Changing Moods With Sleep And Light

4 Fun Facts Animated by Teachers

Last week, the TED-Ed Animation Team facilitated animation workshops with TED-Ed Innovative Educators. We introduced them to basic stop-motion tricks and techniques in hopes that they would begin to incorporate animation into their classroom projects - and based on the results, we think they are up to the challenge!

Earlier this fall, we sourced some fun facts from the educators themselves, and then tasked them with visualizing that very information. We used tablets with #istopmotion to shoot the animation, and basic household objects and school supplies as props and materials. We dare say that you, too, can do this from home!

1. When an object’s mass doubles, its kinetic energy also doubles, but when an object’s SPEED doubles, its kinetic energy quadruples.

2. If a male sperm was the size of a human being, it would swim the 100 metre freestyle in half of the world record time.

3. Approximately one word is added to the English language every two hours.

4. If you condensed the Earth’s history into 24 hours, humans wouldn’t exist until 11:58pm.

These are the Most Incredible Photos Shot by NASA’s Cassini Probe

The Cassini space probe has captured its fair share of eye-popping photos since launching in 1997 and arriving in Saturn’s orbit in 2004. Here’s a collection of some of Cassini’s most remarkable photographs. Many of them were compiled by Reddit user I_Say_I_Say, and others were featured here before or obtained from NASA’s website: You can find a massive collection of Cassini’s photos in the mission gallery on NASA’s website.Thanks Petapixel

1.A massive storm stretching across the surface of the planet. 2.Saturn’s gradation and rings. 3.Three of Saturn’s moons (Titan, Mimas, and Rhea) captured in a single photo. 4.Saturn casting a shadow on its rings. 5.Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. 6.Saturn, its rings, and its moon Dione. 7. Earth seen as a pale blue dot under Saturn’s rings. 8.Saturn’s moon Rhea hovering in front of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. 9.Saturn casting its shadow on its rings. 10.Saturn and its moon Titan

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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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Hitchhiking a Ride to Space

Have you ever packed for a long trip with a friend and ran out of space in your suitcase? Maybe your friend was nice and let your spare items hitchhike a ride in their bag?  The following science experiments are doing something similar on our Space Launch System rocket.

Our Space Launch System (SLS) will be the most powerful rocket we’ve ever built and will enable astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to travel deeper into the solar system. This advanced launch vehicle will launch astronauts to an asteroid and eventually to Mars, while opening new possibilities for other payloads including robotic scientific missions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

The primary goal of SLS and the Orion spacecraft is to launch future crewed, deep space missions. That said, an added bonus of this powerful rocket is the extra science it can carry. On it’s first mission (known as Exploration Mission-1, EM-1) SLS will carry 13 CubeSats (small satellites, each the size of a large shoebox) on its first flight as secondary payloads. These small satellites will perform various in-space experiments. In a way, these 13 CubeSats are ‘space hitchhikers’, catching a ride to deep space where they can gather data valuable to future exploration missions.

How were these 13 experiments selected? Great question. They were selected through a series of announcements of flight opportunities, a public contest and negations with our international partners.

These secondary payloads have a vast array of functions, from taking pictures of asteroids, to using yeast to detect impacts of deep-space radiation. Each month we will highlight one of these experiments on Tumblr and talk about all the exciting science they will do. Just to give you an idea of what these shoebox-sized satellites will do, we’ll give you a preview:

1. NEA Scout

NEA Scout, stands for: Near-Earth Asteroid Scout. This CubeSat will investigate an asteroid, taking pictures and observe its position in space.

2. BioSentinel

BioSentinel will be the first time living organisms have traveled to deep space in more than 40 years. It will use yeast to detect, measure and compare the impact of deep-space radiation on living organisms over long durations in deep space.

3. Lunar Flashlight

This experiment will look for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted from the lunar surface. It will demonstrate the capability to scout for useful materials and resources from lunar orbit.

4. Skyfire

Lockheed Martin’s Skyfire will perform a lunar flyby, collecting data to address both Moon and Mars Strategic Knowledge Gaps, or gaps in information required to reduce risk, increase effectiveness and improve the design of robotic and human space exploration missions, for surface characterization, remote sensing and site selection.

5. Lunar IceCube

Morehead State University’s Lunar IceCube will look for water in ice, liquid and vapor forms from a very low orbit of only 62 miles above the surface of the moon. The ability to search for useful resources can potentially help astronauts manufacture fuel and necessities to sustain a crew.

6. CuSP

The CubeSat mission to study Solar Particles, or CuSP, will be the first protype of an interplanetary CubeSat space weather station. It will observe space weather events hours before they reach Earth.

7. Luna-H-Map

Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH) will enter a polar orbit around the moon with a low altitude. From there, it will produce maps of near-surface hydrogen.

8, 9, 10. Three Tournament Payloads

Three of the payloads riding along on this journey will be the winners of the Ground Tournaments portion of our CubeQuest Challenge. This challenge is designed to foster innovation in small spacecraft propulsion and communications techniques. Learn more about this challenge HERE.

11, 12, 13. International Partners

The remaining three payloads are reserved for international partners, and will be announced at a later time.

To stay updated on these experiments, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/launching-science-and-technology.html

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

Gravity, who needs it

Houston TX (SPX) Nov 20, 2015 What happens to your body in space? NASA’s Human Research Program has been unfolding answers for over a decade. Space is a dangerous, unfriendly place. Isolated from family and friends, exposed to radiation that could increase your lifetime risk for cancer, a diet high in freeze-dried food, required daily exercise to keep your muscles and bones from deteriorating, a carefully scripted high-tempo Full article

“Zeno Effect” Verified: Atoms Won’t Move When They’re Being Watched

Remember playing Super Mario Bros. 3 as a kid (okay, maybe as an adult, too) and encountering Boos? The sneaky ghosts would only move when you weren’t watching them. Well, Cornell physicists proved that, much like the fictional enemies from the Mario universe, a quantum system can’t change while you’re watching it.

Learn about the physics behind the find: http://futurism.com/links/20727/

When your little sister discovers and sends you the classic science nerd posts

The Solar System

Australia’s using drones to protect its coasts from sharks