ISS - Fail. Fail Forward, Though, Right?

Six seconds after takeoff when the second set of engines were supposed to take over, the rocket blew up. No casualties reported yet. It's sad, but mistakes happen. Most important is to learn from it and prevent it from happening again.

Impressive Infographic

A reddit user has posted a spectacular infographic visually explaining how every planet in the solar system would be able to fit between Earth and our own moon.  I didn't believe it myself, and was about to go and dig up all diameters of each planet - but, it's already done.  Also, Wolfram-Alpha, the google for calculations, can give the total diameter in one query.  

Hawaii Volcano May Force Evacuations

At a rate of 10 yards per hour, the sudden change in flow from south to northeast in June has Hawaiian authorities asking people in a remote village to evacuate.  There is the smell of burning asphalt that fills the air as the advancing lava flow destroys roads as shown in the pictures below. Please see weather.com for more details and images.  The basalt pillows discussed in class are evident in the pictures below.

Physics Demos from Space - What Happens in a Weightless Environment?

This is a long exposure shot of the Earth from the ISS.  What do you think are those blue spots on the Earth as well as those blue streaks in space?  Leave the possibilities in the comment section below.  

If you want more from this particular astronaut, he's completed many physics experiments in space, taking advantage of the weightless environment.

Potential Martians, Moving Rocks, Canadian Space Work Opportunity, and more Space Selfies

1)  Trending on reddit:  "Cell-like structure found within 1.3 billion-year-old martian meteorite.  Exciting news, except for the fact that it was a misleading title.  If you read further into the article, the professor leading the team's investigation of the meteorite says: "... our research found that it probably wasn’t a cell but that it did once hold water – water that had been heated, probably as a result of an asteroid impact.”  Well, there was water.  That's somewhat significant in itself to warrant a link and a picture.  

2)  Perfect timing for our 'earth processes' unit.  Rocks are moving in Death Valley.  See more pics here.

3)  An innovative new Canadian space company has just started their company.  You want a job in space?  You need to start preparing for your job as soon as yo ucan.  So start following this company.

4)  More astronaut selfies while they do work maintaining the ISS.  See more on Discovery.

Geosites or a Bolide - Which do Your Prefer?

Breathtaking compilation as voted by the people of the internet. Behold, we have the best geosites of the UK in the world. The following is just a few, but go here for the full view by map.  I guess you could chart your next trip eh?

Brimham Rocks - Outcrops Category

Jurassic Coast (a wicked name, to boot!) -  Educational Category

Island of Staffa - Adventurous Category

An amateur astronomer captured something on his camera.  He saw something absolutely weird, and then went onto reddit for some help in identification.  He apparently has found a bolide, a fireball from a meteor.  This is an event that astronomers go decades without seeing.  Without further adieu, here it is in a short time lapse video:

Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Volcanoes. Do They Really Say - Volcana?

Here are some volcanoes happening around the world in the past week.  The first two  pictures depicts Mount Sinabung erupting on October 8 as seen from Karo district located on Sumatra island.  The last picture I posted is of the Japanese launching a satellite to orbit Earth in an effort to better measure and predict natural disasters.  

Let's go Colonize Mars - Not So Fast, Says a Report from Scientists

There has been over 80,000 applicants to go Mars on a one way ticket and to be on a reality TV show.  This is how they'll view their ex-home from Mars.  Photo cred:  NASA rover Curiosity

In a report by MIT students, those amateur astronauts will most certainly die.  In a 35 page report, Sydney Do has pointed out all the potential points for error in the 6 billion dollar project.  That's a pretty interesting project, isn't it?

Lunar Eclipse Timelapse

Title of imgur post:  Tried my hand at a timelapse-type shot last night, very happy with the results.

Most upvoted comment:  Sometimes I wonder what life might be like if I had motivation and talent...

"No matter how many mistakse you make, or how slow you progress - you're still ahead of everyone who isn't trying."  - Tony Robbins

Lunar Eclipse Tonight

If you find yourself sleepless, you may want to check out the lunar eclipse tonight.  It's about 3 hours long, so there's a good chance you could get to see it.  There's also a meteor shower out there.

Check out this site from Globalnews for more info:

Remix Humanity's Mixtape

So, Voyager 1 is now 11 billion miles from Earth. It is continually playing a mix of audio that contains directions on how to find Earth as well as many of humanity's most important cultural music. You guessed right, there's no Justin Bieber on it.

If you could send out audio clips, what would you put on it?

Anyway, here are all the audio sounds which contain "the music of Igor Stravinksy and Chuck Berry, human greetings in dozens of languages, the staccato of an infant's cry, an urgent train whistle, choruses of crickets, and a whale's ethereal song."   I'm not sure if really any aliens would understand this, but this is really about sharing to the aliens what we really are and we all sound like on earth.

Keep in mind, this is what was sent out 37 years ago when Voyager was first launched. WARNING: It's 5 hours long.

The Best Geosites in the World - Take a Look and Vote!

The Geological Society recently held a vote for the top 100 geosites in the world. We will be looking at them in series - the first category that we'll take a look at is: Landscape. Here is my personal favourite. Which one is yours?

 

Cute Comic

I shall only post the first few panels of the following comic by Treelobsters.  Click on here to get the rest - it's cute and will bring a smile to your face.

Teachers Going Out to Learn....

Mr. McCumber went to a Bill Nye talk, and Mr. Shin recently went to the Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, which has the biggest telescope in Canada.  We're trying to gear up for the space portion of this course!

Drone Captures Ultimate Earth Combo

So my friend got a $600 Quadracopter and I sat there one day for hours on end trying to pilot it. Comparing grade 9 math to calculus is like a playing with remote controlled car and trying to attempt this Quadracopter. Even after hours of practice, I couldn't maneuver it consistently within the rooms of the house.  

On the other hand, this man took a Quadracopter, attached go pro camera, and went to Iceland to get some serious volcano footage.  

There was a point in which he captured the volcano eruption and the Aurora Borealis at the same time. What a beautiful (potential) moment that illustrates both the power and beauty of Earth at the same time.    Let me know if you could find it in either the video above or below.