Something cool thread

[DC9]

1 minute ago, btfoom said:

Where did you find that?  It is fantastic.  The person (or people) who wrote it should be working for a good marketing group ASAP.

 

Honestly, just saw it on my uncle's facebook lol.  I thought it was awesome so I posted it on here from youtube.

 

I agree though, those are some brilliant kids.

[The Evil Genius]

I'm not saying it's unexplainable...but...

 

 

 

http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article125650839.html

 

Experts cannot explain this UFO video captured from a navy helicopter

 

Quote

After two years of study, Chilean authorities have declassified and released a nine-minute video of a UFO filmed from a navy helicopter in 2014.

Navy officials admit: They can’t explain what the video shows. A commercial airliner? A weather balloon? A drone?

On Nov. 11, 2014, a navy captain and technician were on a routine daytime patrol mission flying north along the Chilean coast, west of Santiago, The Huffington Post reports.

They spotted an unidentified object hovering in the clouds, so they tracked it, from 40 miles away, and tried unsuccessfully to communicate with it.

The navy captain on the helicopter described the object as a “flat, elongated structure.” The technician said it was “white with a semi-oval shape on the horizontal axis.”

The object hovered in the clouds, then moved across the sky emitting what looked like some type of gas.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by The Evil Genius

[btfoom]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/01/23/the-first-images-from-goes-r-have-come-in-and-theyre-absolutely-incredible/?utm_term=.b174186a05cc

 

Capital Weather Gang

The first images from the new weather satellite just arrived, and they’re absolutely incredible

 

The satellite formerly known as GOES-R (so Prince, right?) has transmitted its first images back to Earth, and they are flooring. From the details on the face of the moon to the incredible resolution of cumulus over the Caribbean, these first pixels portend a sunny future for NOAA’s new GOES-16 satellite.

Meteorologists are drooling. This release coincides with the first day of the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting. There are thousands of weather geeks in Seattle this week, and — at least on Monday — they’re all looking at this next-gen satellite imagery.

As we’ve written before, GOES-R satellite has six instruments, two of which are weather-related. The Advanced Baseline Imager, developed by Harris Corp., is the “camera” that looks down on Earth. The pictures it sends back will be clearer and more detailed than what’s created by the current satellites.

[This new weather satellite isn’t just good for the U.S. — it’s good for the world]

The ABI can scan half the Earth — or the “full disk” — in five minutes. If forecasters want to home in on an area of severe weather, it can scan that region every 30 seconds. Weather radars can’t even scan faster than six minutes.

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by btfoom

[btfoom]

So, I know the Mirror isn't the most trustworthy paper, but this article would be really cool if true (and there is science behind sound waves cancelling out other sound waves):

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/science/deep-ocean-sound-waves-could-9691994

 

Devastating tsunamis could be tamed by blasting them with deep-ocean sound waves, scientists claim by dissipating a wave's energy over a wide area, damage would be minimised and lives saved

 

Deep-ocean sound waves could be used to tame devastating tsunamis, a British expert has said.

 

By dissipating a wave's energy over a wide area, damage would be minimised and lives saved, said mathematician Dr Usama Kadri, from the University of Cardiff.

 

Dr Kadri looked at the possibility of turning one force of nature against another by harnessing acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs).<rest at link>

[btfoom]

This is cool (and a little scary at the same time):

 

http://www.thelocal.se/20170127/in-pictures-incredible-ufo-cloud-spotted-in-sweden

 

In pictures: Incredible UFO cloud spotted in Sweden

The Local

news@thelocal.se

27 January 2017
12:35 CET+01:00

ufoweathercloudin picturesnews

Share this article

  

The cloud photographed in Åre. Photo: Felizia Lorenzotti

A mysterious UFO-shaped cloud baffled skiers when it appeared in the sky over Sweden.

The bizarre cloud floated in the sky over ski resorts Åre and Duved on Thursday, prompting some to speculate that Martians had arrived for a day on the slopes.

Many rushed to take pictures of the unusual phenomenon and posted them on social media.

"I thought it was pretty cool," one of them, Elvira Kuper, told broadcaster SVT.

Experts explained it was a so-called lenticular cloud, which forms over mountain peaks when the air is forced to rise as it hits the hillside. As it cools it condenses into a cloud.

Thanks to their peculiar shape, they are often mistaken for UFOs. <see more cool pics at link>

 

Yes, that does remind me a bit of Independence Day.

[btfoom]

This is cool and heart-breaking all at once.  Just makes me think...

 

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/What-Kids-Wished-Teachers-Knew-43135574

 

The Heartbreaking Way This Teacher Discovered 5 Students' Biggest Secrets

 

When Elle Deal decided to try a new exercise with her fifth grade students, the Friday activity turned into something incredibly heartbreaking.

 

The elementary school teacher asked her kids to write a short blurb, titled, "I wish my teacher would know . . . " and their answers left a major impact on her. Elle shared a few of the heartbreaking (and anonymous) statements on Facebook as a reminder to everyone to "leave this life a little better than how we found it."

 

"Kid 1: I wish my teacher would know, my dad is in jail and I haven't seen him in years.

Kid 2: I wish my teacher would know, I don't always eat dinner because my mom works and I don't know how to work the stove.

Kid 3: I wish my teacher would know, my sister sleeps in the same bed as me and sometimes she wets the bed and that's why I smell funny.

Kid 4: I wish my teacher would know that I don't always have sneakers for gym class because my brothers and I share one pair.

Kid 5: I wish my teacher would know I like coming to school because it's quiet here, not like my house with all the yelling."

[PokerPacker]

 

[btfoom]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/science/dogs-human-like-sense-morality-9829297

 

Dogs have human-like sense of morality, research shows

 

Man's best friend has been shown to react negatively to selfish people in a series of experiments in Japan

 

Humans and dogs have lived side-by-side for centuries, and new research has given us even more insight into the feelings of man's best friend .

 

Researchers at Kyoto University's department of psychology in Japan have worked out that dogs - as well as some species of monkey - have an almost human-like sense of morality.

 

During a series of experiments, they found that our canine chums were less likely to interact with anyone they perceive as acting rudely or unfairly.

 

The Japanese team set up three experiments and documented their findings in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews .<rest at link>

 

 

I knew dogs were smarter than cats

[Bang]

This is pretty cool. Bruce springsteen gets a request frm a fan in a stadium crowd,, Australia I think.

The band learns it on the fly, and what fun.
I've never had more fun at a concert than at a Springsteen show, and this is a fine example as o why. It takes about 3 minutes or so of tuning and learning til they get going.

Get your gal and dance.

 

 

[Bang]

A camera shutter speed synced to helicopter rotor blades.

 

[China]

On 1/10/2017 at 5:14 PM, The Evil Genius said:

I'm not saying it's unexplainable...but...

 

 

 

http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article125650839.html

 

Experts cannot explain this UFO video captured from a navy helicopter

 

 

Well, if they could explain it, then it wouldn't be a UFO, it'd just be an FO.

[Jumbo]

CIA cartographers are considered one of their greatest "unknown" resources

 

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2016-featured-story-archive/mapmakers-craft.html

 

The Mapmaker’s Craft: A History of Cartography at CIA

“A map should be aesthetically pleasing, thought-provoking, and communicative.”

 

 

Quote

 

Tracing its roots to October 1941, CIA’s Cartography Center has a long, proud history of service to the Intelligence Community (IC) and continues to respond to a variety of finished intelligence map requirements. The mission of the Cartography Center is to provide a full range of maps, geographic analysis, and research in support of the Agency, the White House, senior policymakers, and the IC at large.

 

Its chief objectives are to analyze geospatial information, extract intelligence-related geodata, and present the information visually in creative and effective ways for maximum understanding by intelligence consumers.

 

Since 1941, the Cartography Center maps have told the stories of post-WWII reconstruction, the Suez crisis, the Cuban Missile crisis, the Falklands War, and many other important events in history

 

President Roosevelt with one of the rare OSS-made globes.

 

 

CIA map of Central Moscow from 1980

 

 

1950 CIA Map: International Trade

 

 

1942 OSS map: Russian Front

 

 

more at link, inc. breakdowns on key factors in making these maps by the decade

[Bang]

So, go google O'reilly Auto Parts, get to their site, and search "121G"

 

I love little fun stuff like that

 

~Bang

 

[Bang]

This is excellent. Short, thoughtful.

 

 

~Bang

[Dan T.]

Bottle rocket under ice

 

[dfitzo53]

You can look at Cassini's official Twitter feed to see video of it flying between Saturn and its rings. 

[twa]

 

Quote

 

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-find-hairy-microbes-growing-out-of-nowhere-after-a-volcanic-eruption

 

When an underwater volcano erupts, completely altering the underwater landscape for kilometres, you'd assume it wouldn't be the best place to look for new life.

But researchers have discovered just that, identifying a new species of furry white bacteria covering a submerged volcano 130 metres (426 feet) below sea level in the Canary Islands. 

Even weirder – it appears to have started colonising the volcano as soon as the temperature dropped.

"I bet there were microbes appearing there just as soon as those rocks got below 100 °C (212 °F)," says David Kirchman, from the University of Delaware, told Sam Wong at New Scientist.

Back in 2011, the Canary Islands were hit by a number of tremors, while under water the Tagoro Volcano completely blanketed the seafloor with new rock over 138 days.

Italian and Spanish researchers went to survey the area in 2014, expecting to see the underwater region still barren.

Instead, they discovered that the volcano was covered in white, hair-like microbes – a species the researchers hadn't seen before.  

"It was an impressive and surreal landscape, like discovering life on Mars," Cinzia Corinaldesi, one of the researchers from the Polytechnic University of Marche told The Atlantic.

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

Soil Bacteria Could Help Absorb Natural Gas Leaks

For the first time, new research examines the response of terrestrial soil microbes to a massive natural gas blowout and offers hope for new remediation strategies.

https://eos.org/articles/soil-bacteria-could-help-absorb-natural-gas-leaks

 

 

 

 

[Jumbo]

back in the 70's  in my first gig, i consulted in speaker design projects (for Bowers & Wilkins)  involved with developing a then relatively new material called Kevlar (which turned out to be a very versatile item) for use as speaker diaphragm material and the use of laser interferometry for measuring material behaviors (cone break-up modes; surface activity) and this reminds me of that, but "bigger"... i think this will make significant impact...

 

 

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_581068_en.html

 

 

‘Good vibrations’ no longer needed for speakers as new research encourages graphene to talk--A pioneering new technique that encourages the wonder material graphene to “talk” could revolutionise the global audio and telecommunications industries.

 

Quote

 

Researchers from the University of Exeter have devised a ground-breaking method to use graphene to generate complex and controllable sound signals. In essence, it combines speaker, amplifier and graphic equaliser into a chip the size of a thumbnail.

 

Traditional speakers mechanically vibrate to produce sound, with a moving coil or membrane pushing the air around it back and forth. It is a bulky technology that has hardly changed in more than a century. This innovative new technique involves no moving parts. A layer of the atomically thin material graphene is rapidly heated and cooled by an alternating electric current, and transfer of this thermal variation to the air causes it to expand and contract, thereby generating sound waves.

 

Though the conversion of heat into sound is not new, the Exeter team are the first to show that this simple process allows sound frequencies to be mixed together, amplified and equalised - all within the same millimetre-sized device. With graphene being almost completely transparent, the ability to produce complex sounds without physical movement could open up a new golden generation of audio-visual technologies, including mobile phone screens that transmit both pictures and sound.

 

The research is published in leading journal, Scientific Reports.

 

Dr David Horsell, a Senior Lecturer in the Quantum Systems and Nanomaterials Group at Exeter and lead author of the paper explained: “Thermoacoustics (conversion of heat into sound) has been overlooked because it is regarded as such an inefficient process that it has no practical applications. We looked instead at the way the sound is actually produced and found that by controlling the electrical current through the graphene we could not only produce sound but could change its volume and specify how each frequency component is amplified. Such amplification and control opens up a range of real-world applications we had not envisaged.”

 

The new applications the team have in mind include ultrasound imaging, for use in hospitals and other medical facilities in the future. The known high strength and flexibility of graphene would allow intimate surface contact leading to much better imaging. Moreover, the fact that the acoustic devices the Exeter team have devised are simple and cheap make such concepts as intelligent bandages that monitor and treat patients directly a real possibility.

 

Dr Horsell added: “The frequency mixing is key to new applications. The sound generating mechanism allows us to take two or more different sound sources and multiply them together. This leads to the efficient generation of ultrasound (and infrasound). However, the most exciting thing is that it does this trick of multiplication in a remarkably simple and controllable way. This could have a real impact in the telecommunications industry, which needs to combine signals this way but currently uses rather complex and, therefore, costly methods to do so.”

 

‘Multi-frequency sound production and mixing in graphene’ by David Horsell and Mark Heath is published in Scientific Reports.

 

Date: 4 May 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PokerPacker]

Graphene seems to be the wonder-material of the century.  When will we start to see it realize its potential?

Edited May 7, 2017 by PokerPacker

[Bang]

So next time someone cries about how mankind does nothing but destroy his environment via progress.. show them this.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/05/wow-guys/527193/

 

Humans Accidentally Created a Protective Bubble Around Earth

The interaction between radio transmissions and high-energy particles in space sometimes forms a shield around the planet, protecting it from dangerous cosmic phenomena.

 

A pair of NASA space probes have detected an artificial bubble around Earth that forms when radio communications from the ground interact with high-energy radiation particles in space, the agency announced this week. The bubble forms a protective barrier around Earth, shielding the planet from potentially dangerous space weather, like solar flares and other ejections from the sun.

 

~Cool

[twa]

That could come in handy soon

[Renegade7]

4 minutes ago, Bang said:

So next time someone cries about how mankind does nothing but destroy his environment via progress.. show them this.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/05/wow-guys/527193/

 

Humans Accidentally Created a Protective Bubble Around Earth

The interaction between radio transmissions and high-energy particles in space sometimes forms a shield around the planet, protecting it from dangerous cosmic phenomena.

 

A pair of NASA space probes have detected an artificial bubble around Earth that forms when radio communications from the ground interact with high-energy radiation particles in space, the agency announced this week. The bubble forms a protective barrier around Earth, shielding the planet from potentially dangerous space weather, like solar flares and other ejections from the sun.

 

~Cool

 

 

Sounds like a plan when we terraform Mars since its magnetic field is so weak

[China]

6 hours ago, Bang said:

 

The interaction between radio transmissions and high-energy particles in space sometimes forms a shield around the planet, protecting it from dangerous cosmic phenomena.

 

A pair of NASA space probes have detected an artificial bubble around Earth that forms when radio communications from the ground interact with high-energy radiation particles in space, the agency announced this week. The bubble forms a protective barrier around Earth, shielding the planet from potentially dangerous space weather, like solar flares and other ejections from the sun.

 

~Cool

 

So you're saying The Bang Radio Hour contributes to this protective effect and your show helps protect us from solar flares.  Thanks!

[Bang]

It's about time my efforts were recognized.

The Bang Radio Hour, doing it's part to keep us all from being roasted by the sun.

 

~Bang

[USS Redskins]

Fwiw... my home was torn apart by a tornado march 1st... been living in a hotel with 3 kids for 2 1/2 months and just was able to move home yesterday.... 

between dealing with ins companies, contractors, driving kids to and from school, expenses, car repairs (wife hit a deer march 2nd), and life... well, I think the great spirit is finally done screwing with me. At least I am hoping so. 

I think I jinxed the caps and bullets, too... sorry all.

 

thing I missed the most was the DVR - I mean, I had to watch TV shows when they actually aired... it was like being in 2005 or something.