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18.4°N 226°E // Pretelos
Posts tagged "science"
wired: A new private company called Deep Space Industries announced today that it intends to send a fleet of small spacecraft to near-Earth asteroids with the aim of mining resources and turning them into products using space-based 3-D printers. Last year was thick with audacious private spaceflight company unveilings, including the announcement from Planetary Resources, Inc. of their plans to mine relatively valuable platinum group metals from asteroids. With the formation of Deep Space Industries, it seems that 2013 could see a new crop of private space companies with lofty goals.

wired:

A new private company called Deep Space Industries announced today that it intends to send a fleet of small spacecraft to near-Earth asteroids with the aim of mining resources and turning them into products using space-based 3-D printers.

Last year was thick with audacious private spaceflight company unveilings, including the announcement from Planetary Resources, Inc. of their plans to mine relatively valuable platinum group metals from asteroids. With the formation of Deep Space Industries, it seems that 2013 could see a new crop of private space companies with lofty goals.

wired: Visiting Mongolia during the Cretaceous might have revealed a variety of birdlike dinosaurs strutting their stuff and using a spectacular fan of tail feathers to woo potential mates. The birdlike dinosaurs are oviraptors, so named because their discoverer suspected the first specimen had been fossilized in the act of stealing eggs from a Protoceratops nest. Feathered but flightless, oviraptors had strong, flexible tails tipped with a spray of multicolored feathers, a team of paleontologists reported Jan. 4 in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Studying oviraptor fossils, as well as present-day birds and reptiles, and digitally recreating an oviraptor tail helped the team conclude that, like peacocks and turkeys, oviraptors shook their tail feathers to attract mates. “You have, I think, a tail that is specifically adapted to flaunt its feathers,” said Scott Persons, study author and doctoral student at the University of Alberta. “Swish it from side to side, show off the tail, strike a sinuous pose and hold it.”

wired:

Visiting Mongolia during the Cretaceous might have revealed a variety of birdlike dinosaurs strutting their stuff and using a spectacular fan of tail feathers to woo potential mates.

The birdlike dinosaurs are oviraptors, so named because their discoverer suspected the first specimen had been fossilized in the act of stealing eggs from a Protoceratops nest. Feathered but flightless, oviraptors had strong, flexible tails tipped with a spray of multicolored feathers, a team of paleontologists reported Jan. 4 in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Studying oviraptor fossils, as well as present-day birds and reptiles, and digitally recreating an oviraptor tail helped the team conclude that, like peacocks and turkeys, oviraptors shook their tail feathers to attract mates.

“You have, I think, a tail that is specifically adapted to flaunt its feathers,” said Scott Persons, study author and doctoral student at the University of Alberta. “Swish it from side to side, show off the tail, strike a sinuous pose and hold it.”

the-star-stuff:

Orion and Nebulas

The Orion constellation featuring several nebulas. The huge Barnard Loop is visible as a band on the right of the constellation. The nebulosity around lambda orionis is also visible. 

To the bottom right you can see the Rosette nebula and on the top left next to Rigel the witchhead nebula. Inside Orion M42, the horsehead and flame nebulas are visible.

Orion is a wonderful constellation full of bright and interest objects and you can never get bored of it. Annotated version available.

Photographed by Luis Argerich