Unconscious Plots twirling science fiction

Meteorites!

1) Pallasite Meteorite

Pallasites are a type of iron meteorite, incredibly rare, made out of large olivine crystals in an iron-nickel matrix – and they look just fabulous. Olivine is a a magnesium iron silicate quite common in our planet’s subsurface, but which weathers fast when exposed to the surface. Only 64 have been found. [more]

2) Chondrite Meteorite

Chondrites are stony (non-metallic) meteorites that have not experienced any melting. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains accumulate to form primitive asteroids. These are the most common type of meteorite falling to Earth. One of their characteristics is the presence of chondrules, which are round grains formed by distinct minerals. The chondrule contents may have gone on forming and broken through the chondrite droplet boundaries, so the chondrules become less and less distinct, grading into a fine-grained holocrystalline rock. This is a holocrystalline chondrite with chondrules no longer distinguishable. [more]

3) Widmanstätten pattern Meteorite

The Widmanstätten pattern is commonly found in iron meteorites. The distinctive internal structure is formed as the liquid metal at the core of a newly formed meteorite (comprising mostly nickel and iron) cools very slowly over thousands of years.The result is a lattice of nickel-iron crystals unlike anything seen here on Earth. [more]

Let me repeat: these are all flying space rocks that attacked Earth.

This is a still shot from the mesmerizing and either exciting or calming real-time map of windflow in the continental US.

An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us—energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future. This map shows you the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US.

Wind Map

Spend a few minutes watching. You won’t regret the time spent.

Their gallery include snapshots of when hurricanes hit.

Day 1

The Art of Science exhibition explores the interplay between science and art. Both of these disciplines involve the pursuit of those moments of discovery when what is perceived suddenly becomes more than the sum of its parts. Each piece in this exhibition is, in its own way, a record of such a moment.

This is the sixth Art of Science competition hosted by Princeton University. The 2013 competition drew 170 submissions from 24 departments. The exhibit includes work by undergraduates, faculty, staff, graduate students, and alumni.

These 44 extraordinary images are not art for art’s sake. Rather, they were produced during the course of scientific research. Entries were chosen for their aesthetic excellence as well as scientific or technical interest. We thank all those who submitted work to this year’s competition. We are inspired by the breadth of their creativity both in their scientific research and in the artistic fruits of that research.

Katherine Bussard, Peter C. Bunnell curator of the Princeton Art Museum; David Dobkin, Dean of the Faculty; Emmet Gowin, Professor of Visual Arts, Emeritus; Paul Muldoon, Howard G.B. Clark ‘21 University Professor in the Humanities; and Shirley M. Tilghman, President.

~Princeton Art of Science

a-short-history-of-nothing:

thejivinghands:

It’s actually true

FOR SCIENCE 

(via aquillpen)

novelistspaceranger:

loriarty:

morefunthanbeingsad:

physicsphysics:

An interesting model of our solar system’s path as it travels through space in the Milky Way.

Certainly a departure from usual models that show the Sun as a static object, which it certainly isn’t

I had no idea this was happening. Where are we going?

Why do I feel the sun is just trying to get away from us all.

We’re going in circles around something that is going in bigger circles which is going in a massive circle around something making even bigger circles. 
Or, near circles, since they’re ovals, actually. 

Basically, our moon orbits a planet orbiting a star orbiting a huge black hole at the galactic center. Our galaxy is part of a cluster, called the local group, and has 14 smaller satellite galaxies (in total, the local group has more than 54 galaxies). Galaxy clusters will respond to the gravity of each other.  A galactic year is the amount of time it takes the sun to complete an orbit around the center of the galaxy, which is somewhere between 225 million and 250 million earth years. TWirlytwiRLYTWIRLY.

I love this animation. I did not have our solar system’s movement well-conceived in my head. It is not, however, to scale. You have to imagine a whole lot more space between the bodies shown.

(Source: unconsciousplots)

thisistheverge:

Artists create miraculous ‘rain room’, keeping you dry in the middle of a shower

I would really, really like a virtual reality rain room.

the-noble-steed:

This is a shot from Mars. The planets you see are Earth, Jupiter, and Venus.

This amazes me. One day a human will stand on Mars and have this view.

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(via astronemma)

itsfullofstars:

New data suggest the confirmation of the exoplanet Gliese 581g and the best candidate so far of a potential habitable exoplanet. The nearby star Gliese 581 is well known for having four planets with the outermost planet, Gliese 581d, already suspected habitable. This will be the first time evidence for any two potential habitable exoplanets orbiting the same star. Gliese 581g will be included, together with Gliese 667Cc, Kepler-22b, HD85512, and Gliese 581d, in the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog of the PHL @ UPR Arecibo as the best five objects of interest for Earth-like exoplanets. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/07/-image-of-the-day-the-kepler-5-nasas-short-list-of-potential-habitable-exoplanets.html#more

Potentially, people. Otherwise, most cool. I want to learn more about these planets.

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