Freaky Facts Friday

Pluto’s journey around the Sun takes 248 Earth years. This means that, since its discovery in 1930, it still has 177 years to go until it has made a complete orbit around the Sun.

Thanks, random science fact app!!!

Read more...

Oh, Fall!

While I love summer, I think autumn may arguably be my favorite season. You can wear sweaters OR shorts, the mild days are perfect for picnics, the chilly nights are great for campfires or fires of any kind, the breezes are perfect for kit flying, and the colors are spectacular. I wish it could last longer. I live in a place where summer is year round... why isn't there a place with autumn year round?

As much as I would like to fantasize about red leaves and gourd harvests being year round, there is actually a good reason for why it can't last. All those beautiful colors are caused for a very good reason. In the fall, the days get much shorter and the plants have less time to photosynthesize. This is how our plants make food for themselves and what gives them the beautiful green we are used to. The chlorophyll in the plant is what helps this photosynthesis happen. As the plants chlorophyll gets smaller, other pigments in the plants begin to show through, like the reds and yellows you see around you this time of year.

The plants are conserving energy to survive the oncoming winter and then lose their leaves. When the days get longer, the leaves come back, and are green for feeding! This is pretty impressive and makes me appreciate fall all the more.

Happy Autumn!

Read more...

Lunacy!?

(Picture courtesy of the NASA, Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive)

"When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie, that's.......an illusion?" Actually the moon is really there on the horizon but the "big" part is the illusion. It is a common trick played on us by our brains. The crazy thing is there is no change in the moon's size when it is on the horizon and when its above us in the sky. I know what you are thinking......Todd you're crazy, I saw the full moon rising and it was huge! Yes, it appeared huge, but really it wasn't. Our brains tend to think of it this way, if a distant object like the moon is perceived to be on the horizon it must be closer and if it is closer than it must be bigger. Our brains have never known the opposite. Simply put, the closer you get to something the bigger it appears. And strangely enough the moon always stays roughly 239,000 miles from us in its orbit, always. There is another theory that the atmosphere magnifies the image of the moon making it appear larger when it is lower to the horizon. Scientist agree that the atmosphere doesn't have the properties to create that kind of effect. Well, there is a simple test you can do to find out if this "growing" moon is in fact a product some strange scientific blend of physics or simply a crazy illusion created by your brain. Next time there is a full moon on the low horizon that looks bigger than normal, take something small like an eraser on your pencil or even your pinky finger and hold it at arms length with one eye closed. Measure the size of the moon in comparison to that object then do it again later when the moon appears smaller. You should notice that the moon did not change in size, but your brain in fact is a "Luna"tic. :-)

Read more...

Green Roof

Recently, I noticed a few more articles than normal about green roofs. An article put out yesterday in the Vancouver Courier talks about a group that is raising awareness for green roofs. In ScienceDaily yesterday, there was an article about a study done at Michigan States University's Department of Horticulture. The study showed the success rate of succulents grown based on the growing mediums depth. With all this talk going on about green roofs, I figured the least I could do would be to explain the concept in case you haven't heard about them yet.

Green Roofs have been a popular idea in Europe for a while, but it is an idea that is really starting to take off in America as well. According to the article published in ScienceDaily, green roofs increased in installation by 30% between 2006 and 2007.

While rooftop gardens are something most are familiar with, this is a little less intensive. Most of the plants planted on green roofs are succulents or evergreens so there is less care required. than with a traditional garden. The plants aren't potted, they are actually a layered roofing material. Really impressive stuff! Typically, it is a waterproofing layer, drainage layer (like rocks), growing medium layer (like peat and manure) , and plants. The picture above is the roof of a parking structure at the Marriott Hotel in Vancouver, BC.

I'm sure you may be wondering why anyone would go through the trouble. Well, there are many benefits to green roofing. First off, they last longer than traditional roofs. There are no shingles or tiles to replace or much of a need for gutter care. This brings us to the benefit of decreasing storm drainage water, lessening the impact of runoff in sewage and drainage systems. Green roofs also help insulate the building, significantly decreasing cooling costs in summer. In large cities, green roofs help reduce urban heat island effect and improve air quality. Chicago City Hall was one of the first green roofs installed just to study the effects on urban heat. Some of the added benefits to a green roof are protecting the roof structure itself from damage due to extreme weather fluctuations, reduce glare in cities, attract more birds and butterflies to an area, and the added benefit of creating an oasis from urban canyons. It also just looks really cool. Many of the houses in the Faroe Islands have grass roofs and this adds to the charm and beauty of the area.

You can find out more about green roofs at Greenroofs.com and How Stuff Works.

Photo is from pnwra's photostream on Flickr and is licensed under Creative Commons.


>

Read more...

Red to "Dye" For

Since I seem to be a bit into invertebrates, especially those of the insect variety, I decided to help out a fellow blogger with her quest for dispelling misinformation. Bug Girl is an entomologist so she definitely knows her bugs. Recently, bugs have been in the news a lot. This has been by way of Cochineal. These little scaly bugs are a source for a very vibrant natural dye in the shade of carmine. People seem to be freaked out that there are "bug" derived dyes in many of their foods. Honestly... this is way better than tar derived color. I don't mind bug color.

Like Bug Girl, however, I do mind misinformation. Articles in the New York Times, Scientific American (shame) and others all have done articles about this bug. Many of them refer to it as a beetle... not even close. NYT and SciAm finally removed the pictures that were not the same creature. After a few of us (yes, me too) left some comments about SciAm's need for a fact checker, the picture was removed and this was placed at the end of the article:

Editor's Note (posted 1/11/09): In response to some concerns about the entomological accuracy of this post and photo, we have taken down the image that was originally posted, because it appears not to be a cochineal insect. We are checking with the source of that photo to confirm its identity. The term "beetle" is often used to describe this insect, but we have changed the wording in the post to "cochineal insect" for strict accuracy. This post is based on the FDA's announced rule change, which was published on January 5 and which we link to in the blog (and again here) for interested readers eager to know more about how the agency reached its conclusions.

What does this have to do with Bug Girl's quest? Simple. She wants everyone who cares about this important little industry (yes, bug dye is an industry) and the facts about the cochineal by reading her great post. I know, I know... now I'm sending you somewhere else to read science stuff! What happened to your science phobia? Hopefully I'm wearing you down! Happy Thursday!

Photo is from 7-how-7's photostream on Flickr and is licensed under Creative Commons.

Read more...

Moth Evolution We Can See

Butterflies and moths are harmless animals, right? I mean, until today, even I thought they were. They only drink nectar or fruit and fly around getting drunk. They don't have anything that can hurt you. Well, this was until I read a Halloween post on Wildlife Promise, a blog run by the National Wildlife Federation. On this post I saw something AMAZING. The following video is from the National Geographic website.

You can find out more here. Scary, huh? This really freaked me out a bit. Happy little moths are evolving a thirst for BLOOD?!?!?! eek! Nature is amazing.They have been dubbed vampire moths. I am just happy that, as of yet, they are found only in Russia near the China border. I can't wait to see what we find out about these guys.

Read more...

Some Storm!

A very scary set of clouds moved in. This worries me because my husband is out on the water spearfishing right now. I haven't heard from him.

The clouds are very beautiful but ominous. I love the way they turn the light silver.

SOOOO to distract myself from the scary thought of my husband in a scary storm in the middle of the ocean, we are going to talk about weather!

What is a hurricane?

It is an ENORMOUS storm that can reach sizes of 600 miles in diameter with wind speeds between 75 and 200 miles per hour. They move in a counter-clockwise direction around a calm "eye" The spin is caused by Earth's rotation and the Coriolis Effect. They need water temperatures of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more to intensify.

What was the strongest to hit land in recent history?

The top three are Camille, Andrew and Dean in that order. I lived in Miami for Andrew and I must say, it was intense. Maybe that is why I have no fear of hurricanes anymore. I am just always ready!


That is all I can handle. I am going to watch my video and make myself laugh.

All photos protected under Creative Commons. You can use them, just give me credit ok?

Read more...

Thursday already!?!?!

I cannot believe how quickly the week has passed... and not an utter of science news? I must be getting ill. So to make up for it I am gonna list some of my favorite useless facts. This may come in handy should you ever be fortunate enough to be in the Cash Cab! (I'm an addict, not affiliated)

A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one cubic centimeter one degree Celsius.

There are only approximately 4500 stars visible to the naked eye... although many will argue more.

Seasons are caused by the tilt of the axis of earth while orbiting the sun.

The air we breathe is actually mostly nitrogen.

Three common states of matter : solid, liquid, gas.

1 atmosphere of pressure is equal to approx. 5 feet molten rock or 33 ft of water.

There are millions of cells under an area on your body covered by a quarter.

Smell affects taste!

Most of the dust in your air is skin! (eww)


Ok I'm done. I may update this later with some more cheesy facts!

Read more...