Beautiful Morning today... cool, not humid at all, and just about the perfect temperature.
Rhode Island was in a mood... I suspect that she has either too much or not enough on her plate. She's got micromanagement all over Newbie. Kahuna is out of town for at least the next two days, so we'll see how that goes.
Mambo Puppets.
An organized online aquarium, in 2D and 3D.
What's Really Visible from Space
There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit.
Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) high. Cities are clearly distinct from surrounding countryside, and that's true even from the higher perch of the International Space Station (news - web sites), which circles the planet at about 250 miles (400 kilometers) up.
"You can see an awful lot from space," says astronaut Ed Lu, the science officer of Expedition Seven aboard the station. "You can see the pyramids from space, especially with a pair of binoculars. They are a little difficult to pick out with just your eyes."
Egyptian pyramids have been photographed from space several times with standard digital cameras and high-powered lenses. The largest pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, is 745 feet (227 meters) wide and 449 feet (137 meters) tall.
"With binoculars you can see an awful lot of things," Lu wrote via e-mail in fielding a question from an Earthbound space fan. "You can see roads. You can see harbors. You can even see ships; very large tankers on the ocean we can see using the binoculars."
There are some surprises, too.
"You can see airplane contrails, and occasionally at the end of an airplane contrail, you will see a glint of sunlight off the airplane," Lu says. "And very occasionally, you do see other satellites go by. It is kind of a neat thing to see."
There are of course places in space from which you can't notice how humans have sculpted the planet. Apollo astronauts could not make out manmade features from the Moon, for example. And from Mars, Earth would appear to the naked eye as nothing but a bright "star" in the night sky.
So what about the Great Wall of China?
"You can see the Great Wall," Lu says. But it's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look.
In fact stretches of the wall aren't even visible from China. They've been buried by sand for centuries. NASA has used space-based radar to map out hidden parts of the ancient structure. Lu is trying to get a picture of it, too, with a digital camera.
"The weather hasn't cooperated," he says. "There has been a lot of clouds and haze over that area since I've been trying. But I hope to be successful before I come back down."
On 5 June 1995 an adult male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the glass façade of the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam and died. Another drake mallard raped the corpse almost continuously for 75 minutes. Then the author disturbed the scene and secured the dead duck. Dissection showed that the rape-victim indeed was of the male sex. It is concluded that the mallards were engaged in an 'Attempted Rape Flight' that resulted in the first described case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard.
(Link goes to photos, if you care to look.)
(feel free to answer in comments if you can't do polls directly)
Earth as Art - For over 20 years the artist Stan Herd has worked the earth using indigenous materials to produce evocative and mystical works. From 160 acre plowed portraits to one quarter acre intimate stone designs, his work has become a platform for discussion of mankind's contemporary relationship to the land.
Amazing. I'm astounded by the scape of this.. pardon the pun. Just, Wow.
To those that say a vegetarian can't enjoy Oktoberfest food without eating sausage.... Pretzels and Kraut and Beer!
Carl posted a nice follow-up to the entry I posted about MOND a few weeks back. He's also got a nifty interactive Crystal drawing program on his homepage.
Note to all Vampires. Don't run out of turns near the train station. I got slurp-blasted and robbed big time. I had half a mind to turn the entire block, out of spite.
Weblogging Stats. I was surprised at how many were abandoned outright.
Going to get wet the end of this week! I look forward to the coming thunderstorms. I'm really digging putting hover-titles on my linkies now.
Classic D&D Monster: The Bulette or more commonly called, Land Shark (No Relation to Chevy Chase.) My first introduction to large, tunneling monsters, later mimicked by Tremors. (Though Star Trek's Horta predates D&D, and Herbert's Sand Worms are ahead of that.) I've always pronounced it "BULL-et" but apparently it's pronounced "BOO-lay". Sort of a sissy moniker for such a supposedly nasty critter.
Bulettes have this neat defensive adaptation where, when they are enraged, their dorsal fin sticks straight up and exposes their only vulnerable spot. Of course, this is only a slight weakness. It's vulnerable in the sense that it's softer than the rest... It's not a soft, pulpy squish insta-kill Smaug-zone or anything.
Also, getting close enough to stab this upper back weak spot with your sword is pretty difficult, because apparently a bulette can Leap into the air and hit with all four legs at once.. *That's* something I'd like to see. I sort of envision a Gamera spinning-turtle attack...though a leap into the air with all four legs impacting on something as a uniform punch is possible, too, I guess. This is the sort of creature I'd like to see exist in the lost jungles somewhere, and be discovered in my lifetime.
Rhode Island was in a mood... I suspect that she has either too much or not enough on her plate. She's got micromanagement all over Newbie. Kahuna is out of town for at least the next two days, so we'll see how that goes.
Mambo Puppets.
An organized online aquarium, in 2D and 3D.
"The discovery that they seem to be turning on each other at such a pivotal point in the species' existence could be unsettling to squid lovers all over the world."The violent perils of biomass domination are let loose, exaggerates some journalist, as giant squid cannibalism shadows an inky doom for squidkind. On an octopod message board, however, the quoted scientist despairs.
What's Really Visible from Space
There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit.
Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) high. Cities are clearly distinct from surrounding countryside, and that's true even from the higher perch of the International Space Station (news - web sites), which circles the planet at about 250 miles (400 kilometers) up.
"You can see an awful lot from space," says astronaut Ed Lu, the science officer of Expedition Seven aboard the station. "You can see the pyramids from space, especially with a pair of binoculars. They are a little difficult to pick out with just your eyes."
Egyptian pyramids have been photographed from space several times with standard digital cameras and high-powered lenses. The largest pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, is 745 feet (227 meters) wide and 449 feet (137 meters) tall.
"With binoculars you can see an awful lot of things," Lu wrote via e-mail in fielding a question from an Earthbound space fan. "You can see roads. You can see harbors. You can even see ships; very large tankers on the ocean we can see using the binoculars."
There are some surprises, too.
"You can see airplane contrails, and occasionally at the end of an airplane contrail, you will see a glint of sunlight off the airplane," Lu says. "And very occasionally, you do see other satellites go by. It is kind of a neat thing to see."
There are of course places in space from which you can't notice how humans have sculpted the planet. Apollo astronauts could not make out manmade features from the Moon, for example. And from Mars, Earth would appear to the naked eye as nothing but a bright "star" in the night sky.
So what about the Great Wall of China?
"You can see the Great Wall," Lu says. But it's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look.
In fact stretches of the wall aren't even visible from China. They've been buried by sand for centuries. NASA has used space-based radar to map out hidden parts of the ancient structure. Lu is trying to get a picture of it, too, with a digital camera.
"The weather hasn't cooperated," he says. "There has been a lot of clouds and haze over that area since I've been trying. But I hope to be successful before I come back down."
On 5 June 1995 an adult male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the glass façade of the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam and died. Another drake mallard raped the corpse almost continuously for 75 minutes. Then the author disturbed the scene and secured the dead duck. Dissection showed that the rape-victim indeed was of the male sex. It is concluded that the mallards were engaged in an 'Attempted Rape Flight' that resulted in the first described case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard.
(Link goes to photos, if you care to look.)
(feel free to answer in comments if you can't do polls directly)
Earth as Art - For over 20 years the artist Stan Herd has worked the earth using indigenous materials to produce evocative and mystical works. From 160 acre plowed portraits to one quarter acre intimate stone designs, his work has become a platform for discussion of mankind's contemporary relationship to the land.
Amazing. I'm astounded by the scape of this.. pardon the pun. Just, Wow.
To those that say a vegetarian can't enjoy Oktoberfest food without eating sausage.... Pretzels and Kraut and Beer!
Carl posted a nice follow-up to the entry I posted about MOND a few weeks back. He's also got a nifty interactive Crystal drawing program on his homepage.
Note to all Vampires. Don't run out of turns near the train station. I got slurp-blasted and robbed big time. I had half a mind to turn the entire block, out of spite.
Weblogging Stats. I was surprised at how many were abandoned outright.
Going to get wet the end of this week! I look forward to the coming thunderstorms. I'm really digging putting hover-titles on my linkies now.
Classic D&D Monster: The Bulette or more commonly called, Land Shark (No Relation to Chevy Chase.) My first introduction to large, tunneling monsters, later mimicked by Tremors. (Though Star Trek's Horta predates D&D, and Herbert's Sand Worms are ahead of that.) I've always pronounced it "BULL-et" but apparently it's pronounced "BOO-lay". Sort of a sissy moniker for such a supposedly nasty critter.
Bulettes have this neat defensive adaptation where, when they are enraged, their dorsal fin sticks straight up and exposes their only vulnerable spot. Of course, this is only a slight weakness. It's vulnerable in the sense that it's softer than the rest... It's not a soft, pulpy squish insta-kill Smaug-zone or anything.
Also, getting close enough to stab this upper back weak spot with your sword is pretty difficult, because apparently a bulette can Leap into the air and hit with all four legs at once.. *That's* something I'd like to see. I sort of envision a Gamera spinning-turtle attack...though a leap into the air with all four legs impacting on something as a uniform punch is possible, too, I guess. This is the sort of creature I'd like to see exist in the lost jungles somewhere, and be discovered in my lifetime.
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6:27:00 PM
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