ballpointpun:

Somewhere a rocket scientist brain surgeon physicist with a knack for economics who wears Velcro shoes is having a stress breakdown.

 

thejunglenook:

When I was a professional ballroom dance instructor, one of my coworkers was having a tough time teaching a step to her student. As he gets more frustrated she tells him “it’s ok- you’ll get it- this isn’t rocket science.”

There is an awkward pause as her student stares back at her.
“No” he agrees, “this isn’t rocket science. That I can do. This is some sadistic step designed specifically to torture rocket scientists.”

And that’s how we found out he worked for NASA.

 

triplash:

please let that sequence of words go down in history

 

theparadoxymoron:

If

comparativelysuperlative

worked for NASA, I would ask if this were him

 

comparativelysuperlative:

I feel like there’s a sufficiently large number of people who would say that sequence of words that even were I a dancing rocket scientist it would probably not be me.


Tags:

#fourteen-year-old me is not exactly *great* at rocket science or quantum physics #but she is noticeably better at them than she is at shoe-tying #(I gave up trying to learn shoe-tying at around age eleven) #(when I was fifteen my little brother tried to teach me and it clicked) #(high on my own success I bought a pair of laced shoes) #(and *hated* them) #(turns out being *able* to use laced shoes isn’t enough to make them not suck) #(so I went back to Velcro and never looked back)

chikaderp:

wildunicornherd:

thinksquad:

Here is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex . In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts. The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave. Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave. She was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave. As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference, after the experiment which was repeated by her class mates a number of times and had the same result.

It has been known for some years that the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about, it’s how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.

Microwaves don’t work different ways on different substances. Whatever you put into the microwave suffers the same destructive process. Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance. It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.

So the body wraps it in fat cells to protect itself from the dead food or it eliminates it fast. Think of all the Mothers heating up milk in these ‘Safe’ appliances. What about the nurse in Canada that warmed up blood for a transfusion patient and accidentally killed him when the blood went in dead. But the makers say it’s safe. But proof is in the pictures of living plants dying!

NO, YOU PIG-IGNORANT ASSWIPES.

SOME KID’S CLASS PROJECT IS NOT REAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. YOU’VE HEARD OF “DOUBLE BLIND”, RIGHT? CALL ME WHEN IT’S PUBLISHED IN NATURE.

the structure or energy of the water

what the fuck does that even mean you realize that a water molecule is made up of three fucking atoms and if you rearrange it it isn’t water anymore and you would fucking notice

the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about

Here is a handy diagram I drew of all the different types of radiation:

Electromagnetic Spectrum Cheat Sheet (oh noes microwaves)

Microwaves != nuclear reactors, so calm your tits.

it’s how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it

…do you understand what DNA is and how eating works? DNA is a jumble of protein in the middle of each cell and it tells the cells in that particular organism how to make more cells. Your body does not care about whether your food has any DNA in it or not. The chemicals it cares about are things like vitamins and sugars, as well as inorganic shit like salt.

(You can denature DNA by heating it or using chemicals like urea. It is like what happens when you fry an egg, which is basically a big glob of protein—the strands break apart and it looks like tiny white strings. Very cool.)

Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster.

I…just…that is the fucking definition of heat, whether you’re heating something over a flame or in a microwave or using the Sun. The difference is that microwaves mostly affect the water molecules in your food and they don’t need to use as much heat. Water boils at 100°C, which is just about as hot as water can get before it just turns into steam; but that’s like the lowest setting on your oven. Oven- or stove-cooked food tastes different partly because it uses higher temperatures and partly because heat is transferred in a different way.

This movement causes friction

That’s not what friction is.

It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.

Let’s take these one at a time.

  • Vitamins are classified as water-soluble or fat-soluble. So cooking things in water will dissolve the water-soluble vitamins (C and all the B’s). Just plain heat doesn’t do that, so microwaving veggies—which keeps the water in—is actually a healthier option.
  • Proteins: Breaking the chemical bonds in proteins (denaturing) is a part of any cooking. However, denatured protein is still nutritious—that’s why you can meet your protein intake with foods like fried eggs and baked chicken.
  • Minerals are just chemical elements, like off the periodic table—sodium, iron, potassium. (Vitamins and proteins are very complex combinations of elements.)

Which brings me to the “radiolytic compound” bullshit. When you talk about breaking apart, say, iron—you’re talking about breaking down the iron atoms themselves. Which is a whole lot different than breaking the bonds between atoms. It takes hella radiation. You need shit like gamma rays—the OOOH SCARY NUCULAR radiation—which we’ve already established do not come from your microwave.

things that are not found in nature

What the shit does that even mean? You all know radioactive elements occur in nature, right? In rocks and also in living cells. That’s right, you have this radioactive kind of carbon INSIDE YOU. You get it by eating those delicious plants. We can tell how long ago something died by how much of it is left.

Tons of shit that occurs naturally is horribly bad for you. And tons of shit that never existed until we cooked it up is great for you—like the chemical compounds in a lot of medications.

PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THIS SHIT ARE WHY CHILDHOOD DISEASES THAT CAUSED SERIOUS ILLNESSES AND/OR DEATH THAT WE NEARLY ERADICATED WITH VACCINES ARE NOW COMING BACK AND WHY CONSPIRACY THEORIST TWATS ARE ASKING CITY COUNCIL NOT TO FLUORIDATE THE WATER AND WHY GLOBAL WARMING WILL WRECK OUR FUCKING PLANET.

LERN 2 SCIENCE. Think before you reblog. And microwave your veggies.

This was incredibly amusing to read. Thank you so much for sciencing.


Tags:

#the power of science #yes this #(the rebuttal I mean) #also the thing about anecdotes is there are pretty much always equal and opposite anecdotes #like for example the Mythbusters did this one and their microwaved-water plant did *better* #so once you start arguinng using anecdotes you are never going to win #because there will inevitably be counterarguments that your own rules say you cannot defeat

jtotheizzoe:

skunkbear:

Can you survive in space without a spacesuit?

Guardians of the Galaxy has re-ignited the age-old question. Or this slightly different question, asked by Adam Frank, how do you die in space? Here’s some answers.

You know the answer to the question “what happens in space if you aren’t wearing a spacesuit” is going to be “very bad things”, but just what those bad things are is the interesting part.

Also, hi Eric! 

(that’s my friend Eric in the video)

I think we’ve learned a valuable lesson today: if you are about to be exposed to vacuum, expel as much of the air in your lungs as possible.

(“Don’t be exposed to vacuum at all” is also a valuable lesson, but I feel confident we all knew that one already.)


Tags:

#I actually knew the one about not having air in your lungs too #but I expect a lot of people don’t #space #the power of science #the more you know

jtotheizzoe:

compoundchem:

Great graphic from James Kennedy () comparing natural & artificial peaches.

Interesting infographical look at how a few thousand years of human intervention can result in a deliciously juicy summer treat. Most interesting? The percentage of sugar a peach holds has not gone up that much, only the edible flesh ratio and percent water have.

I should add that in this graphic, “artificial” just means that the modern peach was artificially selected by farmers who chose which variants to propagate, as opposed to being subject to the unguided processes of natural selection. I worry about the misconception that “artificial” here might be misconstrued into meaning “inferior” or “dangerous” or “fake”. It is none of those things.

Don’t fear the fruits of science. Especially the juicy ones. 

(Breaking down the chemical fear and overuse of scare quotes that surround the “natural vs. artificial” food movement is the whole point of James Kennedy’s infographics, like his famous list of ingredients in an all-natural banana, I just want to make sure that it comes across to people not familiar with his work!)

A lovely infographic for a lovely fru–*sees greyed-out Canada* Wait, what? That’s definitely not right. I have personally eaten Canadian peaches.

Ah, if you click on the link in the OP, you’ll find Kennedy has replaced this version of the infographic with a corrected one. Much better.


Tags:

#the power of science #food #yummies #our home and cherished land #I only just discovered the joys of stonefruits last year #oh nectarines #where have you been all my life

cosmic-llin asked: You are invited to share five facts about yourself and then copy and send this to 10 of your favourite followers.

1. When my laptop became incapable of supporting its own monitor’s weight, I made a harness for it out of a loop of string and a keychain loop. The keychain loop is to make it adjustable: I can make the string shorter or longer (tilting the monitor forward or back) by winding more or less of it into the keychain loop. The harness won’t stop it from slamming shut if you tilt the laptop too far forward, but mostly it works pretty well.

2. I am enjoying having a hematine ring again way too much. You see, hematine is magnetic, and the aforementioned keychain loop is attracted to magnets. Thus, I’ve ended up playing around with that a lot. I’ve also been discovering just how many everyday objects respond to magnets. (Unfortunately, metal spoons are heavy enough that you can’t actually lift them with the power of a single magnetic ring.)

3. I am a Jew born on Sunday, and am therefore free to choose my own destiny. Yay loopholes! …oh god, maybe being born a Jew on Sunday destines you to enjoy playing Hunt the Loophole.

4. I don’t really like cake, and outright hate frosting. For about as long as I’ve been old enough to have major input into the decision, my birthday cakes have been made of ice cream, brownies, or both.

5. I have an entire bookcase filled with the products of the many, many art workshops I’ve participated in over the years. (Okay, so it’s a fairly small bookshelf: seven shelves, but each only 12” by 9”. And a couple of the things on it are dolls and other things I didn’t make. But it is full, and almost all with my art.)


Tags:

#meme #if you’re confused by 3 #the Monday’s Child rhyme doesn’t say anything about Sunday #only the Sabbath day #and that’s not the same thing #oh look an original post

jtotheizzoe:

When Einstein was traveling to lecture in Spain,
He questioned a conductor again and again:
“It may be a while,”
He asked with a smile,
“But when does Madrid reach this train?”

(via Futility Closet)


Tags:

#poetry #the power of science #anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog

jtotheizzoe:

nimsley:

Love Letter from a Scientist by Utterlybanjaxed (Drawings by Me and Arbeekeypok)

This giant project is finally finished! After being amazingly inspired by this stunning poem, Arbee and I decided a collab was needed. It linked so perfectly to Cecilos that we couldn’t resist :D

An amazing poem dedicated to love and science AND Welcome to Night Vale?! This might be perfect.


Tags:

#poetry #Welcome to Night Vale #the power of science #Cecil/Carlos #awww #(and such amazing drawings)