Blog Profile / Cosmic Log
| URL : | http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Astronomy | |
| Posts on Regator: | 2659 | |
| Posts / Week: | 12.8 | |
| Archived Since: | June 30, 2009 | |
Blog Post Archive
Can't get to Australia? Get an online look at the 'ring of fire' solar eclipse
If you can't make it to the South Pacific's eclipse zone in time to watch the sun turn into a "ring of fire" on Thursday, you can still get in on the spectacle online.
The annular solar eclipse begins at 6:33 p.m. ET (22:33 GMT) with the touchdown of the moon's shadow in western …
15-year-old Astronaut Abby fuels her outreach mission with social media
"Astronaut Abby" is at the controls of a social-media machine that is launching the 15-year-old from Minnesota to Kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the International Space Station's next crew — and if Facebook and Twitter count for anything, it just might get her to …
Engage! Astronomers need your assistance to detect space warps
Think you can find space warps? Astronomers have recruited thousands of citizen scientists to look for exoplanets, galaxies, moon craters and other cosmic curiosities — and now they need your help to go after one of the weirdest phenomena in space-time: gravitational lenses …
Last winter was a real killer for the honeybees — and here's why
Almost a third of America's honeybee colonies bit the dust last winter, according to a bellwether survey of bee health. But the losses didn't fit the typical pattern for colony collapse disorder, the mysterious malady that wipes out bunches of bees all at once. Instead, researche …
All Europeans are related if you go back just 1,000 years, scientists say
A genetic survey concludes that all Europeans living today are descended from the same set of ancestors who lived 1,000 years ago. And you wouldn't have to go back much farther to find that everyone in the world is related to each other. "We find it remarkable because it's count …
How plants respond to positive vibes: 'Talking' mechanism is a mystery
Studies show that basil gives a boost to chili peppers, while fennel is a real bummer. The effect has been seen even when the plants are sealed off from each other with sheets of black plastic. So does that mean that the plants are "talking" to each other through subtle vibration …
Curiosity's 'hand' outstretched on Mars: Will humans ever shake it?
NASA's Curiosity rover is back at work in Yellowknife Bay, a rocky area inside Mars' Gale Crater — and if it takes good care of itself, it just might be around when humans hit the Red Planet. At least that's the sentiment voiced by Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NAS …
Cicadas on the rise: Bug fans and scientists get ready for the big buzz
Backyard bug-watchers are seeing the locust-like bugs known as cicadas come out of their holes in New Jersey and North Carolina after 17 years of underground slumber — and scientists say a full-scale outbreak may not be far behind.
"There are some pretty convincing rep …
Amid concerns about honeybees, EPA speeds up pesticide review
This week's federally sponsored report about the mysterious disappearance of honeybees, known as colony collapse disorder, pointed to a complex combination of factors, ranging from parasitic mites to pesticides. But what are experts going to do about it? And what about the pesti …
Air Force's X-51A hypersonic aircraft sets record during its final test
The U.S. Air Force's $300 million, nine-year test program for a hypersonic plane ended on a high note this week, when the last of its X-51A Waverider vehicles made the longest flight of its kind. The success was made sweeter by the fact that it followed last year's high-profile …
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover sends pictures after communications gap
NASA's Curiosity rover is back in business after a weeks-long communication gap caused by solar interference. The proof comes in the form of pictures transmitted back to Earth on Thursday from the 1-ton machine's vantage point at Yellowknife Bay on Mars. "Can you hear me now? Con …
Pesticides aren't the biggest factor in honeybee die-off, EPA and USDA say
The U.S. government's latest report on the mysterious disappearance of honeybees points to a parasitic mite as the biggest factor behind colony collapse disorder — and downplays the role of controversial pesticides that European officials are planning to ban.
Thursday' …
NASA lets poets / send haiku to Red Planet / on a MAVEN's wings
Poets, take note: NASA is looking for a few good haiku to send to the Red Planet aboard its MAVEN orbiter this fall.
If you're not the literary sort, don't worry: You can still submit your name to be included on the DVD that will be attached to the spacecraft, scheduled for laun …
Everything you know about dinosaurs is wrong: Tour guide sets you straight
When it comes to dinosaurs and other prehistoric monsters, even the experts can get things wrong — as dino-fanatic Brian Switek explains in his tour guide to the paleontological frontier.
Switek will discuss what we know about dinosaurs, and what we don't know, on "Vir …
CSI Jamestown: Anthropologists lay out evidence of colonial cannibalism
Experts have provided the grisly goods to back up 17th-century accounts of cannibalism during the Jamestown colony's "starving time" — including a skull that shows signs of being chopped at and pried apart.
"Our team has discovered partial human remains before, but th …
Six years after zero-G flight, Stephen Hawking is still up for a space trip
It's been six long years since world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking got a taste of weightlessness during a zero-G airplane flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center — but he still wants to feel the real deal aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane.
The 71-ye …
Space station skipper gives Canada's new $5 bill an out-of-this-world debut
Canada's new printed-polymer $5 bill has received the country's highest sendoff, altitude-wise, from International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield. Tuesday's ceremony in space was just the latest in a series of achievements that have drawn attention to Canada's best-known …
Who knew a monstrous Saturnian hurricane could look so lovely?
The eye of a super-hurricane at Saturn's north pole looks like a peaceful red rose in a fresh bouquet of pictures from NASA's Cassini orbiter. But don't be fooled: That rosy appearance is merely due to the false colors ascribed to infrared wavelengths. This storm's eye measures 1 …
Billionaire Richard Branson can't wait for his own SpaceShipTwo trip
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin companies operate airplanes and trains, sell music and phones, offer games and radio shows. He's an adventurer who has flown balloons over oceans, has swum with sharks and whales, and has even started up his own ocean exploration ventu …
SpaceShipTwo goes supersonic during first rocket-powered flight
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane lit up its engine for the first time in flight on Monday, taking a giant supersonic leap toward outer space. The crucial 16-second blast took place at about 7:50 a.m. PT (10:50 a.m. ET), high above California's Mojave Air and Space Port …