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[private_hell]

just dont leave you hand in there to long...

[Lvl10]

still wont catch me ramming my hand in a jar of liquid nitrogen!!!! :S

F-22 Raptor that appears as though it's emitting a shimmering rainbow, due to both the decreased air pressure on the trailing side of the wings and the precise angle at which it was photographed. Or: UNICORN PILOT!

[doberman-08]

Dry early summer turns 2010 into a vintage year for archaeology

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An aerial view of a prehistoric site found in the Holderness area of East Riding. The dry early summer has revealed many archaeological treasures. Photograph: English Heritage/PA
Parched fields revealed a Roman camp in Dorset, a fort in Yorkshire and 60 other sites
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/30/dry-summer-vintage-year-archaeology

[doberman-08]

Top Bulgarian Archaeologist Stumbles Upon 2 Ancient Thrace Tombs    
Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov has discovered two tombs of Ancient Thracian rulers near the famous rock city and sanctuary of Perperikon.

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The tombs are dated to 1100-1000 BC judging by the pottery and ceramics found in them, which are characteristic of the later Bronze Age and the early Iron Age.

One of the most interesting finds in the tombs is a bronze coin with the face of Emperor Alexander the Great, dated to the 4th century BC. Prof. Ovcharov believes this is a clear evidence that the tomb was venerated as a shrine by the Thracians in the Antiquity for a long time after its original creation.

The archaeological team stumbled across the two tombs as they were working on diverting a tourist path away from a spot of excavations at Perperikon, the holy city of the Thracians.

The tombs are situation in an east-west direction, with the buried notable facing the rising sun, a clear sign of a sun cult.

The excavations have revealed ritual hearths and others signs of sacrifices that were connected with the traditions of venerating the dead as godly creatures.
http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/201009014975/Top-Bulgarian-Archaeologist-Stumbles-Upon-2-Ancient-Thrace-Tombs.html

[Donkey]

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Bentley cat is watching you...

[doberman-08]

Orbital Sunrise

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The Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station photographed this image of polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by an orbital sunrise. Polar mesospheric, or noctilucent ("night shining"), clouds usually are seen at twilight, following the setting of the sun below the horizon and darkening of Earth's surface. Occasionally the station's orbital track becomes nearly parallel to Earth's day/night terminator for a time, allowing the clouds to be visible to the crew at times other than the usual twilight because of the station's altitude.

This photograph shows polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the rising, rather than setting, sun at center right. Low clouds on the horizon appear yellow and orange, while higher clouds and aerosols are illuminated a brilliant white. Polar mesospheric clouds appear as light blue ribbons extending across the top of the image. The station was located over the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea (near the southwestern coastline of Turkey) when the image was taken at approximately midnight local time. The orbital complex was tracking northeastward, nearly parallel to the terminator, making it possible to observe an apparent "sunrise" located almost due north. A similar unusual alignment of the ISS orbit track, terminator position and seasonal position of Earth's orbit around the sun allowed for this striking imagery of over the Southern Hemisphere.

Image Credit: NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1751.html

[Hmmmgood]

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[doberman-08]

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VIRTUAL REALITY PARHELIC CIRCLE: A parhelic circle is an unforgettable sight. Thin and pale, it circles the zenith in a majestic arc, always keeping the same distance above the horizon. "I've been looking for a parhelic circle for more than 13 years," says photographer Laurent Laveder of Pluguffan, France. "Yesterday I finally saw one." He rushed for his camera and quickly snapped enough pictures to assemble a complete 360o zenith-to-horizon composite view of the phenomenon.
http://spaceweather.com/

[Spork]

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[SteddieEddie]

Spring time in Karori, Wellington

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[doberman-08]

A Chameleon Sky

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The sands of time are running out for the central star of this the Hourglass Nebula. With its nuclear fuel exhausted, this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a sun-like star's life occurs as its outer layers are ejected and its core becomes a cooling, fading white dwarf. In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including the one above. Here, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous walls of the 'hourglass.' The unprecedented sharpness of Hubble's images revealed surprising details of the nebula ejection process and may resolve the outstanding mystery of the variety of complex shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulae.

Image Credit: NASA, WFPC2, HST, R. Sahai and J. Trauger (JPL)
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1752.html

[private_hell]

Spring time in Karori, Wellington

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we still have some of the hail from last night still on our lawn

[doberman-08]

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Small clumps of material within a disk stick together to form larger clumps. Eventually these clumps grow to become planets.

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http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/discovering_planets_beyond/

[doberman-08]

Accidental Awesomeness: Ancient Nubians Made Antibiotic Beer

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Beer: Some people think it’s proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Others value it as a great source of antibiotics—of course, those people lived nearly 1,700 years ago.

For much of the last three decades, anthropologist George Armelagos has been trying to explain how mummies that date from an ancient kingdom in Nubia—the area south of Egypt that’s located in present-day Sudan—got so much of the antibiotic tetracycline in their bones. Since scientists didn’t synthesize antibiotics like that one until the 20th century (and these bones date back to between 350 to 550 A.D.), finding a buildup in ancient bones screams out “contamination.”

Armelagos and his colleagues longed to prove that it wasn’t, and in a study out in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the team argues that the find is no fluke. Nubians got antibiotics into their systems by drinking beer, and lots of it, and from an early age.

How? Thanks to the help of a kind of bacteria called Streptomyces.

Common in soil, Strep bacteria produce tetracycline antibiotics to kill off other, competing bacteria. Grains that are stored underground can easily become moldy with Streptomyces contamination, though these bacteria would only produce small amounts of tetracycline on their own when left to sit or baked into bread. Only when people fermented the grain would tetracycline production explode. Nubians both ate the fermented grains as gruel and used it to make beer. [Discovery News]

By dissolving bone samples in acid, team member Mark Nelson verified that the tetracycline was present in the ancient samples and not the result of modern contamination. And to prove that antibiotic beer is possible, the scientists made some.

Armelagos has challenged his students to home-brew beer like the Nubians did, including the addition of Strep bacteria. The resulting brew contains tetracycline, tastes sour but drinkable, and gives off a greenish hue. [Discovery News]

Ancient people long before the Nubians figured out fermentation without knowing the finer details about bacteria or yeast. Armelagos guesses that the Nubians noticed their antibiotic-laced concoction fought off infections and knew a good thing when they saw it.

When and why the antibiotic beer secret was lost is a mystery. It is not the first technology to disappear with the disappearance of cultures. Armelagos is continuing to look for the tetracycline in the bones of different cultures. He says he has already found preliminary evidence it is in bones of people who date to as late as 1300 to 1400 A.D. Armelagos hopes this find might also help explain why animals have been found with antibiotic resistance in Northern Africa where there is no previous evidence of antibiotics being used. [Wired.com]

Today the pint you raise at the pub is probably pasteurized, so you won’t get a dose of antibiotics by knocking a few back. That’s just fine by me: If I want to imbibe sour suds with a “greenish hue,” I’ll wait until St. Patrick’s Day.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/09/03/accidental-awesomeness-ancient-nubians-made-antibiotic-beer/

[bitchimom]

saw this on our walk this morning while surveying quake damage in the neighbourhood

[-CowwieStyle-]

saw this on our walk this morning while surveying quake damage in the neighbourhood

Every time i see that poster i want to black out that E and turn it into a L.

[Dr Woomanchu]

I want to change all Andertons Billboards to "The Peoples Pensioner"

[doberman-08]

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[BushySB]

I wish the had Arny in there

[Emrico1]

[ChineseKiwi]

[Zhija]

Reminded me of this. The stop-motion tutor from last year made it for some band.

Spoiler :

Might as well link his website while I'm at it, if anyone wants to see some more of his stuff
http://sakowskistudios.com/production.html

[bigROBOTbill]

http://dailymindfuck.com/2010/09/04/picdump-20-freaks/

[doberman-08]

NASA Satellite and International Space Station Catch Earl Weakening

NASA satellites and the International Space Station are keeping eyes on Hurricane Earl as it heads for New England. Watches and Warnings are posted in the U.S. northeast.

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2010/h2010_Earl.html

[doberman-08]

GREEN AIR OVER GREEN LAND: Earth is entering a solar wind stream, and this is causing geomagnetic activity around the poles. "We have seen our first auroras of the season," reports Rune Christiansen of Nuuk, the captital city of Greenland:

It's been a while since Northern Lights were visible over Greenland. During summer, they are usually overwhelmed by the midnight sun. With the approach of northern autumn, however, Arctic nights are getting dark again and the auroras have returned. "I'm looking forward to a good season," says Christiansen.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of geomagnetic activity during the next 24 hours as the solar wind continues to buffet Earth's magnetic field. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.

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http://spaceweather.com/