Thursday, April 30, 2015

In the Hole

To get this shot, taken in Austria, Christoph Jorda set up two Profoto B1 flash systems: one on top of the ice cave and one inside. “We had to dig out the entrance of the cave because it was almost totally closed by the snow you see in the foreground,” Jorda writes. The problem? According to Jorda, the ice cave was at an altitude of nearly 9,800 feet, the temperature was at minus 4ºF, and the flash didn’t work properly. “So he [had] to jump a couple of times to get it right,” he says.

Jorda’s image was recently featured in Your Shot’s Daily Dozen.



from National Geographic http://bit.ly/1JVUt2r

Walking an extra two minutes each hour may offset hazards of sitting too long


Gravity data show that Antarctic ice sheet is melting increasingly faster


Did dinosaur-killing asteroid trigger largest lava flows on Earth?


Engineering a better solar cell: Defects in popular perovskites pinpointed


Physicists find long sought-after Efimov state in helium trimer


New origin theory for cells that gave rise to vertebrates


How some beetles produce a scalding defensive spray


Scientists discover key driver of human aging: May lead to slowing or reversing aging process


Keen sense of touch allows bats to fly with breathtaking precision


Wild bearded capuchin monkeys really know how to crack a nut


Brain scan reveals out-of-body illusion


New tool can switch behavior -- such as voracious eating -- 'on' and 'off'


Noroviruses spread several meters by air: Viruses responsible for 50 percent of gastroenteritis


Pesticides alter bees' brains, making them unable to live and reproduce adequately


No Hogwarts invitation required: Invisibility cloaks move into the real-life classroom


Overview of MESSENGER Spacecraft's Impact Region on Mercury


Unique fish fossils shed light on evolution of bony fishes


'Dead zones' found in Atlantic open waters: Moving west, could lead to mass fish kills


Eagle Nebula: The Pillars of Creation revealed in 3-D


Living to 100: Lifestyle advice for would-be centenarians


Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Fireside Chat

While shooting at the seaside in the United Arab Emirates, Muhammad Babar Swaleheen was about to pack up when he spotted these men “discussing daily life” around a small fire. Swaleheen asked if he could photograph them, and “they gladly agreed.”



from National Geographic http://bit.ly/1bgudnG

Challenging work tasks may have an upside for the brain


Rare whale fossil found in Panama clarifies evolution of sperm whale


How babies' lives were saved by 3-D printing


200-year lag between climate events in Greenland, Antarctica: Ocean involved


Brain circuitry for positive vs. negative memories discovered in mice


Multifractals suggest the existence of an unknown physical mechanism on the Sun


The trillion-frame-per-second camera


April 29, 1990, Shuttle Discovery Lands Following Hubble Deployment Mission


More than half of hot extremes due to climate change


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Going Electric

Dams are rising all along the Mekong River to bring the people of Southeast Asia clean electricity. In Thailand the hunger for electricity is driving dam construction on the lower Mekong in Laos and Cambodia. Bangkok’s CentralWorld complex (at right) houses some 500 shops, a hotel, and an ice-skating rink.

See more pictures from the May 2015 feature story “Harnessing the Mekong or Killing It?” »




from National Geographic http://bit.ly/1Guvmkz

Beijing Olympics study links pollution to lower birth weight


Robotically discovering Earth's nearest neighbors: 54 light-years away


Unmasking the secrets of Mercury, in color


Not much size difference between male and female Australopithecines


Megacity metabolism: What cities are the worst energy hogs?


Water could have been abundant in first billion years after the Big Bang


Salty aquifer, previously unknown microbial habitat discovered under Antarctica


Diet swap has dramatic effects on colon cancer risk for Americans and Africans


Human hunting weapons may not have caused the demise of the Neanderthals


Astronaut Scott Kelly Speaks at Shuttle Enterprise Dedication Ceremony


How cracking explains underwater volcanoes and the Hawaiian bend


Childhood bullying causes worse long-term mental health problems than maltreatment


Monday, April 27, 2015

Sparks Fly

Steve Bradburn used wire wool and a long exposure to create this fiery effect in Salcombe, England. Above, stars wheel in the night sky.



from National Geographic http://bit.ly/1DRIjDm

High-pitched sounds cause seizures in old cats: Certain breeds more susceptible


Finding the body clock's molecular reset button


Alternate theory of inhabitation of North America disproven


Strange supernova is 'missing link' in gamma-ray burst connection


Astrophysicists draw most comprehensive map of the universe


Hate to diet? It's how we're wired


Bizarre 'platypus' dinosaur discovered