setiinstitute

setiinstitute, 4 months ago to sciencefiction

An updated and expanded guide to science fiction with reasonable astronomy, compiled by astronomy educator Andrew Fraknoi, is now available free online. The 23-page guide is organized by topic; so, for example, all the stories that feature reasonable depictions of black holes are in one place. Some 44 astronomy (and related physics) topics are covered.

Find the guide at: https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Science-Fiction-with-Good-Astronomy.pdf

#sciencefiction #astronomy #scicomm

setiinstitute, 9 months ago to science

#PPOD: Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud, a group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size and so together diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts. T Also captured were unusual cloud ripples above the pileus cloud. The formation of a rare pileus cloud capping a common cumulus cloud is an indication that the lower cloud is expanding upward and might well develop into a storm. Credit: Jiaqi Sun

#science #scicomm #weather #photography

setiinstitute, 4 days ago to space

#PPOD: This stunning photo was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. Phobos is the larger and closer of Mars's two moons, the other being Deimos. One hypothesis of their origin involves the possible capture of primitive asteroids. Unfortunately, Phobos is being pulled apart and closer by Mars's tidal forces and gravity. Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/ @andrealuck CC BY (https://www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/53635851891/)

#mars #phobos #space #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 5 months ago to science

How color perception is a trick of the brain… platypuses and the growing club of fluorescent mammals .. and the first new blue pigment in more than two centuries. This week, it’s “In Living Color” on Big Picture Science. Listen here: https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/living-color

#science #podcast #scicomm

setiinstitute, 7 months ago to space

#PPOD: What is creating these dark streaks on Mars? No one is sure. Candidates include dust avalanches, evaporating dry ice sleds, and liquid water flows. What is clear is that the streaks occur through light surface dust and expose a deeper dark layer. Similar streaks have been photographed on Mars for years and are one of the few surface features that change their appearance seasonally. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/HiRISE camera Team/University of Arizona

#space #mars #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to Podcast

The permafrost is thawing, luring bacteria that will feast on these carbon-rich layers and produce two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane. How serious is this potential accelerator of climate change? It’s “De-Permafrosting” on Big Picture Science.

Listen here: https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/de-permafrosting

#podcast #science #permafrost #climatechange #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 day ago to SciComm

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/85XbEPjKXUc
This month, two teams of astronomers announced the potential discovery of Dyson spheres in our galaxy. But have we truly found indicators of highly advanced civilizations? Join Dr. Franck Marchis and Dr. Lauren Sgro as they delve into these groundbreaking findings and their implications for SETI research.

#seti #dysonsphere #scicomm #laserseti

setiinstitute, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to space

#PPOD: A possible place to look for life beyond Earth, the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa was imaged by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on December 16, 1997. This version is made from monochrome raw image data with color synthesized to approximate natural colors. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/J. Major

#space #science #wallpaperwednesday #scicomm

setiinstitute, 4 months ago to science

We have some exciting news!

With only days left before the close of 2023, an anonymous donor has pledged to match any gift made before midnight on December 31 up to $10,000.

That means your year-end donation will be DOUBLED to create twice the impact on our research, outreach, and education programs.

Will you support us by becoming 1 of 100 donors to step up today and help us meet this match?

Donate today: https://www.seti.org/donate/cye

#seti #science #fundraiser

setiinstitute, 4 months ago to random

Only one day remains in 2023—which means time is running short for you to become one of the 100 people needed to help us meet our match challenge and continue the search for life beyond Earth with a year-end contribution!

Any donation made to the SETI Institute before midnight on December 31 will be doubled up to $10,000, so your support will go twice as far in helping answer one of the most profound questions of all time: are we alone?

Give today: https://www.seti.org/donate/cye

#nonprofit #yearend

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to SciComm

https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-backed-harvard-prof-says-science-should-take-ufos-seriously-2024-4

Avi Loeb is far from alone in seeking signs of life beyond our pale blue dot. Bioastronomers are using observatories like NASA's James Webb Telescope to search for chemical signatures of life on exoplanets — planets outside of our solar system. NASA is also sending probes to see if there are signs of life within the solar system. Other scientists are looking for "techno signatures," such as radio signals that could lead to other civilizations.

#seti #scicomm

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to space

#PPOD: Images from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover’s pioneering encounter with sand dunes on Mars constrain the wind speeds required to move sand in the thin Martian atmosphere. This encounter took place almost seven years ago and gave scientists important data about the ability of the Martian atmosphere to move particles. It did not hurt either that this image was just spectacular! Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

#mars #space #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to science

A 280-mile-long volcano may have been discovered on Mars—hiding in plain sight

The colossal volcano is taller than Mount Everest, would reach from New York City to Washington, D.C., and may be a promising site to look for ancient remnants of microbial life.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/giant-mars-volcano-noctis

#mars #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to photography

#PPOD: St. Patrick’s Aurora Illuminates the Night Sky

This majestic image of the dazzling green lights of the aurora borealis was captured on March 17, 2015, around 5:30 a.m. EDT in Donnelly Creek, Alaska.

Credit: Sebastian Saarloos

#photography #nature #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to space

https://www.newsweek.com/zodiacal-light-cause-comets-meteoroid-1882334

A strange glow in the night sky, known as the "zodiacal light," is formed differently from how scientists first thought.

Meteoroids are released from comets as larger pebbles, with previous theories assuming that these pebbles became degraded into tiny particles during high-speed collisions. Now, however, new research in the journal Icarus suggests that the meteoroid pebbles become dust thanks to heat.

#space #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to SciComm

#PPOD: Earth hangs above a large boulder examined by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmidt in December 1972. A recent analysis of freshly opened samples from Apollo 17 found that the Moon is at least 4.46 billion years old, or roughly 40 million years older than revealed by other samples. Credit: NASA

#earth #moon #palebluedot #scicomm #space

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to random

#PPOD: The highest peak in Japan, Mount Fuji, is one of the nation’s most striking symbols. Astronauts need oblique views and low sun angles to get a strong sense of three dimensions when they take photographs from the International Space Station. The low afternoon sun emphasizes the conical shape of the famous volcano. Other details enhance the sense of topography in the image, including numerous gullies in the flanks, as well as shadows cast in the summit- and side crater (Hoei). Credit: NASA

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to photography

#PPOD: The Moon's shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine in this photograph from the International Space Station as it soared into the solar eclipse from 420 kilometers above the surface of Earth. The diameter of the shadow is 160 km. Credit: NASA

#eclipse #photography #space #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to Podcast

The permafrost is thawing, a process that will warm the planet in a positive feedback cycle that will produce methane and carbon dioxide, two gases observed in the atmosphere of Mars. Could microbes be involved? It’s “De-Permafrosting” on Big Picture Science.

Listen here: https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/de-permafrosting

#podcast #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 2 days ago to SciComm

#PPOD: Enjoy this aesthetically stunning picture and consider the latitude at which it was captured. This is Portonovo (45N), a small town near Mount Conero in the province of Ancona in Italy. (We had it pretty good in San Francisco - 37N with purple and green). This low latitude tells you the strength of that solar storm that just hit. In fact, aurorae were observed in the Caribbean! Before May 12, only the Carrington Event reached those latitudes. Credit: Michele Elisei

#scicomm #photography

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to photography

#PPOD: This is actually a mud volcano in eastern Russia, named Pugachevskiy. It is located on the Sakhalin island. The mud volcanoes are formations generated by the release of gases and liquids. The mud is pushed to the surface as the pressure builds up beneath the Earth, creating an unusual pattern. We could not find a precise measurement of its size, but judging from other photographs, it is likely around 100 m in diameter. Credit: Mikhail Mikhailov/Caters News Agency

#photography #scicomm

setiinstitute, 1 month ago to Podcast

They’re not a plant and not an animal. Fungi may seem alien, but they’re fundamental to the existence of life on Earth. It’s “Fungi Fear” on Big Picture Science.

Listen here: https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/fungi-fear

#podcast #science #biology

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to space

#PPOD: Absolutely gorgeous new (Feb 29th) view taken by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars, looking back down the slope of Mt. Sharp in the center of Gale Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/fredk/S Atkinson

#space #science #scicomm #mars

setiinstitute, 2 months ago to science

PRESS RELEASE: https://www.seti.org/press-release/giant-volcano-discovered-mars
Giant Volcano Discovered on Mars

A deeply eroded giant volcano, active from ancient through recent times and with possible remnants of glacier ice near its base, had been hiding near Mars’ equator in plain sight. Its discovery points to an exciting new place to search for life, and a potential destination for future robotic and human exploration.

#mars #science #scicomm

setiinstitute, 19 days ago to science

#PPOD: Martian Rhapsody in Blue

Some mind-boggling details of a Martian impact crater taken by NASA's HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This image has everything: layers, boulders, dunes, and maybe some polygonal terrain, too. The blue filter is used here to learn about morphologies, textures, and composition.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

#mars #science #space #scicomm