What is believed to be the last known footage of a thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, has been made available by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) as a "new" lost film (despite being a marsupial and looking nothing like a tiger apart from its stripy back). When "Benjamin," the last verified member of the species, passed away in captivity in … [Read more...] about The Public Has Now Been Given Access To The Last Known Footage of a Thylacine
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The Mars Orbiter is About to Upgrade From Windows 98
Fingers crossed they skip Vista. And XP. And Windows 8. The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft is due to get a software update that will remove the instrument's prior operating system, Windows 98. The software upgrade is anticipated to breathe fresh life into the … [Read more...] about The Mars Orbiter is About to Upgrade From Windows 98
For The First Time, The Far Side of Our Galaxy Has Been “Seen”
How does our Milky Way appear? You might be surprised to learn that, for the most part, we don't truly know for sure. But a recent finding could finally make the form of the galaxy our home known. This astounding discovery, which was reported in the journal Science, is that researchers have for the first time calculated the distance to a collection of stars on the other side … [Read more...] about For The First Time, The Far Side of Our Galaxy Has Been “Seen”
A Man Turned off a Helicopter’s Engine in Midflight to Make a Point
You could believe (or prefer to believe) that if an airplane's engine fails, its aerodynamic features could let you descend to safety. On the other side, helicopters have a really bulky appearance. So, if the engine were shut off in the middle of flight, you might definitely anticipate some ugly outcomes. Last year, Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted something to the effect of, … [Read more...] about A Man Turned off a Helicopter’s Engine in Midflight to Make a Point
The Lava From This Volcano Is So Cold That You Can Fall In And Survive
There is no contest: Tanzania has the strangest volcano on the planet. Ol Doinyo Lengai, which means "Mountain of God" in Maasai, erupts lava so cold that someone once fell into it and lived. Its lava erupts at temperatures that never surpass 510°C (950°F), which is far lower than the minimum for basalt (1,000°C/1,832°F), one of the most prevalent lava types on the world. … [Read more...] about The Lava From This Volcano Is So Cold That You Can Fall In And Survive