Get Your Science (and STEM) On!

I believe that scientists and engineers are very creative people. There is logic involved in the scientific method, but that creative spark or "aha!" moment often sets someone down a path of amazing discovery and innovation. 

So, to honor my creative/science self and have a ton of fun too, I created an Amazon Merch account for STEM t-shirts. Amazon lets you search by  key words. Some of mine are: science, Semper Sci, engineering, Latin, Carpe ipsum, physics, nature, inventor, and earth. 

I also created a science t-shirt Pinterest board. If you are looking to celebrate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as well as famous scientists, inventors, Earth Day, the Physics of Love, and more, check it out!

For March, I created a St. Patrick's Day t-shirt celebrating, Samuel O'Reilly, Irish Inventor who created the first electric tattoo machine. Who knew?!  In the future, I hope to highlight inventors from lots of different countries around the world. Go science!

NASA Asteroid Redirect Program

Scientists believe the dinosaurs were wiped out from the collision of an asteroid (about 7-8 miles wide) with the Earth. The resulting volcanic activity and dust cloud blocked sunlight and plants/animals died. A planet killer would be around 60 miles wide.

However, a half mile wide asteroid would also ruin your day as its impact would be roughly that of 100 billion tons of TNT and cause wide-spread earthquakes.

If you're like me, an asteroid colliding with the Earth is not on your DVR list of scheduled events anytime soon. Ditto for Netflix coverage in the next several thousand years. Hopefully, we will be vacationing on Alpha Centauri by then. Anyway, it doesn't look like there are any likely planetary colliders in the neighborhood.

But even if there were, NASA has a new program called the Asteroid Redirect Program that will land on a large asteroid, grab a boulder to study and then redirect the asteroid into a stable orbit around the moon. Although it seems like a new Bruce Willis or Matt Damon film, this mission is set to launch by 2020. 

Sounds like the operational outcome of all the work astronomers have been doing for years. Now instead of just shouting, "Incoming!" We'll soon have correctional space technology and a plan to divert disaster. Go Science!

More Earth-like Planets Found

Recently, GJ667C, a low-luminosity “M-dwarf” star about 1/3 the mass of our Sun and part of a triple-sun system around 22 light-years from Earth (one light-year = ~5.9 trillion miles) was part of an ongoing international star study.

Scientists had previously found evidence of the existence of two "super Earths" (less than ten times larger than Earth) and the possibility of a third, when they discovered a total of 6-7 worlds circling the star at a distance that would allow life.

U.S. lead author, University of Washington astronomer Rory Barnes, describes emerging evidence of more M-dwarf stars that have more low-mass planets in habitable zones along with the rest of an international team. 

“These planets are good candidates to have a solid surface and maybe an atmosphere like the Earth’s, not something like Jupiter,” Barnes said.

Using doppler spectroscopy, astronomers are able to see farther and clearer. Who knows how many other potentially habitable planets are circling suns in our galactic neighborhood? I can wait to find out!

Twinkling Lights

In many countries, December is a time of twinkling lights, holiday decorations, and good cheer. Some city displays seem to challenge the night sky.

I have to admit, I love holiday lights especially the white ones. Even knowing about wavelengths, the way light travels, and all the rest of the science doesn't dim the magical feeling that a light display offers after dark.

Ever wonder how those lights would look on a large scale? A NASA-NOAA satellite gives us a much broader view of the Earth at night. Check it out.  

Earth at night