amazing science/nature images

[TOS]

breathe

breathe in the air

[ukimalefu]

Y'all want to stay away from Brazil

https://gizmodo.com/imagine-walking-int ... 1831706419

2 videos there

The Guardian on Friday reported recent accounts of such an occurrence in Brazil, where people have reportedly claimed it’s “raining spiders.” A video recently shared to Facebook of the phenomenon in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais appears to show hundreds of spiders suspended in the air—like something straight out your worst arachnid nightmares.

[TOS]

Low tides have revealed a relic from World War I -- the skeleton of a German U-boat visible again off the coast of northern France.

The metal frame of a UC 61 can be seen about 100 meters (more than 300 feet) from the sand dunes of Wissant, France just down the coast of Calais in the North Sea, according to the news agency Agence France-Presse. The submarine ran aground on July 26, 1917.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/12/europe/g ... index.html

[maurvir]

[obvs]

[ukimalefu]

Plants on the moon!

China’s miniature biosphere experiment has yielded sprouting cotton seeds, and they are the first plants to germinate on the Moon—an important first step in creating a viable, self-sustaining lunar colony.

China’s Chang’e 4 lander arrived on the Moon’s far side on January 3, 2018. Among its cargo is a miniature lunar biosphere developed by scientists at Chongqing University. This experiment consists of a 7-inch-long, airtight container filled with soil, air, water, various seeds, yeast, and fruit fly eggs. Together, these components are meant to kickstart a simple ecosystem, the purpose of which is to test the viability of sustaining a future colony on the Moon. A built-in heat system facilitates growth and prevents the biological material from freezing, reports the Xinhua news agency, while two small cameras allow for observations.

[user]

o hai they can make their own knock-off jeans

[TOS]

they promptly died

[juice]

The article has been corrected to note that only one seed germinated.

[ukimalefu]

The article has been corrected to note that only one seed germinated.

I still expect space plant to become a meme.

[juice]

I was disappointed the first plant wasn't some primo gangja.

[maurvir]

they promptly died

That happens when you turn the heater off. (The lander went into hibernation mode)

[dv]

The article has been corrected to note that only one seed germinated.

I still expect space plant to become a meme.

[ukimalefu]

Space plant is dead, because of course it is

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/01/1 ... lant_dies/

Although the cotton seedling was nurtured with water, natural sunlight, and, apparently, a temperature regulator, it proved no match for the Moon's frigid temperatures, which can drop as low as -170 degrees Celsius (-274 degrees in Freedom units) on the arid satellite.

Now we won't get t-shirts made out of space cotton.

[obvs]

-274 degrees in Freedom units

TIL the temperature on the moon drops below absolute zero.

[dv]

-274 degrees in Freedom units

TIL the temperature on the moon drops below absolute zero.

Absolute Zero in Fahrenheit is -459.67.

Unless that was a snide remark about the preferred measurement systems used by most of the countries that rank higher than the US on various "freedom" scales.

[obvs]

I hate Fahrenheit so much.

Ugh.

Mea culpa.

[TOS]

the only freedom units i still use are pounds a feet, the latter, now that i think about it, only for height

[macaddict4life]

I don't get the hate for Fahrenheit (besides trying to spell it). Metric is definitely more logical for distance units. But for temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water are just as arbitrary as any other metric, and are not really a useful reference day-to-day. On top of that, there have been plenty of times where I've found 1°C to be too big of a step when adjusting an air conditioner, but lots of air conditioners here only do complete degrees, not half degrees.

[Warin]

-274 degrees in Freedom units

TIL the temperature on the moon drops below absolute zero.

Uhhh, there is nothing colder than absolute zero. It’s the point where everything just stops.

[jkahless]

the only freedom units i still use are pounds a feet, the latter, now that i think about it, only for height

I use most F.U.s, usually right alongside their metric equivalents. The best are recipes. Even in commercial kitchens I'll see three or four systems used, along with meaningless personal measures.

[Pariah]

I don't get the hate for Fahrenheit (besides trying to spell it). Metric is definitely more logical for distance units. But for temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water are just as arbitrary as any other metric, and are not really a useful reference day-to-day. On top of that, there have been plenty of times where I've found 1°C to be too big of a step when adjusting an air conditioner, but lots of air conditioners here only do complete degrees, not half degrees.

Not to mention that the boiling point of water varies due to altitude and even barometric pressure.

[ukimalefu]

I don't get the hate for Fahrenheit (besides trying to spell it). Metric is definitely more logical for distance units. But for temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water are just as arbitrary as any other metric, and are not really a useful reference day-to-day. On top of that, there have been plenty of times where I've found 1°C to be too big of a step when adjusting an air conditioner, but lots of air conditioners here only do complete degrees, not half degrees.

0º C : water freezes
100º C : water boils

That's better than 32 and... whatever.

And the air conditioner thing? blame the manufacturer.

[ukimalefu]

[maurvir]

NOPE

[ukimalefu]

Mercury

see it rotating here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/8497 ... likes_hd=1

(it doesn't seem to work for me there, and if I download the video, it only plays half way)

[TOS]

I don't get the hate for Fahrenheit (besides trying to spell it). Metric is definitely more logical for distance units. But for temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water are just as arbitrary as any other metric, and are not really a useful reference day-to-day. On top of that, there have been plenty of times where I've found 1°C to be too big of a step when adjusting an air conditioner, but lots of air conditioners here only do complete degrees, not half degrees.

Not to mention that the boiling point of water varies due to altitude and even barometric pressure.

it's actually the boiling point of water at 1 atmosphere

[maurvir]

[juice]

I love that story.

[Metacell]

I don't get the hate for Fahrenheit (besides trying to spell it). Metric is definitely more logical for distance units. But for temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water are just as arbitrary as any other metric, and are not really a useful reference day-to-day. On top of that, there have been plenty of times where I've found 1°C to be too big of a step when adjusting an air conditioner, but lots of air conditioners here only do complete degrees, not half degrees.

0º C : water freezes
100º C : water boils

That's better than 32 and... whatever.

And the air conditioner thing? blame the manufacturer.

Not to mention its at least base 10 and other units of measure are tied to it, such as the calorie (the amount of energy required to raise 1 cubic cm of water by 1 degree C).

[TOS]

"deep blue," largest great white shark known to exist, was spotted off hawaii feasting on a dead whale

so naturally folks dived in to snap some photos

the shark is 20 feet long, weighs around 2.5 tons, and may be 50 years old ... she was last seen, in the 1990s, off mexico

[user]

Is it going to tell us the answer to life, the universe and everything?

[sean]

Is it going to tell us the answer to life, the universe and everything?

We know that already. It's 42.

[ukimalefu]

Is it going to tell us the answer to life, the universe and everything?

We know that already. It's 42.

but what's the question?

[ukimalefu]

[Betonhaus]

Is it going to tell us the answer to life, the universe and everything?

We know that already. It's 42.

but what's the question?

I always figured it asked how old will the universe get before it explodes, using a high magnitude unit of measurement.

[Metacell]

No, it's "What doyoug et when you multiply 6 x 9?"

[Betonhaus]

No, it's "What doyoug et when you multiply 6 x 9?"

Which is stupid

but then again this universe has a message in the stars that apologizes for the inconvenience so oh well.

[ukimalefu]

[dv]

No, it's "What doyoug et when you multiply 6 x 9?"

Which is stupid

That's the joke.