Clipmarks | amgumen's clips

The Sun puts on some fireworks for the 4th of July

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:32:14 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

The most active sunspot of the year so far is emerging in the sun’s southern hemisphere: movie. Sunspot 1024 has at least a dozen individual dark cores and it is crackling with B-class solar flares. This morning, amateur astronomer David Tyler caught one of the flares in action from his backyard solar observatory in England:

The magnetic polarity of sunspot 1024 identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Its rapid emergence on July 3rd and 4th continues the recent (few-month) trend of intensifying new-cycle activity. This sunspot is the best offering yet from the young solar cycle.

Tags: sun

Modern Bike Concepts

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:22:54 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: incrediblethings.com

Tags: bike

How to get to the top of a forest

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:04:52 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

approximately 37 million km² - or around ¼ of the world's land mass - is covered by natural forest, a habitat which is home to the majority of the planet's wildlife, so it's no surprise that scientists are eager to study as much of the planet's forest canopy as possible before the population does away with trees altogether. however the problem they face in their quest to sit at the top of these masses of greenery is that access to the uppermost layer isn't always easy to come by, whether it be due to safety concerns on the part of researchers, their inability to physically reach the heights necessary, or the dangers presented to the canopy itself when interrupted by humans.

canopy rafts

Tags: interesting, science

15 of the World's Greatest Living Rocks

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:58:13 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

Great Sphinx of Giza (Egypt)

Petra (Jordan)

Mount Rushmore (USA)

Leshan Giant Buddha (China)

Mahabalipuram Shore Temple (India)

Abu Simbel (Egypt)

Dazu Rock Carvings (China)

Church of St. George (Ethiopia)

Borobudor (Indonesia)

Cappadocia (Turkey)

Bingling Temple (China)

Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni (Malta)

Buddhas of Bamiyan (Afghanistan)

Mada'in Saleh (Saudi Arabia)

Naqsh-e Rustam (Iran)

Tags: rocks

Failed Predictions

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:54:58 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
--Associates of Edwin L. Drake refusing his suggestion to drill for oil in 1859.

Only one hundred fifty years passed by since the first attempt to dig out oil from the ground met such contempt, and now the whole world is trying to look for unimaginable places to satiate the thirst for money that is propelled and sustained on this black gold.

"Ours has been the first [expedition], and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality."
---- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.

More than a century later, five million people annually visit this "profitless locality," by car, foot, air, and on the Colorado River itself.

Tags: interesting, predictions

Snow Falls Nightly on Mars

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:19:03 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Every night during Mars's winter, water-ice crystals fall from high, thin clouds over the north pole, new data from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander have revealed.

The clouds resemble cirrus clouds on Earth, noted lead study author James Whiteway, an atmospheric physicist at York University in Toronto.

And the precipitation, he said, is similar to ice crystals that fall through the air in the Arctic in the middle of winter, called diamond dust.

"Mars is awfully dry. That's why it's surprising that you see snowfall."

The Phoenix lander arrived near Mars's north pole in May 2008 and collected data for five months before shutting down due to the extreme conditions of Martian winter.

Phoenix first spotted nightly clouds in early September, as winter began to set in, via an onboard weather instrument called LIDAR.

We made more and more late-night observations of these clouds, and noticed streaks coming out the bottom of them

Basically, we're seeing snowfall

Tags: mars

3-D View of San Andreas Fault

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:15:30 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Much of the length of the fault is lined by a distinct trough.

The black line curving along the east side of the fault is I-280, and California highway 92 runs from the top right across to the center left of the image, heading towards Half Moon Bay to the west. San Mateo and Burlingame are parts of the large urbanized area in various tones of pink and green, and Foster City is the area of curved streets extending out into the San Francisco Bay at the top right.

Earth’s crust is a collection of fractured plates that shift across the planet’s surface over millions of years. Two of the major plates meet at the coast of California; the Pacific Plate, under the ocean, is drifting slowly northwest, grinding along the margin of the North American Plate, to the east. Where they meet, the intense pressure of the collision creates an a 800-mile-long fracture zone called the San Andreas Fault.

Tags: fault, geology

Dust Plumes off Western Africa

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:12:07 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

The extreme daytime heating in the Sahara Desert, especially during the summer, causes instability in the lowest level of the atmosphere. Dust-laden air rises and begins moving westward. As the air travels—a trip that often takes several days—it continues heating. When this Saharan Air Layer moves off the African coast and over the Atlantic Ocean, it is undercut by a cooler, wetter layer of air. Air normally cools with altitude, but the Saharan Air Layer passing over cooler air currents causes a temperature inversion, which suppresses mixing. As a result, Saharan dust often travels across the Atlantic, sometimes remaining visible throughout the trip.

The dust is a mixed blessing in the Western Hemisphere, alternately causing respiratory illness and coral bleaching, and yet providing soil to Caribbean islands and the Amazon Rainforest.

Tags: africa, dust

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:56:28 GMT

clipped by: amgumen
clipper's remarks: Great blog.

Clip Source: quotesnack.com

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge

Tags: quotes

Amazing ice forms

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:25:01 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.swisseduc.ch

Two views of the Ekstroem Ice Shelf, East Antarctica (above and above right). The upper surface near its edge is marked by a knobbly icy surface – the result of storm waves throwing up spray that freezes as a crust on the surface. MH

Clip Source: www.swisseduc.ch

The above photograph illustrates the shelf edge, marked by an undercut cliff, rising about 30 m above water level, while a few more hundred metres of cliff extends below the water-line. MH

Tags: antarctica, ice, glaciology

Geologists' Drill Hits Magma

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:59:54 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Scientists drilling a borehole deep into Iceland’s rocky crust to explore new methods of using geothermal energy hit a major roadblock on Thursday: Their drill ran into molten rock at a depth of 6,900 feet.

A research project in Hawaii hit magma in 2005, and in 1977 magma erupted out the top of a producing geothermal well not far from our site in Krafla, Iceland

The team had originally planned to drill to 11,500 feet, or almost 2.2 miles into the earth.

drilling fluid came in contact with magma, creating an explosion. Glass shards removed from the hole provided evidence for this

Based on geophysical mapping of the area, Schiffman said, the team suspects that it has encountered a small offshoot of a larger magma body that lies more than two miles below the surface. “Whether we can keep drilling or not will depend on the thickness of this magma finger, and whether it’s horizontally or vertically oriented

A 13-story apartment building toppled over almost intact

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:36:16 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

The block, in the outskirts of the eastern city of Shanghai, toppled around dawn and ended up lying on its side in a muddy construction field.

Construction work on the block appeared to have been nearly completed, with windows fitted and a tiled facade. Other identical blocks in the same property development were still standing nearby.

The official Xinhua News Agency said that a 28-year-old worker, surnamed Xiao, had gone into the building to get his tools and tried to jump out the window when the building fell. He was from Anhui province in eastern China.

Greens issue unprecedented threat

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:54:44 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: greenhellblog.com

The League of Conservation Voters issued the following “unprecedented” threat to Congress on June 23:

In light of the tremendous importance of this legislation, LCV has made the unprecendented decision that we will not endorse any member of the House of Representatives in the 2010 election cycle who votes against this historic bill.

Click here for the LCV letter.

This is no idle threat since, as recounted in Green Hell, the LCV was instrumental in making Barack Obama a U.S. Senator in 2004 and, well, you know the rest…

All Babies Cute And Funny

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:29:51 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.yeeta.com

Tags: animals

Spectacular HDR photos

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:12:36 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.yeeta.com

Tags: art, photo

Clipmarks | amgumen's clips

The Sun puts on some fireworks for the 4th of July

Modern Bike Concepts

How to get to the top of a forest

15 of the World's Greatest Living Rocks

Great Sphinx of Giza (Egypt)

Petra (Jordan)

Mount Rushmore (USA)

Leshan Giant Buddha (China)

Mahabalipuram Shore Temple (India)

Abu Simbel (Egypt)

Dazu Rock Carvings (China)

Church of St. George (Ethiopia)

Borobudor (Indonesia)

Cappadocia (Turkey)

Bingling Temple (China)

Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni (Malta)

Buddhas of Bamiyan (Afghanistan)

Mada'in Saleh (Saudi Arabia)

Naqsh-e Rustam (Iran)

Failed Predictions

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." --Associates of Edwin L. Drake refusing his suggestion to drill for oil in 1859.

"Ours has been the first [expedition], and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality." ---- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.

Snow Falls Nightly on Mars

3-D View of San Andreas Fault

Dust Plumes off Western Africa

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge

Amazing ice forms

Geologists' Drill Hits Magma

A 13-story apartment building toppled over almost intact

Greens issue unprecedented threat

All Babies Cute And Funny

Spectacular HDR photos

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
--Associates of Edwin L. Drake refusing his suggestion to drill for oil in 1859.

"Ours has been the first [expedition], and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality."
---- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.