He Sees Your Soul And Wants To Eat It :)

Ahaha I have my grandad is "a pigeon fancier" and races pigeons! He had two baby ones ;)

I’ve never seen a baby pigeon in my life. / cr

Ok I almost died

http://iglovequotes.net/

Can we all just point out how awesome her hair looks in space

Kate Rubins’ Space Station Science Scrapbook

As a child, Kate Rubins dreamed of being an astronaut and a scientist. During the past four months aboard the International Space Station, that dream came full circle. She became the first person to sequence DNA in space, among other research during her recent mission, adding to her already impressive experience. She holds a doctorate in molecular biology, and previously led a lab of 14 researchers studying viruses, including Ebola.

Here’s a look back at Rubins in her element, conducting research aboard your orbiting laboratory.

Kate inside Destiny, the U.S. Laboratory Module

The U.S. national laboratory, called Destiny, is the primary research laboratory for U.S. payloads, supporting a wide range of experiments and studies contributing to health, safety, and quality of life for people all over the world. 

Destiny houses the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), in which Kate worked on the Heart Cells experiment.

Swabbing for Surface Samples

Microbes that can cause illness could present problems for current and future long duration space missions. 

Understanding what microbe communities thrive in space habitats could help researchers design antimicrobial technology. Here, Kate is sampling various surfaces of the Kibo module for the Microbe-IV investigation.

Culturing Beating Heart Cells in Space

The Heart Cells investigation uses human skin cells that are induced to become stem cells, which can then differentiate into any type of cell. 

Researchers forced the stem cells to grow into human heart cells, which Rubins cultured aboard the space station for one month.

Rubins described seeing the heart cells beat for the first time as “pretty amazing. First of all, there’s a few things that have made me gasp out loud up on board the [space] station. Seeing the planet was one of them, but I gotta say, getting these cells in focus and watching heart cells actually beat has been another pretty big one.”

Innovative Applied Research Experiment from Eli Lilly

The Hard to Wet Surfaces investigation from Eli Lilly, and sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), looks at liquid-solid interactions and how certain pharmaceuticals dissolve, which may lead to more potent and effective medicines in space and on Earth. 

Rubins set up vials into which she injected buffer solutions and then set up photography to track how tablets dissolved in the solution in microgravity.

Capturing Dragon

Rubins assisted in the capture of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft in July. The ninth SpaceX resupply mission delivered more than two thousand pounds of science to the space station. 

Biological samples and additional research were returned on the Dragon spacecraft more than a month later.  

Sliding Science Outside the Station

Science doesn’t just happen inside the space station. External Earth and space science hardware platforms are located at various places along the outside of the orbiting laboratory. 

The Japanese Experiment Module airlock can be used to access the JEM Exposed Facility. Rubins installed the JEM ORU Transfer Interface (JOTI) on the JEM airlock sliding table used to install investigations on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.

Installing Optical Diagnostic Instrument in the MSG

Rubins installed an optical diagnostic instrument in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) as part of the Selective Optical Diagnostics Instrument (SODI-DCMIX) investigation. Molecules in fluids and gases constantly move and collide. 

When temperature differences cause that movement, called the Soret effect, scientists can track it by measuring changes in the temperature and movement of mass in the absence of gravity. Because the Soret effect occurs in underground oil reservoirs, the results of this investigation could help us better understand such reservoirs.

The Sequencing of DNA in Space

When Rubins’ expedition began, DNA had never been sequenced in space. Within just a few weeks, she and the Biomolecule Sequencer team had sequenced their one billionth “base” – the unit of DNA - aboard the orbiting laboratory. 

The Biomolecule Sequencer investigation seeks to demonstrate that DNA sequencing in microgravity is possible, and adds to the suite of genomics capabilities aboard the space station.

Studying Fluidic Dynamics with SPHERES

The SPHERES-Slosh investigation examines the way liquids move inside containers in a microgravity environment. The phenomena and mechanics associated with such liquid movement are still not well understood and are very different than our common experiences with a cup of coffee on Earth.

Rockets deliver satellites to space using liquid fuels as a power source, and this investigation plans to improve our understanding of how propellants within rockets behave in order to increase the safety and efficiency of future vehicle designs. Rubins conducted a series of SPHERES-Slosh runs during her mission.

Retrieving Science Samples for Their Return to Earth

Precious science samples like blood, urine and saliva are collected from crew members throughout their missions aboard the orbiting laboratory. 

They are stored in the Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) until they are ready to return to Earth aboard a Soyuz or SpaceX Dragon vehicle.

Measuring Gene Expression of Biological Specimens in Space

Our WetLab-2 hardware system is bringing to the space station the technology to measure gene expression of biological specimens in space, and to transmit the results to researchers on Earth at the speed of light. 

Rubins ran several WetLab-2 RNA SmartCycler sessions during her mission.

Studying the First Expandable Habitat Module on the Space Station

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is the first expandable habitat to be installed on the space station. It was expanded on May 28, 2016. 

Expandable habitats are designed to take up less room on a spacecraft, but provide greater volume for living and working in space once expanded. Rubins conducted several evaluations inside BEAM, including air and surface sampling.

Better Breathing in Space and Back on Earth

Airway Monitoring, an investigation from ESA (the European Space Agency), uses the U.S. airlock as a hypobaric facility for performing science. Utilizing the U.S. airlock allows unique opportunities for the study of gravity, ambient pressure interactions, and their effect on the human body. 

This investigation studies the occurrence and indicators of airway inflammation in crew members, using ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to evaluate exhaled air. This could not only help in spaceflight diagnostics, but that also hold applications on earth within diagnostics of similar conditions, for example monitoring of asthma.

Hot Science with Cool Flames

Fire behaves differently in space, where buoyant forces are removed. Studying combustion in microgravity can increase scientists’ fundamental understanding of the process, which could lead to improvement of fire detection and suppression systems in space and on Earth. 

Many combustion experiments are performed in the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) aboard the space station. Rubins replaced two Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) Igniter Tips as part of the CIR igniter replacement operations.

Though Rubins is back on Earth, science aboard the space station continues, and innovative investigations that seek to benefit humans on Earth and further our exploration of the solar system are ongoing. Follow @ISS_Research to keep up with the science happening aboard your orbiting laboratory.  

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

I am now fully convinced 2016 is not real, we are all living a lie, time is an illusion and the end is nigh.

Mr. Tyson On Passports

AHAHAHA it was only a couple murders...

All These Numbers

I'm teaching Kindergarten summer school and forgot just how strange little kids are...

Me: Let's guess the hidden word! "Jose's cat likes to drink m____"

Student 1: Mouse!

Me: Let's check if our guess makes sense. Cats eat mice, they don't drink them.

Student 2: Well, if a cat kills a mouse it can drink its blood!

Student 3: Yeah! And if you put a mouse in a blender, you could make a mouse milkshake! And the cat could drink the mouse milkshake!

This... I need this.

Sirius and hugs

•Sirius has created a style of hug the marauders like to call “the koala” •mostly because he will wrap his legs around his victim and cling onto their neck •once he attaches himself to you he will •not •let •go •he is perfectly willing to hang onto you while you carry on with your life •which can prove difficult considering he’s almost six feet tall •he also does it when Remus wants to get up in the morning and Sirius does not •Remus is rather strong for his smallness •once James saw him emerging from behind the curtain of his bed with Sirius clung onto him •Remus proceeded to brush his teeth in this fashion

•It was Remus who first called Sirius a koala •he then had to explain what a koala was so Sirius could decide if he should be offended or not •while still hanging off Remus’s shoulders of course •it went something like •"You’re comparing me to a fluffy little bear thing?“ •"Yes.” •"No, I’m tougher than that.“ •"Ok then” •Remus then proceeded to try and remove Sirius, which was met with a very loud “noooOOOOO” and a distressed whine •it should be noted that this whole conversation was carried out while Remus had a toothbrush in his mouth

•James thought that Remus was the only one that would fall victim to the koala hug •he was wrong •then he thought it would be only him and Remus •nope •pretty soon he saw Lily marching down the hallway with a Sirius Black attached to her •Sirius’s circle of ‘trees’ only ever got bigger •even McGonagall could be spotted with Sirius hanging off of her •mostly while he tried to convince her he shouldn’t get detention •she always ignored him, but she was secretly amused •Peter never got one though •everyone suspected it was because he smelled like cheese

•Remus had always been able to tell what Sirius is thinking or what he means by his actions •he always knew that the koala hug meant “give me attention, I’m bored and I want cuddles” •but other times, it didn’t •sometimes when Sirius koala hugs him and instead of letting out pitiful whines and over dramatic yells when Remus protests, he just holds on tighter and doesn’t speak •then Remus knows something is wrong •and maybe it’s time to properly cuddle him and ask about how things are going at home and how bad the nightmares are getting

Ooo I love space!!

Pickerings Triangle

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