-
io9The Vernal Equinox Isn’t What You Think It is
Tomorrow is the vernal equinox! You might think that it’s simply the mid-point between each solstice, but that’s not exactly correct. Joe Hanson, host of It’s Okay to be Smart, explains. The equinoxes aren’t in the middle of the solstices, and it doesn’t mean that day and night are exactly equal. It’s the point in … Continued
-
io9Orbit Books Will Publish An Astonishing 90 Books A Year Starting In 2016
Who says that science fiction publishing is dead? Not Orbit Books. The Hachette company announced yesterday that they were expanding their SF/F line by 50% next year to publish a whopping 90 books starting in 2016. Tim Holman, Orbit Publisher and Hachette Book Group SVP, said: “There is a huge and diverse audience for SF … Continued
-
Tech NewsSploidStunning video of Mars from orbit
What a hypnotizing look at the red planet. We get to see the view that ESA’s Mars Express see as it explores Mars, specifically a stunning look from orbit. I just love seeing it spin and twirl and then zoom in and then repeat the beautiful process all over again. I can see this in … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9Satspotting Adventures: Why Are Different Orbits Needed for Satellites?
Congratulations: perhaps you’re a new space-faring nation, looking to place a shiny new payload around the planet Earth. You’ve assembled the technical know-how, and seek to break the surly bonds and join an exclusive club that thus far, only contains 14 nations capable of indigenous spaceflight. Now for the big question: which orbit should you … Continued
David Dickinson - Universe Today -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Why This Astronaut Thinks NASA Can Save Humanity From Extinction
Astronaut Daniel T. Barry thinks NASA’s mission to Mars is humanity’s most important endeavor yet, for reasons including the birth of Captain Kirk. We talked to him about what it’s like to explore the Final Frontier. I met Daniel T. Barry through Elliott Jessup, head of the California Academy of Sciences‘ “twilight zone” dive team … Continued
-
Tech News
Runtastic Orbit Hands-On: A Fitness Tracker With a Few New Tricks
Since it seems like every company and its mother-company has a fitness tracker these days, it’s refreshing when we see one that actually brings something unique to the table. Runtastic (the company behind my current favorite running app) has a new tracker called the Orbit. It’s different! Like some other trackers, the Orbit is basically … Continued
By Brent Rose -
Tech News
Gum-Packing Coffee Cup Sleeves Prevent Burns and Bad Breath
If you think a fancy new lid is the only way you can upgrade a disposable coffee cup, you clearly haven’t seen what ad agency DDB came up with for a South African chain called the Seattle Coffee Co. For a limited time its paper sleeves that prevent burns (and lawsuits) were upgraded with a … Continued
-
Tech News
Russia to NASA: “Try Jumping To ISS On A Trampoline.”
After NASA imposed sanctions on cooperating with Russia, a Russian official joked that these sanctions would strand astronauts on the International Space Station. The taunts escalated to instructing NASA to teach its astronauts to use a trampoline to reach orbit. Could it work? Things are getting sticky between the United States and Russia, and its … Continued
-
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Soyuz Thruster Malfunction Has ISS Crew Running Two Days Late
Yesterday afternoon’s Soyuz launch has hit a snag. A thruster misfire means the planned six-hour flight, delivering U.S. astronaut Steven Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev to the International Space Station, will now take two days. Talk about a terrifying flight delay. https://gizmodo.com/what-a-hellish-mess-a-rocket-launch-can-be-1551860086 The intended 24-second engine burn would have adjusted the … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
This Oil and Vinegar Dispenser Stores One Inside of the Other
Why waste counter space with separate bottles of both olive oil and balsamic vinegar when the talented folks at XD Design have come up with a better all-in-one solution? Their Orbit features a pair of mouth blown glass globes sitting inside each other, keeping the two liquids separate—while also playing up the fact that oil … Continued
-
Tech News
Falling Soon Through a Sky Near You
It’s what the New York Times calls “the latest in a parade of spacecraft falling from the sky”: the imminent crash of the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite (or GOCE). Somewhat unbelievably, no one has any real idea where it will land—due to its orbit, “almost all places on … Continued
-
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWatch A Livestream of the Equinox Right Now
Summer is really over. For real. Today. No. Stop making cutoffs. Actually, if you’re in the southern hemisphere summer is just beginning. You may proceed. The Earth will reach the equinox at 4:44 EST and the Slooh Space Camera is livestreaming now. If you haven’t started talking about nutmeg and using words like “autumnal” you’re … Continued
-
io9
The Poynting-Robertson Effect forces things to fall into the sun
The sun’s light feels pretty good, doesn’t it? Fool! That warming light is the sun’s method of destroying you. Using its light, it is slowly forcing you to fall inwards, where you will burn. Burn! This trap is the result of the Poynting-Robertson Effect, which causes all the objects in the solar system, especially the … Continued
-
io9View the stars from orbit in this hypnotic time-lapse video
The best place to watch the stars isn’t on Earth, but just outside, where the atmosphere doesn’t get in the way of the view. Photographer Alex Rivest spliced together images taken from the International Space Station, enhancing the natural brilliance of the lights and giving us a peek at how astronauts see the stars. [via … Continued
By Lauren Davis
