The Space Elevator Reference
TEDx Talk: An Elevator to Space © Alan Chan Space Elevator and Earth. Is a Space Elevator pure fantasy or just a technological leap from reality? Markus Landgraf, a mission analyst at the European Space Agency (ESA), explains how to get to space via elevator. 2012 Space Elevator Conference Proceedings Available The proceedings for last year's Space Elevator Conference are available at the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) Store. Concept: Dirigible Space Elevator A Dirigible Space Elevator, a unique combination of aerospace design and geodesic geometry, has many monetary, efficiency and energy saving uses. ISEC Releases Space Elevator Concept of Operations Report The International Space Elevator Consortium has a released a 46 page report titled Space Elevator Concept of Operations. 2013 Space Elevator Conference Set for August in Seattle The annual Space Elevator Conference will once again be held in Seattle and for the second year in a row at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Space-Time Diagrams
Any discussion of cosmology requires a careful consideration of what we can see and when we can see it. A good way to keep track of these concepts is the space-time diagram. A space-time diagram is nothing more than a graph showing the position of objects as a function of time. The usual convention is that time runs up the diagram, so the bottom is the past, or early times, and the top is the future, or late times. The picture above shows a space-time diagram of the Earth going around the Sun. The line representing the position of the Earth as a function of time is called a worldline. The space-time diagram above shows particles with different velocities. Because the speed of light is special in relativity, space-time diagrams are often drawn in units of seconds and light-seconds, or years and light-years, so a unit slope [45 degree angle] corresponds to the speed of light. Back to the Cosmology Tutorial
World's best info-graphics show us the value of body parts, surname distribution and what makes a great novel
Information Is Beautiful Awards celebrated the best data graphicsGraphics showed anything from the monetary value of a human brain to the most common Alaskan surnames By Graham Smith Published: 15:55 GMT, 2 October 2012 | Updated: 16:29 GMT, 2 October 2012 A map of the human body that lists the value of each body part; a map of the U.S. that marks the most popular surnames; and a graphic that shows what plot details make a great novel. These were just three of the entries at the Information Is Beautiful Awards ceremony in London last week, celebrating the most ingenious methods of making numbers and facts visually interesting. The body parts map provides the price in sterling for every limb, organ and gland based on the growing industry of human tissue recovery. The researchers calculated the values from prices charged by human tissue recovery agencies that collect body parts for research. If you could do away with your brain altogether, expect to be paid £10,707 for all its parts.
Full Impulse on my mark… engage! | A User's Guide to the Universe
There has been a ton of chatter on the interwebs about yet another potentially habitable planet in the Gliese 581 system, approximately 20.5 light years from earth. This one, Gliese 581g, was discovered by the Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey using Keck. Based on its size, is approximately 3 earth masses, with roughly earth-like gravity. More important still, is the fact that it’s roughly in the middle of the “Goldilocks zone“ Most everyone is focusing on the unfortunate fact that 581g seems to be tidally locked with its sun, which means that one side is blazing hot, and the other is freezing cold (and, of course, that there’d be only either day or night on each side). But who cares? Let’s go now. The Trip to Gliese 581g I’ve explored this sort of topic a number of times before. But if you don’t want to do all of that reading, let me just sketch it out for you. You are going to want to accelerate at g by the way, since one of 581g’s main selling points is the earth-normal gravity. -Dave
Moving slabs [This Dynamic Earth, USGS]
The layer of the Earth we live on is broken into a dozen or so rigid slabs (called tectonic plates by geologists) that are moving relative to one another. "Historical perspective"
NASA: Don't Let This Happen to Your Planet
Another dose of Martian awesome
If someone woke me out of a sound sleep and forced me at gunpoint to say which is my favorite camera in the solar system, they’d probably have to shoot me. But I think that HiRISE onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be in the top three. And it’s pictures like this one that put it there: [Click to get to greatly embiggened pictures.] That is not a closeup of my chin before I shave. But what are those weird tendril thingies? In the Martian winter, carbon dioxide freezes out of the air (and you thought it was cold where you are). Now, you might think I’m making this all up. Oh, baby. I love stuff like this. Awe. We’ve seen this before on Mars, but it’s still shocking and amazing. If we can see this kind of thing from space, with robotic probes, what will humans see when they go there and can kick over some rocks?
Don't Let This Happen to Your Planet
Don't Let This Happen to Your Planet March 29, 2013: Ozone stinks. People who breathe it gag as their lungs burn. The EPA classifies ground-level ozone as air pollution. Yet without it, life on Earth would be impossible. A fragile layer of ozone 25 km above Earth's surface is all that stands between us and some of the harshest UV rays from the sun. To keep track of our planet's ozone layer, NASA is about to launch the most sophisticated space-based ozone sensor ever: SAGE III, slated for installation on the International Space Station in 2014. "The ISS is in the perfect orbit for SAGE III," says Joe Zawodny, Project Scientist for the instrument at the Langley Research Center. SAGE III works by using the Sun and Moon as light sources. "SAGE III is, essentially, analyzing the colors of the sunset to track ozone," says Zawodny. In a remarkable display of international cooperation, an ozone treaty was negotiated only two years later. Because of this agreement, ozone is now on the mend.
