Astronaut Scott Kelly, Who Is Spending One Year On The Space Station, Tweeted This Image This Morning:

Watch The Martian (2015) Full Movie

Watch The Martian (2015) Full Movie

How do electric guitars work? Learn more about the materials that make it possible with today’s graphic: http://wp.me/s4aPLT-guitar

Chasing Storms at 17,500mph

Flying 250 miles above the Earth aboard the International Space Station has given me the unique vantage point from which to view our planet. Spending a year in space has given me the unique opportunity to see a wide range of spectacular storm systems in space and on Earth. 

The recent blizzard was remarkably visible from space. I took several photos of the first big storm system on Earth of year 2016 as it moved across the East Coast, Chicago and Washington D.C. Since my time here on the space station began in March 2015, I’ve been able to capture an array of storms on Earth and in space, ranging from hurricanes and dust storms to solar storms and most recently a rare thunder snowstorm.

Blizzard 2016

Hurricane Patricia 2015

Hurricane Joaquin 2015

Dust Storm in the Red Sea 2015

Dust Storm of Gobi Desert 2015

Aurora Solar Storm 2015

Aurora Solar Storm 2016

Thunderstorm over Italy 2015

Lightning and Aurora 2016

Rare Thunder Snowstorm 2016

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Reid Wiseman is a national treasure. There are 46 more of these.

Scientists find “the holy grail of astronomy” after uncovering a galaxy that is made up of mostly dark matter

Mars will one day have a ring system due to Phobos, the planet’s small moon, being crushed by tidal forces

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket successfully launches to the edge of space and lands vertically back on Earth

A new exoplanet called GJ1132b is found 39 light-years away, making it the closest Earth-sized exoplanet ever discovered

Researchers make ultra-thin diamond nanothreads, which could help us build a space elevator

A blue Neptune-like exoplanet, which seems to have skies like Earth, is found orbiting a red dwarf star

A staggering 574 newly discovered massive galaxies are revealed that date back to the beginnings of the universe

New research shows that galaxies were far more efficient at making stars during the first 10% of history than they are now

What’s Up for March 2016?

In March, Jupiter, it’s moons and moon shadows will all be visible in the sky. Find out when and where to look up:

Jupiter dominates the evening sky this month, rising at sunset and setting at dawn. On March 8, Jupiter reaches what is called “opposition”. Imagine that Jupiter and the sun are at opposite ends of a straight line, with the Earth in between. This brings Jupiter its closest to Earth, so it shines brighter and appears larger in telescopes.

On the nights of March 14 – 15, March 21 – 22 and March 29, two of Jupiter’s moons will cross the planet’s disk. 

When the planet is at opposition and the sun shines on Jupiter’s moons, we can see the moon’s shadow crossing the planet. There are actually 11 of these double shadow transits in March!

The next six months will be awesome times for you to image Jupiter when it’s highest in the sky; near midnight now, and a little earlier each night through the late summer.

Even through the smallest telescopes or binoculars, you should be able to see the two prominent belts on each side of Jupiter’s equator made up of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa Ganymede and Calisto. If you have a good enough view, you may even see Jupiter’s Red Spot!

Our Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter on July 4th of this year and will go into orbit around the giant planet. Right now, the Juno mission science team is actively seeking amateur and professional images of the planet. These images are uploaded to a Juno website, and the public is invited to discuss points of interest in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Locations will later be voted on and the favorites will be targets for JunoCam, the spacecraft’s imaging camera. Once JunoCam has taken the images, they’ll be posted online. Imaging participants can then process these raw mission images and re-upload them for others to view.  

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

Watch: Tiny Real Dog Meets Enormous Robo-Dog

Here, Alex the dog meets Spot…the electrically-powered, hydraulically-actuated, four-legged robotic dog. http://futurism.com/videos/watch-tiny-real-dog-meets-enormous-robo-dog/

Following cancer with tiny magnets

Life-saving surgery and treatments rely on doctors being able to accurately track the spread of cancers.                                

A new device that uses iron particles and a magnetic probe will allow clinicians to narrow down exactly which lymph nodes tumours spread to.

Developed by Aidan Cousins with colleagues at the University of South Australia, the novel approach is more sensitive and safer than existing methods for monitoring cancer.

“Pre-clinical trials of our approach suggest it gives a very clear picture of where tumours are most likely to spread,” Aidan explained.

“It will allow subsequent surgery and treatment options to be refined for better standards of care and improved prognosis.”

The technique involves injecting biodegradable iron particles at the primary site of a tumour, from where – as part of their normal surveillance activities – cells of the immune system transport them to the draining lymph nodes.

More information: A. Cousins et al. Novel Handheld Magnetometer Probe Based on Magnetic Tunnelling Junction Sensors for Intraoperative Sentinel Lymph Node Identification, Scientific Reports (2015). DOI: 10.1038/srep10842        

Electron microscopic image of a single human lymphocyte. Credit: Dr. Triche National Cancer Institute                                  

Kryptos is an encrypted sculpture by the American artist, Jim Sanborn, that is located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia. Since its dedication on November 3, 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the encrypted messages it bears. Of the four messages, three have been solved, with the fourth remaining one of the most famous unsolved codes in the world. The sculpture continues to provide a diversion for cryptanalysts, both amateur and professional, who are attempting to decipher the final section. The sculptor has given clues on several occasions.

The solved messages can be read here: [x]

(Fact Source) For more facts, follow Ultrafacts

The God Brain: Roundtable Discussion on God and Spirituality for Brain Games

NeuroscienceNews was invited by National Geographic’s Brain Games to participate in a virtual roundtable discussion on the question:

“Is belief in God innate in our brains, as if it were installed by some divine programmer? Or is spirituality a more complex evolving adaptation that has both helped and harmed us as a species?”

Let us know what you think.

Image: Jason Silva sits with Jonathan, a grad student at IDC Herzliya as they test out the virtual reality EEG cap and goggles. Photo Credit: NG Studios/Andy Fram.