99% of Earth's Topology Mapped

How sweet is that. Elevation data is now available and covers 99% of the Earth's surface. You can even download the TIF file.

Check it out:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/nasa-satellite-maps-99-of-earths-topography/

Alien Space Station- UV set 22

I haven't posted much of my 3D work lately, partly because I've been busy with other projects. Here is a little snippet of the work I've been doing lately. This is a living artery of sorts in the alien space station.

APOD: Kaguya's decent to the moon

Ooo sweet APOD today. The Japanese spacecraft successfully impacted the moon last week. Here's a great movie showing the lunar surface as it barely cleared a few of the peaks.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090629.html

I do have an idea for future missions though... HEADLIGHTS!

No charge for...

Isabella has been on a Kung-fu Panda kick lately and on Thursday she told us:

"There is no charge for offsomeness... or atraptiveness. SKIDOOSH!"

Meanwhile, Braden is just as turtley cute! He's like a little tank- chunking up quite nicely haha.

TED Talks: You are the Future of Philanthropy

Acting our way into a new way of thinking. Great speech here.

Whales might be much like People

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/whalepeople/

Wow, this is remarkable. I had no idea whales were this smart. I knew dolphins were smart, but some of what is in the article really surprised me. Language- dialect? Really neat article.

Dry Retriever

A friend sent this via email, made me chuckle.

Sunset on the Lake

A few pictures from a week or so ago.

Salty Enceladus

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/enceladusocean/

Cool article here about Enceladus and the research being done on the Saturnian moon. Also, I wrote an article about Enceladus a while ago, if you'd like more info on the moon check it out: Space: Who Knew #9

Sand and a Possible 5th State of Matter

This is sooo interesting!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/sandgrains/

In the formation of droplets in a stream of falling sand, scientists have witnessed a dynamic that points beyond the boundaries of traditional physics, and may represent one aspect of a fifth state of matter.

“Here we have a material right underneath our noses, that everybody grows up playing with in a sandbox, yet it’s full of surprises for scientists,” physicist said Heinrich Jaeger of the University of Chicago.

The droplets formed because of instabilities in the subtle atomic forces that attract sand grains to each other. Something similar happens to water falling from a faucet, but the forces acting on those molecules are 100,000 times stronger.

Uuuumm..... seriously????

City digitally adds black guy to Fun Guide cover to make it more ‘inclusive’

That is some horrible Photoshop work right there.

It looks like the new guy is going to eat the other family. Who comes up with these great ideas? I mean cuz, people are TOTALLY going to believe that that image is real.

Voices in Iran

This is heartbreaking.

I'm not at all surprised on how things have turned out during the election, I am saddened, but not surprised. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.

A picture says a thousand words. Some of the links below contain graphic images.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhashemi/sets/72157619758530748/
http://picasaweb.google.com/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#

Monday June 15, 2009. Man being beaten, allegedly by state para-military force known as Basiji

Other sources of Iran protest photos are:

1. The Mousavi photostream www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi1388

2. Bahramk's excellent collection of over 399 photos from the protests in Iran: picasaweb.google.com/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#

Rules when supporting the Iranian People on Twitter:

1. Change your name and location to Tehran. This will provide cover for the Tweeters in Tehran.

2. If you have proxy IP numbers to contribute, keep them private. DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09

3. Use only #iranelection or #gr88

4. Use your common sense to sniff a tweet for Iranian government misinformation - try and find corroboration before you retweet.

5. Never name a source. Simply relay the information from an Iranian source using F/Iran at the beginning.

Message to News Organizations:

I have received a number of requests to use these photographs from multiple news organizations.

These are not my photographs. They have been collected from Twitter and other social networks. They are being gathered together in the Flickr collection for the convenience of the press and others and to ensure that there is an additional depository for these images in the event that their original location is compromised by hostile action.

As they are not mine, I do not have the ability to authorize their use. However, one major news network has decided that;

"We recognize the risks people are taking to get the pictures out and intend to use as many of them as editorially appropriate. We will not currently require formal license agreements considering the situation."

I would invite your news organization to reach a similar decision and to use all photographs that do not contain a watermark, or annotation, indicating that they were taken by professionals.

The individuals that took these photos, risked their lives to do so and it is incongruous that having done so they would not wish these photographs to be used by the world media. In light of this I beg your news organization to use these photographs and to disseminate them as wide as possible. Constant press coverage by the international media is the only thing preventing a massacre in Iran. The re-publication of these photographs will help to save lives. There is a clear moral duty in this context. Be human.

-----

Also, the photo below was taken in San Fransisco, I only link it here because I find it funny that Saks is in the background. I think there are some parallels to be drawn between big business and dictatorships.

John & Kate Plus 8

Well, it looks like its official, they're getting a divorce.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/23/jon.and.kate.divorce/index.html

I have a few things to say on this subject. First off- take care of those kids. The kids don't know what a regular life is, what with the cameras being around so much. The last thing they need is more drama between their folks. My hope is that they can work it out in a respectful manner, and in a way that helps to nurture their children.

Second- congratulations to John for standing up for himself and making a very tough decision. I can't imagine the pressures having 8 children bring upon a home (not just to the adults by the way), and watching the show obviously just captures the "dramatic or Hollywood" moments. I know that.

But what I see every single episode is a wife who tramples all over her husband. So John- congratulations for standing up for yourself. I think we all have lessons to learn, and I'm not saying that Kate is a bad person. I think she is funneling her frustrations in a manner that degrades her husband. It happens both ways, I know. Eight kids in the house can turn anyone crazy. But using the number of kids they have as an excuse for her bullying and abuse is something either of the parents shouldn't claim.

Anyway, we don't know the entire story, and we shouldn't. This is their lives and hopefully they can settle their differences in a manner which teaches the children to respect others. I wish their entire family the best.

In fact, I wish they would just stop the TV show and focus on their kids for a while. Unfortunately they now need the show to survive financially, what with the new home and all.

Our society sure doesn't help cultivate healthy relationships these days. And don't even get me started on Octomom.

Beyond Talk. Do something about climate change.

I signed up on this today.

http://beyondtalk.net/

California's Failed State

As much as I enjoy the thought of Arnold dressing up like Conan the Barbarian this Halloween, waving a greatsword- cleaving down any who get in his way.... it seems you can't throw a meatshield at a problem where a life-preserver is needed.

HUARGH GET INTO DA CHOOPA!
Elite fail Mr. Govenator

http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/06/schwarzenegger-s-shock-therapy-poor-pay-sins-rich

Isabella-isms III

Okay a few more funny Isabella-isms to share:

The other night she told me:

"Daddy! NO hugging me, I fraaaagile!"

Another good one, Ash and I were laughing at something in the car the other day, and Isabella in the back must've felt she'd had enough, because she said:

"Stop that guys, I don't have time for this."

Just yesterday Isabella was "making cookie dough" on the porch, playing with her kitchenette set, and she tells Ashley:

"They're goin' to be SO good- but don't worry mommy, there won't be ANY calories in them."

Isabella's first theater experience!

I'm so excited, today we're taking Isabella to the early show of Pixar's new movie "Up". It'll be her first time in a theater and it'll be so fun! Just have to remember to load up on popcorn.

It'll be so neat to see her reaction to the big screen!

TOYBOTA

LOL!!!

Ariel Atom

EEeesh!

Killing a Toyota

Hehfreakinglarious.

T-Rex!

Saweet! This thing is the bomb!

I think I'd rather have it with the body kit.

Space: Who Knew, #21

Space: Who Knew - Index
Last post

Weight in Space

This is a fun little tool to calculate how much you would weigh on the other planets in our solar system. Because the mass of each object directly affects the gravitational pull the object possesses, you'll find your weight fluctuates quite greatly.

http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Weight/weight.html

I get a kick out of the sun's value. Talk about ouchie. Though, they leave out the moon in the link above, so to figure that out, multiply your weight by .1655

25 pounds??? Now that's what I call Slimfast!

Another great link on gravity can be found here:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/snot/if_the_earths_a_big_ball_why_dont_we_fall_off_the_bottom_of_it.aspx

Who knew???

TED Talk: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

WOW. Watch this TED Talk and look for the film: Home on June 5th.

Just amazing...

http://www.6billionothers.org/index_en.php
http://www.home-2009.com/us/index.html
www.youtube.com/homeproject

Turtle Power!

I took Isabella to the zoo a few weeks ago and we managed to snap a few pictures of their resident reptile. I never did catch his name, and though he could remain name-less for the sake of this post, it just wouldnt be respectful. So I think I'll call him Henry.

I gotta say Henry moved faster than I had thought, I mean okay- he's a turtle- just how fast can the big gipper go. Well shut up- it was faster than I had thought. Had to keep inching in front of him cuz he was on a mission. Isabella kept saying- "Not too close daddy" which I thought was amusing, since I had told her the same thing earlier near the geese.

The lake was also crawling with turtles of the painted variety, so we stopped and counted them for a bit as well. They kept sticking their heads above water to see if we were there, while a brave few remained sleeping on the shore.

On a sidenote, if you've ever wondered how a creature would sound if they could talk- I totally see Henry as having this old farts voice, talking with a lisp.

And I thought Braden had chunky legs...

Titan and Enceladus- Up close and Personal!

Looks like the next few months are going to be really busy for the Cassini spacecraft and its operators. Check out all these close fly-bys!

It appears that Enceladus will be the target of the closest zip past, flying at an altitude of 99 km above its icy south pole. Imagine all those nice pictures we're going to be able to enjoy!

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/02/book-your-tours-of-titan-and-enceladus-today/