Interview: Stunning Vertical Panoramas Of Churches By Richard Silver

Check out Fingerprints of Water on the Sand via NASA http://ift.tt/1Mxtpaz

Perfect magnets

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.

Geologist Andrés Ruzo first heard about the boiling river as child, but it was always thought of as mythical. It was considered “a place of spirits.” But when Ruzo’s aunt insisted a boiling river existed in Peru, he set out to find it. Now, Ruzo is the first scientist to be given the blessing of the local shaman to study the boiling river. Ruzo talks about the mysterious nature of the boiling river on the latest episode of the TED Radio Hour.

Solving the data processing alone is mindnumbing…

The amount of sensory information collected pose a huge storage problem and require real-time signal processing to reduce the information to relevant data. In mid 2011 it was estimated the array could generate an exabyte a day of raw data, which could be compressed to around 10 petabytes.

Square Kilometre Array

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a radio telescope project that will be built in Australia and South Africa. It will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. It will operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size will make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument.

The Square Kilometre Array SKA

Scientists at the Pacific Shark Research Center have discovered a new species of Lanternshark. The sharks give off a dim glow thanks to tiny organs in their skin called photophores. When seen from below, they blend in with the dim light that filters down to their dark hunting grounds from the ocean’s surface. In this context, glowing is actually an effective form of camouflage. Lanternsharks incredibly sneaky predators. 

Researcher (and shark-discoverer) Vicky Vásquez was describing the sharks’ special power to her young cousins when they suggested the common name Ninja. Its scientific name Etmopterus benchleyi honors Peter Benchley, the author of the novel Jaws who became a vocal advocate for shark conservation. 

Image credits: Dr. Douglas J. Long/Dr. Ross Robertson/Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation

Check out our infographic on Venus here: http://astronomyisawesome.com/infographics/10-facts-about-venus/

Shadowplay New York brings the beauty and wonder of the universe to hand-crafted, carefully designed and environmentally conscious cashmere scarves. Each piece is digitally printed using real images, often shot from NASA’s Hubble Telescope. See more of their collection on Etsy.

My life in a picture

As a single woman, when I see a man

funny tumblr [via imgur]