RADIOACTIVE DECAYS

(Source: atomstargazer)

Richard Feynman (via explore-blog)

(Source: , via explore-blog)

(Source: atomstargazer)

edwardspoonhands:

First, I love Tumblr and want to keep loving it. And yes, it is immediately terrifying to hear that Yahoo (which, from a lot of our perspectives, is a laughably backwards and culturally irrelevant company) is going to own Tumblr. I sympathize.

But there are a number of circumstances in which…

Einstein’s Voice?

Well, listen as Albert Einstein reads you a scientific essay. It’s his voice, in your ears, from 1941, reading his essay ‘The Common Language of Science’.

Click Here : http://is.gd/O4s3F5
More Recordings At: http://is.gd/CMzE1S

Benefits Of Bike Riding

When they invented the bike for the first time, they had no idea that a time will come when it will have all these benefits, otherwise its price would have been too high to afford! — Here is my new infographic on the “Benefits Of Bike Riding”…

➤ Runs on Fat Not Fuel
➤ Reduces Stress
➤ Reduces Risk of Diabetes
➤ Reduces Risk of Blood Pressure
➤ Increases Muscle Tone
➤ Gives You Legs of Steel
➤ Helps You See The World Differently
➤ Unlimited Free Parking
➤ Faster & Easier Than Walking
➤ Zero Emission
➤ No Noise Pollution
➤ It Feels Like Flying
➤ It Carries Your Goodies Home
➤ Whizzes Past Traffic Jams
➤ Puts A Big Fat Smile on Your Face
➤ Bye Bye Spare Tire
➤ Reduces Roadkill & Saves Animals

Enlarge This Graphic : http://is.gd/FSF6R8

(Source: atomstargazer)

These photographs document several of the various types of mould which can be found growing on your average loaf of bread, given enough time and neglect. I am interested in the inherent contradiction of finding aesthetic beauty in something almost universally perceived as disgusting. I was also fascinated by the extraordinary structure and microscopic nature of these life forms, something that those of us not involved in the biological sciences are probably only vaguely aware of.

 

(Source: scienceyoucanlove)

Desert ‘fairy circles’ mystery solved

Termites appear to be feeding on the grass roots to create the characteristic rings, but scientists aren’t sure why termites are eating in circles.

(Source: mothernaturenetwork)

Periodial Cicadas Coming to U.S. East Coast This Spring

Periodical cicadas (Magicicada septendecim), the cousins of katydids and crickets, have a unique breeding schedule, and after 17 years of living underground, a large group of them are preparing to fill the skies along the U.S. East Coast, from North Carolina up to Connecticut.

Normally, periodic cicadas spend their lives in complete darkness underground, sucking the fluid out of the roots of trees and shrubs. At the end of their life, they emerge, breed, and almost instantly die, completing a lifecycle that humans have studied for centuries….

Cicadas are easy to anticipate because of their extremely consistent mating behavior. Every 13 or 17 years, depending on the population, species of periodic cicadas will emerge as part of a specific brood in order to look for a mate.

The group expected this spring, known as Brood 2, are the offspring of cicadas last seen in 1996. If they follow the same tracks as their parents, they’ll emerge in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

The genetic mechanism that prompts periodical cicadas to emerge kicks in every 17 years (or every 13 years for other broods) when the ground warms up to 64°F (18°C).

Some researchers think the timing of a brood’s emergence is a defensive mechanism—appearing at infrequent intervals means that it’s harder for would-be predators like birds and squirrels to anticipate when the insects will be available to eat.

Others suggest that the 13- and 17-year cycles, prime numbers in mathematics, help cicadas avoid parasites. A 2004 study from the University of Campinas in Brazil suggested that a cicada with a 17-year cycle and a parasite with a two-year cycle, for example, would meet only twice each century.

But not all cicadas breed on this multiyear cycle. Some, like the tibicen cicadas, work on an annual rotation, leaving them more susceptible to predators like the cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus).

The wasps know exactly when to expect the annual cicadas in late summer or early fall. The wasp lays its eggs on the cicadas, and the larvae slowly kill the cicada and feed off its carcass.

(Read more)

(Source: dendroica)

TSA: *perplexed, talking to another agent*

TSA: “….it’s not a threat” *tilts head*

me: “is that my bag?”

TSA: “yeah, what is that?”

me: “it’s a telescope”

TSA: “a telescope, ohh, it’s the whole thing…”

me: “yeah, just without the tripod”

TSA: “how powerful is that telescope?”

me: *laughs* “it’s only a few mirrors, ma’m”

astrogasmic:

Communication & posts may be slowed or sporadic until June 1st. Unless I end up in a wormhole…you’ll never even know I was gone :)

Keep it sciencey everyone.

Ad Astra*

(via wildlydistorted)

The science of how your mind-wandering is robbing you of happiness.

(Source: http, via explore-blog)

New Insights on How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Arms

Spiral galaxies are some of the most beautiful and photogenic residents of the universe. Our own Milky Way is a spiral. Our solar system and Earth reside somewhere near one of its filamentous arms. And nearly 70 percent of the galaxies closest to the Milky Way are spirals.

But despite their common shape, how galaxies like ours get and maintain their characteristic arms has proved to be an enduring puzzle in astrophysics. How do the arms of spiral galaxies arise? Do they change or come and go over time?

Read More.

(Source: christinetheastrophysicist)