Posts Tagged 21st century stab

Scientists Find Water on the Moon. Moon Water!

Posted by mistergroonk in Science, Space, The Future on September 25, 2009

moonwater

Small amounts of water were detected on the surface of the moon at various locations. This image illustrates their distribution at high latitudes toward the poles.

Blue shows the signature of water, green shows the brightness of the surface as measured by reflected infrared radiation from the sun and red shows an iron-bearing mineral called pyroxene.

So what does this mean? Easier human colonization comes to mind. The truth is there’s more water on the driest deserts on Earth than there is water at the moon’s polar regions. But…

…there’s still the very real possibility that there could be water ice underneath the regolith on the Moon or buried deep within craters at the poles. Fairly recent (within the past million years) impact craters on the moon were found to have ejecta “rich” with water and hydroxyl, according to M cubed data, which implies recently those molecules are buried under the surface.

Moon water! The only thing PLUTO NASH found wandering the moonscape was Rosario Dawson. Considering how we feel about her, it’s tough to choose which is the better find.

(via spacefellowship: 1, 2)

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Yes, Virginia: the Question Asked 100 Years Ago, Revisited

Posted by mistergroonk in History, Holiday, USA on December 23, 2008

animesantaToday we focus on something that’s about as old as steam. Roughly 111 years old, in point of fact.

“Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.”

Having shied away from this particular news article the previous few Christmases, I feel now’s the time to tackle the beast. Yes Virginia is one of those special articles that made the cross from the real world into the works of fiction. Around this particular season, its exposure triples. It is so popular that Newseum has given the 1897 New York Sun article a permanent residence.

When I first heard of this article, I was just a Kid Groonk. I remember being fascinated by its artful prose. The fact that it was real only enhanced its power. Reading it now doesn’t hold the same meaning anymore. Which is why, I suppose, ABC news writer Michael Malone has seen fit to update the classic tale of Santa’s epic… elusiveness.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in e-mail, or electrons, or black holes. Nobody sees Santa Claus but that doesn’t mean there is no Santa Claus. No one has seen a quark either, or a computer bit, but that’s no proof they aren’t there. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor adults can see. Great new discoveries and wonderful acts of human kindness are made every day. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen or unseeable in this world.

[Read Malone’s entire article at ABC NEWS]

(via abcnews)

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