Amazing Idea - Solar Roads

I love the idea of useless heat-producing asphalt replaced by miles of solar panels that can light up the world. I hope I live long enough to see it! In northern climes, the solar panels could melt the snow and ice on the roads, making them safe for travel all year round. And with wires running under the roads, there would be no need for powerlines. Not to mention all the jobs this idea would create. Really the possibilities are endless!

Happy Place Diversion ~ Astronaut Sings "Space Oddity" IN Space

source: crunchiness

So enjoyable!

CHRIS HADFIELD SINGS SPACE ODDITY IN SPACE!“Hallo Spaceboy...”Commander Chris Hadfield, currently on... fb.me/24sZNW5ly
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) May 12, 2013

How it all came about via David Bowie's Facebook:

It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created and you may recognise the name of one of those involved in its creation.

We’re talking about Chris's fellow Canadian, the lovely Emm Gryner, who was a part of the Bowie live band in 1999/2000. Here’s what she said on her blog regarding her involvement:

“The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris' vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris' singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree.

And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn't get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who - through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour - has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there's nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander! ”

From Guardian UK

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

The Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned south-east of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8.31am local time on Tuesday. The Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descended by parachute on to the steppes under clear, sunny skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

. . . Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

Hadfield bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday his own custom version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield said via Twitter. It is believed to be the first music video made in space.

Hadfield sang often in orbit, using a guitar already aboard the complex, and even took part in a live, Canadian coast-to-coast concert in February that included the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson and a youth choir.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," Hadfield told mission control on Monday. "From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks."

RIP Neil Armstrong

The astronauts in NASA's space program meant so much to our country, and inspired the boomer generation to create everything from MTV to Cellular Phones to the Internet to the Mars Curiousity. We need more heroes like this, who literally could "boldly go where no one had gone before," especially in these times when things seem to be crumbling here on earth and we can't agree on anything.

President Obama paid homage today:

From USA Today

As he stepped off the lunar module and set foot on the moon's surface, he said "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,'' underscoring a centuries-old fantasy among human kind and a high point in the Cold War era space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. An estimated 600 million TV viewers watched the event, engrossed by the surreal, grainy black-and-white footage.

Saturday, President Barack Obama hailed Armstrong as one of "the greatest American heroes — not just of his time, but of all time.''

"When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation,'' the president said in a statement. "They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible. And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."

Watching the Mars Curiousity Landing

The landing is imminent! I will update with video of the landing when it is available.

Update: Video Recap:

Watch live here:   Live broadcast by Ustream  

Last Flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery

Today marked the last flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery before landing at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. Afterward it was taken to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. Hail and Farewell, Space Shuttle Program!!! *is sad*

From Washington Post

The space shuttle Discovery soared over the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol in a high-flying salute to the nation’s capital Tuesday. The world’s most traveled spaceship, hitching a ride on top a Boeing 747 jet, took a couple of leisurely spins at an easy-to-spot 1,500 feet around Washington after a flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
housands packed the National Mall to watch the pair swoop by.
“Look at that — that thing is mammoth,” said Terri Jacobsen of Bethesda, Md. She brought her 12-year-old home-schooled son to the mall to watch the flyover.
The shuttle-jet combo was set to land at Dulles International Airport. On Thursday, it will be towed to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian’s annex in northern Virginia.

Science Nerd ~ Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

I'm an nerdish earthquake watcher and I probably check the USGS List several times a day. I think it helps in these days of  "Apocalypse Doomsday" prophecies to learn what is normal geological activity for the earth and what is not.
 USGS Earthquakes in the World ~ Past Seven Days
 USGS Nifty New Real-Time Shake Map
USGS General Information and Lists State by State

This week there have been at least four big earthquakes in two days, as well as myriad large aftershocks, which caused  LiveScience to wonder if these are somehow connected:

It's possible, geophysicists say, that quakes off the coast of Oregon, Michoacan, Mexico, and in the Gulf of California ranging from magnitudes 5.9 to 6.9 on the Richter Scale had something to do with the large earthquake that struck near Indonesia. But the west coast quakes were fairly standard for their location. "The Earth is in constant motion," said Aaron Velasco, a geophysicist at the University of Texas, El Paso. "I wouldn't necessarily say it's unusual, but we will definitely be looking at these earthquakes to see if there's any link between them."

But why didn't the big 8.6 quake in Indonesia this week cause a huge Tsunami like the one back in 2004 that killed so many people and destroyed villages all around the Indian Ocean? Here we go, via The Conversation:

It was a “strike-slip earthquake”, which results in the ground moving with a more side-to-side motion, rather than an up-and-down motion. The side-to-side motion means there isn’t much up-and-down movement of the sea floor, so the water isn’t disturbed much. As a result, large tsunamis usually don’t form from slip-strike earthquakes.

Most people don't realize how many strong earthquakes there are in the world on any given day. The Pacific "Ring of Fire" is the main area, and nearly every day you'll see new quakes 5.0 and above : Honshu, Japan, where three major geological plates are still sliding under the ocean after the Tsunami disaster last year; Vanuatu and the Mollucca Sea north of Australia; Offshore Chile, which has been rumbling since 2010; Mexico, which has live volcanoes and where there's a "swarm" happening around Oaxaca as well as the Gulf of California right now; and Alaska, which shakes all the time but has limited effect on humans due to the small population of the state. California is the opposite with people packed into cities large and small, but  residents laugh off the danger and try to ignore fears about "The Big One." Then there are occasional bursts of activity around the Greek Isles, Italy, Africa, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and even the Virgin Islands due to Volcanoes.

And this is the fun part of watching the earthquake list ~ once you are familiar with the "normal" quake areas, you can easily spot the oddities. The Virginia quake last year that shifted the Washington Monument was fascinating and historical, being felt as far away as New Jersey. The strange quakes in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Ohio that are possibly caused by gas-pipe "fracking" are unprecedented, and now those areas are hot-spots where there didn't used to be any quakes. But really earthquakes can happen in any state, so keep an eye on your shake map and be sure to report one if you feel it via the USGS interactive website!
Earthquake Map For the U.S. Heartland