SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY - Particle humor!

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY - What would it look like from Earth if the moonwere a giant disco ball?

By Robbie Gonzalez (http://rtgonzalez.kinja.com/)

So, technically, this is what it would look like if the Moon were a disco ball AND orbited Earth at the same distance as the International Space Station, i.e. roughly 420 kilometers (260 miles) above the surface of the Earth. But that doesn't make it any less incredible looking.

This fantastic animation is by Nick of Yeti Dynamics (the same guy behind this simulation of a normal, non-disco-ball moon at a distance of 420km) and comes by way of Michael Stevens of Vsauce. Some good stuff in here from Stevens about Roche limits (if the moon were ever suddenly teleported to so close a distance, it would promptly disintegrate... worth it?) and earthshine – although it's worth the watch for Nick's simulations alone. The one that envisions a giant, single-plane mirror orbiting Earth is especially awe-inspiring.

From Vsauce

DISCO BALL MOON INFORMATION: 
The large mirror-tiles are 150km squared, and the small ones are 100km squared. 
They are all 10 km thick with glass (with an IOR of 1.56) 
There are 3012 mirrored tiles 

When as near as the ISS, the Earth surface to disco-ball-moon surface distance is 420 km or so The orbital period in relation to the earth is realistic, about a 2.1 hour period. 

When the disco moon is in low orbit, each reflection of the sun as a caustic is effectively a tiny sun, although you can never reflect enough light to get above the temperature of the surface of the sun (about 6000 degrees). 

Since the sunlight is going through glass first, glass will in general filter out a lot of the UV, so your caustics shouldn't reflect too much UV. The projection of a mirror-tile is larger than the projection of the sun when seen from low altitude. . 

when seen from far away the tile is smaller than the sun, and hence the caustic isn't as bright . Basically the disco tiles are glass with a silvered backing. Some of the light will not penetrate the glass, and will be simply reflected off the first surface of the glass, This reflection strength increases as the angle of incidence approaches 90, generally referred to as a Fresnel reflection.. or rather the strength follows that equation. This reflected light will generally be full spectrum 

The center of the giant flat mirror is orbiting at a distance of 2157.4 Km above the Surface of the earth, It's diameter is 3474.8 km (same as the moon), It's orbital period would be longer than the disco moon simply because it has less mass. But in this video it has the same orbital period as in the moon.

The actual mass of the giant mirror is absurd.. it's way over-engineered.. if a real one were to be built it wouldn't have huge thick rims, it would more likely resemble a girder work, with Mylar films. Not huge death star like mirror with towers, and strobe lights (and a strange lack of solar panels) 

Follow me on twitter! https://twitter.com/tweetsauce or instagram: http://instagram.com/electricpants and subscribe to Vsauce for more: http://www.youtube.com/user/vsauce?su...visuals by YETI DYNAMICS: https://www.youtube.com/yetidynamics music by JAKE CHUDNOW: http://www.youtube.com/JakeChudnow

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY - A Vision Of Deep Space Exploration That Will GiveYou Chills

Stop what you're doing, set aside four minutes of your time, and bask in the inspirational spectacle that is Wanderers, an electrifying short film by animator Erik Wernquist that seamlessly merges breathtaking visions of humanity's future in deep space with stirring narration by Carl Sagan. Trust us – you don't want to miss this. - Robbie Gonzalez (http://rtgonzalez.kinja.com/)

This Is A Majestic Vision Of Humans Embracing Our Exotic Solar System

Riding a space elevator up from Mars. Trekking across the ice fields of Europa. Soaring in wing suits above the clouds of Titan. Base jumping on Miranda. Wanderers is a science-inspired short film imagining human exploration of our solar system that leaves me giddy and excited for a future we could one day experience.

Top image: Base jumping off Verona Rupes, the highest cliff in the solar system. Credit: Erik Wernquist

Set to Carl Sagan reading from Pale Blue Dot, this inspired future borrows heavily from the futuristic visions of NASA, Kim Stanley Robinson, Arthur C. Clarke, Chesley Bonestell, and many more. The film's creator, Erik Wernquist, sees the film as "a glimpse of the fantastic and beautiful nature that surrounds us on our neighboring worlds - and above all, how it might appear to us if we were there.

To read more - http://space.io9.com/this-is-a-stunning-vision-of-humans-basking-in-our-sola-1664676360/1664858837/

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY - VINYL AND STYLUS AT 1000X MAGNIFICATION

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/vinyl_and_stylus_at_1000x_magnification

Here’s a neat image of a record and a stylus at 1000x magnification. It’s pretty incredible to see the etched grooves on the record up close and how they interact with the needle. I’ve always known how record players worked, but seeing the process magnified like this is way cool. 

The photos come from Microscopic Images on Twitter.

Via Kottke

HISTORY - 99 Percent Invisible: Episode 138: O-U-I-J-A

By ROMAN on October 28, 2014

The Ouija board is so simple and iconic that it looks like it comes from another time, or maybe another realm. The game is not as ancient as it was designed to look, but those two arched rows of letters have been spooking people for over 125 years. Actually, the roots of the board go back even farther, according to Ouija historian Robert Murch. To understand where Ouija boards (generically called “talking boards”) come from, you have to go back to middle of the 1800s, to three sisters in New York.

[The Fox Sisters, Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

The Fox Sisters claimed to be mediums to the spirit world. In public demonstrations, they would ask questions of the spirits and receive audible knocks back on the wall, which they would translate into letters of the alphabet. The sisters popularized the growing movement known as Spiritualism,which held that the living could contact the spirits of the dead, who had secret knowledge to impart.

During and after the Civil War, people who had lost loved ones became enchanted with the idea of communicating with the dead, and came up with all different ways to contact the spirit world. In 1886 the fledgling Associated Press ran an article in papers all over the country about these new “talking boards” coming out of the spiritualist movement in Ohio. A few years later in 1890, a businessman named Charles Kennard pulled together a small group of investors and formed the Kennard Novelty Company to exclusively make and market talking boards...

Ouija, it turned out, was also a great thing to do on a date. The original Ouija board was placed on your lap, so your knees would be touching your partner’s knees. Your fingers would be touching your partner’s on the planchette. You might be playing by candle light. However romantic Ouija may have been, it was still innocent enough for Normal Rockwell, who made a painting of a Ouija-playing  young couple that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

As of 2013, there’s a new version of the Ouija board, which has been redesigned to look even older than the classic board. “They’ve really gone for the older look,” says Ouija historian Robert Murch, “which is cool because people assume these boards have been around for thousands of years, which we know isn’t true, but belief is important to the Ouija board.”

Belief is very important to the Ouija board, especially subconscious belief. Which brings us finally, to how these things work.  In 1852,  an English physician and researcher named William Carpenter was studying Spiritualist phenomena, and coined the term “ideomotor effect.”  The ideomotor effect describes what happens when subconscious thoughts guide muscular movements.

According to Professor Chris French, of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmith’s University of London, the ideometer effect can explain why, on the Ouija board, the planchette seems to be moving on its own. In truth, the players are guiding its movement subconsciously.

Some researchers have even tried to study the subconscious using Ouija boards.

To read the full article - http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/o-u-i-j-a/

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Her father should be proud!

CULTURE/SOCIETY - The real truth is out there!

ENTERTAINMENT - Geek Pride Day/Towel Day pics

SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION - Radiolab: After Life

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eioua/3068749696/

This hour: Radiolab stares down the very moment of passing, and speculates about what may lie beyond.

What happens at the moment when we slip from life...to the other side? Is it a moment? If it is, when exactly does it happen? And what happens afterward? It's a show of questions that don't have easy answers. So, in a slight departure from our regular format, we bring you eleven meditations on how, when, and even if we die.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/91680-after-life/

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY - Pi Day humor