The Big Think » Space/Astronomy http://www.thebigthink.org Transitions are transitory Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:33:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Music of the Spheres http://www.thebigthink.org/2012/01/18/music-of-the-spheres/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2012/01/18/music-of-the-spheres/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:43:33 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=7663 h/t to Josh for the cool link. I especially like the part about the sine waves and frequencies.

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2012/01/18/music-of-the-spheres/feed/ 1 Far, Far Away http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/09/26/far-far-away/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/09/26/far-far-away/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:22:02 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=7304 Astronomers discover a new standard candle!

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/09/26/far-far-away/feed/ 0 James May Goes to the Moon http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/08/23/james-may-goes-to-the-moon/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/08/23/james-may-goes-to-the-moon/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 03:51:12 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=7188 I’ve seen hundreds of hours of documentaries on the moon program. I’ve read dozens of books, built the models, and collected the mission patches. I can tell you the difference between a PLSS, an MMU, and TLI.

But I’ve never seen such a wonderful documentary as the one that Top Gear’s James May and the BBC put on. If you have an hour I would highly recommend that you take the time to watch it. James May and the BBC crew have the technical abilities perfectly married to well polished storytelling chops. I dare you to watch it with dry eyes. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks to friend Josh for pointing it out.


James May goes to the moon – full episode…

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/08/23/james-may-goes-to-the-moon/feed/ 0 Fire at the Observatory http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/04/18/fire-at-the-observatory/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/04/18/fire-at-the-observatory/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:07:43 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6688 McDonald Observatory out in Ft. Davis, Texas, is being threatened by wildfires. Crazy-amazing pictures here.

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/04/18/fire-at-the-observatory/feed/ 0 Finished http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/03/02/finished/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/03/02/finished/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:30:15 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6461 Astronauts Bolt The Final American Module Onto The ISS, Completing a Dozen Years’ Construction”

(Via .)

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/03/02/finished/feed/ 0 Night Sky http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/30/night-sky/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/30/night-sky/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 03:02:57 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6329

Scale from Brad Goodspeed on Vimeo.

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/30/night-sky/feed/ 0 Outbound http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/19/outbound-2/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/19/outbound-2/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:36:34 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6304

“”We were all praying to get to Neptune [in 1989]. But after that? Who thought we could be with this 33 years [after launch]?”

In all that time, only one instrument, on Voyager 1, has broken down. Nine others on the two craft have been powered down to save dwindling electrical power from their plutonium-powered generators.

But five experiments on each Voyager are still funded and seven are still delivering data. Problems do crop up, but fixes can still be made with radioed instructions that take 12 hours to reach the craft.”

Voyager 1 at edge of solar system – baltimoresun.com: “”

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2011/01/19/outbound-2/feed/ 0 Sinistar Is In There Somewhere http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/12/10/sinistar-is-in-there-somewhere/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/12/10/sinistar-is-in-there-somewhere/#comments Fri, 10 Dec 2010 06:52:53 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6158 Stars so weird that they make black holes look boring.: “”

Cool stuff.

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/12/10/sinistar-is-in-there-somewhere/feed/ 0 It Will Be Awesome if They Don’t Screw it Up: A 3D Printing White Paper http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/11/27/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up-a-3d-printing-white-paper/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/11/27/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up-a-3d-printing-white-paper/#comments Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:04:14 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=6041 It Will Be Awesome if They Don’t Screw it Up: 3D Printing…: “”

(Via .)

]]> http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/11/27/it-will-be-awesome-if-they-dont-screw-it-up-a-3d-printing-white-paper/feed/ 0 This just sounds Star Trek http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/11/15/this-just-sounds-star-trek/ http://www.thebigthink.org/2010/11/15/this-just-sounds-star-trek/#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:19:57 +0000 jasony http://www.thebigthink.org/?p=5978 Finding the Universe’s 500 Million Light Year Yardstick – Technology Review: “”

Using Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations. Awesome. The previous way of measuring distances larger than several parsecs was via Cepheid variable stars (if you know how bright a certain star is, you can measure its distance by measuring its relative brightness). This is a much more accurate way. Plus, it sounds cool.

And don’t miss pics of the incredible Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Inspired!

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