An astrolabe was a navigation device that sailors used to guide them through the seas by looking at the position of the stars in the sky.
Recently, a group of explorers have found the oldest known astrolabe so far. It was recovered from the wreck of Esmeralda, one of the ships in Vasco da Gama's armada.
(Image credit: David Mearns/University of Warwick)
There have been many changes to what we thought Ultima Thule looked or was like, and here, the writer at Gereshes explains how scientists were able to reach a conclusion on the features of Ultima Thule.
It includes some interesting illustrations on the methodology of how they conceptualized and constructed Ultima Thule based on data, and how those changed as new data from New Horizons came in.
(Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute, National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Wikimedia Commons)
Astrophysicist Paul Sutter from Ohio State University gives us here a little bit of a history of how we were able to figure out atoms exist.
From Dalton's multiple proportions to JJ Thomson's cathode ray experiment, with various contributions from Ernest Rutherford and Albert Einstein among others, this gives us a bit of insight into the discovery of the atom.
(Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)
Researchers believe that they may have identified who Jack the Ripper was with the help of genetic analysis.
However, this still may not be enough to say for certain that the man being pointed as the notorious serial killer was indeed the one who committed all the murders. It might give researchers a bit of direction toward finally cracking the case.
(Image credit: Sherurcij/Wikimedia Commons)
Japan has some odd cultural tidbits, a stark contrast of the notion that they adhere to a practical or functional mindset with regard to daily life.
One example of the extent of Japanese creativity and what they come up with are the ornate manhole covers sprawled across their cities.
Banal as they may seem, these manhole covers have been adorned with colorful images that make them somewhat of an urban art.
(Image credit: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons)
With all the lunar exploration going on nowadays, every major space agency is having a go at the moon. In fact, the Japanese space agency JAXA will be sending its own rover to the moon in 2029, in partnership with Toyota.
More details about it are found at the JAXA site.
(Image credit: JAXA)
One of the standard medical tests we get today is a urinalysis, a chemical analysis where doctors can have a glimpse of what's going on with our kidneys and our blood sugar, among a variety of other things.
The practice of analyzing human urine, however, has been done since ancient times. In fact, during the middle ages, physicians had a flowchart called a urine wheel to determine what your urine says about your health.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
With so many objects in space, it will be hard to monitor and witness everything that happens. In this rare instance, the Hubble telescope witnessed an asteroid as it disintegrates.
The crumbling asteroid, designated P/2013 R3, was first noticed as an unusual, fuzzy-looking object on 15 September 2013 by the Catalina and Pan-STARRS sky surveys. Follow-up observations on 1 October with the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, revealed three co-moving bodies embedded in a dusty envelope that is nearly the diameter of Earth.
(Image credit: NASA/ESA/D. Jewitt/UCLA)
With its intricate network of sewers, passageways, and halls underneath, Paris' underground is like a city in itself. A group of urban explorers had ventured to traverse the whole city of Paris only through the underground maze. Here is their account of the expedition.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Going through medical procedures without having to feel pain is a reassuring thought for many who need to get surgery. But what happens when the anesthetic fails and you find yourself conscious during surgical procedures?
It's a scary thought and can cause severe trauma in patients, just like Donna Penner's experience that has left an emotional scar on her. And the fact is, she may not be the only one who has experienced it.
For years, anaesthesia awareness has been shrouded in mystery. Although extreme experiences like Donna’s are rare, there is now evidence that around 5 per cent of people may wake up on the operating table – and possibly many more.
Thanks to the amnesiac effects of the drugs, however, most of these people will be unable to remember anything about the event – and whether or not that is something we should be concerned about is both a practical and a philosophical question.
(Image credit: Piron Guillaume/Unsplash)
If you have ever gone through heartbreak, then you might understand how it feels. But there is a certain rare heart condition called Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS), and referred to as "broken heart" syndrome because it literally breaks one's heart.
Scientists have now found that there is a connection between TTS and the brain, particularly the region that regulates our emotions.
(Image credit: Sol_Noblehart/Pixabay)
Kate Wagner of McMansion Hell, writing for Curbed, makes a case against the use of lawns on backyards in middle America. She argues for the preservation of the natural landscape and ecological biodiversity which the lawns have replaced in favor of the suburban image that prevails in America.
(Image credit: Paige Vickers/Curbed)
Surprise! Not Venus. Physics Today has done some calculations with regard to which planet is our closest neighbor, on average (take note!). This should give you a rough idea which it might be, but if you really want to know, read it here.
(Image credit: NASA)
In the early days of filmmaking, there were a few pioneers who made cinema what it is today. One of those is Alice Guy-Blache, considered as the first female film director.
Before people thought about incorporating acting, screenwriting, sound editing, and directing in making movies, Guy-Blache had already done them.
Guy may very well have been the only female movie-maker for the next decade, during which she directed or produced hundreds of films ranging from one to thirty minutes in length.
As “film-maker, artistic director and studio and location sets manager all rolled into one” in the days before the multi-reel feature length film, Guy was a key figure in the birth of the fiction film, the form that eventually trumped documentaries the world over.
Hayward lists Guy’s innovations: using scripts; having rehearsals; stressing “natural” performances; deploying trick photography; shooting in studio and on location; and, beginning in 1900, experimenting with sound (Gaumont’s Chronophone synchronized phonograph and film).
Eventually, her success takes on a turn after Guy married Herbert Blache and they moved to Hollywood. She was pushed out by the men in Hollywood, which made her decide to split up with her husband and move back to France.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Covert operations and secret missions can sometimes lend itself to wondering minds and give birth to conspiracies. In this case, a group of contractors flew in to Haiti from South Florida on a private plane.
They bypassed immigration and the next day, got in unmarked cars and went to the Central Bank. Stopped by officials, they were detained. In the evening, they were subsequently released as ordered by the Haitian minister of justice. They were flown out and were met by US law enforcement.
No charges had been filed and significant details about this operation are still unknown. Here is an investigation into the matter.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
