The Enlightening Science Thread

Morpheus free flight test. 2-12-2014

The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa Mystery - GEOLOGY.COM

Golden said:

The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa Mystery - GEOLOGY.COM

Ever since I seen this in NatGeo a few years ago ('07) I've been a proponent of the ice collar / wind theory.

Mystery of Death Valley's 'Sailing Stones' Solved | Moving Rocks | LiveScience

NASA Studies the Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa

This is an interesting read:

The photo above is from Death Valley’s Racetrack Playa and was posted on the Death Valley Facebook page. It’s a popular photo spot in Death Valley and thousands of photographers flock there each year to photograph the mysterious “Sailing Stones”. Well, a Facebook friend, Jeff Simmons, turned me on to this post the other day. I read it and immediately thought just about everyone else who commented on it must be a photographer. Why? Because they were totally slamming the people that walked on the playa.

But who’s really wrong here?.......

Source: Death Valley's Racetrack Playa Trampled! | MATT KLOSKOWSKI

March 28, 2014:
By the time you finish reading this story, you'll be about 1,000 km closer to the planet Mars.

Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter. As March gives way to April, the distance between the two planets is shrinking by about 300 km every minute. When the convergence ends in mid-April, the gulf between Earth and Mars will have narrowed to only 92 million km--a small number on the vast scale of the solar system.

Astronomers call this event an "opposition of Mars" because Mars and the Sun are on opposite sides of the sky. Mars rises in the east at sunset, and soars almost overhead at midnight, shining burnt-orange almost 10 times brighter than a 1st magnitude star.

Source: The Opposition of Mars - NASA Science

Just before Mars rise at my location as I post this at 7:59pm edt:

First it was Them!, Arachnophobia, Stink Bugs, Cane Toads, and now Rasberry (Tawny) Crazy Ants (Nylanderia fulva)

A new exotic invasive pest ant species to Texas was found around Houston (Harris County), in 2002, and has begun to spread largely through human assistance. The ant has recently been identified as Nylanderia fulva (formerly Nylanderia sp. nr. pubens) and the new proposed common name is the tawny crazy ant (formerly Rasberry crazy ant) (Gotzek, et al 2012).

Source: TAMU - Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia spp. near pubens)

How did your body become the complicated, quirky, amazing machine it is today? Anatomist Neil Shubin uncovers the answers in this new look at human evolution.

Using fossils, embryos and genes, he reveals how our bodies are the legacy of ancient fish, reptiles and primates — the ancestors you never knew were in your family tree.

Source: Your Inner Fish | PBS

I just caught this, this evening. A three part series.

Mars is shining brightly tonight, hopefully the sky will be clear next Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning to see the Moon total eclipse.

Gary, you're going to have to bump that time line up by one to Monday evening/Tuesday morning.

I seem to recall back when I first joined SevenForums, you mentioned you lived in the mid-west, Indiana? If so, then you need to adjust the times accordingly to Central Daylight time. 12:55am edt would become 11:55pm cdt Monday evening April 14th for you.

That is of course you live in an area that doesn't observe Daylight Savings then the time would remain at 11:55pm cst. No matter the time you still need to bump up the day by one.

To compare if you do live in the Central time zone here is the page for Chicago: Eclipse Calculator ? Solar Eclipses in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Notice the Penumbral eclipse begins Apr 14 at 11:55 PM.

Since my Longitude here in Central Pa. compares to Washington D.C. this is what I'm going with: Eclipse Calculator ? Solar Eclipses in Washington DC, District of Columbia, U.S.A.

The start of the eclipse for me is 12:55am edt the morning of April 15th, with totality at 3:46am edt.


Confused yet?

I'm still fortunate enough to be in the ET zone Steve. Indiana is all cut up with time zones. The north wants to be with Chicago, South with Louisville.

Yeah I was wrong on the days though.

Cool, looks like we can see another one in Sep.
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/l...5-september-28

September will be easier to take being its at 8:13 PM (Saturday the 27th)

Clear Skies!