Google has created an interactive map of our local pocket of the Milky Way. One Hundred Thousand Stars is essentially an accurate 3D simulation augmented with actual imagery and data from NASA and ESA. You can zoom in, out, and around, then pop over to a nearby star for a visit in seconds flat.
If that wasn't cool enough, you can also turn on the "spectral index" to see astronomers' preferred view. This feature shows the color of each star, which is correlated with temperature; blue stars are hotter and younger, while red stars are cooler and older. What are you waiting for? Go play among the stars! [N.B., only works in Google's Chrome browser.]
And now, more science:
- Wormholes are real! No really, actual wormholes made by worms. Biologist Blair Hedges discovered wormholes in European woodcuts that allowed him to reconstruct the evolution of different species of the wood-boring beetle across time and space.
- More beetle news! The latest in biomimicry: Namib Desert beetle inspires design of water bottle that can draw moisture from the air for use in arid, water-scarce regions.
- Crocodiles "scales" are not really scales at all, but CRACKS IN THEIR SKIN created randomly as they grow.
- Ice and organic materials found not on Mars, but on Mercury. Yes, Mercury. Tiny, rocky, closest to the Sun with surface temperatures over 500 degrees, Mercury. [VIDEO]
- Saturn's north pole has a raging storm over 1,000 miles in diameter INSIDE a 15,000 mile wide hexagonal cloud structure. That's a storm you never want to see up close and personal.
- Heard of supermassive black holes? This one is ÜBERmassive: 17 billion times the mass of our Sun! That's over 4,000 times larger than the black hole at the center of our galaxy.
- Last, but not least, watch this STUNNING video of a cheetah running at full speed -- captured at 1200 frames a second. And check out how they hold their head amazingly still at over 60 mph.
Hope that's enough wow to start your weekend. @Summer_Ash.
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"Biology: Scientists snap a picture of DNA’s double helix for the very first time" via @io9 http://io9.com/5964239/scientists-snap-a-picture-of-dnas-double-helix-for-the-very-first-time
Here's why that wasn't included this week: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/occams-corner/2012/dec/01/1
Re: Cheetah,
She is so beautiful. ::happy face::
That map is awsome!! Always look to the stars to get a little perspective when you need it
there is/was a freebie download called "celestia" out there, it runs on XP (version i have won't on 7, but what will?) it lets you travel all over. pick a star, click on it to get data and hit "g" to go there. have to look for it again to see if they updated it with newly discovered planets.
solar system has all planets, lots of asteroids and comets, moons, planetary rings, artificial satellites and more. all in real time.
oh, and if you want, you can populate it with planets, ships, etc. from stories like babylon 5. all at their respective stellar locations.
I wish upon a star everynight. We're standing on one. I think stars need to find their soul mates too. Do they ever pick them from the bottom of the barrell or the depths of hell? Just talking. Anyway, a beatle legged woman ain't got no soul. What kind of bug is that anyway? A soldier of some kind, still wearing his helmet,...Ahh! McCain.I'd love to be on Saturn right about now, they must be testing the winds' velocity.
Angel#77:
"We're standing on one."
No, we're standing on a planet. The Sun is a star.
No wonder the Taliban/Teaparty is so cranky. They're jealous of the amazing world we live in, infinitely more intricate and beautiful than the two dimensional desolation they inhabit.
Utterly beautiful! ...beyond description. Thanks for the opportunity to view this!
Yet , there are still a bunch of people that think that the Earth is only 5,000 yrs. old. Of course , most of them live in red states , and still believe the Earth is flat , Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya , and gay people caused Hurricane Catrina, among other total lies and distortions. I know , I know , science has a liberal bias!
Thankyou.
200-400 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. And scientists estimate 100 billion to 500 billion galaxies in the universe. And we worry about the fiscal cliff?
I'm struck by how each pair of the cheetah's legs function so out of sync - almost like two pair of primate legs.
Hey, Rachel, love the Liz Phair reference on the committee appointees piece....