planet - Dave's Blog

Search
My timeline on Mastodon

Tweet from NASA Planetquest

2017 Jan 26, 10:25
See another solar system! These are real images of a 4-planet system ~130 light-years from . Read about it: http://go.nasa.gov/2kySSt1 
PermalinkComments

Tweet from Acid Burn

2016 Oct 12, 1:14
HACK THE PLANET! HACK THE PLANET!
PermalinkComments

Tweet from David Risney

2016 Sep 19, 3:04
Playing No Man's Sky collecting resources on an hospitable planet and suddenly notice several creatures approaching. I quickly scan them.
PermalinkComments

Tweet from David Risney

2016 Sep 8, 3:05
Planet vs dwarf planet pluto controversy similar to 'is a hotdog a sandwich' controversy. http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/space 
PermalinkComments

Tweet from Bobak Ferdowsi

2016 Apr 22, 4:40
Hi, you may know me from space, but did you know Earth is my favorite planet? Love it & each other.
PermalinkComments

4 people are living in an isolated habitat for 30 days. Why? Science!

2016 Feb 1, 3:27

nasa:

This 30 day mission will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.

image

The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house. But unlike in a normal house, these inhabitants won’t go outside for 30 days. Their communication with the rest of planet Earth will also be very limited, and they won’t have any access to internet. So no checking social media kids!

The only people they will talk with regularly are mission control and each other.

image

The crew member selection process is based on a number of criteria, including the same criteria for astronaut selection.

What will they be doing?

Because this mission simulates a 715-day journey to a Near-Earth asteroid, the four crew members will complete activities similar to what would happen during an outbound transit, on location at the asteroid, and the return transit phases of a mission (just in a bit of an accelerated timeframe). This simulation means that even when communicating with mission control, there will be a delay on all communications ranging from 1 to 10 minutes each way. The crew will also perform virtual spacewalk missions once they reach their destination, where they will inspect the asteroid and collect samples from it. 

A few other details:

  • The crew follows a timeline that is similar to one used for the ISS crew.
  • They work 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This includes time for daily planning, conferences, meals and exercises.  
  • They will be growing and taking care of plants and brine shrimp, which they will analyze and document.

But beware! While we do all we can to avoid crises during missions, crews need to be able to respond in the event of an emergency. The HERA crew will conduct a couple of emergency scenario simulations, including one that will require them to maneuver through a debris field during the Earth-bound phase of the mission. 

image

Throughout the mission, researchers will gather information about cohabitation, teamwork, team cohesion, mood, performance and overall well-being. The crew members will be tracked by numerous devices that each capture different types of data.

image

Past HERA crew members wore a sensor that recorded heart rate, distance, motion and sound intensity. When crew members were working together, the sensor would also record their proximity as well, helping investigators learn about team cohesion.

Researchers also learned about how crew members react to stress by recording and analyzing verbal interactions and by analyzing “markers” in blood and saliva samples.

image

In total, this mission will include 19 individual investigations across key human research elements. From psychological to physiological experiments, the crew members will help prepare us for future missions.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

PermalinkComments

4 people are living in an isolated habitat for 30 days. Why? Science!

2016 Feb 1, 3:27

nasa:

This 30 day mission will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.

image

The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house. But unlike in a normal house, these inhabitants won’t go outside for 30 days. Their communication with the rest of planet Earth will also be very limited, and they won’t have any access to internet. So no checking social media kids!

The only people they will talk with regularly are mission control and each other.

image

The crew member selection process is based on a number of criteria, including the same criteria for astronaut selection.

What will they be doing?

Because this mission simulates a 715-day journey to a Near-Earth asteroid, the four crew members will complete activities similar to what would happen during an outbound transit, on location at the asteroid, and the return transit phases of a mission (just in a bit of an accelerated timeframe). This simulation means that even when communicating with mission control, there will be a delay on all communications ranging from 1 to 10 minutes each way. The crew will also perform virtual spacewalk missions once they reach their destination, where they will inspect the asteroid and collect samples from it. 

A few other details:

  • The crew follows a timeline that is similar to one used for the ISS crew.
  • They work 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This includes time for daily planning, conferences, meals and exercises.  
  • They will be growing and taking care of plants and brine shrimp, which they will analyze and document.

But beware! While we do all we can to avoid crises during missions, crews need to be able to respond in the event of an emergency. The HERA crew will conduct a couple of emergency scenario simulations, including one that will require them to maneuver through a debris field during the Earth-bound phase of the mission. 

image

Throughout the mission, researchers will gather information about cohabitation, teamwork, team cohesion, mood, performance and overall well-being. The crew members will be tracked by numerous devices that each capture different types of data.

image

Past HERA crew members wore a sensor that recorded heart rate, distance, motion and sound intensity. When crew members were working together, the sensor would also record their proximity as well, helping investigators learn about team cohesion.

Researchers also learned about how crew members react to stress by recording and analyzing verbal interactions and by analyzing “markers” in blood and saliva samples.

image

In total, this mission will include 19 individual investigations across key human research elements. From psychological to physiological experiments, the crew members will help prepare us for future missions.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

PermalinkComments

Retweet of FakeUnicode

2016 Jan 3, 10:26
I mean, look at this crap. All these full-alphabet variants "Because math!" @asrivkin @PlanetDr @lukedones @grierja pic.twitter.com/qQ1POiqniv
PermalinkComments

Tweet from David_Risney

2015 Nov 9, 9:28
Missing planet Vulcan predicted by Newtonian physics+Mercury's orbit. Decades of mistaken Vulcan sightings before GR http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/science-doesnt-work-the-way-you-think-it-does/414744/ …
PermalinkComments

Retweet of indiecom

2015 Mar 26, 1:33
"The best cyber film of the year!" -- Which year? Every year. #HackThePlanet #BeKindRewind pic.twitter.com/ZNCigxXgds
PermalinkComments

Jazzpunk Trailer

2014 Jan 28, 5:02

I don’t care whether the game is good or not, I just love this trailer. Make more trailers. Also 240kb should be enough for anyone.

PermalinkCommentshumor parody hack hacker hack-the-planet johnny-mnemonic

eclecticmethod: Hackers

2013 Apr 13, 1:57

eclecticmethod:

You don’t use the same password over and over right? Let’s be honest this is the day and age of the hacker. Eclectic Method brings you “Hackers” , Hollywood’s celebration of basement dwelling 128 bit encryption masters. They’ll shut down before you can trace them, hack into the mainframe…

Hack the planet!

PermalinkCommentshack hackers movie video mix remix mashup eclectic-method

Star Trek: TNG Season 8 illustration has us longing for more [Star Trek]

2012 Mar 5, 3:17

Fictional plot summaries of TNG S8 episodes.    Like:

  • Q’s back: he’s wearing scuba gear and needs Picard’s help dumping his girlfriend. Barclay accidentally locks himself outside the ship.
  • Geordie and Data nurse a space bird back to health, and are sad when they have to release it. Picard is trapped in a turbolift with a baby.
  • Starfleet sends a cantankerous admiral to boss around Picard during delicate peace talks. Data seems to have mastered bragging.
  • Riker’s ex-girlfriend arrives and dies, leaving behind a pile of glowing dust and a mystery. Picard is trapped on a turbolift with a horse.
  • A planet of suspicious docents abduct Riker for their museum of amazing men. Geordi and Data are too excited to sleep at their sleepover.
  • Picard is trapped inside a sentient turbolift. A clip show highlights the most memorable “Picard is trapped on a turbolift” moments.
PermalinkCommentshumor twitter tng tv

Bath Time for Baby Sloths | Too Cute (by AnimalPlanetTV)

2012 Jan 10, 11:58


Bath Time for Baby Sloths | Too Cute (by AnimalPlanetTV)

PermalinkCommentscute sloth baby video bath

NOVA | The Pluto Files | Hate Mail from Third Graders (non-Flash) | PBS

2010 Apr 15, 2:52Scans of some of a few instances of hate mail Neil deGrasse Tyson received from elementary school students after demoting Pluto to non-planet status.
PermalinkCommentshate-mail mail humor cute children neil-degrasse-tyson science pluto space planet astronomy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010 Mar 12, 11:11"All of the sculpted noses on the planet Viltvodle VI were fashioned after Douglas Adams' own. The creators used a 3D model he had created for the game Starship Titanic." The noses mentioned in the previous sentence were depicted in the movie in a church. The religion of this church maintains that the universe was created by their god sneezing out the universe and so they have statues of their god's nose throughout the church. Of course this is intended to seem absurd, however based on the previous sentence -- that the nose belonged to Douglas Adams -- then they really were worshping the nose of their creator.PermalinkCommentsdouglas-adams book hhgttg movie religion nose

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero! | Video on TED.com

2010 Feb 18, 4:59"At TED2010, Bill Gates unveils his vision for the world's energy future, describing the need for "miracles" to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he's backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor."PermalinkCommentsted bill-gates video environment energy

PlanetJune by June Gilbank » lemmings!

2009 Jul 24, 5:50Cocheted Lemmings.
PermalinkCommentsgame art videogame via:boingboing lemmings cute

Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendations

2009 May 3, 9:17
WeedsAvatar The Last AirbenderPaprikaGrindhouse Planet TerrorOutsourcedThe King of KongPrimer

Netflix lets you watch a subset of their movies online via their website and a subset of those movies are available to watch on the Xbox 360's Netflix app. so its not always easy to find movies to watch on Xbox 360. Yet, I regularly see my Xbox friends using the Netflix app and its a shame they didn't make an easy way to share movie recommendations with your friends. Instead we must share movie recommendations the old fashioned way. Here's the movies I've found and enjoyed on my 360.

Weeds
You don't have to be a stoner to enjoy this humorous and dramatic satire featuring a widow trying to raise her children and deal pot in suburbia.
Avatar The Last Airbender
An American animated series that's an amalgamation of various Asian art, history, religion, etc. that maintains a great story line.
Paprika
If you enjoyed Paranoia Agent you'll enjoy this movie in the same animation style and by the same director and writer, Satoshi Kon. Its like a feature length version of a Paranoia Agent episode in which a dream machine lets outsiders view one's dreams but eventually leads to blurring the dreams and reality.
Grindhouse Planet Terror
I didn't see either of the Grindhouse movies when they first came out, but of the two, Planet Terror is the more humorous and exciting gore filled parody.
Outsourced
A refreshing romantic comedy that still has a few of the over played tropes but is easy to enjoy despite that.
The King of Kong
A hilarious documentary on the struggle between the reigning champ hot-sauce salesman and the underdog Washington state high school science teacher to obtain the Donkey Kong world record high score. After watching, checkout this interview with the creators of the movie and the villain.
Primer
I've mentioned Primer before, but I put it on here again because its really good and you still haven't seen it, have you?
PermalinkCommentsmovie personal netflix

Planet HTML5

2009 Apr 7, 10:04Aggregation of feeds concerning HTML5 including Ian Hickson's, Planet Mozilla, Planet WebKit, the IE Blog, the WHATWG blog, etc etc.PermalinkCommentsw3c html5 html blog feed daily
Older Entries Creative Commons License Some rights reserved.