I'm sure the vocalizations go beyond this one word, but in the article they just mention the whale saying "out," and I'm thinking the poor thing is saying, "Get me the fuck out of here, out of this concrete box I've lived my life in."

http://news.yahoo.com/famed-roman-sh...192818118.html

Famed Roman shipwreck may be two.

http://news.yahoo.com/garden-sprinkl...120912516.html

Vela Pulsar caught on video.

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-louisi...150415576.html

Ancient site in Louisiana nominated for UNESCO world heritage.

http://news.yahoo.com/supergiant-sta...151545820.html


Super giant star on collision course.

http://news.yahoo.com/did-rise-ancie...202218339.html


Intriguing use of tools.

http://news.yahoo.com/sun-grows-supe...212050577.html


Super cool, super hot.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...khole-collapse

This is an interesting explanation of relativity.

If you have an iTunes store account and a spare $10 you can get Brian Greene's Fabric of the Cosmos NOVA special which also has a fantastic explanation of relativity theory. It is well worth watching. Your local PBS station also runs it from time to time.

Cheers
Aj

Just for fun
 

Asteroid to make very close pass to Earth
 

So I want to get on top of this issue:

Next week a 150 foot asteroid will pass very close to the Earth (17,000 miles being very close). However, no matter what else you might here NASA is saying there is *no* chance that this rock will hit the planet. None. Even though it will be within the area in which most satellites orbit there is very little chance it will even hit a satellite. How can we be so certain? Physics. Since we know how the Earth-Moon system affects the orbits of objects (since we've been putting objects in orbit for almost 60 years now) and we know the trajectory and speed of the asteroid, we know where it's going and how it will be effected by its close encounter with Earth. What will happen is that the rock is going to 'slingshot' around the Earth and head toward Sol where it will go into a long orbit. Article link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2644960.html

Cheers
Aj

Thanks! I enjoyed that!

World Wildlife Fund turns to drones in bid to tackle poaching
Rhino poaching at an all-time high in South Africa due to demand from Vietnam.

by James Holloway - Feb 22 2013



http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/...ckle-poaching/

Technology : Twitter
 

By Tia Ghose , LiveScience

Tweets reveal the happiest U.S. cities



The 10 happiest cities were:

1.Napa, Calif.
2.Longmont, Colo.
3.San Clemente, Calif.
4.Santa Fe, N.M.
5.Santa Cruz, Calif.
6.Green Bay, Wis.
7.Santa Rosa, Calif.
8.Simi Valley, Calif.
9.Lafayette, Colo.
10.Asheville, N.C.

The 10 least happy cities:

1.Beaumont, Texas
2.Albany, Ga.
3.Texas City, Texas
4.Shreveport, La.
5.Monroe, La.
6.Memphis, Tenn.
7.Battle Creek, Mich.
8.Flint, Mich.
9.Lima, Ohio
10.Houma, La.

Looks like the State of Louisiana is the winner.


http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/te...ties-1C8502786

biology
 

Here's an interesting article about the microbes (bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) that live in the human body:

http://news.yahoo.com/body-bugs-5-su...170617561.html

interesting...........

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-micro-...194239722.html

Life on Europa?
 

This is really fascinating.


https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...36582012_n.jpg


Europa is the second of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, when counted outwards from the planet. First observed by Galileo Galilei in 1610, all four moons can be easily seen with a small telescope or binoculars. Europa is the smallest of the four, but still only slightly smaller than Earth's Moon.

Europa is considered by many planetary scientists to be the most likely place in our Solar System to harbour life, besides Earth. It is very cold on the surface, between 50 K and 110 K (-220 C to -160 C), but it's abundant in water. Our understanding of Europa's inner structure is based mostly on photographs taken by spacecraft, in particular the Galileo probe during its many flybys of the moon.

Europa is covered with a crust of ice, estimated to be 10-30 km thick, but planetary models indicate that underneath it there should be liquid ocean, as deep as 100 km. As Europa's eccentric orbit moves it closer or farther from Jupiter, the planet's tidal forces change in strength causing the moon to elongate slightly and then relax to its rounder shape. This constant squeezing and pulling is thought to generate enough heat to keep the ocean from freezing completely.

Europa has an atmosphere that's made mostly of oxygen. It is quite thin, with the surface pressure a trillion times lower than Earth's. The oxygen is not thought to be of biological origin. It's likely a result of molecules of water being split into oxygen and hydrogen by solar ultra-violet radiation and charged particles from Jupiter's magnetosphere.

A mission to Europa to examine it up close and to look for signs of life is being proposed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory together with Johns Hopkins University, Maryland. The spacecraft named Clipper would be launched in 2021 and enter an orbit of Jupiter some 3 years later to focus on flybys of Europa. The mission hasn't yet been funded so its future is uncertain, but exploring the moon is high on the list of priorities for future planetary exploration. ESA is planning to launch its own spacecraft JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer) around the same time (2022) that would target also Ganymede and Callisto.

The image taken by Galileo in 1998 shows the surface of Europa with its characteristic lines and freckles, thought to be a result of liquid water or warmer ice erupting through to the surface of the moon.


FAQ about Europa

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/europa/faq.cfm

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/images/stryk_ee14_700.jpg

http://news.yahoo.com/500-million-ol...180743101.html


Earliest anthropoid found.