Mars had a Little Accident

Since the 1970's Viking missions to Mars, scientists have been wondering why the northern and southern hemispheres are so drastically different. Now studies find that an asteroid could have struck the poor hapless planet and literally blown the crust off of half the planet..... which is pretty damn cool. What makes it cooler is the fact that it hit Mars and not us. I don't think we would be in the position to appreciate such niftyness on the account that we would be dead. And by dead I mean really dead. Unless you're a mutant of some kind. And if that's the case then I am severely jealous.

According to Nimmo's analysis, shock waves from the impact would travel through the planet and disrupt the crust on the other side, causing changes in the magnetic field recorded there. The predicted changes are consistent with observations of magnetic anomalies in the southern hemisphere, he said.

And here's the full article, which I know all of you will read with delight: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625140659.htm
And for some reason it won't link properly. Probably because I'm extremely computer illiterate. But I'm sure that you can copy and paste it and everything will be alright and the sky won't come crashing down and the world will stay intact due to its non-exploding.

Best Song Ever!

I love this song! This guy made a whole song completely composed of the sounds from Windows 98 and XP and he did a wonderful job! I couldn't help listening to it over and over again!

Happy Dance

This video made me insanely happy! Matt is everywhere and dancing and it's great! LOVELOVELOVE!!!

Martian Ice

Scientists have found ice on Mars! This is very exciting to everyone here and by everyone I mean me because I'm that awesome. There was some uncertainty about whether the ice was actually salt, but it melted when expossed to the Martian atmosphere and salt doesn't do that sort of thing and if it did we would have to call some chemists and get the whole thing sorted out and that's going to take forever on the count that it's hard to find a local chemist who can fix salt of its identity problem.

"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

And here's the full article which is a must read!! http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619221234.htm

I'm Officially Scared

I just found out that this spa in Russia has created a monument to the enema..... and I'm not kidding. This actually scared me. The syringe bulge is 800 pounds and is held up by angels. This leads me to wonder what kind of angels these are because I never want to run into them if they are having a bad day. And apparently enemas are very popular in this part of Russia.

"There is no kitsch or obscenity, it is a successful work of art," Alexander Kharchenko told The Associated Press. "An enema is almost a symbol of our region."

And here's a link to the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_fe_st/russia_enema_monument

UFO that is actually IFO

Once again Floridians reign supreme! Subrata Roy of the University of Florida has constructed one sweet UFO.... but it's actually an IFO because it's identifiable (ha! get it?!). This thing apparently runs on plasma and is kind of like an aircraft, a helicopter, and (the best part) a saucer all in one.

Roy applied his experience doing U.S. Air Force-funded plasma research to develop the propulsion system devoid of typical aircraft parts such as propellers and engines.Here is how it works: Electrodes lining the vehicle’s surface ionize the surrounding air. This creates plasma on the vehicle’s exterior. An electrical current sent through this plasma generates a force that not only produces the necessary lift and momentum. It also stabilizes the vehicle in windy conditions.

And here's an added bonus of this awesome video of pre-Subrata Roy UFO's.... and I must say that they are nowhere near as exciting, but they are very amusing, so I guess they get a gold star for that. Full Article: http://www.livescience.com/technology/080612-plasma-saucer.html

And here's the video!! http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=310707FlyingSaucer&plugin=f

Solar Probe!

This niftyness is extremely nifty. By the year 2015, NASA hopes to send a probe to the sun. And yes, it will be heat resistant. Seriously, what's the point of sending a probe only to have it burn up..... although maybe if you packed some sulfur and diamonds in it you could make a Kirk cannon and blast our space alien neighbors, which would probably look really cool from a telescope. Until our space alien neighbors got angry and fired lazers at us. But the real reason for sending a solar probe is to solve two major mysteries: 1) Why is the corona a hundred times hotter than the actual sun? This just defies all common sense, so my mind has been blown. 2) How is the solar wind so gusty? It's not gusty around the sun, so why should it be gusty everywhere else? Once again, the laws of common sense have been torn to shreds.... along with my mind.

"We are going to visit a living, breathing star for the first time," says program scientist Lika Guhathakurta of NASA Headquarters. "This is an unexplored region of the solar system and the possibilities for discovery are off the charts."

I am so excited!! Here's the full article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611142452.htm