Topic: Interesting science stories that don't warrant their own thread thread

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The Moon Landing, As You've Never Seen It Before

Buzz Aldrin's EKG during the Moon landing. The long vertical line marks the time when they landed.

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First Camera Trap Photo of Rare Amur Leopard in China Revealed

The first-known camera trap photos of an Amur leopard in China have been taken by protected area staff in Hunchun Amur Tiger National Nature Reserve in Jilin Province. The Wildlife Conservation Society says there estimated to be just 30 individual Amur leopards left in the wild. An Amur leopard on patrol was captured by the trap. 16 camera traps were set up by Hunchun Reserve's staff last month in areas where tiger or leopard tracks were found during winter surveys. A dozen of the camera traps were donated by the WCS.

Amur leopards caught on camera trap

[seaotter]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/meteor-explosion-in-nevada_n_1453333.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/meteor-explosion-in-nevada_n_1453333.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Re: The UFO thread

[khendar]

What do you mean doesn't deserve it's own thread? Game over. Thousand feet up the wind is always blowing. Expense? Seems like it would be cheaper.

Less people whinging about the noise too...though it would be interesting to see what happens it a hurricane or something blows passed.

[seaotter]

What do you mean doesn't deserve it's own thread? Game over. Thousand feet up the wind is always blowing. Expense? Seems like it would be cheaper.

Less people whinging about the noise too...though it would be interesting to see what happens it a hurricane or something blows passed.

They pull it down.

[seaotter]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/meteor-explosion-in-nevada_n_1453333.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Re: The UFO thread

hyperbolic energy field generator

Awesome!

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Scientists Concerned About Invasive Giant Asian Tiger Shrimp in U.S. Coastal Waters

Scientists are concerned about the rise in invasive Asian tiger shrimp in U.S. coastal waters. The large shrimp, which can reach over a foot in length, consume smaller native shrimp. NOAA wants to know if you see one of these large shrimps.

NOAA scientists are launching a research effort to understand more about the biology of these shrimp and how they may affect the ecology of native fisheries and coastal ecosystems. Anyone who sees a shrimp suspected to be an Asian tiger shrimp is asked to note the location and report the sighting to the USGS NAS database.

[...]

A CNN story about the huge invasive Asian tiger shrimp has one positive angle to the story. The shrimp, which are nearly lobster-sized, can be eaten.

Fuller told CNN, "They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters."

I'm not seeing a down side to this.

[Caffiene]

Scientists Concerned About Invasive Giant Asian Tiger Shrimp in U.S. Coastal Waters

I was disappointed when I reached the word "shrimp" in that sentence.

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A picture of the Sun taken at night.

http://twitpic.com/9f4718

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Venus Spokes: An Explanation at Last? - News from Sky & Telescope - SkyandTelescope.com

   
Percival Lowell's name is synonymous with canals on Mars and the discovery of Pluto. But as reported in the July issue of Sky & Telescope, about a century ago Lowell also made some infamous observations of Venus. Throughout his career, Lowell insisted on the existence a central dark spot and a spindly spoke pattern on the cloud enshrouded planet. Lowell called the dark blemish the "subsolar spot," believing it to be fixed in position as required by the synchronous rotation he thought the planet maintained relative to the Sun. On the other hand, Lowell's spokes seemed to remain fixed not with respect to the Sun but the Earth.

tldr: Lowell adjusted the optics on his telescope in a peculiar way in order to see the spikes. An optometrist has theorized that adjustment enabled Lowell to see the shadows cast by his own blood vessels!

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Breathalyzer Device Reveals Signs of Disease

A device called the Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer can reveal whether or not you have some diseases with one breath. The National Science Foundation (NSF) says in a release that the device uses ceramics nanotechnology. The device, developed by Professor Perena Gouma and her team at Stony Brook University, tests for biomarkers for certain diseases. It is coated with tiny nanowires that look like microscopic spaghetti and are able to detect minute amounts of chemical compounds in the breath.

    You blow into a small valve attached to a box that is about half the size of your typical shoebox and weighs less than one pound. Once you blow into it, the lights on top of the box will give you an instant readout. A green light means you pass (and your bad breath is not indicative of an underlying disease; perhaps it's just a result of the raw onions you ingested recently); however, a red light means you might need to take a trip to the doctor's office to check if something more serious is an issue.

Gouma says, "There can be different types of nanowires, each with a tailored arrangement of metal and oxygen atoms along their configuration, so as to capture a particular compound. For example, some nanowires might be able to capture ammonia molecules, while others capture just acetone and others just the nitric oxide. Each of these biomarkers signal a specific disease or metabolic malfunction so a distinct diagnostic breathalyzer can be designed."

[norcalclimber]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/meteor-explosion-in-nevada_n_1453333.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

I grew up in Coloma and have family and friends living there who heard this happen. I was extremely jealous when they told me about it. I was about 30 miles west and didn't hear a thing

[khendar]

What is your dog thinking? Brain scans give glimpse

Reading dogs' minds.

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Not a new science story but a really good smackdown on ancient aliens and the History Channel by Smithsonian Magazine.

The Idiocy, Fabrications and Lies of Ancient Aliens | Dinosaur Tracking

Until now, I have assiduously avoided Ancient Aliens. I had a feeling that if I watched the show—which popularizes far-fetched, evidence-free idiocy about how human history has been molded by extra-terrestrial visitors—my brain would jostle its way out of my skull and stalk the earth in search of a kinder host. Or, at the very least, watching the show would kill about as many brain cells as a weekend bender in Las Vegas. But then I heard the History Channel’s slurry of pseudoscience had taken on dinosaurs. I steeled myself for the pain and watched the mind-melting madness unfold.