28 January 2016
73.162 seconds after takeoff from Cape Canaveral, FL, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean. Disintegration of the vehicle began after the failure of an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster. All seven of its crew members perished:
- Francis R. Scobee, Commander
- Michael J. Smith, Pilot
- Donald McNair, Mission Specialist
- Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist
- Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist
- Gregory Jarvis, Payload Specialist
- Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist
After a lengthy investigation by the Rogers Commission, NASA’s organizational culture and decision-making processes were identified as key contributing factors to the accident. Flaws in the O-ring design were known at the time but had been improperly addressed and warnings about the risk of a low-temperature launch ignored. The disaster led to a 32-month hiatus of the Space Shuttle program.
Source: https://youtu.be/AfnvFnzs91s (CNN)
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Space #NASA #Spaceflight #Challenger #Anniverary #Disaster #SpaceShuttle #Aerospace #Aeronautics #Live #News #History
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25 January 2016
On Friday, January 22, 2016, Blue Origin (owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos) successfully launched and landed their reusable rocket New Shepard for the second time. The suborbital launch system is composed of two vehicles: a crew capsule that can accommodate three astronauts and a rocket booster that is designed to vertically land after separation.
The capsule was delivered past the Karman Line (100km altitude) before both parts were retuned safely to the Mojave Desert. The ability to re-use the expensive first stage rocket booster promises to drastically reduce the cost of spaceflight.
Source: https://youtu.be/74tyedGkoUc
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Aerospace #Aeronautics #Engineering #BlueOrigin #JeffBezos #Spaceflight #Space #Rocket #Booster #Vertical #Landing #Launch
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23 January 2016
Astronaut Scott Kelly marked Day 300 in space by playing ping pong with a drop of water and two hydrophobic paddles. The microgravity aboard the International Space Station causes the water droplet to form a sphere because of surface tension. The hydrophobic coating is necessary to prevent the water from adhering to the paddles.
Source: https://youtu.be/TLbhrMCM4_0 (NASA)
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Space #NASA #ScottKelly #Hydrophobic #Physics #Gravity #SurfaceTension #Water #Sphere #PingPong #Pong #ISS
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22 January 2016
With 2015 being declared the warmest year in recorded modern history by NASA, NOAA, Berkeley Earth, UK Met Office, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the ongoing increase in global temperature poses a significant threat to the future of our civilization. The “modern record” of temperature collection began in 1880 and has continued uninterrupted for well over a century. This timelapsed map of global temperature distributions depicts the warming of the planet relative to a 1951-1980 baseline.
Source: https://youtu.be/lV8PI4R5nI4 (NASA)
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #ClimateChange #NASA #NOAA #Temperature #GlobalWarming #CarbonDioxide #Emissions #Heating #SeaLevel #Map
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21 January 2016
Two things are required for water to change between its liquid and solid (frozen) state: Temperatures below freezing (0°C/32°F at standard atmospheric pressure) and a nucleation site for the ice crystals to grow upon. If water is cooled slowly to below its freezing point in a smooth container that lacks ideal nucleation sites, it will not immediately transition into its solid state.
However, as soon as the container is jostled a nucleation site can form and the entire volume will move into its temperature-appropriate state. Interestingly, if the temperature of the supercooled water was -10°C, it will almost immediately warm to 0°C as it converts from the liquid to solid state.
This is the same phenomenon used in reuseable chemical heating pads.
Source: https://redd.it/41pbu5/
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Water #State #Matter #Freeze #Ice #Liquid #Solid #Supercooling #Crystal #Lattice #Nucleation
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20 January 2016
Nicknamed the “Terminator Metal” for its liquid metal appearance at room temperature, Gallium is a chemical element with symbol Ga and atomic number 31. It is a soft, silvery metal that melts at 30°C and is predominantly used in electronics and semiconductors.
Here gallium is being oxidized by a mixture of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). As the metal is heated it forms ornate patterns as the oxidation reaction proceeds across the surface.
Source: https://youtu.be/iPlhdzMKp6A
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Gallium #Metal #Terminator #Heating #Chemistry #Physics #Solid #Liquid #Chemical #Element #Elemental
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19 January 2016
The efficient handling and placement of nanoparticles has been a longtime problem plaguing the nanoscience field. Researchers have developed a new technique called Bubble-Pen Lithography that uses a laser-created microbubble to precisely position and deposit nanoparticles.
The size and location of the microbubble can be easily controlled by varying laser power and focus. When brought in the proximity of nanoparticles (in this case quantum dots), several different physical phenomena cause the nanoparticles to become attracted to the microbubble. The microbubble can then be moved to a desired position using the laser and the nanoparticles deposited simply by turning the laser off. Repeating this process allows for complex three-dimensional structuring of the nanoparticles.
Disclaimer: My advisor and fellow labmate are authors on this paper
Source: http://news.utexas.edu/2016/01/15/engineers-invent-bubble-pen-lithography-technique
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Nanoparticle #BubblePen #Lithography #Molecular #Microbuble #QuantumDot #Particle #Laser #Cavitation #Physics #Chemistry #Optics #Power #Intensity
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18 January 2016
SpaceX failed for a third time to successfully land their Falcon 9 first stage rocket on a remotely operated barge. While they recently demonstrated the ability to land the rocket vertically on land, their latest seaborn attempt ended in RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly).
The failure is attributed to a malfunctioning lockout collet in one of the four landing legs that allowed the rocket to tip over after touchdown. The reason for that failure is still unknown but could be ice buildup due to condensation of fog during liftoff.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqirNbwEc0/
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Landing #Engineering #Aeronautical #Aerospace #Explosion #Fire #Failure #Catastrophic
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16 January 2016
Green flashes are an optical phenomena that sometimes occur right after sunset. In the correct conditions, a green spot briefly becomes visible above the the sun as it disappears behind the horizon. They occur because the atmosphere refracts and scatters the broad spectrum light of the sun differently depending on wavelength (this is why the sky is blue).
In general, refraction by air (atmospheric dispersion) is larger at shorter wavelengths, which means sunsets last slightly longer for violet/blue/green light than red light. However, because the path length through the atmosphere is greatest when the sun is at the horizon, the effects of scattering are greatly increased (atmospheric extinction). Since scattering affects shorter wavelengths the most, much of the violet/blue light is lost before reaching your eye, thus leaving only the green light briefly visible.
Source: https://youtu.be/lwus2nqU0SY
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Sunset #GreenFlash #Optical #Phenomenon #Refraction #Mirage #Scattering #Sun #Light #Color #Wavelength #Atmosphere #Dispersion #Refract
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14 January 2016
Thrombectomy is an emergency surgical procedure used to remove blood clots from the brain in order to prevent further tissue death because of blocked blood circulation. These surgeries are almost all performed via a catheter inserted in the femoral artery of the patient’s leg. The surgeon guides the catheter through the circulatory system up to the patient’s head and the location of the blockage. In this particular Covidien system, the catheter guide-wire is forced through the clot and then used to deploy a temporary metal structure. This device restores blood flow through the blocked vessel and embeds itself into the clot so that it can be removed from the body at the same time as the catheter.
Source: https://youtu.be/7_JxvdDeDG8
#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Medicine #Stroke #Clot #Revascularization #Catheter #Blood #Stent #Coviden #Thrombectomy
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