Smartler - Smartler

EVERYTIME IT’S ON MY DASHBOARD I WATCH IT AND CRY BEST VIDEO

On Tuesday, September 15th, at 5 p.m. ET, astronauts Serena Auñón, Cady Coleman, Samantha Cristoforetti, plus NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan will be stopping by Skunk Bear HQ – and I’ll be asking them your questions live on Periscope and SnapChat (user: nprnews)!

Submit your questions here or tweet #NPRSpaceJam.

Cady Coleman has been to space three times, once spending 158 days aboard the International Space Station. While on earth, she set several endurance and tolerance records when she participated in tests of new equipment. She plays flute in Bandella, a musical group made up of astronauts. Here, I’ve depicted her zero-gravity hair-do.

Serena Auñón hasn’t been to space … yet. She was selected in 2009 as a member of the 20th NASA astronaut class. She has a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, a doctorate in medicine, and a masters in public health.

Samantha Cristoforetti is the first Italian woman in space, the woman who has stayed in space the longest (199 days) and the first person to brew espresso in space. She’s a fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force and speaks fluent Italian, English, Russian, German, and French.

Ellen Stofan is the Chief Scientist of NASA, advising the administrator on all things scientific. She is especially interested in the geology of other planets.

It’s magically delicious http://cute-overload.tumblr.com source: http://imgur.com/r/aww/aPFzTID

For a moment, that black and white photo should seem like a full color image. (You have to keep both the image and your head very still).

This illusion was used in the new BBC Four series Colour: The Spectrum of Science.

It demonstrates a phenomenon called “cone fatigue.” When we stare at the purple hillside in picture above, photoreceptors in our eyes called cones are stimulated. They send a signal to our brains that says “You’re looking at something purple.” But the sensing ability of those cones decreases the longer we stare at the image - those receptors are, in a way, temporarily used up.

Then when we look at the black and white image, those same cones can’t detect any purple light. Instead they sense the color that remains: green.

Textile Art + Science = Crocheted Chemistry

Dallas, TX-based textile artist Lauren Espy just completed crocheting the cutest chemistry set we’ve ever seen. Each handmade piece of amigurumi lab equipment, colorful beakers and test tubes, and a fiery little bunsen burner (our favorite), wears a smiling face that clearly says they’re ready to do some awesome science.

Follow Lauren Espy on Instagram to check out more of her crocheted creations. Espy sells some of her pieces via her Etsy shop, where she plans to list smaller pieces of crocheted chemistry equipment in the near future. So stay tuned!

[via A Menagerie of Stitches]

When engineers are bored.

“This Love” - Taylor Swift (Piano & String Version) by Sam Yung.

credit to the owners

If Earth had Saturn’s Rings

From an excellent post by Jason Davis

From Washington, D.C., the rings would only fill a portion of the sky, but appear striking nonetheless. Here, we see them at sunrise.

From Guatemala, only 14 degrees above the equator, the rings would begin to stretch across the horizon. Their reflected light would make the moon much brighter.

From Earth’s equator, Saturn’s rings would be viewed edge-on, appearing as a thin, bright line bisecting the sky.

At the March and September equinoxes, the Sun would be positioned directly over the rings, casting a dramatic shadow at the equator.

At midnight at the Tropic of Capricorn, which sits at 23 degrees south latitude, the Earth casts a shadow over the middle of the rings, while the outer portions remain lit.

via x

The last, but not least of starry scholastic month! 

This week’s entry: Black Holes

http://www.space.com/15421-black-holes-facts-formation-discovery-sdcmp.html

http://www.space.com/19339-black-holes-facts-explained-infographic.html