February 16th, 2009. By Dave Oei. 300 views.
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Photo courtesy of NASA. Artist's rendition of Earth's magnetic field.
If you recall, THEMIS is the awful name given to the amazing set of satellites charged with learning about how the solar wind affects Earth’s magnetic field, auroras, and shortages to our power grid.
Without getting into the nitty gritty, late last year initial results indicate that indeed our magnetic field is leaky as previously predicted. However, what surprised scientists is the finding that more solar particle penetrate Earth’s magnetic field when it’s aligned with the sun’s magnetic field, not against it.
And it’s when the sun’s magnetic field switches orientation that ours tears open, ultimately wrecking havoc yet yielding amazing auroras. For the science intense, you can go straight to the source. For those looking for auroras, look no further than here.
January 29th, 2009. By Dave Oei. 261 views.
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Extreme global warming, far, far away. Photo courtesy of NASA.
Most climate experts believe a 3 degree Fahrenheit increase in out planet’s temperature over the next 100 years would spell disaster. 10 degrees would be catastrophic. What about 1000 degrees?
Ursa Major. Photo courtesy of Wikisky.org
There’s a Jupiter-sized planet that orbits a star 190 light years away located in the constellation Ursa Major, or what most of us recognize as the Big Dipper.
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Inauguration 2009. Can you find Yo-Yo Ma? Photo by David Bergman.
This is what appears to be a blurry picture of the 2009 presidential innaguration. In fact, it’s 220 images stitched together, taken with a Canon G10 and the Gigapan Imager by photographer David Bergman. The Gigapan Imager is a robotic mount that moves a regular digital camera along panoramic tracks while taking pictures along the way. The result is what you see above – a very very very scaled down version of the final 1.47 gigabyte image.
Yo-Yo Ma with iPhone
While you can view and pan around this Gigapan image here, I’ve collected a list of some things I challenge you to find:
- President Obama (easy)
- Teddy Kennedy
- Tipper Gore
- Yo-Yo Ma with iPhone
- Newt Gingrich not paying attention
- Snipers(?) on the Capital
- Snipers on another building
- Tents lined up in an unusual place
Actually, I’ll show you what Yo-Yo Ma looks like. What’s he doing?! Good luck hunting!
January 25th, 2009. By Dave Oei. 1,781 views.
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La Jolla tide pools at sunset in January 2009. Photo by Dave Oei.
2 year old curiosity at the tide pool. Photo by Dave Oei.
Nestled along the shores of La Jolla, California lie some of the best tide pools offered in San Diego. While these can’t compete with the likes of what is found in Monterey Bay, the La Jolla tide pools are no more than a few minutes drive for most San Diegans, and their ease of accessibility makes visiting them well worth the while. There’s an abundance of wildlife, including starfish, a variety of crustaceans, mollusks, and octopus. And usually, without trying to hard, you’ll be able to spot seals and dolphins.
Did I mention that it’s gorgeous?
A clump of different colored starfish in La Jolla. Photo by Dave Oei.
My family and I visited the pools a few weeks ago. We arrived late in the afternoon when the tides were predicted to be quite low and we found ourselves shedding off the sweaters in the 70 degree weather. That’s right: 70 degrees, by the beach, in January. It really does happen in San Diego.
To go tide pooling, you’ll need to see to two pieces of logistics: Planning and Parking.
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January 22nd, 2009. By Dave Oei. 639 views.
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Dear Editors at CNN:
Please stop. You know what I’m talking about.
The silly holographic reporter (TinySci Readers, click and view this CNN video at your own risk, you may want to put on some eye-pro first), which by the way, fails to resemble either holography or reporting, is downright idiotic. Are we supposed to be shocked and awed by the fact that you know how to use a green screen and multiple cameras…simultaneously?
As if that wasn’t enough, we let out a collective “Ugh” when you debuted Obama’s “Moment” in “3D”. First of all, Photosynth is not your creation – it’s Microsoft’s. Second, “3D” means stereoscopic, otherwise it’s just 2D. In other words, your rendition of “The Moment” looks no different to me than it would to someone who was blind in one eye.
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