And it isn’t what anyone thought in previous speculations, which included aliens, strange celestial objects, NASA’s recent launch of a solar probe, or a mercury spill from the “float bearing” of the main telescope. No, it’s far worse than any of those things. From KTSM-TV in El Paso: By Aaron Bracamontes A federal search warrant reveals…
UPDATE 9/12/18 4PM PST The issue may be related to Mercury (the metal, not the planet). On a tip from a science journalist friend who covers telescopes and who has been there, I verified the observatory uses a vat of liquid mercury as a float bearing for the giant solar telescope. According to an internal NSO/NMSU…
Via NASA: extra water vapor in the mesosphere is creating more glowing nighttime clouds This summer, something strange has been happening in the mesosphere. The mesosphere is a layer of the atmosphere so high that it almost touches space. In the rarefied air 83 km above Earth’s surface, summertime wisps of water vapor wrap themselves…
Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth’s interior Study finds 1–2 percent of Earth’s oldest mantle rocks are made from diamond. From MIT: There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth’s interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities. But the new results are unlikely…
Sometimes, nature just gives us the weird. While clouds are an important topic of research for climatologists and meteorologists, sometimes the atmosphere churns up peculiar-looking cloud formations that are as notable for aesthetic reasons as they are for scientific ones. That was the case in May when this circular swirl of clouds drifted over Lake Balkhash in eastern Kazakhstan. In…
Study suggests Facebook, Twitter sentiments correlate with weather patterns – no mention of climate linked sentiments Sentiments expressed on Facebook and Twitter may be associated with certain weather patterns, according to a study published April 25, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONEby Patrick Baylis from the Vancouver School of Economics, Canada, Nick Obradovich from the…
Surprising sight seen by airplane pilots and passengers on “red eye” flight Last night, April 19-20, a shock wave in the solar wind hit Earth’s magnetic field, sparking a moderately strong G2-class geomagnetic storm and rare “electric blue” auroras seen from airplanes in flight over Canada. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into a…
Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach A recent article has discussed how Elon Musk’s “Boring Company” has raised $113 million dollars in startup capital. This is the company Musk formed to drill the tunnels for his proposed “Hyperloop” transportation system. It has encouraged me to discuss some of the engineering and practical problems with his LA-to-San…
From NASA and the “I’m sure there’s a snowflake joke in there somewhere” department. NASA Visualizes the Dance of a Melting Snowflake NASA has produced the first three-dimensional numerical model of melting snowflakes in the atmosphere. Developed by scientist Jussi Leinonen of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the model provides a better understanding…
Unique diamond impurities indicate water deep in Earth’s mantle Scientific analysis of diamond impurities — known as inclusions — reveal naturally forming ice crystals and point to water-rich regions deep below the Earth’s crust UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS A UNLV scientist has discovered the first direct evidence that fluid water pockets may exist as…