heythereuniverse:

Newt lung epithelial cell in mitosis (240x)

By: Susan Nowogrodzki

This makes me think of some bioluminescent deep-sea creature.

(Source: http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/1991/index.html)

jtotheizzoe:

Winners of the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012

You won’t learn much about life on this living planet if you don’t stop to look around every once in a while. 

Above is a Japanese maple, captured in Portland, OR by Fred An. Check out the rest of the winners ar The Atlantic.

(Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/08/winners-of-the-national-geographic-traveler-photo-contest-2012/100353/)

sciencepopularis:

This week in science #3

Stunning satellite imagery of earth from The Guardian

The Petermann Glacier photo is particularly good

Cannabis good, cannabis bad

The argument rages on 

Evidence for plate tectonics discovered on Mars

Watch yourself Curiosity

Next week: NASA announce news conference for record-breaking galaxy cluster

Tweet of the week

“Niece scolds me for Toms with sox. In my defense, they’re ankle sox.” – Bill Nye

lookhigh:

Why the Mars Curiosity Rover’s Cameras Are Lame by Today’s Standards

Ever since NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars and started beaming back photographs earlier this week, people have been wondering, “why are the photos so bad?” The criticism seems merited: consumers these days are snapping great high-res photographs using phones that cost just hundreds of dollars, yet NASA can’t choose a camera with more than 2-megapixels of resolution for their $2.5 billion mission?

In an interview with dpreview, project manager Mike Ravine of Malin Space Science Systems — the company that provided three of the rover’s main cameras — explains that there were a couple main reasons behind the “lame” cameras: data transfer and fixed specifications. (PetaPixel)

Explains why the cameras on Curiosity are 2 mega-pixel with 2 gigs of storage when our phones have 8 mega-pixel and 64 gigs.

Mostly because it’s difficult to send a lot of data from 88 million miles away, and when the design was set in stone we were still in 2004.

(Source: http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/09/why-the-mars-curiosity-rovers-cameras-are-lame-by-todays-standards/?pmmk)

Next Post

A plant’s flower pod ready on the cusp of blooming. Beautiful. Possibly an allium? 

If anybody knows, speak up!

(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecbrown145flick/3695663960)

jtotheizzoe:

Seriously, Cassini … you need to stop taking such amazing pictures and let some of the other satellites have some fun.

The rings of Saturn are framed by the moons Titan (rear) and the smaller Dione (front). 

(via NASA/JPL and Space.com)

So much going on,this is great!

(Source: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm)

particlesandpsychedelia:

Helicocranchia pfefferi, the Banded Piglet Squid.

Well, this little guy is adorable.

geneticist:

Close up of a moth’s wing (via)

Unreal. Look how thin each piece is!

(Source: http://geneticist.tumblr.com)

The vascular system of a plant forms its skeleton.

discoverynews:

From Discovery News space blogger Jason Major:

The image above, captured by Expedition 31 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), shows an enigmatic atmospheric phenomenon known as a red sprite hovering just above a bright flash of lightning in a thunderstorm over Myanmar.

What a beautiful shot!

(Source: http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-space-station-lightning-sprite-120712.html)