Mika McKinnon

Martian Robots Brace For Close Encounter With Comet Siding Spring

Mars is all set to protect its beloved robots as comet Siding Spring charges past today spewing dust and gas during its close approach to the Red Planet. Meanwhile, everyone from the rovers to Earth-based telescopes will be tracking the comet, learning as much as possible. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-every-place-in-the-solar-system-ever-occupied-e-1645507693 https://gizmodo.com/comet-sliding-springs-dual-jets-and-glowing-coma-1553455840 https://gizmodo.com/comet-siding-spring-is-headed-towards-mars-1553616502 Top image: Mars protecting its robotic…

Hawaiians Understand The True Meaning Of “Road Closed”

Pele, the volcano goddess of Hawaii, has very definite ideas on traffic patterns. When she says a road is closed, nothing we puny humans do or say is going to change her mind. During our discussion on the gently impending doom in Hawaii, landscape anthropologist Elizabeth Angell wrote in with photographs of last time the…

This Eruption Spells Gently Impending Doom For A Hawaiian Suburb

Hawaii is a tropical island of picturesque eruptions. While usually the eruptions are mostly harmless, an offshoot of a new lava flow has been inching towards suburb since June. Now the residents of Puna are settling in to watch the slowly creeping doom. https://gizmodo.com/boiling-coke-with-a-lava-flow-1581427619 Top image: A peek through a skylight into the lava tube…

This Spacewalk Is All About Cool Perspective Photos

While the official purpose of Wednesday’s spacewalk was to replace a power regulator and do a bit of structural housecleaning, I’m fairly certain the unofficial theme was, “How many unusual perspective photographs can we take?” Top image: Wiseman in the reflection of Wilmore’s helmet. Wilmore captioned the photo: “The ONLY thing you can’t see in…

Not only does Oklahoma have more earthquakes than California, but hundreds of them are directly tied to fracking.

It’s A Blast To The Prehistoric Past For National Fossil Day

It’s National Fossil Day, a day designated to promote awareness of just how awesome fossils are. More importantly, it’s a day when every fossil-loving person with a camera shares the treasures they’ve found, visited, or admired. Here’s the best paleo-eye candy that crossed our path. Top image: Trilobite from the Silurian Period, 425 million years…

Use These Interactive Images To Play With Astronomy

Astronomy relies on seeing in many different wavelengths beyond the mere optical visible to our puny human eyes. See for yourself in interactive images of iconic astronomical objects that allow you to seamlessly slip between seeing through different spectral bands. Top image: Messier Object 16, the Eagle Nebula, in optical, x-ray, and far-infrared. Credit: MPG/ESO,…

Astronauts Playing Hide-and-Seek On The Station Is Adorable

An astronaut popping up like a curious meerkat from within his International Space Station nest is my new favourite photograph. A close runner-up is the Milky Way spilling into the sky over yellow Sahara sands. Top image: Alex Gerst poking over part of the station during the first spacewalk of Expedition 41, posted by Gerst…

These Are The 100 Most Interesting Geologic Spots In The British Isles

The United Kingdom and Ireland pack so many geologically fascinating locations in a small area, it’s hard to pick which ones are the most gorgeous, the most scientifically important, or even the most downright useful. Lucky for us, the Geological Society curated a list of the Top 100 Geosites. Top image: Giant’s Causeway tells a…

This Is Every Place In The Solar System Ever Occupied Entirely By Robots

Is Mars really the only planet solely inhabited by robots? Yes, but no. The truth behind this meme is an excellent opportunity to investigate just how adventurous our robotic explorers are in visiting all sorts of places we squishy humans haven’t. Starting from the basics: at this exact moment in time, Mars is the only…

The Earth and Mars As Seen From The Moon

The Lunar Reconnoissance Orbiter usually investigates the moon, but in May, the opportunity to photograph both the Earth and Mars in a single shot captured its electronic eye. Here’s the story on how the spacecraft pulled of the technical challenge of catching two planets more than 110 million kilometers apart. Can you see Mars? It’s…

These Mirrors Are Part Of The Biggest Space Telescope

A giant robotic arm practiced hanging silver and gold mirrors on the backbone of the James Webb Space Telescope, then a human engineer carefully checked its work. Eventually, the full telescope will be launched into space, then unfold in a delicate choreography of inverse origami. Top image: Optical Engineer Larkin Carey examines test mirrors in…

San Francisco Is Harnessing Public Pressure to Increase Seismic Safety

The most important thing a city can do to reduce its earthquake risk is to ensure its buildings meet a strong seismic code. San Francisco is rolling out new safety laws about soft story collapse, but not everyone is complying. In response, they’re harnessing public pressure to help with enforcement. A sheared soft story of…

The Eye of the Sahara Is An Enigmatic Desert Landmark

The desert creates gorgeous structures, and the Eye of the Sahara is no exception. The stunning structure of bare rock peeks out from a sea of sand, forming a beautiful landmark for astronauts overhead. While circular usually means impacts or eruptions, the eye emerged from differential erosion. Top Image: The Richat Structure in Mauritania as…

Orion Is Almost Ready To Undergo Trial By Fire

NASA’s fancy new capsule for deep space exploration, Orion, is steadily counting down to its December 4th test flight. The last module was installed, the rocket is on the pad, and now we’ve got a full rundown of the testing sequence. This is actually happening! Ooooh, pretty! Artistic representation of Orion’s first test flight. Installation…

In Space, Even Changing A Lightbulb Is Awesome

Always-eager astronauts Alexander Gerst and Reid Wiseman completed their first-ever spacewalks today, scrambling around the outside of the International Space Station. They completed their official objectives, but the beautiful part of today was their unadulterated happiness in their work. Top image: Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst check out their spacesuits in the Quest airlock in…

Blue LEDs Are A Complicated Problem Worthy of the Nobel Prize

The 2014 Nobel Prize for physics went to the inventors of the blue LED. Read on for context on why that’s a prize-worthy discovery, and check out this technical article in Physics Today if you want to dive deeper into the physics.

Future Astronauts Might Walk, Not Hop, On The Moon

Why do astronauts hop on the moon? After carefully watching hapless volunteers use a treadmill under variable gravity, researchers think it had more to do with the stiffness of spacesuits than anything else. Harrison Schmitt run-hopping on the moon during Apollo 17. Image credit: NASA The experiments took place during flights in an unusual trajectory.…

These Playful Science Projects Were Created In Just 24 Hours

The idea of Science Hack Days is simple: gather together a bunch of people to get excited and make things with science in an extremely limited period of time. Here are a few of the projects hacked together in San Francisco in just 24 hours. Top image: The Blindinator is the world’s very worst computer…

The Chickensaurus Is Distilled Nightmare-Fuel

We’re pretty much settled on birds being dinosaurs, but what would happen if we genetically engineered chickens to be a bit more like the dinosaurs of old? If Twitter’s volunteer paleontological illustrators have it right, the chickensaurus would the essence of horror. The entire concept of a chickensaurus is fundamentally ridiculous — as Trish (@Babbletrish)…