Moon Mission

Summary: NASA will be launching a new Moon mission this Saturday. It's primary objective is to investigate the moon dust. However, what I find most interesting however, they will also be testing laser communications that could be used later for further missions.

UPDATE: Launch was successful.

BBC

What haven't the Romans done for us?

Summary: Proving once again that the Romans were geniuses, scientists have deduced that they knew the secrets of nanotechnology. The Lycurgus Cup appears jade green when lit from in front but glows a red color when lit from behind and had been puzzling historians for years. It was recently discovered that this phenomenon is due to tiny flecks of metal, like the Romans were using nanotechnology to allow different colors shine at different times. It may have even changed color depending on what liquid was inside the cup. Pretty cool use for the technology.


Smithsonian

Magnetic Flips

Summary: While interning at the Planetarium this summer, a lot of people had asked about what will will happen when the magnetic poles of the sun flip in a few months. The mainstream media, we found, had been once again stirring things up like it would be huge. This would be true if we were talking about Earth's magnetic field reversing, but not so much with the sun. As stated in the article, it is a very regular occurrence, about once every 11 years. It will be a gradual change with the magnetic field slowly fading to zero and then reversing directions. Any impact this has on Earth would be as a result of the shifting heliosphere. It may temporarily disrupt telecommunications while at the same time shielding the satellites from harmful cosmic rays. All in all, nothing to worry about.



Smithsonian Mag

Bicycle powered elevator

Summary: Yup, you read that right. A guy is building himself a tree house and got tired of climbing the stairs so many times. So what does any rational person do? He engineered himself a bicycle lift. He pedals the bike, thus lifting himself and the bike up to the porch. Very risky, but very cool.


io9

New Lego scientist

Summary: I don't know if you are into Lego, but they have released a new figurine. It is a female scientist complete with flasks! This is not only breaking grounds for female scientists in the public eye, it also differs from the previous Lego scientists that were basically stereotypes.




Smithsonian Mag

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Also, you will be seeing more science news stories more frequently on the blog because I need to find at least 4 STEM related articles each week for my physics lab so they will be put on here. What does this mean for the blog? More content, wider range of article, and more diverse sources. If you know of any good sources, don't hesitate to let me know!

Height difference

Summary: It has been found that the average height of men has increased from 5'5" to 5'10" since 1870. This serves as an indicator, though not a fault-proof indicator, that on average, health has improved. One interesting note is that there was a significant increase during WWII and the Great Depression. There unfortunately is not similar data for women because there was not enough historical data.

BBC News



Article:

• Timothy J. Hatton

How have Europeans grown so tall?Oxf. Econ. Pap. first published online September 1, 2013 doi:10.1093/oep/gpt030

Are we all Martians?

Summary: According to new research by Prof Steven Benner, Mars may have been a better place for life to begin. He suggests that minerals containing boron and molybdenum are vital is creating life-forming molecules. It had been previously thoughts that an early Earth was unsuitable for these elements, due to an insufficient amount of oxygen. However, Mars would have had enough oxygen for the element to form.


BBC News: