Tag: updated

NASA website hosts regularly updated Earth imagery

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NASA has launched a new website allowing the public to view images snapped by its Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. The service will provide multiple shots of stunning Earth imagery seven days a week, mere hours after capture.

DSCOVR is operated through a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force, with a mission to monitor space weather emanating from the Sun, and serve as a form of early warning system for potentially harmful events…

Images featured on the website are captured roughly 12 – 36 hours prior to release, and feature a simple graphic to the top left of the page informing users of the relative positions and distances of the DSCOVR satellite and our Sun. The page also displays a globe highlighting the landmasses that are in view.

Archived images will be accessible by searching for the subject’s capture date and the continents displayed in the image.

Sometimes the Web really brings you close to the beauty of science.

Dumb crook of the day

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Joey Patterson

An Idaho fugitive was caught Saturday after he made a post on Facebook inviting friends to join him at batting practice in Boise.

KTVB TV station in Boise says…that Caldwell police officers showed up at the softball field after seeing the post on social media and arrested 22-year-old Joey Patterson.

He was wanted on a felony warrant for violating his probation on a fraud case out of Twin Falls. Patterson was booked into Canyon County Jail, where he is being held without bond.

Caldwell Police Sgt. Joey Hoadley says police often use social media to track down a fugitive. Hoadley says “even fugitives can’t keep from updating their Facebook status, and it leads to some great arrests.”

Har!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. You don’t become a petty crook because you’re extra smart.

LEGO ready to launch Female Scientist minifigure collection

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Lego, the Denmark-based toy company, has approved designs for a new collection titled “Research Institute,” an all-female line with characters such as an astronomer, paleontologist and chemist. The project was submitted to Lego Ideas, a fan-based online community that allows the Lego lovers to vote on potential collections.

The designer of this particular collection, Swedish geochemist Ellen Kooijman, was voted for over 10,000 times.

“As a female scientist I had noticed two things about the available Lego sets: a skewed male/female minifigure ratio and a rather stereotypical representation of the available female figures,” Kooijman wrote in her blog post.

“It seemed logical that I would suggest a small set of female minifigures in interesting professions to make our Lego city communities more diverse,” Kooijman wrote.

When Lego released its “FRIENDS” line in 2012, it sparked controversies over gender stereotypes in the toy industry. The line portrayed girls modeling on a catwalk, baking cupcakes, and hanging out on a beach. A petition was made on Change.org, calling out the company to stop reinforcing the gender stereotype to children.

Overdue.

Thanks, Mike

UK Car Magazine updates Santa’s sleigh

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nissansleigh

British buff book, Car, wrote a little letter and left it by the chimney, asking for a few auto makers to create their own take on the most famous sleigh of all.

Bentley, Ford, Nissan and Rolls-Royce answered the call and put their elves in the North Pole design studios to work. The results are here. The Bentley effort has a W-12 engine, naturally. Ford came up with three ideas (too much spare time at the Blue Oval?), while Nissan’s sci-fi contribution was penned by a Canadian, so he knows all about trying to get around in winter weather.

Being somewhat traditional, Rolls-Royce has decided to retain deer power in place of horsepower, but has given Santa an elegant and no doubt supremely comfortable carriage section.

All the sleigh images on the Car site can be sent as personalized e-cards. Ho, ho, ho.