This is Why I Want(ed) to be an Astronaut

This gorgeous fly-by needs no introduction.



NASA posted a time lapse fly by from the International Space Station (ISS), and the wonders of the internet (and too much time on their hands) stitched it together. The lightning and storms are awesome.

Neptune Canada: The World's Largest Undersea Observatory

The Neptune—North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments—Canada Ocean Network is the world's largest cabled undersea observatory, spanning 530 miles of diverse undersea terrain.



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3 Windows 7 Tricks

Oh Cnet, how I love thee.

Today, Cnet posted 3 great hidden windows tricks. I've already used the snipping tool half a dozen times. Awesome.

Worth a look:

"Half a Penny on the Dollar"

What does $0.005 of every US taxed dollar get you? NASA. Builder of dreams.

As a big fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson, this talk about NASA and how the funding is about to be essentially extinct is one of the many financial problems the US is facing now, and, in my opinion, in danger of falling from the world's super power to an also-ran. Watch and think about what NASA has meant, and what it could mean to the future of us as a species.

Audio for Movies is an Interesting Process

Likely coming in the DVD extras package, this featurette is all about how the sounds were created for the latest Transformers movie. Some interesting tricks and processes.

A couple of minor spoilers, but interesting stuff. It's obviously an astounding amount of work.

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Transformers: Dark of the Moon from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

The Science of Aurora Borealis

This 5 minute production is a fascinating look at how the Aurora Borealis comes to our view.

The most interesting description of the Northern Lights (as I grew up knowing them) was "giant belches of plasma shooting outward toward our little rock."

The Aurora Borealis from Per Byhring on Vimeo.

Via Gizmodo.

Who Loves Coffee?

Well.... I do.

A quick, short film about coffee, why it's great, why it's wonderful, and why you should drink it.

Watch this while I go get a cup.

SETI Shuts Down - Unsuccessful Alien Contacts

SETI, by far the largest experiment to locate other beings in space, has shut down permanently as the US Government pulls funding for the massive project.

Is it any coincidence after 'Battle: Los Angeles' and 'District: 9'?

SETI is still collecting private donations in hopes of resurrection, but it's a long show.

Gizmodo has the details here.



*Update*: Jodi Foster, among others, have rallied to save the project, at least in the short term.
http://gizmodo.com/5830443/jodie-foster-helps-reactivate-the-search-for-extra+terrestrial-life

SpaceShipTwo's Impressive Test Flight

The soon-to-retire NASA Space Shuttle Program will not only mark the end of an era in space travel, but start another in commercialized space flight. Hot on the market is Virgin, who is well into testing of their SpaceShipTwo models.

Gizmodo has video of the most recent test of this remarkable vehicle, with the pertinent details of the new ship. It's impressive!

See the video here.

Google Extends the Cloud

A proponent of the cloud concept, Google's I/O conference was littered with cloud-based concepts, ideas, and products. Among the most interesting are the Chromebooks, essentially cloud netbooks. Chromebooks are designed to be online full time, very little on-board storage, simplicity of concept.

Cnet has a look: