15 Things to Know About Steve Jobs

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Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing

Big Picture: Checking in on Saturn

While we humans carry on with our daily lives down here on Earth, perhaps stuck in traffic or reading blogs, or just enjoying a Springtime stroll, a school-bus-sized spacecraft called Cassini continues to gather data and images for us - 1.4 billion kilometers (870 million miles) away. Over the past months, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has made several close flybys of Saturn's moons, caught the Sun's reflection glinting off a lake on Titan, and has brought us even more tantalizing images of ongoing cryovolcanism on Enceladus. Collected here are a handful of recent images from the Saturnian system. (30 photos total)

Customer Service Hall Of Shame

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Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing

Hurricanes and Oil Spills

From the Houston Chronicles Science Blog

With the rapid onset of hurricane season (just 10 days now) I've been receiving lots of questions about the effects, if any, of the Gulf oil slick on hurricane activity.

The answer is something of a mystery to scientists, as well. Those interested in modifying hurricanes (a fruitless task, by the way) have long contemplated covering the surface of an ocean with a substance, thereby blocking evaporation as a means of cutting off a storm's access to "fuel" for intensification. Oil is one such substance.

For answers I turned to state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who can be found at Climate Abyss.

Click the image above to read the Q/A.

Roadable Aircraft

Taking advantage of new FAA regulations in the Light Sport Aircraft category, Terrafugia developed the Transition® to provide pilots the convenience of a dual-purpose vehicle. Its unique design allows the Transition® to fold its wings and drive on any surface road with a modern personal airplane platform. Once at the airport, the wings extend and the aircraft is ready for take-off. Both folding and extending the wings is done from inside the cockpit.

The Transition® addresses head-on the issues private and sports pilots face: cost, weather sensitivity, high overall door-to-door travel time and a lack of mobility at destination.

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Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing

Big Picture: Crackdown in Bangkok

Earlier today, soldiers from the Thai Army broke down barricades and entered the fortified camp occupied by anti-government Red Shirt protesters for the past several weeks in downtown Bangkok. Several clashes took place, and Red Shirt leaders announced to their followers that they were surrendering to police as the soldiers approached. Many protesters dispersed, but some continued to battle with grenades, guns, slingshots and fire, setting as many as 20 locations ablaze in central Bangkok. At this stage, it is unclear how many have been killed or injured, but at least five are known to have died, with dozens more injured. Thai authorities have imposed a curfew as they battle fires, process detainees and clear the rest of the Red Shirt encampment. (39 photos total)

Click the image to see the full collection. Warning: Some images are graphic.

Man about to complete 5,000 piece jigsaw, finds one piece is missing

It had cluttered up Jack Harris’s dining table for almost eight years.

Nevertheless, the 86-year-old was determined to finish his five-foot long, 5,000-piece jigsaw.

And when he thought the painstaking process was complete, he stood back to admire his work – only to find a dog may have eaten the final piece.

Mr Harris has searched his home in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, for the missing piece but his family fears one of their two dogs has swallowed it.

They have even asked the puzzle’s manufacturer if they could provide a spare – but Mr Harris has taken so long to complete the jigsaw that Falcon Games has stopped making it.

Click the image to read the rest of the article.Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing

Big Picture: Mount St. Helens, 30 years ago

On May 18th, 1980, thirty years ago today, at 8:32 a.m., the ground shook beneath Mount St. Helens in Washington state as a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck, setting off one of the largest landslides in recorded history - the entire north slope of the volcano slid away. As the land moved, it exposed the superheated core of the volcano setting off gigantic explosions and eruptions of steam, ash and rock debris. The blast was heard hundreds of miles away, the pressure wave flattened entire forests, the heat melted glaciers and set off destructive mudflows, and 57 people lost their lives. The erupting ash column shot up 80,000 feet into the atmosphere for over 10 hours, depositing ash across Eastern Washington and 10 other states. Collected here are photos of the volcano and its fateful 1980 eruption. (37 photos total)

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